| This paper, based on philology and bibliography, employs primarily the method of the Chinesenarrative culture. Meanwhile it gives consideration to psychology, Western Narratology, genderculture and other aspects of the research achievements to make a case study on Wu Zetian stories.Overall, the Wu Zetian stories divide in two dimensions, that is, the official written records and thefolk oral legends. There are two opposing tendencies: derogatory and praised. In the male powerculture frame, if woman can’t be" an angel", then she must be" the devil", which is the result of thedevil effect and the halo effect..Wu Zetian’s literary image is filtered by the orthodox culture, andis the carrier of the various concepts changed, processed and produced by different groups forprotecting their own interests. It is the product of the mainstream culture.Wu Zetian in folk is theexpression of ideal wishes of people.From the longitudinal view, Wu Zetian stories can be divided into four periods: the starting period,the evolution period, the transformation period and the period of prosperity. Tang and FiveDynasties, are the starting period. The record involved all aspects dotted here and there,and theywere the origin of the decent Wu Zetian story. Wu Zetian stories in this period spread when herdescendants were in power. Because of the Isomorphism of family and country in feudal society,filial piety and" venerable taboo", the Tang Dynasty ’s image of Wu Zetian generally resembledthat in history. Song and Yuan Dynasties are the evolution period. People began to comment onWu Zetian without scruple. Due to the Jingkang Incident, the self-contentment of Southern SongDynasty, and the Yuan Dynasty’s invasion into Central Plains, people opposed to "opposite sex"and then plus "alien" and so Wu Zetian stories were shrouded with an orthodoxy and national idea.The Ming Dynasty is the period of transformation. The development of commodity economy, therise of the citizen stratum during this period had made people overturn the traditional historicalreality. Novels and operas tended to deliberately distort and maliciously disparage, and a largenumber of erotic novels emerged. Qing Dynasty is t the period of prosperity. Wu Zetian boom.There were higher artistic quality works in various literary styles. Those works appeared todemonize Wu Zetian.From the transverse view, Wu Zetian stories were related to many different fields. The second,third, fourth, and fifth chapters of this paper will develop based on in the political culture,religious culture, the mysterious culture and gender culture. Each chapter centers on a theme. Thefirst section of each chapter is the overview on the relationship between Wu Zetian and the theme,and then combs the spread and changes of theme, followed by the rheological characteristics andcultural implication of the theme in order of dynasties. The last section is the summary ofliterature rule on such a story, with particular attention to study the dynamic trajectory fromhistoriography shifting to literature. Specific content is as follows: The first chapter is the literature review of materials about Wu Zetian. In order of dynasties. thegenres of these materials in each dynasty are history books, unofficial history, novels and dramas,poems and so on. Each of the works is briefly introduced the genre, the author, description,versions, and contents related Wu Zetian.The second chapter is the theme of woman political interference in Wu Zetian ’s stories throughoutwhich Wu Zetian’s throne legitimacy was questioned. The texts in Tang Dynasty relativeobjectively reflected Wu Zetian ’s the merits and demerits; the texts in Song and Yuan Dynastiescriticized Wu Zetian ’s arrogation behavior from the angle of orthodoxy; the texts in Ming Dynastydescribed Wu Zetian as a stupid incompetent, her political ability weakened. In Qing Dynasty, WuZetian were made to be a catastrophe to people, and also, the only positive imagin of Wu Zetiancame out-a ideal emperor who is supporting women taking part in politic.The third chapter is the theme of karma in Wu Zetian’s stories. The relation between Wu Zetianand Buddhism has two clues. One is that Wu Zetian had made use of Buddhism. Her use ofBuddhism as their aspirations to the throne of public opinion forerunner, regarded it as the tool toachieve her goals and theory weapon. Another clue is that the feudal literati class, using theBuddhist concept of karma to punish Wu Zetian, distorted image of her.The fourth chapter is the mysterious thinking theme in Wu Zetian’s stories. The stories in Tangand Song Dynasties were mainly out of the set thinking in that " Saints have different faces", andemperors were born extraordinarily. Yuan Ming period focused on the destiny of Wu Zetian ’saccession to be an emperor. In Qing Dynasty, such stories emphasized the deification of WuZetian. Generally speaking, all of these stories reflected the thought of manifest destiny and thedivine right of kings.The fifth chapter is about Wu Zetian’s incestuous love. There are two main clues about WuZetian’s emotional life. One is about Wu Zetian’s love with Tang Taizong and with Tang Gaozong.The other is about the relation between Wu Zetian and her favorites. The former relation is open"legal" husband and wife, while the latter is underground lovers. The former is Wu Zetian’sclimbing ladder to rights, and the latter is the delight in her later life. The former is later criticizedbecause she violated" Incest" taboo and the latter is due to destruction of" morality" and become atarget for all. Tang and Song Dynasties, these stories are generally consistent with the facts.From the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the two clues become one, both in the direction ofsexual passion. Ding Dynasty, Wu Zetian had been demonized completely.It is a discrimination phenomenon of Wu Zetian be demonized which is the result of feudalphilosophy of gender generalization expending to the field of politics, ethics and other.WuZetian’s stories made the transformation from political theme to erotic theme. It is men whotransferred political failure to bisexual battlefield. The patriarchal society cleared out Wu Zetianfrom political ruling. Wu Zetian’s remarks in the stories had been submerged by the male hegemony slobber. She was considered as a symbol and a meaningless empty signifier. She hadbecome the uphold of the authors’ individual will with the nature of treating her badly. The imageof Wu Zetian in the traditional culture assumed the function of compensation, catharsis andeducation. Her stories in history fluctuated with the status of women waving, and became the vaneof political game between men and women. |
