Editing Wu Zetian (section)

=== "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>