Lady Wu: The First Empress

Lady Wu - The First Empress

Details

• Title: 至尊紅顏武媚娘 / Zhi Zun Hong Yan Wu Mei Niang
• Broadcast network: GTV
• Broadcast year: 2003
• Opening theme Song: Zhi Zun Hong Yan by Zhang Ke Fan
• Ending theme Song: Forget by Lin Chin Ru

Synopsis

Empress Wu Zetian is the only throned women in the long history of ancient China. She was not born noble. Instead, she was a daughter of wood merchant names Wu Shihuo. In the ancient times, merchants were looked down upon as an inferior group, as they were always taken greedy and cruel. However, her mother was a noble of the previous Sui Dynasty, which had been replaced by Tang Dynasty after many wars between Yang Guang and Li Shimin. Therefore, Empress Wu's mother, Princess Yang, led a poor life until she was married at her forties. She bore two daughters for his husband, and the empress is their second daughter.

Wu Zetian was selected to the Imperial Palace at forteen, when Li Shimin was the emperor. He fell in love with Wu's beauty at the first glance but soon became interested in another pretty girl named Xu Hui, who was also a clever and smart girl as Wu. Once there was a song popular in the streets of Chang'an City, it sang that an empress with surname Wu would took up the throne and kill all the descendants of Imperial Family Li up. Li Shimin had once suspected that Wu Zetian might be the predicted empress, So he meant to kill her so as to extinguish any potential danger. But he ultimately gave up and told her to be a nun in Ganye Temple together with others of his wifes. After all, it is radiculous to believe in that time that a woman could became a ruler.

Nevertheless, Li Shimin had never taken into account that his son, the successive emperor Li Zhi had been in love with Wu for a long time. After about ten years of the previous emperor's death, Li Zhi's Queen Wang met Wu back to the Imperial Palace to fight against another Queen Shu, who had seized almost all the love of their husband and emperor. Wu defeated Shu first and consequently the Queen Wang and became the new Queen of Li Zhi. As Li Zhi always had headaches since he was very young, he sometimes could not deal with so many official documents from every corner of his giant imperial country. Thus, the clever and wise Queen Wu would occassioally read and reply to those ducuments instead of him. As the time flied fast, Wu treated more and more ducuments, while the emperor got more and more leisure and lost his power day after day. When he was seriously ill to dye, the court was full of officers from the Wu's family.

After Zhi's death, the third son of Wu and Zhi, Xian, declared to be emperor. But around three months later, because of a tiny mistake in his decision, he was exiled to a remote place called Fangling. Then he was extremely afraid that his mother might kill him as his two elder brothers and committed many suicide in vain as his wife Queen Wei rescued him for many times and encouraged him to live on. Xian's only younger brother, Dan, took the throne for even shorter times than his brother. Under the pressure from the officers in the court from the Wu's family and the threat that he might be killed at any time or place, he gave up the throne and passed it to his mother. Then Wu Zetian became the first empress and also the mere empress evidenced by history.

Wu devoted herself to the power and management of the contry and constitute a lot. The people never hated her as they them led happy and rich lives. However, some of the former nobles of the Li's family would never forgive her, even her own daughter Princess Taiping. She planned carefully and prepared cautiously to overwhelm her mother and the Wu's family. The once emperor Xian took back his throne. Wu Zetian survived her last time of her life in the Palace Shangyang, without anyone at her side.

Cast

• Alyssa Chia as Wu Mei Niang
• Zhao Wenzhuo as Li Jun Xian
• Bao Jianfeng

External Links

• GTV Official Homepage
• CTS Website
• TOM Website