Emperor Gaozong of Tang
唐高宗
“Under him the Tang reached its greatest extent — and his wife took the government”
Taizong's ninth son, chosen as heir because he was the least dangerous of the candidates. His armies destroyed Baekje and Goguryeo and carried the Tang frontier to its furthest limit, and his court became the stage for the rise of Wu Zetian, who was running the government in his name well before he died.
The marriage that decided the reign was contested from the start: Wu had been a junior consort of his father, and the senior ministers opposed her elevation on exactly that ground. Gaozong deposed Empress Wang in 655, installed Wu, and let the ministers who had objected be destroyed one by one.
From the 660s he suffered from a condition that brought dizziness and loss of vision, and Wu handled the documents. The court called them the Two Sages. When he died in 683 she moved through two of her own sons in as many months, and seven years later declared her own dynasty.
Both of his empresses are in the collection. Empress Wang, deposed and killed in 655, has her own silk; Wu Zetian has the most famous painting in it.
The empresses of this reign
Painted on silk in gemstone mineral pigments by Xiang Li.
About this page
Written for this site to place Gaozong's reign around the paintings. For the full biography, the dynastic histories and the scholarship behind them, start at Wikipedia.
Every Tang emperor
| Reign | Emperor | Painted empresses |
|---|---|---|
| 618 – 626 | Gaozu 唐高祖 Li Yuan 李淵 / 李渊 | |
| 626 – 649 | Taizong 唐太宗 Li Shimin 李世民 | |
| 649 – 683 | Gaozong 唐高宗 Li Zhi 李治 | |
| 690 – 705 | Wu Zetian 武則天 / 武则天 Wu Zhao 武曌 | |
| 684, and 705 – 710 | Zhongzong 唐中宗 Li Xian 李顯 / 李显 | |
| 684 – 690, and 710 – 712 | Ruizong 唐睿宗 Li Dan 李旦 | |
| 712 – 756 | Xuanzong (Li Longji) 唐玄宗 Li Longji 李隆基 | |
| 756 – 762 | Suzong 唐肅宗 / 唐肃宗 Li Heng 李亨 | |
| 762 – 779 | Daizong 唐代宗 Li Yu 李豫 | |
| 779 – 805 | Dezong 唐德宗 Li Kuo 李适 | |
| 805, for 186 days | Shunzong 唐順宗 / 唐顺宗 Li Song 李誦 / 李诵 | |
| 805 – 820 | Xianzong 唐憲宗 / 唐宪宗 Li Chun 李純 / 李纯 | |
| 820 – 824 | Muzong 唐穆宗 Li Heng 李恆 / 李恒 | |
| 824 – 826 | Jingzong 唐敬宗 Li Zhan 李湛 | |
| 826 – 840 | Wenzong 唐文宗 Li Ang 李昂 | |
| 840 – 846 | Wuzong 唐武宗 Li Yan 李炎 | |
| 846 – 859 | Xuanzong (Li Chen) 唐宣宗 Li Chen 李忱 | |
| 859 – 873 | Yizong 唐懿宗 Li Cui 李漼 | |
| 873 – 888 | Xizong 唐僖宗 Li Xuan 李儇 | — |
| 888 – 904 | Zhaozong 唐昭宗 Li Ye 李曄 / 李晔 | |
| 904 – 907 | Ai (Aidi) 唐哀帝 Li Zhu 李柷 | — |