Tang Dynasty
21 portrait chapters in the Chinese Empresses collection.
The era
Tang Dynasty Chinese Empresses
Tang (618 – 907) – A cosmopolitan golden age, Tang culture, trade, and law flourished—so too did female political clout. Wu Zetian rose from concubine to become the only woman to claim the imperial title outright (690‑705), expanding the exam system and patronizing Buddhism. After her, Empress Wei and Princess Taiping tried (unsuccessfully) to emulate her power. Tang law granted women unusual inheritance and divorce rights, and elite women, from poets like Shangguan Wan’er to cavalry‑riding princesses, left a lasting cultural imprint.
Empress Taimu
Empress Wu Zetian
Empress Zhangsun
Empress Wang (Gaozong)
Empress Wei
Empress Zhang
Empress Wang
Empress Liu and Empress Dou
Empress Zhenyi and Empress Ruizhen
Empress Wang (Dezong)
Empress Dowager Wang (Xianzong)
Empress Dowager Guo
Empress He
The Last 7 Known Empresses of the Tang Dynasty
Bring the Tang era home
Canvas prints, scarves, puzzles and more — from $14.
200+ empresses in a 188-page full-color volume.
A one-of-a-kind portrait on silk, from $5,000.
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