Wu Zhou Revolution (English: Wu Zhou Revolution)

Japanese: 武周革命 - ぶしゅうかくめい（英語表記）Wǔ Zhōu gé mìng

This refers to the incident in China in 690 when Empress Dowager Wu (Empress Wu Zetian), the mother of Emperor Ruizong of the Tang Dynasty, became emperor, changed the country's name to Zhou, and brought the Tang Dynasty to an end. Having made decisions on governmental affairs in place of the sickly Emperor Gaozong, Empress Wu ended up seizing real power in the imperial court, and when Gaozong died in 683 (the first year of the Hongdao era), her son Prince Zhe ascended to the throne as Zhongzong, but was deposed within two months, and his successor, Emperor Ruizong, was nothing more than a puppet. Empress Dowager Wu appointed capable informants to positions, strengthened the network of the secret police, and after completely eliminating the Tang imperial family, she tried to recreate the Zhou Dynasty, which was considered to be the ideal world of ancient China.She also had her lover, the eccentric monk Xue Huaiyi, and others compose a text attached to a Buddhist scripture called the Mahavairocana Sutra, and had them publicize that "the Empress Dowager is the reincarnation of Maitreya Buddha, and should indeed take the throne in place of the Tang Dynasty."

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

中国で，690年に唐の睿宗（えいそう）の生母である太后の武氏(則天武后)が，皇帝となって国号を周と改め，唐朝を中断させたことをいう。病弱の高宗に代わって政務を決裁してきた武后は，朝廷における実権を掌握してしまい，683年(弘道1)に高宗が亡くなると，武后の子である太子哲が即位して中宗となったが2ヵ月たらずで廃され，つぎに立った睿宗もまったくの傀儡（かいらい）にすぎなかった。武太后は有能な密告者を官に取り立てて秘密警察の網の目を強化し，唐の宗室を排除しつくしたあげく，中国上代の理想の世とされる周朝を再現せんとし，また愛人の怪僧薛懐義（せつかいぎ）らに《大雲経》という仏典に付会した文章を作らせ，〈太后は弥勒（みろく）仏の下生なり，まさに唐に代わって帝位につくべし〉と宣伝させたのである。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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