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Empress Wu Zetian

The Legendary Women of World History, Book 5

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Empress Wu Zetian

By: Laurel A. Rockefeller
Narrated by: Richard Mann
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About this listen

The most hated woman in Chinese history!

Travel back in time over 1,000 years and meet the first and only female emperor of China. Born Wu Zhao and given the reign title "Zetian" just weeks before her death in 705 CE, Empress Wu was the unwanted daughter of Chancellor Wu Shihuo—too bright, too educated, and too politically focused to make a good wife according to contemporary interpretations of the "Analects of Confucius."

Married off at age 14 as a low-ranking concubine to Emperor Taizong, Wu’s intelligence, beauty, and charm won her a place as his secretary and protégé, political experience that would empower her to transform the lives of countless billions.

Explore the life of Empress Wu and discover why the world is a vastly different place because she dared what no woman in China before or since ever dreamed of.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2016 Laurel A. Rockefeller (P)2018 Laurel A. Rockefeller History China

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This is a very interesting history of Empress Wu which is in a story form. I enjoyed listening to this book, overall, a great source of knowledge on the life and accomplishments of Empress Wu. Short and sweet book.

Short and Interesting story must listen

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As a young girl Jowell the daughter of a wealthy man is educated at a time when most women or not. At least not in history, math, writing ET see. Because of this it was hard for her father to find her a suitable match and that is why she found herself a lowly concubine to the The emperor of the sun and moon. Upon hearing of her level of education he summons her to the royal residence and it is here where he asked her what is her intentions on serving him and she says whatever you wish emperor and after a frank discussion about her education and willingness to do his bidding he makes her his top secretary and she quickly becomes a trusted person who he relies on. He has so much respect for her she never calls her to do her bedroom duties she is an A trusted member of the royal family, but upon the Emperor’s death is sent to a convent to live out the rest of her days. That is where she is with the son of the emperor sun and moon goes to see her and ask her the level of relationship she had with his father. Upon telling him that they were never intimate he quickly brings her back to the palace and makes her his number one concubine she eventually has many sons for him and a daughter that the current empress murdered due to jealousy of her being Baron. Here is where I will stop the story there is so much more to this story and it was really good. Although there’s a lot of opinion she had that I didn’t agree with ultimately it was about her life and not my opinion and I found it very entertaining and I loved that the author made the narrator Richard man a character in the book I thought that was so awesome! He does such a good job with these books!

An independent concubine

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The story itself is excellent; it's well-written, moves at a nice pace, and is obviously well researched. Additionally, the narrator does a wonderful job of bringing the story and characters to life. These things combined make for a fantastic and educational listening experience, which will appeal to both children and adults who want to learn history in a fun way.

A fantastic and educational listening experience

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Listener received this title free

I know a little about Empress Wu Zetian, so when I saw this, I had to listen to it. I was hoping that I would learn more then what I already knew about this famous empress.
This is more of a story than a nonfiction (what I expected). This did surprise me, but it did not put me off.
It starts of when Empress Wu Zetian was young and the people who influenced her. The book progresses through her life.
Now what I know of this Empress is that she is a cold woman and she got what she wanted. In this audiobook she is made out to be a great woman with a heart.
That is not to say that she was not a nice person or intelligent but from what I understood from history was that she was a heartless woman and I did not feel this book portrayed it. She was power hunger and she did whatever it took to stay in power.
Maybe if it was written in a nonfiction book I could have understood and believed the things she did and why but because it is made into a story, I did wonder what is true and what part the author felt.
This is my opinion and others might think differently.

Empress Wu Zetian

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