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N. Harry Rothschild examines the life of Wu Zhao in his biography Wu Zhao China’s Only Woman Emperor, in which he weaves together history and legend into a coherent account of Wu Zhao’s rise to power and rule over the Tang Empire from 684-705 C.E.

He suggests that Wu Zhao was both a product and a proponent of the cosmopolitan cultural milieu that emerged from the melding of northern pastoralist culture with the Han culture of China proper and the influx of foreign influences from Central Asia.

Furthermore, Wu Zhao’s singular example of a woman attaining the highest tier of Chinese government demonstrates that Chinese patriarchy was not inviolable, and that entrenched customs could be mitigated given appropriate geopolitical circumstances and a determined individual capable of navigating the byzantine politics of Tang Dynasty China.

Rothschild argues that despite her often brutal methods, Wu Zhao proved both competent and suc