What are some differences between the real West in The Mystic with of popular culture?

What was the history of Islam during its first 100 years?

This was the golden period of not only of Islam also of whole humanity. The Muslim rulers (HALIFAH) give peace, education, Justice equally, and all happiness to mankind. The Islamic Golden Age or the Islamic Renaissance, is traditionally dated from the 9th to 13th centuries C.E., for 400 years but has been extended to the 15th century by recent scholarship. During this period, artists, engineers, scholars, poets, philosophers, geographers and traders in theIslamic worldcontributed to the arts,agriculture, economics,industry, law,literature,navigation,philosophy,sciences, sociology, andtechnology, both by preserving earlier traditions and by adding inventions and innovations of their own. Howard R. Turner writes: "Muslim artists and scientists, princes and laborers together made a unique culture that has directly and indirectly influenced societies on every continent.Contents[hide] 1 Foundations 1.1 Ethics1.2 Institutions1.3 Polymaths2 Economy 2.1 Age of discovery2.2 Agricultural Revolution2.3 Market economy2.4 Industrial growth2.5 Labour2.6 Technology2.7 Urbanization3 Sciences 3.1 Scientific method3.2 Peer review3.3 Astronomy3.4 Chemistry3.5 Mathematics3.6 Medicine3.7 Physics3.8 Other sciences4 Other achievements 4.1 Architecture4.2 Arts4.3 Literature4.4 Music4.5 Philosophy5 End of the Golden Age 5.1 Mongol invasion and Turkic settlement5.2 Causes of decline6 Notes7 See also8 References9 External links[edit]FoundationsFurther information: Early reforms under Islam and Muslim conquests Age of the Caliphs Expansion under Muhammad, 622-632 Expansion during the Rashidun Caliphate, 632-661 Expansion during the Umayyad Caliphate, 661-750 During the Muslim conquests of the 7th and early 8th centuries, Rashidun armiesestablished the Caliphate, or Islamic Empire, one of the largest empires in history. TheIslamic Golden Age was soon inaugurated by the middle of the 8th century by the ascension of the Abbasid Caliphate and the transfer of the capital from Damascus to the newly founded city Baghdad. The Abbassids were influenced by the Qur'anic injunctions and hadith such as "The ink of the scholar is more holy than the blood of martyrs" stressing the value of knowledge. During this period the Muslim world became the unrivaled intellectual centre for science, philosophy, medicine and education as the Abbasids championed the cause of knowledge. They established the "House of Wisdom" (Arabic:بيت الحكمة) in Baghdad, where scholars, both Muslim and non-Muslim, sought to gather and translate all the world's knowledge into Arabic in the Translation Movement. Many classic works of antiquity that would otherwise have been forgotten were translated into Arabic and later in turn translated into Turkish,Persian, Hebrew and Latin. During this period the Muslim world was a cauldron of cultures which collected, synthesized and significantly advanced the knowledge gained from the ancient Mesopotamian,Roman, Chinese, Indian, Persian, Egyptian, North African, Greek and Byzantine civilizations. Rival Muslim dynasties such as the Fatimids of Egypt and the Umayyads of al-Andalus were also major intellectual centres with cities such as Cairo and Córdoba rivaling Baghdad.[6]A major innovation of this period was paper - originally a secret tightly guarded by the Chinese. The art ofpapermaking was obtained from prisoners taken at the Battle of Talas (751), resulting in paper millsbeing built in the Islamic cities of Samarkand and Baghdad. The Arabs improved upon the Chinese techniques of using mulberry bark by using starch to account for the Muslim preference for pens vs. the Chinese for brushes. By AD 900 there were hundreds of shops employing scribes and binders for books in Baghdad and even public libraries began to become established, including the first lending libraries. From here paper-making spread west to Fez and then to al-Andalus and from there to Europe in the 13th century.[7]Much of this learning and development can be linked to topography. Even prior to Islam's presence, the city of Mecca served as a center of trade in Arabia. The tradition of the pilgrimage to Mecca became a center for exchanging ideas and goods. The influence held by Muslim merchants over African-Arabian and Arabian-Asian trade routes was tremendous. As a result, Islamic civilization grew and expanded on the basis of its merchant economy, in contrast to their Christian, Indian and Chinese peers who built societies from an agricultural landholding nobility. Merchants brought goods and their faith to China, India (the Indian subcontinent now has over 450 million followers), South-east Asia (which now has over 230 million followers), and the kingdoms of Western Africa and returned with new inventions. Merchants used their wealth to invest in textiles and plantations.Aside from traders, Sufi missionaries also played a large role in the spread of Islam, by bringing their message to various regions around the world. The principal locations included: Persia, Ancient Mesopotamia, Central Asia and North Africa. Although, the mystics also had a significant influence in parts of Eastern Africa, Ancient Anatolia (Turkey), South Asia, East Asia and South-east Asia.[8][9][edit]EthicsMain articles: Islamic ethics and Early reforms under IslamFurther information: Islamic democracy and Constitution of MedinaMany medieval Muslim thinkers pursued humanistic, rational and scientific discourses in their search forknowledge, meaning and values. A wide range of Islamic writings on love, poetry, history andphilosophical theology show that medieval Islamic thought was open to the humanistic ideas ofindividualism, occasional secularism, skepticism and liberalism.[10][11]Religious freedom, though society was still controlled under Islamic values, helped create cross-culturalnetworks by attracting Muslim, Christian and Jewish intellectuals and thereby helped spawn the greatest period of philosophical creativity in the Middle Ages from the 8th to 13th centuries.[6] Another reason the Islamic world flourished during this period was an early emphasis on freedom of speech, as summarized by al-Hashimi (a cousin of Caliph al-Ma'mun) in the following letter to one of the religious opponents he was attempting to convert through reason:[12]"Bring forward all the arguments you wish and say whatever you please and speak your mind freely. Now that you are safe and free to say whatever you please appoint some arbitrator who will impartially judge between us and lean only towards the truth and be free from the empary of passion, and that arbitrator shall be Reason, whereby God makes us responsible for our own rewards and punishments. Herein I have dealt justly with you and have given you full security and am ready to accept whatever decision Reason may give for me or against me. For "There is no compulsion in religion" (Qur'an 2:256) and I have only invited you to accept our faith willingly and of your own accord and have pointed out the hideousness of your present belief. Peace be upon you and the blessings of God!"The earliest known treatises dealing with environmentalism and environmental science, especiallypollution, were Arabic treatises written by al-Kindi, al-Razi, Ibn Al-Jazzar, al-Tamimi, al-Masihi, Avicenna,Ali ibn Ridwan, Abd-el-latif, and Ibn al-Nafis. Their works covered a number of subjects related to pollution such as air pollution, water pollution, soil contamination, municipal solid waste mishandling, and environmental impact assessments of certain localities.[13] Cordoba, al-Andalus also had the firstwaste containers and waste disposal facilities for litter collection.[14][edit]InstitutionsFurther information: Madrasah, Bimaristan, Islamic astronomy, Sharia, Fiqh, and Islamic economics in the worldA number of important educational and scientific institutions previously unknown in the ancient world have their origins in the early Islamic world, with the most notable examples being: the public hospital(which replaced healing temples and sleep temples)[15] and psychiatric hospital,[16] the public library andlending library, the academic degree-granting university, and the astronomical observatory as a research institute[15] (as opposed to a private observation post as was the case in ancient times).[17]The first universities which issued diplomas were the Bimaristan medical university-hospitals of the medieval Islamic world, where medical diplomas were issued to students of Islamic medicine who were qualified to be practicing doctors of medicine from the 9th century.[18] The Guinness Book of World Records recognizes the University of Al Karaouine in Fez, Morocco as the oldest degree-granting university in the world with its founding in 859 CE.[19] Al-Azhar University, founded in Cairo, Egypt in the975 CE, offered a variety of academic degrees, including postgraduate degrees, and is often considered the first full-fledged university. The origins of the doctorate also dates back to the ijazat attadris WA 'l-ifttd("license to teach and issue legal opinions") in the medieval Madrasahs which taught Islamic law.[20]By the 10th century, Cordoba had 700 mosques, 60,000 palaces, and 70 libraries, the largest of which had 600,000 books. In the whole al-Andalus, 60,000 treatises, poems, polemics and compilations were published each year.[21] The library of Cairo had two million books,[22] while the library of Tripoli is said to have had as many as three million books before it was destroyed by Crusaders. The number of important and original medieval Arabic works on the mathematical sciences far exceeds the combined total of medieval Latin and Greek works of comparable significance, although only a small fraction of the surviving Arabic scientific works have been studied in modern times.[23] For instance, Jamil Ragip, anhistorian of science from McGill University, says that 'less than 5% of the available material has been studied.'[24] A Russian historian gives an idea of the numerical quantity of these manuscripts and works always findable:"The results of the Arab scholars' literary activities are reflected in the enormous amount of works (about some hundred thousand) and manuscripts (not less than 5 million) which were current... These figures are so imposing that only the printed epoch presents comparable materials"[25]A number of distinct features of the modern library were introduced in the Islamic world, where libraries not only served as a collection of manuscripts as was the case in ancient libraries, but also as a public library and lending library, a centre for the instruction and spread of sciences and ideas, a place for meetings and discussions, and sometimes as a lodging for scholars or boarding school for pupils. The concept of the library catalogue was also introduced in medieval Islamic libraries, where books were organized into specific genres and categories.[26]Several fundamental common law institutions may have been adapted from similar legal institutions inIslamic law and jurisprudence, and introduced to England by the Normans after the Norman conquest of England and the Emirate of Sicily, and by Crusaders during the Crusades. In particular, the "royal English contract protected by the action of debt is identified with the Islamic Aqd, the English assize of novel disseisin is identified with the Islamic Istihqaq, and the English jury is identified with the IslamicLafif." Other legal institutions introduced in Islamic law include the trust and charitable trust(Waqf),[27][28] the agency and aval (Hawala),[29] and the lawsuit and medical peer review.[30] Other English legal institutions such as "the scholastic method, the license to teach," the "law schools known as Inns of Court in England and Madrasas in Islam" and the "European commenda" (Islamic Qirad) may have also originated from Islamic law. These influences have led some scholars to suggest that Islamic law may have laid the foundations for "the common law as an integrated whole".[20][edit]PolymathsAnother common feature during the Islamic Golden Age was the large number of Muslim polymathscholars, who were known as "Hakeems", each of whom contributed to a variety of different fields of both religious and secular learning, comparable to the later "Renaissance Men" (such as Leonardo da Vinci) of the European Renaissance period.[31][32] During the Islamic Golden Age, polymath scholars with a wide breadth of knowledge in different fields were more common than scholars who specialized in any single field of learning.[31] Notable medieval Muslim polymaths included al-Biruni, al-Jahiz, al-Kindi, Ibn Sina (Latinized: Avicenna),al-Idrisi, Ibn Bajjah, Ibn Zuhr, Ibn Tufail, Ibn Rushd (Latinized: Averroes), al-Suyuti,[33] Geber,[34] Abbas Ibn Firnas,[35] Alhacen,[36] Ibn al-Nafis,[37] Ibn Khaldun,[38] al-Khwarizmi, al-Masudi, al-Muqaddasi, andNasīr al-Dīn al-Tūsī.[31][edit]Economy[edit]Age of discoveryMain article: Islamic geographySee also: Islamic economics in the world, Inventions in the Muslim world, Ibn Battuta, and Pre-Columbian Andalusian-Americas contact theoriesThe Islamic Empire significantly contributed to globalization during the Islamic Golden Age, when theknowledge, trade and economies from many previously isolated regions and civilizations began integrating due to contacts with Muslim explorers, sailors, scholars, traders, and travelers. Some have called this period the "Pax Islamica" or "Afro-Asiatic age of discovery", in reference to the Southwest Asian and North African traders and explorers (though mostly Muslims, some were also JewishRadhanites) who travelled most of the Old World, and established an early global economy[39] across most of Asia and Africa and much of Europe, with their trade networks extending from the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea in the west to the Indian Ocean and China Sea in the east.[40] This helped establish the Islamic Empire (including the Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid and Fatimid caliphates) as the world's leading extensive economic power throughout the 7th-13th centuries.[39] Several contemporary medieval Arabic reports also suggest that Muslim explorers from al-Andalus and theMaghreb may have travelled in expeditions across the Atlantic Ocean between the 9th and 14th centuries.[41][edit]Agricultural RevolutionMain article: Muslim Agricultural RevolutionThe valve-operatedreciprocating suction piston pumpwith crankshaft-connecting rodmechanism invented by al-Jazari in the 12th century.The Islamic Golden Age witnessed a fundamental transformation inagriculture known as the "Muslim Agricultural Revolution" or "Arab Agricultural Revolution".[42] Due to the global economy established by Muslim traders across the Old World, this enabled the diffusion of many plants and farming techniques between different parts of the Islamic world, as well as the adaptation of plants and techniques from beyond the Islamic world. Crops from Africa such as sorghum, crops from China such as citrus fruits, and numerous crops fromIndia such as mangos, rice, and especially cotton and sugar cane, were distributed throughout Islamic lands which normally would not be able to grow these crops.[43] Some have referred to the diffusion of numerous crops during this period as the "Globalisation of Crops",[44]which, along with an increased mechanization of agriculture (seeIndustrial growth below), led to major changes in economy,population distribution, vegetation cover,[45] agricultural production and income, population levels, urban growth, the distribution of thelabour force, linked industries, cooking and diet, clothing, and numerous other aspects of life in the Islamic world.[43]During the Muslim Agricultural Revolution, sugar production was refined and transformed into a large-scale industry by the Arabs, who built the first sugar refineries and sugar plantations. The Arabs andBerbers diffused sugar throughout the Islamic Empire from the 8th century.[46]Muslims introduced cash cropping[47] and the modern crop rotation system where land was cropped four or more times in a two-year period. Winter crops were followed by summer ones. In areas where plants of shorter growing season were used, such as spinach and eggplants, the land could be cropped three or more times a year. In parts of Yemen, wheat yielded two harvests a year on the same land, as did rice in Iraq.[43] Muslims developed a scientific approach to agriculture based on three major elements; sophisticated systems of crop rotation, highly developed irrigation techniques, and the introduction of a large variety of crops which were studied and catalogued according to the season, type of land and amount of water they require. Numerous encyclopaedias on farming and botany were produced, containing accurate, precise detail.[48][edit]Market economyMain article: Islamic economics in the worldEarly forms of proto-capitalism and free markets were present in the Caliphate,[49] where an early market economy and early form of merchant capitalism was developed between the 8th-12th centuries, which some refer to as "Islamic capitalism".[50] A vigorous monetary economy was created on the basis of the expanding levels of circulation of a stable high-value currency (the dinar) and the integration of monetaryareas that were previously independent. Innovative new business techniques and forms of business organisation were introduced by economists, merchants and traders during this time. Such innovations included early trading companies, credit cards, big businesses, contracts, bills of exchange, long-distance international trade, early forms of partnership (mufawada) such as limited partnerships(mudaraba), and early forms of credit, debt, profit, loss, capital (al-mal), capital accumulation (nama al-mal),[47] circulating capital, capital expenditure, revenue, cheques, promissory notes,[51] trusts (waqf),startup companies,[52] savings accounts, transactional accounts, pawning, loaning, exchange rates,bankers, money changers, ledgers, deposits, assignments, the double-entry bookkeeping system,[53]and lawsuits.[30] Organizational enterprises similar to corporations independent from the state also existed in the medieval Islamic world.[54][55] Many of these early proto-capitalist concepts were adopted and further advanced in medieval Europe from the 13th century onwards.[47]The systems of contract relied upon by merchants was very effective. Merchants would buy and sell oncommission, with money loaned to them by wealthy investors, or a joint investment of several merchants, who were often Muslim, Christian and Jewish. Recently, a collection of documents was found in an Egyptian synagogue shedding a very detailed and human light on the life of medieval Middle Eastern merchants. Business partnerships would be made for many commercial ventures, and bonds ofkinship enabled trade networks to form over huge distances. Networks developed during this time enabled a world in which money could be promised by a bank in Baghdad and cashed in Spain, creating the cheque system of today. Each time items passed through the cities along this extraordinary network, the city imposed a tax, resulting in high prices once reaching the final destination. These innovations made by Muslims and Jews laid the foundations for the modern economic system.Though medieval Islamic economics appears to have been closer to proto-capitalism, some scholars have also found a number of parallels between Islamic economic jurisprudence and communism, including the Islamic ideas of zakat and riba.[56][edit]Industrial growthFurther information: Muslim Agricultural Revolution: Industrial growth and Inventions in the Muslim world Jabir ibn Hayyan (Geber) introduced the experimental methodto chemistry. He established thechemical industry and perfumeryindustry. Muslim engineers in the Islamic world made a number of innovativeindustrial uses of hydropower, and early industrial uses of tidal power, wind power, steam power,[57] fossil fuels such as petroleum, and early large factory complexes (tiraz in Arabic).[58] The industrial uses of watermills in the Islamic world date back to the 7th century, while horizontal-wheeled and vertical-wheeled water mills were both in widespread use since at least the 9th century. A variety of industrial mills were being employed in the Islamic world, including early fulling mills, gristmills, hullers, paper mills, sawmills, shipmills,stamp mills, steel mills, sugar mills, tide mills and windmills. By the 11th century, every province throughout the Islamic world had these industrial mills in operation, from al-Andalus and North Africa to theMiddle East and Central Asia.[59] Muslim engineers also inventedcrankshafts and water turbines, employed gears in mills and water-raising machines, and pioneered the use of dams as a source of water power, used to provide additional power to watermills and water-raising machines.[46] Such advances made it possible for many industrial tasks that were previously driven by manual labour inancient times to be mechanized and driven by machinery instead in the medieval Islamic world. The transfer of these technologies to medieval Europe had an influence on the Industrial Revolution.[60]A number of industries were generated due to the Muslim Agricultural Revolution, including early industries for agribusiness, astronomical instruments, ceramics, chemicals, distillation technologies,clocks, glass, mechanical hydropowered and wind powered machinery, matting, mosaics, pulp and paper, perfumery, petroleum, pharmaceuticals, rope-making, shipping, shipbuilding, silk, sugar, textiles,water, weapons, and the mining of minerals such as sulphur, ammonia, lead and iron. Early large factorycomplexes (tiraz) were built for many of these industries, and knowledge of these industries were later transmitted to medieval Europe, especially during the Latin translations of the 12th century, as well as before and after. For example, the first glass factories in Europe were founded in the 11th century byEgyptian craftsmen in Greece.[61] The agricultural and handicraft industries also experienced high levels of growth during this period.[40][edit]LabourFurther information: Muslim Agricultural Revolution - LabourThe labour force in the Caliphate were employed from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds, while both men and women were involved in diverse occupations and economic activities.[62] Women were employed in a wide range of commercial activities and diverse occupations[63] in the primary sector (asfarmers for example), secondary sector (as construction workers, dyers, spinners, etc.) and tertiary sector (as investors, doctors, nurses, presidents of guilds, brokers, peddlers, lenders, scholars, etc.).[64]Muslim women also had a monopoly over certain branches of the textile industry.[63]During the Arab slave trade, slaves were purchased on the frontiers of the Islamic world and then imported to the major centers, where there were slave markets from which they were widely distributed.[65][66][67] Slaves occupied an important place in the economic life of Islamic world.[68][69]Large numbers of slaves were exported from eastern Africa to work in salt mines and labour-intensiveplantations; the best evidence for this is the magnitude of the Zanj revolt in Iraq in the 9th century.[70]Slaves were also used for domestic work,[71] military service,[72] and civil administration.[73] Central andEastern European slaves were generally known as Saqaliba (i.e. Slavs), while slaves from Central Asiaand the Caucasus were often known as Mamluk.[74][edit]TechnologyMain articles: Inventions in the Muslim world, Muslim Agricultural Revolution, and Timeline of Muslim scientists and engineersThe programmable automata ofal-Jazari.A significant number of inventions were produced by medieval Muslim engineers and inventors, such as Abbas Ibn Firnas, theBanū Mūsā, Taqi al-Din, and most notably al-Jazari.Some of the inventions believed to have come from the Islamic Golden Age include the camera obscura, coffee, soap bar, tooth paste, shampoo, pure distillation, liquefaction, crystallization,purification, oxidization, evaporation, filtration, distilled alcohol, uric acid, nitric acid, alembic, valve, reciprocating suction piston pump, mechanized waterclocks, quilting, scalpel, bone saw, forceps, surgical catgut, vertical-axle windmill, inoculation, smallpox vaccine, fountain pen, cryptanalysis,frequency analysis, three-course meal, stained glass and quartz glass, Persian carpet, and celestial globe.[75][edit]UrbanizationFurther information: Muslim Agricultural Revolution: UrbanizationAs urbanization increased, Muslim cities grew unregulated, resulting in narrow winding city streets andneighbourhoods separated by different ethnic backgrounds and religious affiliations. These qualities proved efficient for transporting goods[citation needed] to and from major commercial centres while preserving the privacy valued by Islamic family life. Suburbs lay just outside the walled city, from wealthy residential communities, to working class semi-slums. City garbage dumps were located far from the city, as were clearly defined cemeteries which were often homes for criminals. A place of prayer was found just near one of the main gates, for religious festivals and public executions. Similarly, military training grounds were found near a main gate.Muslim cities also had advanced domestic water systems with sewers, public baths, drinking fountains,piped drinking water supplies,[76] and widespread private and public toilet and bathing facilities.[77] By the 10th century, Cordoba had 700 mosques, 60,000 palaces, and 70 libraries.[21]The average life expectancy in the lands under Islamic rule also experienced an increase, due to the Agricultural Revolution as well as improved medical care. In contrast to the average lifespan in the ancient Greco-Roman world (22-28 years),[78][79] the average lifespan in the early Islamic Caliphate was more than 35 years.[80] The average lifespans of the Islamic scholarly class in particular was much higher: 84.3 years in 10th-11th century Iraq and Persia,[81] 72.8 years in the 11th century Middle East, 69-75 years in 11th century Islamic Spain,[82] 75 years in 12th century Persia,[83] and 59-72 years in 13th century Persia.[84] The Islamic Empire also experienced a growth in literacy, having the highest literacy rate of the Middle Ages, comparable to Athens' literacy in classical antiquity but on a larger scale.[85][edit]SciencesMain article: Islamic scienceFurther information: Islamic contributions to Medieval Europe, Timeline of science and technology in the Islamic world, and List of Muslim scientistsThe traditional view of Islamic science was that it was chiefly a preserver and transmitter of ancient knowledge.[86] For example, Donald Lach argues that modern science originated in Europe as an amalgam of medieval technology and Greek learning.[87] These views have been disputed in recent times, with some scholars suggesting that Muslim scientists laid the foundations for modernscience,[88][89][90][91][92] for their development of early scientific methods and an empirical, experimentaland quantitative approach to scientific inquiry.[93] Some scholars have referred to this period as a "Muslim scientific revolution",[4][94][95][96] a term which expresses the view that Islam was the driving force behind the Muslim scientific achievements,[97] and should not to be confused with the early modernEuropean Scientific Revolution leading to the rise of modern science.[98][99][100] Edward Grant argues that modern science was due to the cumulative efforts of the Hellenic, Islamic and Latin civilizations.[101][edit]Scientific methodFurther information: Islamic science: Scientific methodEarly scientific methods were developed in the Islamic world, where significant progress in methodology was made, especially in the works of Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) in the 11th century, who is considered the pioneer of experimental physics.[93][102] The most important development of the scientific method was the use of experimentation and quantification to distinguish between competing scientific theories set within a generally empirical orientation. Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) wrote the Book of Optics, in which he significantly reformed the field of optics, empirically proved that vision occurred because of light raysentering the eye, and invented the camera obscura to demonstrate the physical nature of light rays.[103][104]Ibn al-Haytham has also been described as the "first scientist" for his introduction of the scientific method,[105] and his pioneering work on the psychology of visual perception[106][107] is considered a precursor to psychophysics and experimental psychology.[108][edit]Peer reviewThe earliest medical peer review, a process by which a committee of physicians investigate the medical care rendered in order to determine whether accepted standards of care have been met, is found in theEthics of the Physician written by Ishaq bin Ali al-Rahwi (854-931) of al-Raha in Syria. His work, as well as later Arabic medical manuals, state that a visiting physician must always make duplicate notes of a patient's condition on every visit. When the patient was cured or had died, the notes of the physician were examined by a local medical council of other physicians, who would review the practising physician's notes to decide whether his/her performance have met the required standards of medical care. If their reviews were negative, the practicing physician could face a lawsuit from a maltreated patient.[30] The first scientific peer review, the evaluation of research findings for competence, significance and originality by qualified experts, was described later in the Medical Essays and Observations published by the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1731. The present-day scientific peer review system evolved from this 18th century process.[109][edit]AstronomyMain article: Islamic astronomyFurther information: Maragheh observatory, Islamic astrology, List of Muslim astronomers, and List of Arabic star namesPhoto taken from medieval manuscript by Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi(1236-1311), a Persian astronomer. The image depicts an epicyclic planetary model.Some have referred to the achievements of the Maragha school and their predecessors and successors in astronomy as a "Maragha Revolution", "Maragha School Revolution" or "Scientific Revolution before the Renaissance".[4] Advances in astronomy by the Maragha school and their predecessors and successors include the construction of the first observatory in Baghdad during the reign ofCaliph al-Ma'mun,[110] the collection and correction of previous astronomical data, resolving significant problems in the Ptolemaic model, the development of universal astrolabes,[111] the invention of numerous other astronomical instruments, the beginning ofastrophysics and celestial mechanics after Ja'far Muhammad ibn Mūsā ibn Shākir discovered that the heavenly bodies and celestial spheres were subject to the same physical laws as Earth,[112] the first elaborate experiments related to astronomical phenomena and the first semantic distinction between astronomy and astrology byAbū al-Rayhān al-Bīrūnī,[113] the use of exacting empiricalobservations and experimental techniques,[114] the discovery that the celestial spheres are not solid and that the heavens are less dense than the air by Ibn al-Haytham,[115] the separation of natural philosophy from astronomy by Ibn al-Haytham and Ibn al-Shatir,[116] the first non-Ptolemaic models by Ibn al-Haytham and Mo'ayyeduddin Urdi, the rejection of the Ptolemaic model on empirical rather thanphilosophical grounds by Ibn al-Shatir,[4] the first empirical observational evidence of the Earth's rotationby Nasīr al-Dīn al-Tūsī and Ali al-Qushji, and al-Birjandi's early hypothesis on "circular inertia."[117]Several Muslim astronomers also considered the possibility of the Earth's rotation on its axis and perhaps a heliocentric solar system.[91][118] It is known that the Copernican heliocentric model inNicolaus Copernicus' De revolutionibus was adapted from the geocentric model of Ibn al-Shatir and the Maragha school (including the Tusi-couple) in a heliocentric context,[119] and that his arguments for the Earth's rotation were similar to those of Nasīr al-Dīn al-Tūsī and Ali al-Qushji.[117][edit]ChemistryMain article: Alchemy (Islam)Geber (Jabir ibn Hayyan) is considered a pioneer of chemistry,[120][121] as he was responsible for introducing an early experimental scientific method within the field, as well as the alembic, still, retort,[75]and the chemical processes of pure distillation, filtration, sublimation,[122] liquefaction, crystallisation,purification, oxidisation and evaporation.[75]The study of traditional alchemy and the theory of the transmutation of metals were first refuted by al-Kindi,[123] followed by Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī,[124] Avicenna,[125] and Ibn Khaldun. In his Doubts about Galen, al-Razi was the first to prove both Aristotle's theory of classical elements and Galen's theory ofhumorism false using an experimental method.[126] Nasīr al-Dīn al-Tūsī stated an early version of the law of conservation of mass, noting that a body of matter is able to change, but is not able to disappear.[127]Alexander von Humboldt and Will Durant consider medieval Muslim chemists to be founders of chemistry.[89][91][edit]MathematicsMain article: Islamic mathematicsAmong the achievements of Muslim mathematicians during this period include the development ofalgebra and algorithms by the Persian and Islamic mathematician Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī,[128][129] the invention of spherical trigonometry,[130] the addition of the decimal point notation to the Arabic numerals, the discovery of all the trigonometric functions besides sine, al-Kindi's introduction of cryptanalysis and frequency analysis, al-Karaji's introduction of algebraic calculus andproof by mathematical induction, the development of analytic geometry and the earliest general formula for infinitesimal and integral calculus by Ibn al-Haytham, the beginning of algebraic geometry by Omar Khayyam, the first refutations of Euclidean geometry and the parallel postulate by Nasīr al-Dīn al-Tūsī, the first attempt at a non-Euclidean geometry by Sadr al-Din, the development of symbolic algebra byAbū al-Hasan ibn Alī al-Qalasādī,[131] and numerous other advances in algebra, arithmetic, calculus,cryptography, geometry, number theory and trigonometry. An Arabic manuscript describing the eye, dating back to the 12th century[edit]MedicineMain article: Islamic medicineFurther information: Islamic psychology, Bimaristan, and Ophthalmology in medieval IslamIslamic medicine was a genre of medical writing that was influenced by several different medical systems. The works of ancient Greekand Roman physicians Hippocrates, Dioscorides, Soranus, Celsusand Galen had a lasting impact on Islamic medicine.[132][133][134]Muslim physicians made many significant contributions to medicine, including anatomy, experimental medicine, ophthalmology,pathology, the pharmaceutical sciences, physiology, surgery, etc. They also set up some of the earliest dedicated hospitals,[135]including the first medical schools[136] and psychiatric hospitals.[137]Al-Kindi wrote the De Gradibus, in which he first demonstrated the application of quantification and mathematics to medicine and pharmacology, such as a mathematical scale to quantify the strength of drugs and the determination in advance of the most critical days of a patient's illness.[138] Al-Razi (Rhazes) discovered measles andsmallpox, and in his Doubts about Galen, proved Galen's humorism false.[126]Abu al-Qasim (Abulcasis) helped lay the foudations for modern surgery,[139] with his Kitab al-Tasrif, in which he invented numerous surgical instruments, including the first instruments unique to women,[140]as well as the surgical uses of catgut and forceps, the ligature, surgical needle, scalpel, curette,retractor, surgical spoon, sound, surgical hook, surgical rod, and specula,[141] and bone saw.[75] Ibn al-Haytham (Alhacen) made important advances in eye surgery, as he correctly explained the process of sight and visual perception for the first time in his Book of Optics.[140]Ibn Sina (Avicenna) helped lay the foundations for modern medicine,[142] with The Canon of Medicine, which was responsible for introducing systematic experimentation and quantification in physiology,[143]the discovery of contagious disease, introduction of quarantine to limit their spread, introduction ofexperimental medicine, evidence-based medicine, clinical trials,[144] randomized controlled trials,[145][146] efficacy tests,[147][148] and clinical pharmacology,[149] the first descriptions on bacteriaand viral organisms,[150] distinction of mediastinitis from pleurisy, contagious nature of tuberculosis, distribution of diseases by water and soil, skin troubles, sexually transmitted diseases, perversions,nervous ailments,[135] use of ice to treat fevers, and separation of medicine from pharmacology.[140]Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar) was the earliest known experimental surgeon.[151] In the 12th century, he was responsible for introducing the experimental method into surgery, as he was the first to employ animal testing in order to experiment with surgical procedures before applying them to human patients.[152] He also performed the first dissections and postmortem autopsies on humans as well as animals.[153]Ibn al-Nafis laid the foundations for circulatory physiology,[154] as he was the first to describe thepulmonary circulation[155] and coronary circulation,[156][157] which form the basis of the circulatory system, for which he is considered "the greatest physiologist of the Middle Ages."[158] He also described the earliest concept of metabolism,[159] and developed new systems of physiology andpsychology to replace the Avicennian and Galenic systems, while discrediting many of their erroneous theories on humorism, pulsation,[160] bones, muscles, intestines, sensory organs, bilious canals,esophagus, stomach, etc.[161]Ibn al-Lubudi rejected the theory of humorism, and discovered that the body and its preservation depend exclusively upon blood, women cannot produce sperm, the movement of arteries are not dependent upon the movement of the heart, the heart is the first organ to form in a fetus' body, and the bones forming theskull can grow into tumors.[162] Ibn Khatima and Ibn al-Khatib discovered that infectious diseases are caused by microorganisms which enter the human body.[163] Mansur ibn Ilyas drew comprehensive diagrams of the body's structural, nervous and circulatory systems.[5][edit]PhysicsMain article: Islamic physicsThe study of experimental physics began with Ibn al-Haytham,[164] a pioneer of modern optics, who introduced the experimental scientific method and used it to drastically transform the understanding oflight and vision in his Book of Optics, which has been ranked alongside Isaac Newton's Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica as one of the most influential books in the history of physics,[165] for initiating a scientific revolution in optics[166] and visual perception.[167]The experimental scientific method was soon introduced into mechanics by Biruni,[168] and early precursors to Newton's laws of motion were discovered by several Muslim scientists. The law of inertia, known as Newton's first law of motion, and the concept of momentum were discovered by Ibn al-Haytham (Alhacen)[169][170] and Avicenna.[171][172] The proportionality between force and acceleration, considered "the fundamental law of classical mechanics" and foreshadowing Newton's second law of motion, was discovered by Hibat Allah Abu'l-Barakat al-Baghdaadi,[173] while the concept of reaction, foreshadowing Newton's third law of motion, was discovered by Ibn Bajjah (Avempace).[174] Theories foreshadowing Newton's law of universal gravitation were developed by Ja'far Muhammad ibn Mūsā ibn Shākir,[175] Ibn al-Haytham,[176] and al-Khazini.[177] Galileo Galilei's mathematical treatment ofacceleration and his concept of impetus[178] was enriched by the commentaries of Avicenna[171] and Ibn Bajjah to Aristotle's Physics as well as the Neoplatonist tradition of Alexandria, represented by John Philoponus.[179][edit]Other sciencesMain article: Islamic scienceFurther information: Islamic geography, Islamic psychology, Early Muslim sociology, and Historiography of early IslamMany other advances were made by Muslim scientists in biology (anatomy, botany, evolution,physiology and zoology), the earth sciences (anthropology, cartography, geodesy, geography andgeology), psychology (experimental psychology, psychiatry, psychophysics and psychotherapy), and the social sciences (demography, economics, sociology, history and historiography).Other famous Muslim scientists during the Islamic Golden Age include al-Farabi (a polymath), Biruni (a polymath who was one of the earliest anthropologists and a pioneer of geodesy),[180] Nasīr al-Dīn al-Tūsī(a polymath), and Ibn Khaldun (considered to be a pioneer of several social sciences[181] such asdemography,[182] economics,[183] cultural history,[184] historiography[185] and sociology),[186] among others.[edit]Other achievements[edit]ArchitectureMain article: Islamic architectureThe Taj Mahal is a mausoleum located in Agra, India, that was built under Mughal rule.Selimiye Mosque, built by Sinan in 1575. Edirne, Turkey.The Great Mosque of Xi'an in China was completed circa740, and the Great Mosque of Samarra in Iraq was completed in 847. The Great Mosque of Samarra combined the hypostyle architecture of rows of columns supporting a flat base above which a huge spiralingminaret was constructed.The Spanish Muslims began construction of the Great Mosque at Cordoba in 785 marking the beginning of Islamic architecture in Spain and Northern Africa (see Moors). The mosque is noted for its striking interior arches. Moorish architecture reached its peak with the construction of the Alhambra, the magnificent palace/fortress ofGranada, with its open and breezy interior spaces adorned in red, blue, and gold. The walls are decorated with stylized foliage motifs, Arabic inscriptions, and arabesque design work, with walls covered in glazed tiles.Another distinctive sub-style is the architecture of the Mughal Empire in India in the 15-17th centuries. Blending Islamic and Hinduelements, the emperor Akbar constructed the royal city of Fatehpur Sikri, located 26 miles (42 km) west of Agra, in the late 1500s and his grandson Shah Jahan had constructed the mausoleum of Taj Mahal for Mumtaz Mahal in the 1650s, though this time period is well after the Islamic Golden Age.In the Sunni Muslim Ottoman Empire massive mosques with ornate tiles and calligraphy were constructed by a series of sultans including the Süleymaniye Mosque , Sultanahmet Mosque, Selimiye Mosque, and Bayezid II Mosque[edit]ArtsMain article: Islamic artFurther information: Islamic calligraphy, Arabesque, Iranian art, and Persian miniatureSee also: Islamic music, Arabic music, and Persian traditional musicAn Arabic manuscript from the 13th century depicting Socrates(Soqrāt) in discussion with his pupils.The golden age of Islamic (and/or Muslim) art lasted from 750 to the 16th century, when ceramics, glass, metalwork, textiles, illuminated manuscripts, and woodwork flourished. Lustrous glazing was an Islamic contribution to ceramics. Islamic luster-painted ceramics were imitated by Italian potters during the Renaissance. Manuscript illumination developed into an important and greatly respected art, and portrait miniature painting flourished in Persia. Calligraphy, an essential aspect of written Arabic, developed in manuscripts and architectural decoration.[edit]LiteratureMain articles: Islamic literature, Arabic literature, Arabic epic literature, and Persian literatureThe most well known fiction from the Islamic world was The Book of One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights), which was a compilation of many earlier folk tales told by the Persian QueenScheherazade. The epic took form in the 10th century and reached its final form by the 14th century; the number and type of tales have varied from one manuscript to another.[187] All Arabian fantasy tales were often called "Arabian Nights" when translated into English, regardless of whether they appeared in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, in any version, and a number of tales are known in Europe as "Arabian Nights" despite existing in no Arabic manuscript.[187] "Ali Baba" by Maxfield Parrish.This epic has been influential in the West since it was translated in the 18th century, first by Antoine Galland.[188] Many imitations were written, especially in France.[189] Various characters from this epic have themselves become cultural icons in Western culture, such asAladdin, Sinbad and Ali Baba. However, no medieval Arabic source has been traced for Aladdin, which was incorporated into The Book of One Thousand and One Nights by its French translator, Antoine Galland, who heard it from an Arab Syrian Christian storyteller fromAleppo. Part of its popularity may have sprung from the increasing historical and geographical knowledge, so that places of which little was known and so marvels were plausible had to be set further "long ago" or farther "far away"; this is a process that continues, and finally culminate in the fantasy world having little connection, if any, to actual times and places. A number of elements from Arabian mythology and Persian mythology are now common in modernfantasy, such as genies, bahamuts, magic carpets, magic lamps, etc.[189] When L. Frank Baumproposed writing a modern fairy tale that banished stereotypical elements, he included the genie as well as the dwarf and the fairy as stereotypes to go.[190]Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, the national epic of Iran, is a mythical and heroic retelling of Persian history.Amir Arsalan was also a popular mythical Persian story, which has influenced some modern works of fantasy fiction, such as The Heroic Legend of Arslan.A famous example of Arabic poetry and Persian poetry on romance (love) is Layla and Majnun, dating back to the Umayyad era in the 7th century. It is a tragic story of undying love much like the laterRomeo and Juliet, which was itself said to have been inspired by a Latin version of Layli and Majnun to an extent.[191]Ibn Tufail (Abubacer) and Ibn al-Nafis were pioneers of the philosophical novel. Ibn Tufail wrote the first fictional Arabic novel Hayy ibn Yaqdhan (Philosophus Autodidactus) as a response to al-Ghazali's The Incoherence of the Philosophers, and then Ibn al-Nafis also wrote a novel Theologus Autodidactus as a response to Ibn Tufail's Philosophus Autodidactus. Both of these narratives had protagonists (Hayy inPhilosophus Autodidactus and Kamil in Theologus Autodidactus) who were autodidactic feral childrenliving in seclusion on a desert island, both being the earliest examples of a desert island story. However, while Hayy lives alone with animals on the desert island for the rest of the story in Philosophus Autodidactus, the story of Kamil extends beyond the desert island setting in Theologus Autodidactus, developing into the earliest known coming of age plot and eventually becoming the first example of ascience fiction novel.[159][192]Theologus Autodidactus, written by the Arabian polymath Ibn al-Nafis (1213-1288), is the first example of a science fiction novel. It deals with various science fiction elements such as spontaneous generation,futurology, the end of the world and doomsday, resurrection, and the afterlife. Rather than giving supernatural or mythological explnations for these events, Ibn al-Nafis attempted to explain these plot elements using the scientific knowledge of biology, astronomy, cosmology and geology known in his time. His main purpose behind this science fiction work was to explain Islamic religious teachings in terms of science and philosophy through the use of fiction.[193]A Latin translation of Ibn Tufail's work, Philosophus Autodidactus, first appeared in 1671, prepared byEdward Pococke the Younger, followed by an English translation by Simon Ockley in 1708, as well asGerman and Dutch translations. These translations later inspired Daniel Defoe to write Robinson Crusoe, regarded as the first novel in English.[194][195][196][197] Philosophus Autodidactus also inspired Robert Boyle to write his own philosophical novel set on an island, The Aspiring Naturalist.[198] The story also anticipated Rousseau's Emile: or, On Education in some ways, and is also similar to Mowgli's story inRudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book as well as Tarzan's story, in that a baby is abandoned but taken care of and fed by a mother wolf.[199]Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, considered the greatest epic of Italian literature, derived many features of and episodes about the hereafter directly or indirectly from Arabic works on Islamic eschatology: theHadith and the Kitab al-Miraj(translated into Latin in 1264 or shortly before[200] as Liber Scale Machometi, "The Book of Muhammad's Ladder") concerning Muhammad's ascension to Heaven, and the spiritual writings of Ibn Arabi. The Moors also had a noticeable influence on the works of George Peeleand William Shakespeare. Some of their works featured Moorish characters, such as Peele's The Battle of Alcazarand Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, Titus Andronicus and Othello, which featured a Moorish Othello as its title character. These works are said to have been inspired by several Moorishdelegations from Morocco to Elizabethan England at the beginning of the 17th century.[201][edit]MusicThe lute was adopted from the Arab world. 1568 print. Main articles: Islamic music and Arabic musicA number of musical instruments used in Western music are believed to have been derived from Arabic musical instruments: thelute was derived from the al'ud, the rebec (ancestor of violin) from therebab, the guitar from qitara, naker from naqareh, adufe from al-duff,alboka from al-buq, anafil from al-nafir, exabeba from al-shabbaba(flute), atabal (bass drum) from al-tabl, atambal from al-tinbal,[202]the balaban, the castanet from kasatan, sonajas de azófar fromsunuj al-sufr, the conical bore wind instruments,[203] the xelami from the sulami or fistula (flute or musical pipe),[204] the shawm anddulzaina from the reed instruments zamr and al-zurna,[205] the gaitafrom the ghaita, rackett from iraqya or iraqiyya,[206] the harp andzither from the qanun,[207] canon from qanun, geige (violin) fromghichak,[208] and the theorbo from the tarab.[209]A theory on the origins of the Western Solfège musical notationsuggests that it may have also had Arabic origins. It has been argued that the Solfège syllables (do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti) may have been derived from the syllables of the Arabic solmization system Durr-i-Mufassal ("Separated Pearls") (dal, ra, mim, fa, sad, lam). This origin theory was first proposed by Meninski in his Thesaurus Linguarum Orientalum(1680) and then by Laborde in his Essai sur la Musique Ancienne et Moderne (1780).[210][211] See as well the gifted Ziryab(Abu l-Hasan 'Ali Ibn Nafi').[edit]PhilosophyMain articles: Islamic philosophy and Early Islamic philosophyFurther information: Logic in Islamic philosophy, Judeo-Islamic philosophies (800 - 1400), and List of Muslim philosophersSee also: Islamic theology, Avicennism, Averroism, Early Muslim sociology, and Historiography of early IslamAverroes, an Arab Muslim polymath is the founder of theAverroism school of philosophy, was influential in the rise of secular thought in Western Europe.[212]Arab philosophers like al-Kindi (Alkindus) and Ibn Rushd (Averroes) and Persian philosophers like Ibn Sina (Avicenna) played a major role in preserving the works of Aristotle, whose ideas came to dominate the non-religious thought of the Christian and Muslim worlds. They would also absorb ideas from China, and India, adding to them tremendous knowledge from their own studies. Three speculative thinkers, al-Kindi, al-Farabi, and Avicenna (Ibn Sina), fused Aristotelianism and Neoplatonism with other ideas introduced through Islam, such as Kalam and Qiyas. This led to Avicenna founding his own Avicennism school of philosophy, which was influential in both Islamic and Christian lands. Avicenna was also a critic of Aristotelian logic and founder of Avicennian logic, and he developed the concepts of empiricism and tabula rasa, and distinguished between essence and existence.From Spain the Arabic philosophic literature was translated into Hebrew, Latin, and Ladino, contributing to the development of modern European philosophy. The Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides, Muslim sociologist-historian Ibn Khaldun, Carthage citizen Constantine the African who translated Greek medical texts, and the Muslim Al-Khwarzimi's collation of mathematical techniques were important figures of the Golden Age.One of the most influential Muslim philosophers in the West was Averroes (Ibn Rushd), founder of theAverroism school of philosophy, whose works and commentaries had an impact on the rise of secular thought in Western Europe.[212] He also developed the concept of "existence precedes essence".[213]Another influential philosopher who had a significant influence on modern philosophy was Ibn Tufail. Hisphilosophical novel, Hayy ibn Yaqdhan, translated into Latin as Philosophus Autodidactus in 1671, developed the themes of empiricism, tabula rasa, nature versus nurture,[214] condition of possibility,materialism,[215] and Molyneux's Problem.[216] European scholars and writers influenced by this novel include John Locke,[217] Gottfried Leibniz,[197] Melchisédech Thévenot, John Wallis, Christiaan Huygens,[218] George Keith, Robert Barclay, the Quakers,[219] and Samuel Hartlib.[198]Al-Ghazali also had an important influence on Jewish thinkers like Maimonides[220][221] and Christianmedieval philosophers such as Thomas Aquinas[222] and René Descartes, who expressed similar ideas to that of al-Ghazali in Discourse on the Method.[223] However, al-Ghazali also wrote a devastating critique in his The Incoherence of the Philosophers on the speculative theological works of Kindi, Farabi and Ibn Sina. The study of metaphysics declined in the Muslim world due to this critique, though Ibn Rushd (Averroes) responded strongly in his The Incoherence of the Incoherence to many of the points Ghazali raised. Nevertheless, Avicennism continued to flourish long after and Islamic philosophers continued making advances in philosophy through to the 17th century, when Mulla Sadra founded his school of Transcendent Theosophy and developed the concept of existentialism.[224]Other influential Muslim philosophers include al-Jahiz, a pioneer of evolutionary thought and natural selection; Ibn al-Haytham (Alhacen), a pioneer of phenomenology and the philosophy of science and a critic of Aristotelian natural philosophy and Aristotle's concept of place (topos); Biruni, a critic of Aristotelian natural philosophy; Ibn Tufail and Ibn al-Nafis, pioneers of the philosophical novel; Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi, founder of Illuminationist philosophy; Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, a critic of Aristotelian logic and a pioneer of inductive logic; and Ibn Khaldun, a pioneer in the philosophy of history[186] and social philosophy.[edit]End of the Golden Age[edit]Mongol invasion and Turkic settlementAfter the Crusades from the West that resulted in the instability of the Islamic world during the 11th century, a new threat came from the East during the 13th century: the Mongol invasions. In 1206,Genghis Khan from Central Asia established a powerful Mongol Empire. A Mongolian ambassador to the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad is said to have been murdered,[225] which may have been one of the reasons behind Hulagu Khan's sack of Baghdad in 1258.[226] The Mongols and Turks from Central Asia conquered most of the Eurasian land mass, including bothChina in the east and parts of the old Islamic Caliphate and Persian Islamic Khwarezm, as well asRussia and Eastern Europe in the west, and subsequent invasions of the Levant. Later Mongol leaders, such as Timur, though he himself became a Muslim, destroyed many cities, slaughtered thousands of people and did irreparable damage to the ancient irrigation systems of Mesopotamia. These invasions transformed a settled society to a nomadic one. On the other hand, due to the lack of a powerful leader after the Mongolian invasion and Turkish settlement, some local Turkish kingdoms appeared in the Islamic world and they were in war and fighting against each other for centuries. The most powerful kingdoms among them were the empire of Ottoman Turks, who became Sunni Muslims and the empire of Safavi Turks, who became Shia Muslims. Eventually, they invaded very wide parts of the Islamic world and entered in a competition and a series of bloody wars until the middle of seventeenth century.Traditionalist Muslims at the time, including the polymath Ibn al-Nafis, believed that the Crusades and Mongol invasions were a divine punishment from God against Muslims deviating from the Sunnah. As a result, the falsafa, some of whom held ideas incompatible with the Sunnah, became targets of criticism from many traditionalist Muslims, though other traditionalists such as Ibn al-Nafis made attempts at reconciling reason with revelation and blur the line between the two.[227]Eventually, the Mongols and Turks that settled in parts of Persia, Central Asia, Russia and Anatoliaconverted to Islam, and as a result, the Ilkhanate, Golden Horde and Chagatai Khanates became Islamic states. In many instances, Mongols assimilated into various Muslim Iranian or Turkic peoples (for instance, one of the greatest Muslim astronomers of the 15th century, Ulugh Beg, was a grandson ofTimur). By the time the Ottoman Empire rose from the ashes, the Golden Age is considered to have come to an end.[edit]Causes of declineFurther information: Islamic science: DeclineSee also: Great divergence and European miracle"The achievements of the Arabic speaking peoples between the ninth and twelfth centuries are so great as to baffle our understanding. The decadence of Islam and of Arabic is almost as puzzling in its speed and completeness as their phenomenal rise. Scholars will forever try to explain it as they try to explain the decadence and fall of Rome. Such questions are exceedingly complex and it is impossible to answer them in a simple way." - George Sarton , The Incubation of Western Culture in the Middle East'[228]Islamic civilization, which had at the outset been creative and dynamic in dealing with issues, began to struggle to respond to the challenges and rapid changes it faced from the 12th century onwards, towards the end of the Abbassid rule. Despite a brief respite with the new Ottoman rule, the decline continued until its eventual collapse and subsequent stagnation in the 20th century. Some scholars such as M. I. Sanduk believe that the declination began from around the 11th century and still continued after this.[229]Despite a number of attempts by many writers, historical and modern, none seem to agree on the causes of decline. The main views on the causes of decline comprise the following: political mismanagement after the early Caliphs (10th century onwards), foreign involvement by invading forces and colonial powers (11th century Crusades, 13th century Mongol Empire, 15th century Reconquista, 19th century European colonial empires), and the disruption to the cycle of equity based on Ibn Khaldun's famous model of Asabiyyah (the rise and fall of civilizations) which points to the decline being mainly due to political and economic factors.[2]The North Africa's Islamic civilization collapsed after exhausting its resources in internal fighting and suffering devastation from the invasion of the Bedouin tribes of Banu Sulaym and Banu Hilal.[230][231] TheBlack Death ravaged much of the Islamic world in the mid-14th century. Plague epidemics kept returning to the Islamic world up to the 19th century.[232]There was an increasing lack of tolerance of intellectual debate and freedom of thought, with some seminaries systematically forbidding speculative philosophy, while polemic debates appear to have been abandoned in the 14th century. A significant intellectual shift in Islamic philosophy is perhaps demonstrated by al-Ghazali's late 11th century polemic work The Incoherence of the Philosophers, which lambasted metaphysical philosophy in favor of the primacy of scripture, and was later criticized inThe Incoherence of the Incoherence by Averroes. Institutions of science comprising Islamic universities, libraries (including the House of Wisdom), observatories, and hospitals, were later destroyed by foreign invaders like the Crusaders and particularly the Mongols, and were rarely promoted again in the devastated regions.[233] Not only wasn't new publishing equipment accepted but also wide illiteracy overwhelmed the devastated lands, especially in Mesopotamia. Meanwhile in Persia, due to the Mongol invasions and the plague, the average life expectancy of the scholarly class in Persia had declined from 72 years in 1209 to 57 years by 1242.[84]American economist Timur Kuran proposed an answer why economic development in the Middle East lagged that of the West: Islamic partnership law and inheritance law interacted to keep Middle Eastern enterprises small, never allowing the development of corporate forms.[234][235]Some scholars have come to question the traditional picture of decline, pointing to continued astronomical activity as a sign of a continuing and creative scientific tradition through to the 15th and 16th centuries, with the works of Ibn al-Shatir, Ulugh Beg, Ali Kuşçu, al-Birjandi and Taqi al-Dinconsidered noteworthy examples.[236][237] This was also the case for other fields, such as medicine, notably the works of Ibn al-Nafis, Mansur ibn Ilyas and Şerafeddin Sabuncuoğlu; mathematics, notably the works of al-Kashi and al-Qalasadi; philosophy, notably Mulla Sadra's transcendent theosophy; and the social sciences, notably Ibn Khaldun's Muqaddimah (1370), which itself points out that though science was declining in Iraq, Al-Andalus and Maghreb, it continued to flourish in Persia, Syria andEgypt during his time.[2][edit]Notes^ Joel L. Kraemer (1992), Humanism in the Renaissance of Islam, p. 1 & 148, Brill Publishers, ISBN 9004072594.^ a b c Ahmad Y Hassan, Factors Behind the Decline of Islamic Science After the Sixteenth Century^ Matthew E. Falagas, Effie A. Zarkadoulia, George Samonis (2006). "Arab science in the golden age (750-1258 C.E.) and today", The FASEB Journal 20, p. 1581-1586.^ a b cd George Saliba (1994), A History of Arabic Astronomy: Planetary Theories During the Golden Age of Islam, p. 245, 250, 256-257. New York University Press, ISBN 0814780237.^ a b c Howard R. Turner (1997), Science in Medieval Islam, p. 270 (book cover, last page), University of Texas Press, ISBN 0-292-78149-0^ a b Vartan Gregorian, "Islam: A Mosaic, Not a Monolith", Brookings Institution Press, 2003, pg 26-38 ISBN 081573283X^ Arnold Pacey, "Technology in World Civilization: A Thousand-Year History", MIT Press, 1990, ISBN 0262660725 pg 41-42^ Bülent Þenay. "Sufism". Retrieved 2007-06-26.^ "Muslim History and the Spread of Islam from the 7th to the 21st century". The Islam Project. Retrieved 2007-06-26.^ Lenn Evan Goodman (2003), Islamic Humanism, p. 155, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0195135806.^ Joel L. Kraemer (1992), Humanism in the Renaissance of Islam, Brill Publishers, ISBN 9004072594.^ Ahmad, I. A. (June 3, 2002), "The Rise and Fall of Islamic Science: The Calendar as a Case Study" (PDF), Faith and Reason: Convergence and Complementarity, Al Akhawayn University, retrieved 2008-01-31^ L. Gari (2002), "Arabic Treatises on Environmental Pollution up to the End of the Thirteenth Century", Environment and History 8 (4), pp. 475-488.^ S. P. Scott (1904), History of the Moorish Empire in Europe, 3 vols, J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia and London. F. B. Artz (1980), The Mind of the Middle Ages, Third edition revised, University of Chicago Press, pp 148-50.(cf. References, 1001 Inventions)^ a b Peter Barrett (2004), Science and Theology Since Copernicus: The Search for Understanding, p. 18, Continuum International Publishing Group, ISBN 056708969X.^ Ibrahim B. Syed PhD, "Islamic Medicine: 1000 years ahead of its times", Journal of the Islamic Medical Association, 2002 (2), p. 2-9 [7-8].^ Micheau, Francoise, "The Scientific Institutions in the Medieval Near East", pp. 992-3, in (Morelon & Rashed 1996, pp. 985-1007)^ John Bagot Glubb (cf. Quotations on Islamic Civilization)^ The Guinness Book Of Records, Published 1998, ISBN 0-5535-7895-2, P.242^ a b Makdisi, George (April-June 1989), "Scholasticism and Humanism in Classical Islam and the Christian West",Journal of the American Oriental Society109 (2): 175-182 [175-77], doi:10.2307/604423^ a b Dato' Dzulkifli Abd Razak, Quest for knowledge, New Sunday Times, 3 July 2005.^ Patricia Skinner (2001), Unani-tibbi, Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine^ N. M. Swerdlow (1993). 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(July-October 1966), "The Place and Function of Doubt in the Philosophies of Descartes and Al-Ghazali", Philosophy East and West 16 (3-4): 133-41, doi:10.2307/1397536^ Kamal, Muhammad (2006), Mulla Sadra's Transcendent Philosophy, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., pp. 9 & 39, ISBN0754652718, OCLC 224496901 238761259 61169850^ talk then walk^ Ibn Battuta's Trip: Part Three - Persia and Iraq (1326 - 1327)^ Fancy, p. 49 & 59^ George Sarton, The Incubation of Western Culture in the Middle East, A George C. Keiser Foundation Lecture,March 29, 1950, Washington DC, 1951^ [5]^ The Great Mosque of Tlemcen, MuslimHeritage.com^ Populations Crises and Population Cycles, Claire Russell and W.M.S. Russell^ The Islamic World to 1600: The Mongol Invasions (The Black Death)^ Erica Fraser. The Islamic World to 1600, University of Calgary.^ Economic Scene; The decline of the Muslim Middle East, and the roots of resentment, can be traced to Islamic inheritance law., New York Times^ How Islamic Inheritance Law Impeded Development, National Center for Policy Analysis^ David A. King, "The Astronomy of the Mamluks", Isis, 74 (1983):531-555^ George Saliba, "Writing the History of Arabic Astronomy: Problems and Differing Perspectives (Review Article),Journal of the American Oriental Society, 116 (1996): 709-718.[edit]See alsoGolden age of Jewish culture in SpainIslamic contributions to Medieval Europe Latin translations of the 12th centuryIslamic studies Inventions in the Islamic worldIslamic scienceMuslim Agricultural RevolutionTimeline of science and technology in the Islamic worldList of Islamic studies scholars List of Muslim scientistsList of Arab scientists and scholarsList of Iranian scientists and scholarsMuslim conquests List of Muslim empiresGlobal empireArts Architecture • Art • Calligraphy • Literature • Music • Poetry • PotteryEconomics Economic Jurisprudence • Economic History • Islam and PovertyHistory Timeline • Historiography • Conquests • Golden Age • Agricultural Revolution •Economic History • Contributions to Medieval Europe • European RenaissancePhilosophy Early Philosophy • Modern Philosophy • Theology (Kalam) • Ethics • Logic • Metaphysics •Historiography • Sociology (Medieval Sociology)Science & Technology Timeline • Agricultural Revolution • Alchemy and Chemistry • Astronomy • Geography •Inventions • Mathematics • Medicine (Ophthalmology) • Physics • PsychologyOther fields Feminism • Jurisprudence • Law • Peace • Politics • Sufi Studies (Mysticism)[edit]ReferencesGaudiosi, Monica M. (April 1988), "The Influence of the Islamic Law of Waqf on the Development of the Trust in England: The Case of Merton College", University of Pennsylvania Law Review136 (4): 1231-1261Donald Routledge Hill, Islamic Science And Engineering, Edinburgh University Press (1993), ISBN 0-7486-0455-3Morelon, Régis & Roshdi Rashed (1996), Encyclopedia of the History of Arabic Science, vol. 3,Routledge, ISBN 0415124107Hudson, A. (2003), Equity and Trusts (3rd ed.), Cavendish Publishing, ISBN 1-85941-729-9George Sarton, The Incubation of Western Culture in the Middle East, A George C. Keiser Foundation Lecture, March 29, 1950, Washington DC, 1951Shatzmiller, Maya (1994), Labour in the Medieval Islamic World, Brill Publishers, ISBN 9004098968Shoja-e-din Shafa, Rebirth (1995) (Persian Title: تولدى ديگر)*Shoja-e-din Shafa, After 1400 Years(2000) (Persian Title: پس از 1400 سال[hide] v • d • e Islamic studies

When did Empress Wu stop ruling?

wu zetian Wu Zetian(Wu Tse-tien; simplified Chinese: 武则天; traditional Chinese: 武則天; pinyin: Wǔ Zétiān; Wade-Giles: Wu³ Tse²-t'ien¹) (c.625 - 705),[12] also known as Wu Zhao (Wu Chao; Chinese: 武曌; pinyin: Wǔ Zhào; Wade-Giles: Wu³ Chao⁴), Wu Hou (Chinese:武后; pinyin: Wǔ Hòu; Wade-Giles: Wu³ Hou⁴), in Tang Dynasty, Tian Hou (天后), and in English as Empress Consort Wu, or by the deprecated term,[13] "Empress Wu", was a Chinese sovereign, who ruled officially under the name of her self-proclaimed "Zhou Dynasty", from 690 to 705; however, she had previous imperial positions under both Emperor Taizong of Tang and his son Emperor Gaozong of Tang, of the Tang Dynasty of China. Wu was a concubine of Emperor Taizong; after his death she married his successor and 9th son, Emperor Gaozong, officially becoming Gaozong's furen (variously translated as "empress", "wife", or "first consort") in 655, although having considerable political power previous to this. After Gaozong's debilitating stroke in 660, Wu Zetian ruled as effective sovereign until 705.[14] She is the only woman to rule China in her own right.The importance to history of Wu Zetian's period of political and military leadership includes major expansion of the Chinese empire, extending it far beyond its previous territorial limits, deep into Central Asia, and completing the conquest of upper Korean Peninsula. Within China, besides the more direct consequences of her struggle to gain and maintain supreme power, Wu's leadership resulted in important effects in regards to social class in Chinese society and in relation to state support for Taoism, Buddhism, education, and literature. Wu Zetian also had a monumental impact in regard to the statuary of the Longmen Grottoes and the "Wordless Stella" at theQianling Mausoleum, as well as the construction of some major buildings and bronze castings which no longer survive. Despite these important aspects of her reign, together with the suggestions of modern scholarship as to the long-term effects of some of her innovations in governance, much of the attention to Wu Zetian has been to her gender, as the anomalous female supreme sovereign of a unified Chinese empire, holding during part of her lifetime the title of Huangdi.Besides her career as a political leader, Wu Zetian also had an active family life. Although family relationships sometimes became problematic, Wu Zetian was the mother of three sons who served stints as emperors, and one of her grandsons became the famous emperor Xuanzong of the restored Tang Dynasty, ruling during its "Golden Age".Further information: Chinese nameNames and titlesIn Chinese history and literature Wu Zetian (Mandarin pronunciation: [ù tsɯ̯ʌ̌ tʰi̯ɛ́n]) was known by various names and titles. Mention of her in the English language has increased the multiplicity of this. A difficulty in English translations from Chinese is that English translations tend to specify a particular gender (as in the case of "emperor" versus "empress" or "prince" versus "princess"); whereas, in Classical Chinese, words such as hou (后, "sovereign", "prince", "queen") or huangdi(皇帝, "imperial supreme ruler", "royal deity") are of agrammatically indeterminate gender. NamesWu Zetian was born as Wu Zhao[12] (sometimes given as 武曌, although the actual characters are uncertain; however it is certain that Zhao was not 瞾, since this was one of Wu's innovative characters). Wu was her patronymic surname, which she retained, according to traditional Chinese practice, after marriage to Gaozong, of the Li family. Emperor Taizong gave her the name Mei (媚), meaning "pretty."[15] (Thus, today Chinese people often refer to her as Wu Mei or Wu Meiniang (武媚娘) when they write about her youth, whereas they refer to her as Empress Wu (武后) when referring to her as empress and empress dowager and Wu Zetian (武則天) when referring to her reign as "emperor.")[citation needed] TitlesMain article: List of titles of Wu ZetianDuring her life, and posthumously, Wu Zetian was awarded various official titles (for a chronological list of these titles see: List of titles of Wu Zetian). Both hou (后) and huangdi(皇帝) are titles (modifications, or added characters to houare of lesser importance). Born Wu Zhao, she is not properly known as "Wu Hou" until receiving this title in 655, nor is she properly known as "Wu Zetian", her regnal name, until 690, when she took the title huangdi."Empress"Various Chinese titles have been translated into English as "empress", including "empress" in both the sense of Empress consort and Empress regnant. Generally the Emperor was male and his chief spouse was given a title such as Huanghou (皇后), often translated as "Empress". Upon the death of the Emperor, the surviving Huanghou could becomeEmpress dowager, sometimes wielding considerable political power as regent during the minority of the heir to the position of Emperor. Since the time of Qin Shi Huang (259 BC - 210 BC) the Emperor of China used the title Huangdi. Wu Zetian was the only woman in the history of China to assume the title ofHuangdi.[citation needed] Her tenure as de facto ruler of China (first through her husband and then through her sons, from 665 to 690), was not without precedent, in Chinese history; however, she broke precedents when she founded her own dynasty in 690, the Zhou (周) (interrupting the Tang Dynasty), ruling personally under the name Sacred and Divine Empress Regnant (聖神皇帝), and variations thereof, from 690 to 705.Wu Zetian is said to be the only woman in Chinese history to wear the yellow robe (otherwise reserved for the sole use of the emperor).[16]BiographyEarly yearsBirth and background(For a list of Wu Zetian's family, see: List of family of Wu Zetian.)The Wu clan originated in Wenshui, Bingzhou (today's Wenshui County, Shanxi). Wu Zetian was born as Wu Mei,[12] in Lizhou (利州) (modern day Guangyuan City in Sichuan Province)[citation needed], or else in the imperial capital of Chang'an, during the reign of Emperor Gaozu of Tang, and lived from 17 February 624[10][17] - 16 December 705.[10][11] Wu Zetian was born in the seventh year of Emperor Gaozu of Tang's reign. In the same year, a total eclipse of the Sun was visible across China. Her father Wu Shihuo was engaged in the timber business and the family was relatively well off. Her mother was from the powerful Yang family. During the final years of Emperor Yang of Sui, Li Yuan (李淵) (who would go on to become Emperor Gaozu of Tang), whilst holding appointments in both Hedong and Taiyuan, Li stayed in the Wu household many times and became close to the Wu family. After Li Yuan overthrew Emperor Yang, he was generous to the Wu family, providing them with money, grain, land and clothing. Once the Tang Dynasty became established, Wu Shihou held a succession of senior ministerial posts including governor of Yangzhou, Lizhou and Jingzhou (荊州) (modern day Jiangling County, Hubei Province).rs of Wu Zetian ChildhoodWu Mei (the future Wu Zetian) was a strong willed child who refused to study needlework like most girls of the time. Instead, she was only interested in reading, from which she gained a wide political awareness. During her childhood she traveled widely with her parents and thus developed a cultured and knowledgeable personality.Emperor Taizong's concubineWhen Wu (then Wu Zhao) was around 13 years old (sometime between 636 and 638) she became a concubine of Emperor Taizong of Tang. She was given the title of cairen, title for one of the consorts with the fifth rank in Tang's nine-rank system for imperial officials, nobles, and consorts.[15][18] When she was summoned to the palace, her mother, the Lady Yang, wept bitterly when saying farewell to her, but she responded, "How do you know that it is not my fortune to meet the Son of Heaven?" Lady Yang reportedly then understood her ambitions, and therefore stopped crying.Consort Wu, however, did not appear to be much favored by Emperor Taizong, although it appeared that she did have sexual relations with him at one point.[19] According to her own account during her reign later while rebuking the chancellor Ji Xu, there was an occasion during the time she was Emperor Taizong's concubine when she impressed Emperor Taizong with her fortitude:Emperor Taizong had a horse with the name "Lion Stallion", and it was so large and strong that no one could get on its back. I was a lady in waiting attending Emperor Taizong, and I suggested to him, "I only need three things to subordinate it: an iron whip, an iron hammer, and a sharp dagger. I will whip it with the iron whip. If it does not submit, I will hammer its head with the iron hammer. If it still does not submit, I will cut its throat with the dagger." Emperor Taizong praised my bravery. Do you really believe that you are qualified to dirty my dagger?[20]The Emperor, Taizong, died in 649 his youngest son, Li Zhi, (whose mother was main wife Wende) succeeded him as emperor, under the name of Emperor Gaozong of Tang.Consigned to the conventTaizong had fourteen sons, including three to his beloved empress Wende (601-636), but none with Consort Wu.[21] Thus, according to the custom by which those of the deceased emperors consorts who had not produced children were after this permanently confined to a monastic institution, Wu was accordingly consigned to Ganye Temple (感業寺), with the expectation that she would serve as a Buddhist nun there for the remainder of her life. In colloquial Chinese, becoming a nun was known as "having ones hair shaved". However, Wu was to defy expectations, and leave the convent for an alternative life.Rise to powerWherever the truth lies, by the early 650s Consort Wu was a concubine of Emperor Gaozong, and she was titled Zhaoyi(昭儀), that is, the highest ranking of the nine concubines of the second rank. Wu progressively gained more and more influence over the governance of the empire throughout Emperor Gaozong's reign, and eventually she was effectively making the major decisions. She was regarded as ruthless in her endeavors to grab power, and was believed by traditional historians to have even killed her own daughter to frame Empress Wang (and, later, her own eldest son Li Hong), in a power struggle. From convent to concubineGaozong became emperor at the age of 21. Inexperienced and frequently incapacitated with a sickness which caused him spells of dizziness,[14] Gaozong was only made heir to the empire due to the disgrace of his two older brothers.[21] Somehow, Wu escaped the convent and became the new emperor's concubine (and this despite that Gaozong was effectively Wu's step-son (the taking of a father's concubine-one who was believed to have had sexual relations with the deceased Emperor Taizong-was considered incest by traditional Confucian principles.)[19][22]). On or after the anniversary of Emperor Taizong's death,[23] Emperor Gaozong went to Ganye Temple to offer incense, and when he and Consort Wu saw each other, both of them wept-and were seen by Emperor Gaozong's wife Empress Wang.[24] At that time, Emperor Gaozong did not favor Empress Wang, and much favored his concubine Consort Xiao; further, Empress Wang did not have any children, and Consort Xiao had one son (Li Sujie) and two daughters (Princesses Yiyang and Xuancheng). Empress Wang, seeing that Emperor Gaozong was still impressed by Consort Wu's beauty, hoped that the arrival of a new concubine would divert the emperor from Consort Xiao, and therefore secretly told Consort Wu to stop shaving her hair and, at a later point, welcomed her to the palace. (Some modern historians dispute this traditional account, and some think that Consort Wu never actually left the imperial palace and might have had an affair with Emperor Gaozong while Emperor Taizong was still alive.)[citation needed]ChildrenConsort Wu soon overtook Consort Xiao in her favor from Emperor Gaozong. In 652, she gave birth to her first child, a son named Li Hong. In 653, she gave birth to another son, Li Xián. Neither of these sons were in contention to be Emperor Gaozong's heir because Emperor Gaozong had, pursuant to requests of officials who were instigated by Empress Wang and her uncle the chancellor Liu Shi, designated his oldest son Li Zhong as heir, whose mother Consort Liu was of lowly birth and whose gratitude Empress Wang expected. By 654, both Empress Wang and Consort Xiao had lost favor with Emperor Gaozong, and these two former romantic rivals joined forces against Consort Wu, but to no avail. As a sign of his love for Consort Wu, in 654 Emperor Gaozong conferred posthumous honors on her father Wu Shihuo.Accusing the empressAlso in 654, shortly after Consort Wu gave birth to a daughter, the daughter died, apparently by strangulation. Consort Wu accused Empress Wang of murder.[14] Empress Wang was claimed to have been seen near the child's room by alleged eyewitnesses. Emperor Gaozong was led to believe that Wang killed the child out of jealousy. Wang was unable to clear herself. (Traditional historians believed that Consort Wu actually killed her own daughter to frame Empress Wang, although it was possible that this allegation was manufactured by historians.)[25] In anger, Emperor Gaozong considered deposing Empress Wang and replacing her with Consort Wu, but wanted to make sure that the chancellors would support this. He visited the house of his uncle Zhangsun Wuji, the leader among chancellors, with Consort Wu, and awarded him with much treasure but when he brought up the topic that Empress Wang was childless (as an excuse for deposing her), Zhangsun repeatedly found ways to divert the conversation. Subsequent visits by Consort Wu's mother Lady Yang and the official Xu Jingzong, who was allied with Consort Wu, to seek support from Zhangsun were also to no avail.[25]Deposal of empress Wang and concubine XiaoIn summer 655, Consort Wu accused Empress Wang and her mother Lady Liu of using witchcraft. In response, Emperor Gaozong barred Lady Liu from the palace and demoted Liu Shi.[25] Meanwhile, a faction of officials began to form around Consort Wu, including Li Yifu, Xu, Cui Yixuan (崔義玄), and Yuan Gongyu (袁公瑜). On an occasion in fall 655, Emperor Gaozong summoned the chancellors Zhangsun, Li Ji, Yu Zhining, and Chu Suiliang to the palace-which Chu deduced to be regarding the matter of changing the empress. Li Ji claimed an illness and refused to attend. At the meeting, Chu vehemently opposed deposing Empress Wang, while Zhangsun and Yu showed their disapproval by silence. Meanwhile, other chancellors Han Yuan and Lai Ji also opposed the move, but when Emperor Gaozong asked Li Ji again, Li Ji's response was, "This is your family matter, Your Imperial Majesty. Why ask anyone else?" Emperor Gaozong therefore became resolved. He demoted Chu to be a commandant at Tan Prefecture (潭州, roughly modernChangsha, Hunan),[25] and then deposed both Empress Wang and Consort Xiao, putting them under arrest and creating Consort Wu empress instead to replace Empress Wang. (Later that year, Empress Wang and Consort Xiao were killed on orders by the new Empress Wu after Emperor Gaozong showed signs of considering to release them. After their deaths, however, Empress Wu was often haunted by them in her dreams, for the rest of Emperor Gaozong's reign, Emperor Gaozong and she often took up residence at the eastern capital Luoyang and only infrequently spent time in Chang'an.)[26]Empress consortIn 655, Wu then became Tang Gaozong's new first lady (huanghou, or "wife" or "empress consort").Son made Heir ApparentIn 656, per advice of Xu Jingzong, Emperor Gaozong deposed Consort Liu's son Li Zhong to be the Prince of Liang, while creating Wu's son Li Hong, then carrying the title of Prince of Dai, to be crown prince (that is, Heir Apparent).[26]Elimination of opposed officialsIn 657, Empress Wu and her allies began reprisals against officials who had opposed her ascension. She first had Xu and Li Yifu, who were by now chancellors, falsely accuse Han Yuan and Lai Ji of being complicit with Chu Suiliang in planning treason. The three of them, along with Liu Shi, were demoted to be prefects of remote prefectures, with provisions that they would never be allowed to return to Chang'an. In 659, she further had Xu accuse Zhangsun Wuji of plotting treason with the low level officials Wei Jifang (韋季方) and Li Chao (李巢). Zhangsun was exiled and, later in the year, was forced to commit suicide in exile. Xu further implicated Chu, Liu, Han, and Yu Zhining in the plot as well. Chu, who had died in 658, was posthumously stripped of his titles, and his sons Chu Yanfu (褚彥甫) and Chu Yanchong (褚彥沖) were executed. Orders were also issued to execute Liu and Han, although Han died before the execution order reached his location. It was said that after this point, no official dared to criticize the emperor any longer.Exile of prince Li ZhongIn 660, Li Zhong, Gaozong's first-born son (to consort Liu) was also targeted. Li Zhong had apprehended that he would be next and had sought out advice of fortune tellers. Wu had him exiled and placed under house arrest.[26]Gaozong disabledIn 660, Emperor Gaozong and Empress Wu toured Bian Prefecture (that is, Taiyuan), and Empress Wu had the opportunity to invite her old neighbors and relatives to a feast.[26]Later that year, Emperor Gaozong began to suffer from an illness that carried the symptoms of painful headache and loss of vision, generally thought to be hypertension-related,[27]but which some historians thought might be slow-poisoning by Empress Wu,[28] and he began to have Empress Wu make rulings on the petitions by the officials. It was said that Empress Wu had quick reactions and understood both literature and history, and therefore was making correct rulings. Thereafter, her authority was rival to Emperor Gaozong's.[26]Attempt to dislodge WuBy 664, Empress Wu was said to be so interfering in the imperial governance that she was angering Emperor Gaozong. Further, she had engaged the Taoist sorcerer Guo Xingzhen (郭行真) in using witchcraft - an act that was prohibited by regulations and which had led to Empress Wang's downfall - and the eunuch Wang Fusheng (王伏勝) reported this to Emperor Gaozong, further angering him. He consulted the chancellor Shangguan Yi, who suggested that he depose Empress Wu. He had Shangguan draft an edict, but as Shangguan was doing so Empress Wu received news of what was happening. She went to the emperor to plead her case, just as he was holding the edict that Shangguan had drafted. Emperor Gaozong could not bear to depose her and therefore blamed the episode on Shangguan. As both Shangguan and Wang had served on Li Zhong's staff, Empress Wu had Xu falsely accuse Shangguan, Wang, and Li Zhong of planning treason. Shangguan, Wang, and Shangguan's son Shangguan Tingzhi (上官庭芝) were executed, while Li Zhong was forced to commit suicide.[29] (Shangguan Tingzhi's daughter Shangguan Wan'er, then an infant, and her mother Lady Zheng became slaves in the inner palace. After Shangguan Wan'er grew up, she eventually became a trusted secretary for Empress Wu.) Thereafter, at imperial meetings, she would sit behind a curtain behind Emperor Gaozong, and they became referred to by the public as the "Two Holy Ones" (二聖, Er Sheng).[29]Violence against the Wu clanMeanwhile, on Empress Wu's account, her mother Lady Yang had been created the Lady of Rong, and her older sister, now widowed, the Lady of Han. Her brothers Wu Yuanqing and Wu Yuanshuang and cousins Wu Weiliang and Wu Huaiyun, despite the poor relations that they had with Lady Yang, were promoted. However, at a feast that Lady Yang held for them, Wu Weiliang offended Lady Yang by stating that they did not find it honorable for them to be promoted on account of Empress Wu. Empress Wu therefore requested to have them demoted to remote prefectures-outwardly to show modesty, but in reality to avenge the offense to her mother. Wu Yuanqing and Wu Yuanshuang died in effective exile. Meanwhile, in or before 666, Lady of Han died as well, and after her death, Emperor Gaozong created her daughter the Lady of Wei and considered keeping her in the palace-possibly as a concubine-but did not immediately do so as he feared that Empress Wu would be displeased. It was said that Empress Wu heard of this and was nevertheless displeased, and she had the Lady of Wei poisoned, by placing poison in food offerings that Wu Weiliang and Wu Huaiyun had made, and then blaming Wu Weiliang and Wu Huaiyun for the murder. Wu Weiliang and Wu Huaiyun were executed.[29][30]Death of motherIn 670, Wu's mother Lady Yang died, and by Emperor Gaozong's orders, all of the imperial officials and their wives attended her wake and mourned her. Later that year, with the realm suffering from a major drought, Empress Wu offered to be deposed, an offer Emperor Gaozong rejected. He further posthumously honored Wu Shihuo (who had previously been posthumously honored the Duke of Zhou) and Lady Yang the Prince and Princess of Taiyuan.[29]More turmoil in Wu clanMeanwhile, Wu's older sister (the Lady of Han)'s son (her nephew) Helan Minzhi (賀蘭敏之) had been given the surname of Wu and allowed to inherit the title of Duke of Zhou. However, as it was becoming clear that he was suspecting Empress Wu of having murdered his sister, Empress Wu began to take precautions against him, who was also said to have had an incestuous relationship with his grandmother Lady Yang. In 671, Helan Minzhi was accused of having disobeyed regulations on mourning during Lady Yang's mourning period, and also of raping the daughter of the official Yang Sijian (楊思儉), whom Emperor Gaozong and Empress Wu had previously selected to be the wife and crown princess for Li Hong. Helan Minzhi was exiled and either was executed in exile or committed suicide. In 674, Empress Wu had Wu Yuanshuang's son Wu Chengsi recalled from exile to inherit the title of Duke of Zhou.[31]Opposition to her regencyIn 675, with Emperor Gaozong's illness getting worse, he considered having Empress Wu formally rule as regent. The chancellor Hao Chujun and the official Li Yiyan both opposed, and he did not formally make her regent.Further elimination of rivalsAlso in 675, a number of persons would fall victim to Empress Wu's ire. Empress Wu had been displeased at the favor that Emperor Gaozong had shown his aunt Princess Changle, who had married the general Zhao Gui (趙瓌) and whose daughter had become the wife and princess of her third son Li Xiǎn the Prince of Zhou. Princess Zhao was therefore accused of unspecified crimes and put under arrest, and was eventually starved to death. Zhao Gui and Princess Changle were exiled. Meanwhile, later that month, Li Hong the Crown Prince, who had been trying to urge Empress Wu not to exercise so much influence on Emperor Gaozong's governance and who had offended Empress Wu by requesting that his half-sisters, Consort Xiao's daughters Princess Yiyang and Xuancheng, who had been under house arrest, be allowed to marry, died suddenly. Traditional historians generally believed that Empress Wu poisoned Li Hong to death. Li Xián, then carrying the title of Prince of Yong, was created crown prince.[31] Meanwhile, Consort Xiao's son Li Sujie and another son of Emperor Gaozong's, Li Shangjin (李上金), were repeatedly accused by her of crimes and demoted.[31]Exile of sonEmpress Wu's relationship with Li Xián also soon deteriorated, as Li Xián had become unsettled after hearing rumors that he was not actually born of Empress Wu but of her sister the Lady of Han, and when Empress Wu heard of his fearfulness, she became angry at him. Further, the sorcerer Ming Chongyan (明崇儼), whom both she and Emperor Gaozong respected and who had stated that Li Xián was unsuitable to inherit the throne, was assassinated in 679, and the assassins were not caught-causing her to suspect Li Xián to be behind the assassination. In 680, Li Xián was accused of crimes, and during investigation by the officials Xue Yuanchao, Pei Yan, and Gao Zhizhou, a large amount of arms was found in Li Xián's palace, and Empress Wu formally accused Li Xián of treason and of assassinating Ming. Li Xián was deposed and exiledNew Heir ApparentAfter, the exile of Li Xián, Li Xiǎn (who had by now been renamed Li Zhe) was created crown prince.[31]Princess TaipingIn 681, Princess Taiping was married to Xue Shao (薛紹), the son of Emperor Gaozong's sister Princess Chengyang, in a grand ceremony. Empress Wu, initially unimpressed with the lineages of Xue Shao's brothers' wives, wanted to order his brothers to divorce their wives-stopping only after it was pointed out to her that Lady Xiao, the wife of Xue Shao's older brother Xue Yi (薛顗), was a grandniece of the deceased chancellor Xiao Yu.[31]Death of GaozongIn late 683, Emperor Gaozong died while at Luoyang. Li Zhe took the throne (as Emperor Zhongzong), but Empress Wu retained actual authority as empress dowager and regent.[32]Empress dowager/regentSee also: Emperor Zhongzong of Tang#First reign, Emperor Ruizong of Tang#First reign, Li Jingye, and Li Zhen (Tang Dynasty)Upon her husband, the Emperor Gaozong's death, Wu became empress dowager and then regent. Wu had already poisoned the crown prince, Li Hong, and had enough other princes exiled, that her third son, Li Zhe, had been made Heir Apparent. Furthermore, Gaozong's will included provisions that Li Zhe should immediately ascend to the imperial throne, and that he should look to empress Wu in regard to any important matter either military or civil.[33]Reign of ZhongzongIn the second month of 684, Wu's son, Li Zhe, the Heir Apparent ascended to the imperial throne, taking the regnal name of Zhongzong, for the short six weeks of his reign.Emperor Zhongzong was under the thumb of his wife, the empress Wei, even appointing his father-in-law prime minister. Wu Zetian had him brought up on charges of treason, and he was sent into seclusion.Immediately, Emperor Zhongzong showed signs of disobeying Empress Dowager Wu-including an insistence on making his father-in-law Wei Xuanzhen (韋玄貞) Shizhong (侍中, the head of the examination bureau of government (門下省, Menxia Sheng) and a post considered one for a chancellor) and giving a mid-level office to his wet nurse's son-despite stern opposition by the chancellor Pei Yan, at one point remarking to Pei:[32]What would be wrong even if I gave the empire to Wei Xuanzhen? Why do you care about Shizhong so much?Pei reported this to Empress Dowager Wu, and she, after planning with Pei, Liu Yizhi, and the generals Cheng Wuting (程務挺) and Zhang Qianxu (張虔勖), deposed him and replaced him with her youngest son Li Dan the Prince of Yu (as Emperor Ruizong). Emperor Zhongzong was reduced to the title of Prince of Luling and exiled. Empress Dowager Wu also sent the general Qiu Shenji (丘神勣) to Li Xián's place in exile and forced Li Xián to commit suicide.Full powerReign of RuizongWu then had her youngest son Li Dan made emperor, as Emperor Ruizong. But she was the actual ruler, both in substance and appearance as well, Wu did not even follow the customary pretense of hiding behind a screen/curtain and in whispers issuing commands for the nominal ruler to formally announce: Ruizong never moved into the imperial quarters, appeared at no imperial function, and remained a virtual prisoner in the inner quarters.[34] In 690, she had Emperor Ruizong yield the throne to her and established the Zhou Dynasty, with herself as ruler (huangdi). The early part of her reign was characterized by secret police terror, which moderated as the years went by. She was, on the other hand, recognized as a capable and attentive ruler even by traditional historians who despised her, and her ability at selecting capable men to serve as officials was admired throughout the rest of the Tang Dynasty as well as in subsequent dynasties.[35] In 705, she was overthrown in a coup, and Emperor Zhongzong was returned to the throne. She continued to carry the title of "emperor" until her death later in the year.Although Emperor Ruizong held the title of emperor, Empress Dowager Wu held onto power even more firmly, and the officials were not allowed to meet with Emperor Ruizong, nor was he allowed to rule on matters of state. Rather, the matters of state were ruled on by Empress Dowager Wu. At the suggestion of her nephew Wu Chengsi, she also expanded the ancestral shrine of the Wu ancestors and gave them greater posthumous honors.[32]In 686, Empress Dowager Wu offered to return imperial authorities to Emperor Ruizong, but Emperor Ruizong, knowing that she did not truly intend to do so, declined, and she continued to exercise imperial authority.Rebellion in 684Soon thereafter, Li Ji's grandson Li Jingye the Duke of Ying, who had been disaffected by his own exile, started a rebellion at Yang Prefecture (揚州, roughly modern Yangzhou,Jiangsu) - a rebellion that initially drew much popular support in the region. However, Li Jingye progressed slowly in his attack and did not take advantage of that popular support. Meanwhile, Pei suggested to Empress Dowager Wu that she return imperial authority to the Emperor and argued that doing so would cause the rebellion to collapse on its own. This offended her, and she accused him of being complicit with Li Jingye and had him executed; she also demoted, exiled, and killed a number of officials who, when Pei was arrested, tried to speak on his behalf. She sent the general Li Xiaoyi (李孝逸) to attack Li Jingye, and while Li Xiaoyi was initially unsuccessful, he pushed on at the urging of his assistant Wei Yuanzhong and was eventually able to crush Li Jingye's forces. Li Jingye fled and was killed in flight.[32]Huaiyi affairBy 685, Empress Dowager Wu began to carry on an affair with the Buddhist monk Huaiyi, and during the next few years, Huaiyi would be progressively bestowed with greater and greater honors.[32][36][37]Secret police and informantsMeanwhile, she created copper mailboxes outside the imperial government to encourage the people of the realm to secretly report on others, as she suspected many officials of opposing her. Exploiting these beliefs of hers, secret police officials, including Suo Yuanli, Zhou Xing, and Lai Junchen, began to rise in power and to carry out systematic false accusations, tortures, and executions of individuals.[32]Elimination of suspected rivalsIn 688, Empress Dowager Wu was set to make sacrifices to the deity of the Luo River (洛水, flowing through the Henan province city of Luoyang, then the "Eastern Capital"). Wu summoned senior members of Tang's Li imperial clan to Luoyang. The imperial princes worried that she planned to slaughter them and secure the throne for herself: thus, they plotted to resist her. However, before a rebellion could be comprehensively planned out, Li Zhen and his son Li Chong the Prince of Langye rose first, at their respective posts as prefects of Yu Prefecture (豫州, roughly modern Zhumadian, Henan) and Bo Prefecture (博州, roughly modern Liaocheng, Shandong). The other princes were not yet ready, however, and did not rise, and forces sent by Empress Dowager Wu and the local forces crushed Li Chong and Li Zhen's forces quickly. Empress Dowager Wu took this opportunity to arrest Emperor Gaozong's granduncles Li Yuanjia (李元嘉) the Prince of Han, Li Lingkui (李靈夔) the Prince of Lu, and Princess Changle, as well as many other members of the Li clan and forced them to commit suicide. Even Princess Taiping's husband Xue Shao was implicated and starved to death. In the subsequent years, there continued to be many politically motivated massacres of officials and Li clan members.[36]Monarch of the Zhou DynastyWu Zetian, shown with her posthumous title Zetian huanghouIn 690, Wu took the final step, taking the regnal name Wu Zetian, and the title huangdi, as the monarch of the newly proclaimed Zhou Dynasty. Traditional Chinese order of succession (akin to the Salic law in Europe) did not allow a woman to ascend the throne, but Wu Zetian was determined to quash the opposition, and the use of the secret police did not subside, but continued, after her taking the throne. However, while her organization of the civil service system was criticized for its laxity of the promotion of officials, Wu Zetian was considered capable of evaluating the performance of the officials once they were in office. The Song Dynasty historian Sima Guang, in hisZizhi Tongjian, commented:[37]Even though the Empress Dowager[38] excessively used official titles to cause people to submit to her, if she saw that someone was incompetent, she would immediately depose or even execute him. She grasped the powers of punishment and award, controlled the state, and made her own judgments as to policy decisions. She was observant and had good judgment, so the talented people of the time also were willing to be used by her.Early reignShortly after Wu Zetian took the throne, she elevated the status of Buddhism to be above Taoism, officially sanctioning the religion by building temples named Dayun Temple (大雲寺) in each prefecture belonging to the capital regions of the two capitals Luoyang and Chang'an, and also created nine senior monks dukes. She also enshrined seven generations of Wu ancestors at the imperial ancestral temple, although she also continued to offer sacrifices to the Tang emperors Gaozu, Taizong, and Gaozong.[36]She faced the issue of succession. At the time she took the throne, she created Li Dan, the former Emperor Ruizong, crown prince, and bestowed the name of Wu on him.[36] However, the official Zhang Jiafu instigated the commoner Wang Qingzhi (王慶之) into starting a petition drive to make her nephew Wu Chengsi crown prince, arguing that an emperor named Wu should pass the throne to a member of the Wu clan. Wu Zetian was tempted to do so, and when the chancellors Cen Changqian and Ge Fuyuan opposed sternly, they, along with fellow chancellor Ouyang Tong, were executed. Nevertheless, she declined Wang's request to make Wu Chengsi crown prince, but for a time allowed Wang to freely enter the palace to see her. On one occasion, however, when Wang angered her by coming to the palace too much, she asked the official Li Zhaode to batter Wang-and Li Zhaode took the opportunity to batter Wang to death, and his group of petitioners scattered. Li Zhaode then persuaded Wu Zetian to keep Li Dan as crown prince-pointing out that a son was closer in relations than a nephew, and also that if Wu Chengsi became emperor, Emperor Gaozong would never again be worshiped. Wu Zetian agreed, and for some time did not again consider the matter.[36] Further, at Li Zhaode's warning that Wu Chengsi was becoming too powerful, Wu Zetian stripped Wu Chengsi of his chancellor authority and bestowed on him largely honorific titles without actual authority.[37]Meanwhile, the powers of the secret police officials continued, but appeared to be curbed starting about 692, when Lai Junchen was foiled in his attempt to have the chancellorsRen Zhigu, Di Renjie, Pei Xingben, and other officials Cui Xuanli (崔宣禮), Lu Xian (盧獻), Wei Yuanzhong, and Li Sizhen (李嗣真) executed, as Di, under arrest, hid a secret petition inside a change of clothes and had it submitted by his son Di Guangyuan (狄光遠). The seven were still exiled, but after this incident, particularly at the urging of Li Zhaode, Zhu Jingze, and Zhou Ju (周矩), the waves of politically motivated massacres decreased, although did not end entirely.[37]Also in 692, Wu Zetian commissioned the general Wang Xiaojie to attack Tufan, and Wang recaptured the four garrisons of Xiyu that had fallen to Tufan in 670 - Qiuzi, Yutian,Shule, and Suiye.[37]In 693, after Wu Zetian's trusted lady in waiting Wei Tuan'er (韋團兒), who hated Li Dan (the reason why she did so is lost to history), falsely accused Li Dan's wife Crown Princess Liu and Consort Dou of using witchcraft, Wu Zetian had Crown Princess Liu and Consort Dou killed. Li Dan, fearful that he was to be next, did not dare to speak of them. When Wei further planned to falsely accuse Li Dan, however, someone else informed on her, and she was executed. Wu Zetian nevertheless had Li Dan's sons demoted in their princely titles, and when the officials Pei Feigong (裴匪躬) and Fan Yunxian (范雲仙) were accused of secretly meeting Li Dan, she executed Pei and Fan and further barred officials from meeting Li Dan. There were then accusations that Li Dan was plotting treason, and under Wu Zetian's direction, Lai launched an investigation. Lai arrested Li Dan's servants and tortured them-and the torture was such that many of them were ready to falsely implicate themselves and Li Dan. One of Li Dan's servants, An Jinzang, however, proclaimed Li Dan's innocence and cut his own belly open to swear to that fact. When Wu Zetian heard of what An did, she had doctors attend to An and barely saved his life, and then ordered Lai to end the investigation, thus saving Li Dan.[37]In 694, Li Zhaode, who had become powerful after Wu Chengsi's removal, was himself thought to be too powerful, and Wu Zetian removed him.[37] Also around this time, she became highly impressed with a group of mystic individuals-the hermit Wei Shifang (on whom she bestowed a chancellor title briefly), who claimed to be over 350 years old; an old Buddhist nun who claimed to be a Buddha and capable of predicting the future; and a non-Han man who claimed to be 500 years old. During this time, Wu briefly claimed to be and adopted the cult imagery of Maitreya, the future Buddha, in order to build popular support for her reign.[39] However, in 695, after the imperial meeting hall (明堂) and the Heavenly Hall (天堂) were burned by Huaiyi (who was jealous at Wu Zetian's taking on another lover, the imperial physician Shen Nanqiu (沈南璆)), Wu Zetian became angry at these individuals for failing to predict the fire; the old nun and her students were arrested and made into slaves; Wei committed suicide; and the old non-Han man fled. Subsequently, she also put Huaiyi to death. After this incident, she appeared to pay less attention to mysticism and was even more dedicated than before to the affairs of state.[37]Middle reignHowever, Wu Zetian's administration was soon in for various troubles on the western and then northern borders. In spring 696, an army she sent, commanded by Wang Xiaojie andLou Shide against Tufan, was soundly defeated by Tufan generals, the brothers Lun Qinling (論欽陵) and Lun Zanpo (論贊婆), and as a result, she demoted Wang to commoner rank and Lou to be a low level prefectural official, although she eventually restored both of them to general positions.[37] In April of the same year, Wu Zetian recast the Nine Tripod Cauldrons, symbol of ultimate power in ancient China, to reinforce her authority.[40]A much more serious threat arose in summer 696. The Khitan chieftains Li Jinzhong and Sun Wanrong, brothers-in-law, angry over the mistreatment of the Khitan people by the Zhou official Zhao Wenhui (趙文翽), the prefect of Ying Prefecture (營州, roughly modern Zhaoyang, Liaoning), rebelled, with Li assuming the title of Wushang Khan (無上可汗). Armies that Wu Zetian sent to suppress Li and Sun's rebellion were defeated by Khitan forces, which in turn attacked Zhou proper. Meanwhile, the Eastern Tujue Khan Ashina Mochuo offered to submit, and yet was also launching attacks against Zhou and Khitan-including an attack against Khitan base of operations in winter 696 shortly after Li's death at that time that captured Li's and Sun's families and temporarily halted Khitan operations against Zhou.[37] Sun, after taking over as khan and reorganizing Khitan forces, again attacked Zhou territory and had many victories over Zhou forces, including a battle during which Wang Shijie was killed.[20][37] Wu Zetian tried to allay the situation by making peace with Ashina Mochuo at fairly costly terms-the return of Tujue people who had previously submitted to Zhou and providing Ashina Mochuo with seeds, silk, tools, and iron. In summer 697, Ashina Mochuo launched another attack on Khitan's base of operations, and this time, after his attack, Khitan forces collapsed, and Sun was killed in flight, ending the Khitan threat.[20]Meanwhile, also in 697, Lai Junchen, who had at one point lost power but had then returned to power, falsely accused Li Zhaode (who had been pardoned) of crimes, and then planned to falsely accuse Li Dan, Li Zhe, the Wu clan princes, and Princess Taiping, of treason. The Wu clan princes and Princess Taiping acted first against him, accusing him of crimes, and he and Li Zhaode were executed together. After Lai's death, the reign of the secret police largely ended, and many of the victims of Lai and the other secret police officials were gradually exonerated posthumously.[20] Meanwhile, around this time, Wu Zetian began to engage herself with two new lovers-the brothers Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong, who became honored within the palace and were eventually created dukes.[20][41]Around 698, Wu Chengsi and another nephew of Wu Zetian's, Wu Sansi the Prince of Liang, were repeatedly making attempts to have officials persuade Wu Zetian to create one of them crown prince-again citing the reason that an emperor should pass the throne to someone of the same clan. However, Di Renjie, who by now had become a trusted chancellor, was firmly against the idea and instead proposed that Li Zhe be recalled. He was supported in this by fellow chancellors Wang Fangqing and Wang Jishan, as well as Wu Zetian's close advisor Ji Xu, who further persuaded the Zhang brothers to support the idea as well. In spring 698, Wu Zetian agreed and recalled Li Zhe from exile. Soon, Li Dan offered to yield the crown prince position to Li Zhe, and Wu Zetian created Li Zhe crown prince, and soon changed his name back to Li Xiǎn and then Wu Xian.[20]Later, Ashina Mochuo demanded a Tang dynasty prince for marriage to his daughter, part of a plot to join his family with the Tang, displace the Zhou, and restore Tang rule over China (under his influence). When Wu Zetian sent a member of her own family, grandnephew Wu Yanxiu (武延秀), to marry Mochuo's daughter instead, he rejected him.[42] Ashina Mochuo had no actual intention to cement the peace treaty with a marriage; instead, when Wu Yanxiu arrived, he detained Wu Yanxiu and then launched a major attack on Zhou, advancing as far south as Zhao Prefecture (趙州, in modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei) before withdrawing.[20]In 699, however, at least the Tufan threat would cease. The Tufan king Tridu Songtsen, unhappy that Lun Qinling was monopolizing power, took an opportunity when Lun Qinling was away from the capital Lhasa to slaughter Lun Qinling's associates. He then defeated Lun Qinling in battle, and Lun Qinling committed suicide. Lun Zanpo and Lun Qinling's son Lun Gongren (論弓仁) surrendered to Zhou. After this, Tufan was under internal turmoil for several years, and there was peace for Zhou on the Tufan border.[20]Also in 699, Wu Zetian, realizing that she was growing old, feared that after her death, Li Xian and the Wu clan princes would not be able to have peace with each other, and she made him, Li Dan, Princess Taiping, Princess Taiping's second husband Wu Youji (a nephew of hers) the Prince of Ding, and other Wu clan princes to swear an oath to each other.[20]Late reignEstimated territorial extent of Wu Zetian's empire.As Wu Zetian grew older, Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong became increasingly powerful, and even the princes of the Wu clan flattered them. She also increasingly relied on them to handle the affairs of state. This was secretly discussed and criticized by her grandson Li Chongrun the Prince of Shao (Li Xian's son), granddaughter Li Xianhui (李仙蕙) the Lady Yongtai (Li Chongrun's sister), and Li Xianhui's husband Wu Yanji (武延基) the Prince of Wei (Wu Zetian's grandnephew and Wu Chengsi's son), but somehow the discussion was leaked, and Zhang Yizhi reported this to Wu Zetian. She ordered the three of them to commit suicide.[43][44]Despite her old age, however, Wu Zetian continued to be interested in finding talented officials and promoting them, and individuals that she promoted in her old age included, among others, Cui Xuanwei and Zhang Jiazhen.[41]By 703, Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong had become resentful of Wei Yuanzhong, who by now was a senior chancellor, for dressing down their brother Zhang Changyi (張昌儀) and rejecting the promotion of another brother Zhang Changqi (張昌期). They were also fearful that if Wu Zetian died, Wei would find a way to execute them, and therefore accused Wei and Gao Jian (高戩), an official favored by Princess Taiping, of speculating on Wu Zetian's old age and death. They initially got Wei's subordinate Zhang Shuo to agree to corroborate the charges, but once Zhang Shuo was before Wu Zetian, he instead accused Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong of forcing him to bear false witness. As a result, Wei, Gao, and Zhang Shuo were exiled, but escaped death.[41]Removal and deathIn autumn of 704, there began to be accusations of corruption levied against Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong, as well as their brothers Zhang Changqi, Zhang Changyi, and Zhang Tongxiu (張同休). Zhang Tongxiu and Zhang Changyi were demoted, but even though the officials Li Chengjia (李承嘉) and Huan Yanfan advocated that Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong be removed as well, Wu Zetian, taking the suggestion of the chancellor Yang Zaisi, did not remove them. Subsequently, charges of corruption against Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong were renewed by the chancellor Wei Anshi.[41] In winter 704, Wu Zetian became seriously ill for a period, and only the Zhang brothers were allowed to see her; the chancellors were not. This led to speculation that Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong were plotting to take over the throne, and there were repeated accusations of treason. Once her condition improved, Cui Xuanwei advocated that only Li Xian and Li Dan be allowed to attend to her-a suggestion that she did not accept. After further accusations against the Zhang brothers by Huan and Song Jing, Wu Zetian allowed Song to investigate, but before the investigation was completed, she issued a pardon for Zhang Yizhi, derailing Song's investigation.[41]Commemorative stele at Qianling Mausoleum, where Wu Zetian and her husband Emperor Gaozong were buried.By spring 705, Wu Zetian was again seriously ill. Zhang Jianzhi, Jing Hui, and Yuan Shuji, planned a coup to kill the Zhang brothers. They convinced the generals Li Duozuo, Li Dan (李湛, note different character than the former emperor), and Yang Yuanyan (楊元琰) and another chancellor, Yao Yuanzhi, to be involved. With agreement from Li Xian as well, they acted on 20 February,[3] killing Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong, and then had Changsheng Hall (長生殿), where Wu Zetian was residing, surrounded. They then reported to her that the Zhang brothers had been executed for treason, and then forced her to yield the throne to Li Xian. On 21 February, an edict was issued in her name that made Li Xian regent, and on 22 February, an edict was issued in her name passing the throne to Li Xian. On 23 February, Li Xian formally retook the throne, and the next day, Wu Zetian, under heavy guard, was moved to the subsidiary palace Shangyang Palace (上陽宮), but was nevertheless honored with the title of Empress Regnant Zetian Dasheng (則天大聖皇帝).[41] On 3 March,[45] Tang Dynasty was restored, ending Zhou.[40] She died on 16 December,[11] and, pursuant to a final edict issued in her name, was no longer referred to as emperor, but instead as Empress Zetian Dasheng (則天大聖皇后).[40] In 706, Wu Zetian's son Emperor Zhongzong had Wu Zetian interred in a joint burial with his father Emperor Gaozong at the Qianling Mausoleum, located near the capitalChang'an on Mount Liang. Emperor Zhongzong also buried at Qianling his brother Li Xián, son Li Chongrun, and daughter Li Xianhui (李仙蕙) the Lady Yongtai (posthumously honored as the Princess Yongtai) - victims of Wu Zetian's wrath.

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