Empress Wu Zetian of China

Through most of history, male monarchs have been the norm. Their wives held the title of Queen or Empress, but were merely consorts, with little real power. Many monarchies, like France, The Ottoman Empire and Bhutan have strictly barred women from inheriting the throne and have ...  Show more

For most of history, men ruled the world. But for 3 decades in the late 1500s two powerful women dominated Europe. Catherine de Medici was Queen of France and Elizabeth I was Queen of England. Neither one was expected to be Queen. But both bid their time until they could seize po ...  Show more

The inculcation of Buddhism from India as the state religion in China was enabled by the violent rise of China’s only ever woman Emperor. Raised by pious Buddhist parents, Wu Zetian left a trail of bodies in her wake as she charted a path to absolute power. From a lowly ranked co ...  Show more

For better or (mostly) worse, Jiang Qing left her mark on the 20th century.

Even before she was married to Chairman Mao, Jiang was a charismatic actor, and her passion for culture helped her spearhead the Cultural Revolution as part of the Communist Party in China, l ...

Having garnered absolute power through bloody means, Empress Wu Zetian begins seeing apparitions, haunted by her violent schemes. With her husband incapacitated, the Empress at first held counsel on his behalf from behind a curtain. But she soon officially proclaimed herself a di ...  Show more

As both the Qianlong Emperor's extensive reign and the Eighteenth Century itself comes to a close, the Qing Empire faces - in spite of its outward posturing of timeless grandeur and invulnerability - an ever more uncertain future. By this time his successor, the Jiaqing Emperor, ...  Show more