Woman's Purity

“The moon waxed and waned in vain. The crimson tide had run dry. In this lowly world, women are the ocean's pearls, their brilliance derived from the stain of their flesh. The blood had been the thread linking me to an underground world where a grim labyrinth twisted around a perpetual furnace. It had been the source of all my energy....After a brief examination the doctor prostrated herself and congratulated me: My divine body had returned to its original state." The serenity accorded me by my resting senses would allow me to achieve immortality at last...Stripped of my womanly barbarity, it was as if I were dead." (209-210)

During the beginning of menopause, Empress Wu reflects how and why women are viewed. It is evident that the society the Empress lives in only view women as baby machines. She mentions that "the blood" had been her link to a perpetual furnace and was what gave her power. This is true to what happens in the book because those who give birth to a prince for the Sovereign automatically gains his favor and gets promoted. She refers to her menstrual cycle as Woman barbarity. According to Dictionary.com barbarity is defined as being "crudity of style, taste, expression". In our society today we may not talk about such things in the open, but we also do not view it as something lowly.

Woman Leader

“During the morning audience, ministers and soothsayers deciphered the oracle and translated these characters: “DIVINE MOTHER ON THIS EARTH, THROUGH HER, THE EMPEROR’S REIGN SHALL BE PROSPEROUS AND EVERLASTING.” For the first time since the world sprang forth from Chaos, the gods were identifying a woman as the human sovereign! The news spread throughout the Empire, and letters of congratulation fell around me like snowflakes: “Your Majesty has pursued the former Sovereign’s unfinished work. Her endeavor and her humility have touched the gods. That is why this divine writing has been sent to the world for the third time since civilization began…as a representative of the female element in us, Your Majesty is invested with male strength, The union of these two opposites has produced the great harmony now enjoyed by our ten thousand kingdoms. That is why Heaven has appointed her Mistress of all people.”” (236)

This passage summarizes Empress Wu's justification in creating a new dynasty under her, a woman's, rule. In the last post I mentioned how women were only seen as baby machines. But as the story progresses it is amazing how Empress Wu gains more and more power. Many people in the court are very traditional, and as tradition goes, only men can be come the supreme ruler. In this case, what is believed to be a message from the gods makes it so all those who follow tradition can't help but allow a great change like this occur? This reminds me of the current presidential election that we have right now. Hillary Clinton has a shot at being president, which would be history in the makings, because she would be the first female President. Some people, both men and women, doubt her ability to be president because she is a woman. How do you feel about having a woman leader? Do you think that their "emotions" would get the best of them?

Character Foil

XishiXishi (497 BC) was a legendary beauty of ancient China. She has been described as “equally charming in both heavy and light makeup”, “as appealing when she frowns as when she smiles”. Of her figure it has been said that “were she plump, you would admire her plumpness, were she thin you would admire her for being slender”. She is celebrated as a woman of extraordinary natural beauty with a universal appeal. Although many have praised Xishi’s looks, there is but little mention of her notable virtue - she had a great love for her country and her people.Xishi was the daughter of a tea trader from Ningluo Mountain village in the Zhuji county in Zhejiang Province. This comprised a part of the ancient state of Yue.When the state of Yue was vanquished by the state of Wu, the King of Yue, Gou Jian was forced to serve the Prince of Wu for three years. On his release, King Gou Jian slept on brushwood and drank gall before each meal to remind himself of the humiliation his country had suffered. He commissioned men to search far and wide for a woman whom he could send as a tribute to Prince Fuchai of Wu. Xishi, whose beauty was much talked of even from early childhood, was selected for this task and sent to the capital.King Gou Jian approved of the choice and had Xishi dressed in fine robes. He had her trained in royal court etiquette. Gou Jian ordered his minister Fan Li to take Xishi to the Prince of Wu as a tribute gift from Yue. During the journey, Xishi fell deeply in love with the wise minister. Fan Li also grew to admire this courageous lady who was willing to give her life for her country. Consequently, before they parted, they made a secret pledge of undying love.They arrived at the capital of Wu and the prince welcomed Xishi with open arms. He was enchanted by her appearance and doted on her. Gradually he began to neglect his political duties, preferring to idle away his time with Xishi. He frequently took her out on carriage rides to the noisy and prosperous sections of the city. On these rides, he liked to boast to those around him that he had won the heart of the most beautiful woman in the world. He would add: “If you want to look at her, you’ll have to present me with some gold coins!” In this way, he also managed to enrich his coffers.Xishi, however, never lost sight of her mission. Her aim was to bewitch the Prince of Wu so that his subjects would grow restless and his friends would desert him. The political chaos that ensued would enable the King of Yue to invade the state of Wu, recompensing him for his former humiliation.Heaven grants the wishes of men. The King of Yue finally annexed the state of Wu. Following the death of Prince Fuchai of Wu, Xishi disappeared from public life. She lived in relative obscurity with Fan Li who became a successful trader.This story is unique in the history of feudal China as no one has ever found fault with Xishi, even though she had caused the downfall of the state of Wu. (http://www.chinatouching.com/2007/10/31/the-top-four-beautiful-women-in-the-ancient-china/)

After finding the poem about Li Xi, I decided to Google her up and found that she was a real person. After reading about her life, I compared and contrast her life with Empress Wu's. Both women were married into royalty, but they chose different routes of life. Empress Wu seized power for her own greed and with that power, gained the ability to rule all of China. Li xi sacrificed herself in a marriage for her people. After Empress Wu's death many have embellished false tales to hurt her legacy, while others praise Li Xi and remember her for her beauty.

Out With the Old and In With the New

THE BEAUTIFUL XI SHI

written by Wang Wei


Since beauty is honoured all over the Empire,
How could Xi Shi remain humbly at home? --
Washing clothes at dawn by a southern lake --
And that evening a great lady in a palace of the north:
Lowly one day, no different from the others,
The next day exalted, everyone praising her.
No more would her own hands powder her face
Or arrange on her shoulders a silken robe.
And the more the King loved her, the lovelier she looked,
Blinding him away from wisdom.
...Girls who had once washed silk beside her
Were kept at a distance from her chariot.
And none of the girls in her neighbours' houses
By pursing their brows could copy her beauty. (http://dps.holtof.com/chinese/chin_1a.html)

I was online trying to find some poems that were written by Empress Wu, but failed to find any. But, I came across this poem about a woman named Li Xi. When I read the poem it reminded me of Empress Wu's misery. Although the title "Empress" gives it's holder great power and prestige, it can also cause the holder of that title to live a miserably lonely life. Throughout an Empress's marriage to her husband, she is constantly opposed by younger and more beautiful women. The type of women this poem talks about seems to represent most of the new concubines the Emperor receives each year.

People Need Other People

In her fight to maintain her power and status, the Empress loses her sister, Purity, to suicide, her niece, Harmony, to poisoned wine from her cousins, mother to old age, and then her nephew, Intelligence, to suicide. She had once cherished her family in her days of innocence, but her greed for power and fear of losing it, inevitably changed her views of family. She selfishly used her sister as the Emperor’s personal slave in the bedroom, just to keep his “favor” in her direction. When she found out Harmony developed an affair with the Emperor, she allowed her to continue the affair, but refused to give her any title and forbade her to have children (if Harmony gave birth to a son, she would gain enough favor to oppose the Empress). The Empress used her family to her advantage but once they were gone, she figures out the importance of a family bond.

“My family had been built and dismantled to suit me. I had given everyone of them wealth and position, but Elder Sister's renunciation had been the first betrayal, which had invited others. Instead of following my rise, they had chosen to fall. My childhood was dead; there were no longer and faces around to remind me of the distant landscape of innocence. Father and Mother had slipped away and my sisters had followed them. i had to carry on, accompanied by my regrets. I called my nephews from my father's clan back from banishment to fill this void. I conferred the title of father's heir and head of the clan on Piety, the eldest. One family had been destroyed, and a new once would be built.” (155)


The Empress handled her family affairs very chaotically. It was bad enough that she arranged the incest relationship between the Emperor and her sister, but to allow her niece to take part in this sinful type of relationship just beats the bucket. Her mother was furious and heartbroken. But, all she did to try and console her was spoil her with wealth, which she did not desire. It was good that she was able to realize how important her family was to her, but it’s a little too late. Now she wants to build a new family with her cousins. This will probably lead to another bad ending. Her cousins were the ones who took all her father's fortune away from them. They were also the ones who poisoned her niece. She should be able to tell that their "loyalty" is only a facade. Shouldn't she realize that her cousins would have resentment for being banished?

Wanting What You Can't Have

“At the age of thirteen, my daughter conceived a violent passion for Xue Shao, whom she had met while walking beside the River Luo. To fulfill her desires, I ordered the young aristocrat to repudiate his legitimate wife, and I offered them the most lavishing wedding in history. But prince consorts have hearts capricious as imperial princesses: Having been forcibly married, Xue Shao remained attached to the memory of his first wife who had chosen to commit suicide rather than be abandoned. He had treated Moon (blogger’s note: the daughter) with respectful contempt. Moon was accepted and rejected, feared and loathed by her husband’s family, and she had had hidden her pain from me until that day I discovered that this unworthy son-in-law was involved in a conspiracy.
Xue Shao was executed; Moon lost her failed source of happiness. I urged her to remarry, and she fell in love with my nephew Tranquility who was also a married man. The cousin, astonished, by this unexpected good fortune, did not want to be begged. He dismissed his wife and loved Moon with religious fervor. But, she was haunted by Xue Shao: The imperial princess preferred an impossible love to the adoration she was offered. Very soon after they were married, she betrayed her husband in the arms of a guard’s officer.” (268)


I chose this passage because it dabbled into the idea of love. To me, what Moon thinks is love is nothing more than just a game of possession. Sure she must have maybe liked Xue Shao, but what drove her to think she loved him was the fact that she knew she couldn’t have him. Although, in the end, she got what she wanted, which was to be married to him, she did not get his heart.
The most interesting line of this passage was “The imperial princess preferred an impossible love to the adoration she was offered.” She thought she loved her mother’s nephew, but that did not turn out too well, because his adoration of her seemed to drive her away. The idea of desiring something you cannot have has been around for ages.
In the Fairytale Cinderella all the commoners yearned to be Prince Charming’s wife, which is evident in their presence at the ball. Even today, in teen movies, there are always those average students in high school dreaming about the cool popular guy.

Window of Opportunity

“The Emperor’s prosperity is a duty for every one of us. Every individual-whether an official or of no distinction, nobleman or commoner, Chinese or foreign , gifted in the field of culture, economics, defense, education, justice, or of major works-should present themselves to the recruiting officers without a letter of recommendation” (234)

This was a decree that Empress Wu sent out to all the provinces in China. This decree gave all men a chance to become an official, which in most cases, is the first step to becoming noble. This is a big contrast to how other nations’, like Britain, noble system worked at the time. In their nations, ranks in society are based on ancestry and were unchangeable. I believe the Chinese had a good system in trying to make sure no intelligence goes unnoticed. But, the only drawbacks would have to be that the window of opportunity was only open to men. Like many other places, women were not seen as any useful intelligence at all. But, of course, all of us know that this is certainly not true. One great example of this is the protagonist of the story, Empress Wu (Heavenlight), herself. If you think about how many women there were back in those times, there must have been many undiscovered intelligent people who were woman.