Wu Zetian developed her political authority within the Tang imperial court, first as a consort of Taizong and then of Gaozong. She became empress in 655 after the removal of Empress Wang. As Gaozong's health deteriorated, Wu took increasing responsibility for government and built alliances among officials. Accounts of her rise were often composed by writers hostile to female rule, making sensational allegations about palace crimes particularly difficult to assess.

After Gaozong died in 683, Wu ruled through her sons, removing Zhongzong and keeping Ruizong in a subordinate position. She consolidated power through appointments, surveillance, and the elimination of opponents. In 690 she adopted the imperial title and established her own Zhou dynasty, interrupting Tang rule. Religious and symbolic claims helped legitimate the unprecedented position, including Buddhist representations that supported a woman exercising sovereign authority. Her political center at Luoyang emphasized the distinct character of the regime.

Wu's administration expanded recruitment through examinations and promoted officials beyond the most established aristocratic networks. That policy strengthened her access to capable servants and reduced dependence on families associated with rival claims. Her reign also involved military campaigns, frontier difficulties, and the maintenance of a large imperial administration. Buddhist patronage supported temples and cultural production, while reliance on secret-police officials produced coercion and terror within the elite. Institutional achievements therefore should not be separated from the methods used to secure them.

In her final years, illness and the influence of favored court figures weakened the government. A coup in 705 forced her abdication and restored Zhongzong and the Tang dynasty. She died later that year and was buried with Gaozong. Later histories alternately portrayed her as a destructive usurper or praised her effectiveness, often making gender itself central to judgment. Modern reassessment distinguishes biases in those sources from the evidence for political violence and administrative skill; rejecting misogynistic narratives does not establish that every accusation was false. Her career remains distinctive as that of the only woman to hold the Chinese imperial title in her own right without a substantial dispute over that status.