Wu Zetian as imagined by Copilot Designer "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way," Leo Tolstoy told us. It has come to be known as the Anna Karenina Principle. Is there a similar principle in politics? Something like: “All happy dictators are alike”? This doubt struck me as I was reading the fifth chapter of William Dalrymple’s latest book, The Golden Road . Titled ‘The Fifth Concubine’, this chapter is about Empress Wu Zetian of 7 th century China. Dalrymple informs us that she was “the only woman who became emperor in her own right in 3,000 years of Chinese history.” She came from rather humble origins. Daughter of a merchant, Wu was admitted to Emperor Taizong’s harem as a concubine of the fifth grade. That was a lowly position, not much more than that of maid. But Wu was so beautiful that the aging Emperor was besotted and gave her the title of ‘Enchanting Miss Wu’. After the old Emperor’s death, his son, the new Emperor, m...
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