Her life story makes most modern success stories look pitifully feeble. Even Cleopatra would have had a hard time keeping up with Empress Wu. Empress Wu was the concubine of a not-very-bright emperor. She was so smart she started ruling the emperor, removing senior females in her way. When the emperor died, her son became emperor, and she soon put him out of the way. He abdicated in favor of her. She put her people in charge of important posts, and seized power. The emperor may or may not have ever known what happened, but he didn’t live too long afterwards to find out.
Empress Wu, aka Wu Zetian, makes most emperors and other rulers, even Roman maniacs and Persian emperors, look pretty tame. She ruled China as severely as any male emperor. She also killed her opponents on a routine basis. She ruled for 50 years, with a much-loathed stable of male “favorites.”
Another ancient Chinese tradition, carried on to this day, is the absurd enforcement of ridiculous things ordered by governments. The Chinese censorate goes back to ancient times, and it was at one stage the senior branch of government. It seems that China’s censors have put themselves in this role, obscuring breasts and tyranny in the name of decency.
The modern Chinese public isn’t impressed with the prudish response. Nor should it be. This is real Chinese history, and the cleavage has now been replaced with pictures of the heads of female characters. Many are cursing the desecration of the authentic costumes, some of which are real works of art. (For the record, the clothing in the pictures is a bit less ornate than the real thing, which you can see here.)
Ironically, severe censorship was also practised during the time of Qin Shi Huang Di, the terrifying First Emperor of China, who destroyed all books and killed all intellectuals in the name of stability. His empire failed miserably, ushering in the centuries of war to follow.
There’s a point to be made here — Chinese history isn’t going to change as a result of a few lousy Photoshopping exercises. “Chung Kuo shr Chung Kuo,” “China is China,” and there’s never been any good to come of pretending otherwise. The Chinese government should rethink this policy in the name of China, not the name of mere dishonest, and inaccurate, prudishness.
