Wu Zetian: The Brilliant, Bloody Concubine Who Seized the Throne
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- čas přidán 20. 10. 2020
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Credits:
Host - Simon Whistler
Author - Chase KIddy
Producer - Jennifer Da Silva
Executive Producer - Shannon Harris
Further reading:
projects.leadr.msu.edu/traditi...
www.smithsonianmag.com/histor...
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Didn't you just upload on MegaProjects? Simon, you madlad....
Can you do ferdinand marcos?
Edit:
Non biased please
The Baal Shem Tov would be a great choice for a bio
I’ve been wondering, how do you do so much research on these historical topics for these videos?
Simon says.
I do wish we’d get more Biographics from China’s long and fascinating history. The Hongwu Emperor, who was born a peasant but rose to become founder of the Ming Dynasty. Zheng Guofan, the ruthless but noble-hearted general who strove to reform and preserve the Qing Dynasty. Xu Guangqi, the Christian convert who helped introduce western science and mathematics into early modern China. Scholars and Warlords and Princes, oh my!
China's history is long and interesting for sure
we had secondary devils since the Ming??? No wonder the Ming fall. We kept secondary devils
@@6Euphoria6 I'm not Chinese, so I'm not familiar with the term "Secondary Devils". What does that mean, and who are you referring it to?
@@ashharkausar413 I'm curious how much embellishment it had because his description literally sounds like a Chinese fantasy drama show.
@@MadHatter42 it's bigoted terminology to describe indigenous Christian converts (I'm an atheist myself, but I find it problematic to call people devils because of their faith), usually it's sourced to the belief that Han Chinese are the only Chinese, or Han supremacism, which seems like a safe assumption in this case.
I've reported 金云 as it doesn't belong here in any case.
Empress wang was probably like “ She was supposed to be my sidekick not my replacement “
Wu never would have made that mistake.
Yeah, I don’t know what made her think that bringing another women (who is known to be beautiful) would be a great idea.
The scheme would reenacted half millennia later in a much grander scale. The Song dynasty had trouble with the Khitan tribe who, so they groomed the Jurchen tribe to deal with them. The Jurchen prevailed, and became threat to Song so much as they wrested half of their empire. So the Song groomed another tribe, the Mongol. And we know how well that turned out.
I had been hoping Biographics would do Wu Zetian for a long time. Such a fascinating figure. I wish more focus had been given to her achievements as ruler than in her 'taking out her rivals' angle. She reformed the civil service to include commoners, reformed the curriculum, wrote and published a biography of notable women, promoted the massification of the printing press and is who is essentially responsible for the rise/ influence of buddhism in imperial china. She built a huge imperial capital, had a super active court with ambassadors from the far reaches of the world present there and the center of the silk road and commerce at its height. So many cool things to learn about her reign.
It’s funny because every single person in power has done this yet they don’t get heat for it. Wu got heat because she was a woman.
@@KhanMann66 “every single person in power has done this”, no, not all of them are good at ruling and interested in social, cultural and economic innovations. I think you should change it to “every single capable person in power”.
Wu Zetian was a horrible person but she was a great leader. The royals were evil back then. Thats just how the way it is. She definitely get so much heat because shes a woman. But her contributions to China was massive. Certainly among the top 10 greatest ruler of China
Thank you for mentioning her numerous contributions, which became more than some previous emperors had done before and after her rule. Glad her legacy is now being realized! She would not have survived w/o becoming ruthless during her rule, as any emperor must do, but moreso, being female!
Exactly! She was an amazing ruler but channel, while accurate, would rather show bad traits more for the sake of views than an actual biography of a person
Sounds like HBO should do a real life Game of Thrones style show on China. They should also do another show on Rome.
All they have to do is subtitle Chinese dramas. Good recommendations include Han Wudi.
They do There's a Chinese drama on Wu zeitang it's really good
There are literally HUNDREDS of historical or semi-historical chinese drama
I suggest start from Condor Heroes trilogy
rizka arifiandi Condor Heroes trilogy is part of the Wuxia genre. It’s less ASOIAF intrigue and more action. Nirvana in Fire is more of a House of Cards style intrigue.
But there's no dragon and white walker=[
All the concubine story throughout Chinese history makes Cercy's action in Game of Thrones look like a children's fairy tale in comparison , and we had to read them in school. xD
Would be super cool to hear about Empress Dowager Cixi. Similar sort of story!
YES! That would be a great episode! 👍🏻
There is a story about Cixi concerning a private audience she gave Theodore Roosevelt's daughter Alice who was visiting China as part of a diplomatic delegation in the summer of 1905. Miss Roosevelt was looked upon as America's Princess Royal, and as such, an equal in Cixi's eyes. As a demonstration of her authority, Cixi had a high ranking courtier prostrate himself under pain of death. Alice was said to be suitably impressed.
@@donbrynelsen2157 What do you mean by prostrate? Don't sound that impressive.
@@guywithdacap4713 He actually meant kowtow, in this case the formal wansui kowtow given only to the emperor (wansui meaning 10,000 years, a wish for the emperor's long reign), which was her way of saying that she was an equal to the emperor and deserved the same level of formal ritual.
@@andrewsuryali8540 Ah, this clear things up. Thank you.
1:10 - Chapter 1 - Concubine n°5
5:05 - Mid roll ads
6:30 - Chapter 2 - Empress consort
14:50 - Chapter 3 - Empress dowager
18:35 - Chapter 4 - Empress regnant
I like how casually Simon put the Emperor's thinking.
"Hmmm... I want her dead but at the same time... she's pretty... I am perplexed..." 🤔
I want to know the secret to Simon’s proactivity across five different channels, and why I can’t apply that to my own life 😔
You should check out Andrew Kirby
I know, right? He must have killer organizational skills.
He either never sleeps and just put out content like a madman or he has clones of himself and each one manages a single channel.
Either way, mad respect to Simon.
There's actually 8, I believe
The secret is his beard
You should do a video on Da Ji, She has a very similar story but she was unbelievably cruel. Most serial killers aren't as scary as she is.
Problem with Da Ji is that she mostly a fictional character from Chinese mythology. Whether she really did exist is unknown since history is so skewered with mythology in ancient days.
@@WatcherMovie008 She was concubine to a Shang dynasty king. She definitely existed, it's just she was mythicized.
@@conho4898 she's definitely not a fox
Really interesting I just found this CZcamsr today
Simon has several wonderful CZcams channels.
You can see him almost offscript on the blaze channel, pretty funny.
Your lucky you get to watch a huge back catalogue 😂🤣
Hes one of my favorites
Month ago for me.
"No Wei!" - Bill and Ted
Sam Schott "whey !!! " - Wayne and Garth
You know you were good at your job when even your most hated enemies conceded you were competent as an administrator.
At the Longmen caves in China is a ginormous statue of the Buddha, supposedly commissioned by Wu Zetian; she had the sculptor carve the face as her own.
Her story is immensely popular today among the up and coming women of China. She's a bit of a role model. Scary.
I've been to the mausoleum complex where she is buried. It's quite beautiful.
Irene of Athens: Rome's first female Emperor. I definitely want to see that
YES!!! I've wanted this to come out one day. Thank you so much Simon! So happy!
Thank god, my father had so many concubines, I can't even imagine what would have happened to me if I lived in Switzerland 🇨🇭 during his last years....
Hadn't lived
You should eat vegan foods to prevent heart disease.
You should invade China and establish Kim dynasty there to expand your realm.
Are you for real?
If so didn't you get rid of your brother?
You do know that your beloved sister is aiming for your throne, right?
So I would be careful with the Swiss cheese and chocolate cake that she serves me if I were you.
Thank you, requested this ages ago, definitely didn't disappoint :D
Another excellent video, I learned something new today again! Well done indeed!
I’ve been waiting for an episode on Wu Zeitan, I’m happy it’s here🥳
I have been waiting for this for so long!
No comments about Civ V? Never knew she existed until I played as her and took over the world with Chu-Ko-Nu's. Thank you Sid Meier
Playing right now on my computer and watching this on my iPad lol
I thought this too. She was one of the first Civ V leaders I played and Civ V was the first one I played. Great set of games!
Gamers..
Request: Do someone from the Three Kingdoms Period. Doesn't matter who, they are all interesting.
Three kingdom is not rlly much "the most interesting",just ur opinion,however,novels and games made Asian and European feels like three kingdom is the best,but actually there are much more stories and now some Chinese and Japanese youtubers actually making some detailed videos on other periods,but the three kingdom influence is still much higher as its presence since Qing dynasty
I was just reading a book on her! Now I get to watch your fantastic video on her too! I'm so excited 😁
I like how you made sure that when you talked about her stories and what ever historical record of her, you made sure to talk about how much fiction there was mixed in. She was a woman in a history mostly written by men. She was , indefinitely, but in an ancient history so long ago there were so many incidences of convoluted stories disguised as warnings of "if women came to power this would happen".
I always enjoy your videos, I remember finding out about this individual years ago by happenstance because my nephew convinced me to get a computer and one of the games I bought was civilization five and the civilization was led by Wu Zetain and I researched her and now it has come full circle because of the facts you have presented. She seems like an awesome lady, but I would not want to cross her.
I can understand how my modern brain would have trouble wrapping my head around the whole concubine system but from a historical perspective, it was what was considered normal. From a modern perspective......I’d have lots to say about it
I know I’ve commented before but I love how you put a new lens on an old fave story of mine.
Very well researched!
I love that she’s been getting the recognition she deserves
The script is so well written and your delivery is spot on too
Great Video!
love your content! would you consider doing a video on Hildegard von Bingen?
A Biographics episode IDEA ; Willem van Oranje (a famous Dutch king ) that was murdered , thanks in advance . P.S. i realy like your channel's i watch almost every episode , Simon W. and Grant G. you are very personable people
Was Willem a king? He was a Statholder, I think. Basically a head of a republic.
@@justinleecw he was the father of the nation , there is a English page on wiki William the Silent ( also Willem of Orange ) thanks for asking , if you have any question i would love to help you
History treated her like such a villain but she did a lot of good for her people......yet again, she had to be ruthless to do it.
Great video! It will definitely go into my favorites playlist.
Her actions were no different than any other male rise to power stories in history. She dared to have ambition and do the things that were necessary in order to achieve that.
@@marianneshepherd6286 She appointed women to government jobs. Male rulers never did that.
@@IntrepidFraidyCat I meant that her actions ie poisoning etc she was criticized for it. But its nothing different to what men in power had and have been doing for centuries.
@@marianneshepherd6286 Poisoning pregnant women hasn't been that commonplace between male rulers.
@@josebenardi1554 hmmm still a lot if history yet to be uncovered there's many stories from the Holocaust and Soviet Russia that's still not been told.
One of my favorite Biographics Episode Ever!
The US needs to have entrance exams for it's politicians and lawmakers before they can take the position, like China did for it's government employees.
THIS ☝️
Yes!
redchic I applaud your sentiments, but I'm afraid that's not how it worked. Being an absolute monarchy with the Emperor at the top, and the whole structure being bureaucrats rather than politicians, those who went up the power structure through the civil service examinations system were those who're able to comply to the demands of being bureaucrats, and absolutely nothing more. The same scenario exists in mainland China now, there's one person at the top, a small high-level staff under him, and the whole bureaucracy going down from the capital to every hamlet.
nah the people who elected these folk need to be better at choosing their candidates or run themselves.
Honestly, hot take: the voting public need entrance exams.
There is an interesting novelization of Wu, called "Lady Wu," written by Lin Yutang (in English) around 1964. It is partly fictional (perhaps) and partly historically correct. It is out of print and a little hard to find but worth the effort. I found this video very even-handed, given the initial bad press she got and the more recent revisionist approaches: good emperor/empress for China, horrible person to be related to or to have to work for. Thanks.
Pat, in Chicago
Loved this video. I would love to see a video on Manuel Noriega.
The videos have been slowing down, but always welcome!! 🤓
Sorry if I missed any announcements, but why have you stopped uploading podcast-versions? I for one found them really handy, and would appreciate it if they resumed. To be clear, I still appreciate the great work you do, keep it up.
Good video 👍
I'd never heard of her until I played Civ 5. Now China is my favourite civ.
Thanks for this. I learned a lot.
Mr. Whistler: I strongly wish that I had a better foundation in Chinese history because this program was so filled with facts and figures that my head is still spinning (and no alcohol/cannabis pre-op). China is simply fascinating. Thank you again.
Warmly Yada, Yada, Yada.
That was funny & Great thanks for your input 👍 and video 📹
Great job, all!
I enjoy the show. I have watched it from the beginning and I hope.
Simon Whistler a longtime fan...
Thanks
This content is godly
I am curious to learn about Hideyoshi Toyatomi as well. The great unified of Japan who used Nobunaga as a stepping stone to his dream and conquest.
I will not stop asking. Please make more videos covering the people in the American Civil War, for example;
Thomas Jackson, better known as Stonewall
General William T. Sherman, who I really couldnt say anything about without someone getting pissed
Confederate President Jefferson Davies
Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, who commanded the first African-American Regiment in the Civil War
Ulysses S. Grant, who needs no introduction
Etc.
I just wish there were more videos that tackled the people in the Civil War on your channel
I think the problem is that for the rest of the world looks at the american civil war as, although interesting because of the new, in their time, new tactics, in the global perspective, just a minor provincial conflict, with less interesting characters than even remote political european and asian areas of that time like Italy or Japan.
Great vid!!! Could u do one about Alfred The Great or Henry Hotspur or Montgomery pleeeeeease?
Just try to imagine having so much ill will toward two people that you order their hands and feet cut off, and then drowning them in wine. That's just so over the top
@Illiterati Earlier in the Han period (i.e. Second Empire) an empress dispatched two of her enemies by blinding them, chopping off their arms and legs at the shoulders and hips, and thrown them in the toilet, and kept them barely alive.
@@Seele2015au You see, that actually makes a lot more sense. It sends an incredibly powerful message, and it's pretty simple. You'd have to plan it out and think about it for a while to come up with murder via wine, which, all things considered is actually a pretty merciful way to be brutally murdered. With a body of wine large enough to kill someone they would die from inhaling alcohol vapor extremely quickly. It's not even a particularly effective form of torture, so it feels more to me that it was done for the poetry of the implication that they were alcoholics and died by over-indulgence more than anything else.
@@Seele2015au nope that is Lu Zhi vs Concubine Qi ok
There are some other documentaries on CZcams about her. She’s so fascinating.
I won't deny that, but the comments can feel...hostile a bit, maybe just cause i'm a man and the audience is woman? still love her history
Also please don't take offense of this, one cause i'm using my 13 yo brother profile and 2 cause i didn't mean to be offensive
Wow!! What a mouthful!! Good job!! Smarter everyday!! 😉
Simon: spends a whole video narrating Wu Zetian's killings.
Also Simon: "sexism and confusion has painted her as a bloodthirsty ruler"
Liberalism in a nutshell: "wahmen can't be bad rulers at all! It's always the male historians that chronicle them as bad!"
It’s not that she didn’t kill people, she probably did, but no more so than any of her male counterparts before or after her, yet they are not painted as bloodthirsty as she is
@@rejvaik00 I still remember seeing the tweets when it was rumoured that the sister of Kim Jong-un took power: North Korea is way ahead of the USA for having a female head of state...
@@Seele2015au you can't praise a dictatorship just because they have a female head of state
@@Seele2015au twitter morons never seem to have gotten that memo 🤣
(Sorry this was broken into two comments)
duuuude, I was just finished watching Oversimplified's Three Kingdoms...well, a history teacher's reaction to it actually. Then this came out? Bonus.
Did I enjoy this video? HECK YEAH I DID💖 I LOVED IT 💓
beautiful take on Wu，amidst all the oriental biases and twisted folk tales you guys had to circum navigate to get the bigger picture，alot more could be told but maybe not，well done
Finally here at the second it came out
Yes! Finally!
Thank you ,
She pops up so often in cdramas, even when she's not the main character or if the story is not about her. She's quite the byword.
Glad to see more videos about China, I like learning about Asia.
I haven't commented in quite some time; usually when I do it is to make a suggestion for a video. Thos is no different... Brian Blessed: actor, explorer, mountaineer, martial artist. I know he is still alive, but he has lead an extraordinary life and accomplished some amazing things. Not only is he is the oldest man to have both summited Everest, and go to the north pole on foot, but he also survived a plane crash while exploring the Venezuelan jungle.
I love that you mentioned GRRM because her life and rise to power always reminded me of Cersei Lannister in a way. Except that Wu was smarter and a way better ruler than Cersei.
And if Cersei wasn’t above knocking off Joffrey, Myrcella and Tommen when they stopped being useful.
This is such a good one, i literally lol'd for like 5 minutes at "you dont just go from 5th ranked concubine to empress without a little usurping, do you?" @12:10
Wu Zetian was a true ruler, she was very intelligent indeed
Pitching Wu: No Hits, No Runs, No Errors!
Could you please please please please do one on richard feynman, the great explainer
He's a really interesting person and a great physicist
when will you make a biography on mackenzie king?
I was just thinking to myself last night you should make a video about her lol
Would love to see a video on John Ware. Super interesting historical character
Since you already have this one done, how about another for her famous frenemy subject, the legendary Judge Dee?
Wow, you picked up empress Wu... Nice!
I chuckled at “Wang”, I am a child.
and what about "Ding" or "Dong"?
Could have been "Long Duck Dong"... think the movie "16 Candles"
Look my big Wang
I can tell you are
You guys should do Syd Barret of Pink Floyd, the man who literally Acid tripped himself into self destruction and making some of the best music to listen to while on it
Brilliant idea with the copper mailboxes.
fascinating
Do oswald Mosley, been rewatching peaky blinders and I'd love to know about the real guy!
when you title the historical figure as 'Brilliant'
and then go one to describe they dispatched their chief rival by pointing at them and saying 'WITCH!!!'
I mean if it works it works.
Did you even watch the whole video
Interesting!
I would really appreciate an episode about Charles II of Spain
Hi Simon. Any chance of a Biographic on Ian Smith or Cecil Rhodes? A Sideproject on The Victoria Falls Bridge, or Zimbabwe Ruins? or a Geographic on The Victoria Falls, or the two toed Dema tribe?
Thanks, love your videos!
Wow, what a monster!
Mid video adds are so fun
Simon the Goat
Please do Hernán Cortés!
Ooooo this was a good one. How about a video about the brilliant Korean King SeJong? He was remarkable (i.e. secretly created a whole new language to free his people from the overpowering aristocrats and Ming Dynasty; established Korea's own astronomical centre and science; etc)
I was begging y’all in my other CZcams account Vida Hasselburg (forgot my pw) to do Empress Wu for like months last year. You made a sad dude happy AF today guys! Thank you!!! If you like historical fiction I recommend Evelyn McCune’s “Empress,” it’s a well-researched version of the story of Wu’s life told from her perspective ; from the beginning of her court life to her death. I would be reading this by my night light when I was in seventh grade because I was so enraptured and had to know what happened. (Obviously totally agreeing with they who brought up Cixi btw) 👍👍👍🙏🙏🙏🙏
"He began to be infrequently capacitated" I think you mixed up your syllables there Simon! :D
After hearing this, I would like to hear your take on Empress Cixi.
I think he already made a video on her
@@ricksanchez7607 Please send me the link!
Can you do Dowager Cixi next?
Would you guys consider doing a biographic on Geronimo?
Good evening and congratulations! I am Mrs Wu and you're our first customer! Meet Tanya the Lotus Eater!😂😂
Please do Jan Smuts!
She also moonlighted as a Night-Lite.
Wow. I watched a Chinese drama series of over 40 episodes that seems to follow this woman. It was great.
Can you do Alfred the great or Narmer