China's Only Female Emperor Murdered Her Way to Power

Added: 2026-05-27

[00:00:00]Did you know China's only female emperor murdered her own children to seize power? Wuedan started as a 14-year-old concubine in the Tang Dynasty palace.

[00:00:09]But she had bigger plans. When the emperor died, she was supposed to become a nun. Instead, she seduced his son, the new emperor. Then the real brutality began. Woo strangled her own newborn daughter and blamed the empress. The empress was framed, tortured, and executed. Woo didn't stop there. She poisoned her eldest son when he threatened her power. Her second son mysteriously died, too. Anyone who opposed her vanished. Thousands of officials were executed or exiled. By 690, she had eliminated every rival and declared herself emperor. But here's the twist. Her reign of terror created one of China's golden ages. Trade flourished, art bloomed, and the empire expanded. She promoted people based on talent, not birth. Woo ruled for 15 years through absolute fear. yet delivered unprecedented prosperity. She proved that sometimes the most ruthless paths lead to the greatest achievements.

[00:01:03]Power and progress, it seems, make strange bedfellows.