Wu Zetian's Rise To Power

The ideal of Modern society is that the value of an individual is to be determined by what they contribute to society, irrespective of their socioeconomic background. Parallels can be drawn between this philosophy with the Marxist ideal of “ each according to his ability” . Yet, whilst this may be the perspective that society wishes to be true, the reality is that those natural factors intrinsically affect how certain actions of an individual are perceived. One such factor where the evaluation of the individual’s success can differ is the perceived sociological differences between genders. Therefore the question is: To what extent have the actions of an individual been considered to be a direct result of their gender and what specifically …show more content…
Interestingly enough this primary source does not overly saturate the historical interpretation with irrelevant exposition of the emperor’s gender. Instead Song Qi propagates the interpretation that “ she was a capable, decisive leader who had mercy for those beneath her… ” In doing so, Song Qi contradicts many of the assertions that Suma Guang put forward; which primarily emphasises that the core of Wu Zetian’s power and authority were derived not from her leadership capabilities or statesmanship but instead came from womanly charms. However once you begin to rationalise the situation at hand and consider what is being propagated; it becomes quite difficult to ascertain a scenario where Wu Zetian’s “beauty and manipulation ” held sway over the court and the people for over 20 years. That is not to say Song Qi’s words are true; as respect for ancestors within Chinese Society is central to their culture and as such it would be not be too cynical to suspect some form of airbrushing to be at play. As such, to supersede the words of Suma Guang with the words of Song Qi is also foolhardy as historians must investigate the extent to which filial piety has played in the depiction of Wu Zetian . Therefore juxtaposed analysis of the primary sources depicting Wu Zetian’s reign demonstrates that historical truths are often meaningless because of sociological predispositions. This is a conclusion that many historians of the Post-Modernism school of thought have deduced, with even some claiming that “all historical accounts are fiction.” Consequently, it becomes strikingly obvious that a problem central to both of these portrayals is that the primary purpose of each side is to propagate a certain political or social agenda, rather than acknowledge the other side of the