The Great Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal is a great mausoleum built in 1632, in honor of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan's most beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Mumtaz Mahal died at the age of 39 during her 14th childbirth. She was Shah Jahan's favorite wife out of the three he was married to. He had commissioned the Taj Mahal to house her dead body, but it now houses her and him. The Taj Mahal was built out of all white marble and is designed in an Islamic fashion. Scriptures from the Quran can be found written in calligraphy above doorways. The Taj Mahal can be found right across the Yumana River and the capital of the Mughal Empire, Agra. Shah Jahan wanted to built a great mausoleum for himself, however his son Aurangzeb imprisoned him before he milked the Mughal Empire dry. Shah Jahan was buried next to his wife at the Taj Mahal. India has taken extensive measures in protecting the white marble by forbidding air-polluting factories and cars in the proximity of the Taj Mahal. http://www.history.com/topics/taj-mahal

Empress Wu

Empress Wu went by many names including Wu Zetian, Empress Consort Wu, Wu Hou, and Wu Zhao. She lived from 624 to 705 CE and reigned from 690 to 704 CE. She was the concubine to the first emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Taizong then married his son, Gaozong after he had a died. After her marriage to Gaozong, she became empress consort and gained more power by putting her sons on the throne then removing them.

Her life before coming a concubine was prestigious. She came from a wealthy family with a father as a chancellor. She studied and became literate. Taizong became fascinated with her when she was 14 and took her as his concubine and later as his secretary. However, she fell in love with his son Gaozong and had an affair with him, but she was not destined to be his concubine after Taizong's death. She had been sent to a nunnery, but Gaozong loved her so much that he had her back in court.

Once she came to power, the dynasty shifted from Tang to Zhou. She also gave many important roles to women in a patriarchal China. She promoted Buddhism in the country as well. She established well organized secret police and spy networks as she know the men of China would be highly unhappy with her reforms because of her being a woman and for many other policy reforms she set forth. She never really could escape her concubine tendencies and often took young men as her lovers. Double standards were set in place in China, so she received severe backlash for her numerous affairs.

Towards the end of her reign, she (like Stalin) purged her own administration due to her paranoia. In 704 CE, her health began to decline and she had to pass on the power to her son and his wife. The same year, she not only abdicated, but died.

http://www.ancient.eu/Wu_Zetian/

The Warring States of China (Blog #5)

I asked Dr. Fitzgerald about the Warring States and I'm still curious as to how there were different states and the smallest ended up winning it all. When doing some more research, I stumbled across a page dedicated to the warring states period by San Jose State (http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/warringstates.htm ) . The Warring States period lasted from 475 BCE to 221 BCE, 254 years! There was a larger state named Jin that had broken into some of the warring states: Han, Wu, and Zhao. The states to follow and add to the tension were Chu, Qi, and Yan. But, the smallest and victorious state ended up being the Qin. At this time, the Qin were not considered Chinese. They were considered barbarians, but the irony behind this that many Chinese still refer to themselves as Qin. Interestingly enough, during this period, it was not just all brutal fighting and wars. Confucianism was big during this time and Confucius's student Mencius was teaching during this time. A lot of attention was still being focused on education, Confucianism and how it outlines the way society should be ran, and art. The wars that broke out during this long period of time was to establish order and unity. After Shinghuandi died, the Qin ruled a little longer and then the Han Dynasty was established.