Romance of Wu Zetian

不题撰人Shanghai Joint Publishing Company · ChinaJun 2026

Rating 3.5
Word count
207K words
Chapters
67
ISBN
9787542642608

Tags

Otherworld Continent Court Case FictionDual-faced EmpressCase SolvingPalace IntriguePower GameDetective DeeHistorical Novel StyleWu Zetian Era

Summary

The Romance of Wu Zetian reflects the political and social conditions of the time through the deeds of Di Renjie, a famous minister during Wu Zetian's reign, and also indirectly narrates Wu Zetian's own dual characteristics of being both brilliant and debauched. Di Renjie and Wu Zetian: one a famous minister, the other a reigning queen. The Romance of Wu Zetian uses Di Renjie's ingenious solving of four great strange cases during Empress Wu's time to recreate the bizarre, astonishing, and startling social realities of the era.

Editor's review

Although The Romance of Wu Zetian is marked "author unknown," it is in fact a popular historical reader blending historical records, folk legend, and literary imagination. Based on the framework of official histories such as the Old Book of Tang, the New Book of Tang, and the Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance, the book absorbs a large number of legendary stories about Wu Zetian from romance novels and folk storytelling scripts since the Ming and Qing dynasties, forming a unique narrative style. Its value lies not in providing rigorous historical scholarship, but in presenting the complex evolution of the image of Wu Zetian—China's only female emperor—in folk memory and literary creation. The book's descriptions of palace secrets and power struggles are highly dramatic, the language is popular and fluent, the plot is full of ups and downs, and it is highly readable. Readers can glimpse traditional society's contradictory attitude toward female power—both criticism of "a hen crowing at dawn" and covert admiration for her political talent and extraordinary boldness. As a window into Wu Zetian's popular cultural image, the book has its significance, but readers should note the boundary between its literary fiction and historical fact.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. It can be regarded as a literary story based on a historical figure; when reading, compare it with official historical records to distinguish fact from romance
  2. Pay attention to the multifaceted portrayal of Wu Zetian's character and appreciate how female leadership is presented in traditional narrative
  3. Read alongside materials on Tang dynasty social background to better understand the era and constraints of the figures

About the publisher

Shanghai Joint Publishing Company China · Founded in 1986

Shanghai Joint Publishing Company focuses on humanities and social science publishing and has developed a distinctive profile in the collation and translation of classical literature and world classics. Its 258 titles in the database cover classical literature, world classics, foreign literature, literary appreciation, general biography, and modern poetry. Representative publications include the Annotated Dream of the Red Chamber by Zhiyanzhai series, as well as collected and selected works by classic authors such as Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and Shakespeare. Its authors and translators include Cao Xueqin, Zhiyanzhai, Dostoevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Zang Zhonglun, Zeng Siyi, Xu Zhenya, and Cao Ying. The press emphasizes the annotated collation of classic texts and the publication of authoritative translations, forming a publishing profile that spans both Chinese classical literature and world literary classics. Because public information on some details of its publishing history is limited, they are not discussed here.

Contents

  1. 版权信息
  2. 总序
  3. 导读
  4. 第一回 入官阶昌平为令 升公堂百姓呼冤
  5. 第二回 胡地甲诬良害己 洪都头借语知情
  6. 第三回 孔万德验尸呼错 狄仁杰卖药微行
  7. 第四回 设医科入门治病 见幼女得哑生疑
  8. 第五回 入浴室多言露情节 寻坟墓默祷显灵魂
  9. 第六回 老土工出言无状 贤令尹问案升堂
  10. 第七回 老妇人苦言求免 贤县令初次问供
  11. 第八回 鞫奸情利口如流 提老妇痴人可悯
  12. 第九回 陶土工具结无辞 狄县令开棺大验
  13. 第十回 恶淫妇阻挡收棺 贤县令诚心宿庙
  14. 第十一回 求灵签隐隐相合 详梦境凿凿而谈
  15. 第十二回 说对联猜疑徐姓 得形影巧遇马荣
  16. 第十三回 双土寨狄公访案 老丝行赵客闻风
  17. 第十四回 请庄客马荣交手 遇乡亲蒋忠谈心
  18. 第十五回 赵万全明言知盗首 狄梁公故意释奸淫
  19. 第十六回 聋差役以讹错讹 贤令尹将盗缉盗
  20. 第十七回 问路径小倌无礼 见凶犯旧友谎言
  21. 第十八回 蒲萁寨半路获凶人 昌平县大堂审要犯
  22. 第十九回 邵礼怀认供结案 华国祥投县呼冤
  23. 第二十回 胡秀士戏言招祸 狄县令度情审案
  24. 第二十一回 善言开导免验尸骸 二审口供升堂讯问
  25. 第二十二回 想案情猛然省悟 听哑语细察行踪
  26. 第二十三回 访凶人闻声报信 见毒蛇开释无辜
  27. 第二十四回 探消息假言请客 为盗贼大意惊人
  28. 第二十五回 以假弄真何恺捉贼 依计行事马荣擒人
  29. 第二十六回 见县官书生迂腐 揭地窖邑宰精明
  30. 第二十七回 少年郎供认不讳 淫泼妇忍辱熬刑
  31. 第二十八回 真县令扮作阎王 假阴官审明奸妇
  32. 第二十九回 狄梁公审明奸案 阎立本保奏贤臣
  33. 第三十回 赴杀场三犯施刑 入山东二臣议事
  34. 第三十一回 大巡抚访问恶棍 小黄门贪索银赃
  35. 第三十二回 元行冲奏参小吏 武三思怀恨大臣
  36. 第三十三回 狄仁杰奏参污吏 洪如珍接见大员
  37. 第三十四回 接印绶旧任受辱 发公文老民申冤
  38. 第三十五回 审恶奴受刑供认 辱奸贼设计讥嘲
  39. 第三十六回 敲铜锣游街示众 执皮鞭押令念供
  40. 第三十七回 众豪奴恃强图劫 好巡捕设计骗人
  41. 第三十八回 投书信误投罗网 入衙门自入牢笼
  42. 第三十九回 求人情恶打张昌宗 施国法怒斩周卜成
  43. 第四十回 入早朝直言面奏 遇良友细访奸僧
  44. 第四十一回 入山门老衲说真情 寻暗宝道婆行秽事
  45. 第四十二回 王虔婆花言骗烈妇 狄巡抚妙计遣公差
  46. 第四十三回 王进士击鼓鸣冤 老奸妇受刀身死
  47. 第四十四回 金銮殿狄仁杰直言 白马寺武三思受窘
  48. 第四十五回 搜地窖李氏尽节 升大堂怀义拷供
  49. 第四十六回 金銮殿两臣争奏 刑部府奸贼徇私
  50. 第四十七回 众百姓大闹法堂 武三思哀求巡抚
  51. 第四十八回 武承业罪定奸僧 薛敖曹夜行秽事
  52. 第四十九回 薛敖曹半路遭擒 狄梁公一心除贼
  53. 第五十回 查旧案显出贺三太 记前仇阉割薛敖曹
  54. 第五十一回 薛敖曹哭诉宫廷 武则天怒召奸党
  55. 第五十二回 怀宿怨诬奏忠良 出愤言挽回奸计
  56. 第五十三回 用非刑敬宗行毒 传圣诏伟之尽忠
  57. 第五十四回 狄仁杰掌颊武承嗣 许敬宗勾结李飞雄
  58. 第五十五回 太行山王魁送信 东京城敬宗定谋
  59. 第五十六回 李飞雄兵下太行山 胡世经力守怀庆府
  60. 第五十七回 安金藏剖心哭谏 狄仁杰奉命提兵
  61. 第五十八回 开战争金城送命 遇官兵吴猛亡身
  62. 第五十九回 访旧友计入敌营 获胜仗命攻大寨
  63. 第六十回 四面出兵飞雄中计 两将身死马荣回营
  64. 第六十一回 李飞雄悔志投降 安金藏入朝报捷
  65. 第六十二回 庐陵王驾回怀庆 高县令行毒孟城
  66. 第六十三回 见母后太子还朝 念老臣狄公病故
  67. 第六十四回 张柬之用谋除贼 庐陵王复位登朝

FAQ

Is this book a strict historical biography? No. This book belongs to the category of historical romance fiction. On the basic historical outline it blends a large amount of folk legend and literary fiction, aiming to tell a dramatic legendary story rather than a rigorous academic biography.
How much of the plot and characters in the book are real? The core figures and the framework of major historical events (such as entering the palace, proclaiming herself emperor, and establishing the Wu Zhou) have historical basis, but many details, dialogues, palace secrets, and some secondary plots are literary creation or folk legend and should not be fully believed as historical fact.
Is this book suitable for students as an introductory book to understand Wu Zetian? It can serve as a popular reader to spark interest, but it should not be the only or main source of knowledge. It is advisable to read it together with authoritative popular history books or selected passages from official histories to build a more comprehensive and objective understanding.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

不题撰人 Author

"Buti Zhuanren" is not the real name of a particular author, but a conventional attribution common in the collation and publication of Chinese classical texts, indicating that the original work has left no identifiable author or compiler. As for the holdings on this site, there are forty-three works under this attribution, and publicly available information is very limited: birth and death dates, nationality, and biographical details cannot be verified. Judging from the works themselves, their content centers mainly on traditional classics and classical popular literature, including unannotated editions of canonical and historical works such as the Zhouyi, Zhouli, and Bamboo Annals, as well as historical narratives and court-case tales such as the Sanguo zhi pinghua and The Cases of Lord Shi: A Hundred Strange Sights. The overall approach favors preserving the original text with little embellishment, allowing readers to encounter the old editions directly. The common categories cover historical reading, classic works, and classical literature, suggesting that this attribution mainly serves the function of preserving and popularizing texts rather than reflecting an individual author's creative character.