Jennifer W. JAY

Tang court ladies from the tomb painting of Princess Yongtai in the Qianling Mausoleum, near Xi’an in Shaanxi Province, from the year 706. Empress Wu Zetian would also later be buried at the Qiangling Mausoleum.
Wu Zetian 武则天 was the only woman to rule China as an emperor in name, declaring herself emperor after deposing her sons. She changed the composition of the ruling class by removing entrenched aristocrats from the court and enlarging the civil