Editing Wu Zetian (section)

== Names and titles ==
{{Further|Chinese name}}
In Chinese history and literature, Wu Zetian ({{IPA|cmn|ù tsɤ̌ tʰjɛ́n}}) was known by various names and titles. Mention of her in the English language has only increased their number. A difficulty in English translations is that they tend to specify gender (as in the case of "emperor" versus "empress" or "prince" versus "princess"), whereas, in [[Classical Chinese]], words such as ''hou'' ({{lang|zh|后}}, "sovereign", "prince", "queen") or ''huangdi'' {{lang|zh|(皇帝}}, "imperial supreme ruler", "royal deity") are of [[Grammatical gender#Contextual determination of gender|grammatically indeterminate gender]].

=== Names ===
In Wu's time, women's birth names were rarely recorded. She changed her name to Wu Zhao after rising to power,<ref name="Paludan, 100">{{harvp|Paludan|1998|p=100}}</ref> often written as {{lang|zh|武曌}}, ({{lang|zh|曌}} has also been written as {{lang|zh|瞾}} on occasion, and both are derivatives of {{lang|zh|照}}, which may be her original name), with 瞾 being one of the invented characters by Wu. Wu was her patronymic surname, which she retained, according to traditional Chinese practice, after marriage to Gaozong, of the Li family. Emperor Taizong gave her the [[art name]] Wu Mei ({{lang|zh|武媚}}), meaning "glamorous".<ref name="NBT76" /> Thus, Chinese people often refer to her as Wu Mei or Wu Meiniang ({{lang|zh|武媚娘}}) when they write about her youth, as Wu Hou ({{lang|zh|武后}}) when referring to her as empress consort and empress dowager, and as Wu Zetian ({{lang|zh|武則天}}) as her posthumous title, given only after her death.<ref name=":3" />

Because her family name, Wu (武), is a homophone for the second character in parrot (鹦鹉), there are many stories and jokes that make use of imagery of a parrot to communicate about Wu and her clan.<ref name=":3" /> In particular, Emperor Gaozong's family name, Li (唐), is a homophone with a type of cat -- so a story circulated about a cat eating a parrot at court.<ref name=":3" />

=== Titles  ===
{{Infobox royal styles
|royal name = Zetian Dasheng Emperor
|dipstyle = [[Her Imperial Majesty]]
|offstyle = Your Imperial Majesty
|altstyle = [[Son of Heaven|Son of Heaven (天子)]]

}}

During her life, and posthumously, Wu was awarded various official titles. Both ''hou'' ({{lang|zh|后}}) and ''huangdi'' ({{lang|zh|皇帝}}) are titles (modifications, or added characters to ''hou'' are of lesser importance). Born Wu Zhao, she is not properly known as "Wu Hou" (Empress Wu) until receiving this title in 655, nor is she properly known as "Wu Zetian", her regnal name, until 690, when she took the title Emperor.

* During the reign of [[Emperor Gaozu of Tang]] (618–626): 
** Lady Wu (from 624)
* During the reign of [[Emperor Taizong of Tang]] (626–649):
** Talented Lady ({{lang|zh|才人}}; from 637), 17th rank consort
* During the reign of [[Emperor Gaozong of Tang]] (649–683): 
** Imperial Concubine Zhaoyi ({{lang|zh|昭儀}}; from 650), 6th rank consort                                        
** Empress ({{lang|zh|皇后}}; from 655), 1st rank consort 
** Heavenly Empress ({{lang|zh|天后}}; from 674), 1st rank consort
* During the reign of [[Emperor Zhongzong of Tang]] (684-684): 
** Empress Dowager Wu ({{lang|zh|武皇太后}}; from 683)
* During the reign of [[Emperor Ruizong of Tang]] (684–690) 
** Empress Dowager Wu ({{lang|zh|武皇太后}}; from 684)
*During her reign as the Empress Regnant of the Zhou dynasty (690–705):
** Holy Emperor ({{lang|zh|聖神皇帝}}; from 690)
** Holy Golden Emperor ({{lang|zh|金輪聖神皇帝}}; from 693)
** Holy Golden Goddess Emperor ({{lang|zh|越古金輪聖神皇帝}}; from 694)
** Holy Golden Emperor ({{lang|zh|金輪聖神皇帝}}; from 695)
** Emperor Tiance Jinlun ({{lang|zh|天策金輪大帝}}; from 695)
** Emperor Zetian Dasheng ({{lang|zh|則天大聖皇帝}}; from 705)
* During the second reign of [[Emperor Zhongzong of Tang]] (705–710):                                                              
** Empress Zetian Dasheng ({{lang|zh|則天大聖皇后}}; from 705)
*During the second reign of [[Emperor Ruizong of Tang]] (710–712):                                              
** Heavenly Empress ({{lang|zh|天后}}; from 710) 
** Holy Empress ({{lang|zh|大聖天后}}; from 710) 
** Empress of Heaven ({{lang|zh|天后聖帝}}; from 712)
**Holy Empress ({{lang|zh|聖后}}; from 712)
*During the reign of [[Emperor Xuanzong of Tang]] (713–756):                                                    
**Empress Zetian ({{lang|zh|則天皇后}}; from 716)  
**Holy Empress Zetianshun ({{lang|zh|則天順聖皇后}}; from 749)

=== "Empress" ===
Various Chinese titles have been translated into English as "empress", including "empress" in both the sense of [[Queen consort|empress consort]] and [[Queen regnant|empress regnant]]. Generally, the monarch was male and his chief spouse was given a title such as ''huanghou'' ({{lang|zh|皇后}}), often translated as "empress" or more specifically "empress consort". Upon the emperor's death, the surviving empress consort could become [[empress dowager]], sometimes wielding considerable political power as [[Regency (government)|regent]] during the [[Minority reign|minority]] of the (male) heir to the position of emperor.

Since the time of [[Qin Shi Huang]] (259–210 BC), the [[Emperor of China]] using the title ''huangdi'' ({{lang|zh|皇帝}}, translated as "emperor" or "empress (regnant)" as appropriate), Wu was the only woman in the [[history of China]] to assume the title ''huangdi''.<ref>{{Cite book
 |title = Storia della Cina. Dalle origini alla fondazione della repubblica
 |author1 = Sabattini, Mario
 |author2 = Santangelo, Paolo
 |year = 1986
 |publisher = Editori Laterza |location = Rome
 |name-list-style = amp
 |page = 294
}}</ref> Her tenure as [[de facto]] ruler of China and official regent of the Tang dynasty (first through her husband and then through her sons, from 665 to 690) was not without precedent in Chinese history, but she broke precedent when she founded her own dynasty in 690, the '''[[Zhou dynasty (690–705)|Zhou]]''' ({{lang|zh|周}}) (interrupting the [[Tang dynasty]]), ruling personally under the name '''Sacred and Divine Huangdi''' ({{lang|zh|聖神皇帝}}), and variations thereof, from 690 to 705.

Wu Zetian and [[Empress Liu (Zhenzong)|Empress Dowager Liu]] of the Song dynasty are said to be the only women in Chinese history to have worn a yellow robe, ordinarily reserved for the emperor's sole use, as a monarch or co-ruler in their own right.<ref>{{harvp|Cotterell|Cotterell|1975|p= 145}}</ref>