8 replies to this topic

[snowybeagle]

http://www.ndcnc.gov...edic/DL/DL-2990

Apparently, Wŭ ZéTiān (武則天/武则天) missed the dubious honour of being the first woman in Chinese history to claim the title of the emperor.

Chén ShuòZhēn (陳碩真/陈硕真) beat her to it by several decades.

As a result of excesses during the later reign of Emperor TaiZong, dissatisfactions among the populace swelled and the moderation brought on early in the reign of Emperor GaoZong was insufficient to stem to tide of discontent.

Chén ShuòZhēn, a native of ZheJiang (浙江), rose up in rebellion and claimed the title of 文佳皇帝.
It was oft mentioned that her righthand man was her brother-in-law Zhāng ShūYìn (章叔胤). The fact that she did not use the man as a figurehead but took up the mantle of leadership herself made me wonder about her and the position of women in society at the time.

Until then, most powerful women in Chinese history had always ruled behind the figurehead of a man, either her husband, or her son.

Was her own personal influence strong enough then that she confidently stood at the front?
Or was the society more fair to women and readily accept female leadership?

[Yun]

Read my post here: http://www.chinahist...dpost&p=4779133

It seems that she was seen as having magical or divine powers by the local people.

[snowybeagle]

It seems that she was seen as having magical or divine powers by the local people.

I wonder how she did that. People might be gullible, but usually, they need to witness something first.
Though the same tactics were employed by numerous rebels since the Yellow Turbans, the fact that she was a woman to take up actual leadership was interesting and made me wonder if the position of women were more equittable then.

[Yun]

She may have been a female shaman for a powerful local god, or a healer. The Yellow Turbans and Celestial Masters also gained a wide following by performing successful healings.

[bchung]

For this magical woman, I wonder why she has to oppose the Tang's
It's the forth year of YongZheng永徵 right? it's a peace and nice time, it's not easy to gather so much soldiers in such a peace time...
I am a beginner, please pardon my mistakes...

[snowybeagle]

The reign of the preceding Emperor TaiZong was not all glorious and prosperous. TaiZong's military campaigns in his later years placed heavy burdens on the commoners.

Together with local officials bleeding the people, discontent had spread in certain regions.

Even though Emperor GaoZong took measures to relieve the burden, it was not sufficient nor timely enough.

Chén ShuòZhēn's native ZheJiang was one of the regions where discontent had been brewing and she simply took it as an opportunity to rise up in arms in the name of opposing tyranny.

[jiangji]

The reign of the preceding Emperor TaiZong was not all glorious and prosperous. TaiZong's military campaigns in his later years placed heavy burdens on the commoners.

Together with local officials bleeding the people, discontent had spread in certain regions.

Are you talking about the Tang taizong ? Which military campaign is that ? Sorry an off-topic question

Edited by jiangji, 06 February 2006 - 09:28 PM.

[snowybeagle]

Are you talking about the Tang taizong ? Which military campaign is that ? Sorry an off-topic question

First of all, Tang TaiZong himself said he was no less indulgent in luxury than previous rulers (“吾居位已来，不善多矣，锦绣珠玉不绝于前，宫室台榭屡有兴作，犬马鹰隼无远不致，行游四方供顿烦劳。”)

All the palaces, jewelleries, tourings and breeding of horses, hunting birds and horses, were paid for by taxes from the common people.

Secondly, during his 22nd year of reign (AD 648), he planned for an expedition to Korea and ordered vessels to be constructed from as far away as Sichuan. Local officials, in their haste to meet the deadlines, oppressed the people and taxed them heavily, causing the people to be displaced after selling their homes, unable to provide for their families, triggering prices of grains to soar.

《资治通鉴》卷一九八 - 贞观二十二年。唐太宗想第二次伐高丽，下令在四川造船，“州县督迫严急，民至卖田宅、鬻子女不能供，谷价踊贵，剑外骚然”。

Chén ShuòZhēn's rebellion took place 5 years later.

This was indicative of the fact that the bad policies would make its effects felt quickly but remedies would take much longer to counter them.

[Yun]

Found something interesting in Song Shi Chapter 468, which has a biography of the rebel leader Fang La:

Fang La was a man of Qingxi in Muzhou. ... He used heretical teachings to deceive the people. Long ago, in the Yongzheng reign of the Tang dynasty, the Muzhou woman Chen Shuozhen rebelled, calling herself Emperor Wenjia. Thus in the area there were legends about a "Son of Heaven foundation" for a "Ten-thousand-year building" (i.e. it was auspicious and could produce emperors), and Fang La used this as a further basis to believe that he was destined to be emperor.

(Fang La went on to proclaim himself 'Divine Duke' (Sheng Gong) and briefly rule the Zhejiang area in the last years of the Northern Song dynasty. There is evidence that he was an adherent of Manichaeism [Mingjiao].)