Empress (33 page)

The very next day Scribe of Loyalty announced that the Temple of Clarity had been completed. The Morning Salutation became an audience granted to the Barbarian ministers and kings.

The sacred building was made up of three circular sections, one on top of the other; it was built on a square platform and looked liked a pagoda on a massive scale. Inside, two hundred and forty millennial trees had been used to support a network of horizontal beams that acted as a base for the pillars on the floor above. Beams and rafters painted with powdered gold were interwoven in an increasingly complicated pattern to reach the vaulted ceiling covered in frescoes depicting the marvels of the gods. Its substantial system of curving roofs covered in varnished blue-green tiles unfurled into the sky. The top of the roof looked down on the entire world from a height never before achieved: 280 cubits, which was twice as high as the tallest imperial palace. Upon it, nine seething golden dragons-gods of the seas and symbols of masculine strength-held up a scarlet phoenix, king of birds and the emblem of the Empress Mother of Heaven. The creature’s wings were set with gemstones that caught the sun’s rays and twinkled dazzlingly up to the clouds.

The sanctuary consecrated to Heaven, to the Kings of the Five Directions, and to the spirits of emperor ancestors, was forbidden to profane eyes; I therefore revealed only the front area intended for imperial receptions. There were twenty-four windows on the third floor representing the twenty-four winds of the four seasons, and twelve on the second floor representing the twelve earthly cycles. The beams of light from these converged on a stage consisting of a disc of celestial turquoise laid on a square of earthly yellow. I climbed the steps and sat on the throne, a simple seat low on the ground, draped with a mat of woven, white satin. But the rays of sunlight playing around me were so bright they might have been hideous dragons, fearless warriors, or an entire celestial army begat by the breath of the gods. The ministers and kings were terrified, and they threw themselves to their knees and prostrated themselves, crying: “The Sacred Emperor is truly a divinity!”

Brimming with pride, I announced, “In his lifetime, the previous emperor wanted to raise the Temple of Clarity. On the day of the sanctification on Tai Mountain, that wish received Heaven’s blessing. But the propitious time was a long time coming. Today peace reigns throughout the world, and the people live in plenty. The gods have given me their permission. I have dared to resurrect ancient religion and to turn myth into reality. The Temple of Clarity is a sanctuary intended for Supreme Celebration, a solemn place that shall be venerated by the people. It has been built according to the laws of nature to represent Heaven and Earth, and it drives away demons and absorbs impurities. That is why I shall call it the Sacred Temple of the Ten Thousand Elements. May every man, beast, plant, and mineral on our Earth be protected by it!”

The cheers were still echoing when the year came to an end. Snow fell tender on Luoyang. On New Year’s Day, with my ministers’ approval, I overstepped ancestral law again.

After the purification, I put on the ink-red emperor’s tunics and men’s-style shoes. On my man’s topknot, I wore my husband’s crown decorated with twenty-four tiers of jade pearls. With the jade scepter in my hand and hugging the hopes of an entire people to my breast, I stepped into the heart of the Temple of the Ten Thousand Elements and communed with Heaven and the spirits of the ancestors. After the ceremony, I stood high up by the Gate of Celestial Law to announce the Great Remission of sins and to inaugurate the Era of Eternal Prosperity. Two days later, I gathered my officials in the temple and sat on the sacred throne. In the name of Heaven, I instructed them in the nine virtues. A few days after that, I ordered that the temple be opened to the public and invited my people to visit it. From the top of the Pagoda of Contemplation, I observed with pride a continuous stream of pilgrims form outside the Forbidden City. The previous emperors had all failed. But I, a woman, had been capable of raising the highest temple in history. The rebel princes were right: I was the usurper of men’s dreams.

SCRIBE OF LOYALTY threw himself at my feet: The master monk, Clarity of Law, had just translated the sutra of the Great Cloud in which certain passages justified my position as the master of the earthly world.

“While he was preaching,” Scribe of Loyalty took the scroll from his sleeve and read, “Buddha addressed a celestial daughter named Purity of Heavenlight and said: ”In a former life you once heard the sutra of Great Nirvana. Because of this providential incident, you have taken the form of a celestial being. Now, having heard my teachings, you shall abandon this ethereal body and assume the mortal flesh of a woman. You shall reign over the earth and shall be the bodhisattva who redeems the lowly world.“”

“Sacred Majesty,” my lover cried, “ever since I was called to your service, I have wondered who you were. You are proud yet humble, tormented yet naive. You are deep as the night, limpid as a mirror, ardent as the sun, and icy as the moon. You restore traditions and reinvent codes. You are in the present and navigate through the past while already projecting yourself into the future. You are a woman and a man, one and several, movement and immobility. The better I know you, the more I am amazed by the infinity that lies within you. This sutra of the Great Cloud that has come from India has just revealed your origins: You are that celestial daughter! You are the Savior of the World; you are the bodhisattva of the Future!”

Seeing that I gave no reply, he drew closer on his knees.

“Majesty, do you not remember the distant past when you lived in the kingdom of the skies?”

Images flitted past: I saw myself as a little girl on a big white horse. I was galloping by the banks of the River Long, trying in vain to take off toward the sky in the speed of my mount. With my hands under my chin, I watched the clouds lit up by the setting sun, and then-amid the shadows and flashes of color-I could see palaces with pillars of gold, terraces of mist, and ponds of sapphire. How I longed to be one of those celestial beings clothed in light! I saw myself as a young concubine imprisoned in the gynaeceum with its ten thousand beauties fighting for the favors of just one man. I remembered how ardently I wanted to tear myself away from the earthly world, its pitiful hatred and mediocre frustrations. I saw myself as Empress of China, my topknot crowned with the twenty-four gem-studded golden trees, climbing the steps to the Gate of Serene Loyalty. The officials were cheering, and the sky opened out its expanses of blue above my sovereign head, a pathway to climb toward a world hidden from men and women. I understood my passion for horses, those earthly clouds, and my love of mountains, those staircases toward the gates of Heaven. I understood why I was drawn to heights, why I had the strength to recover when I fell into the abyss, and why I so loved undertaking major constructions: temples, statues, columns, plinths, all reaching toward the zenith. My compassion and my indifference to human misery could now be explained. Throughout this existence, I had been trying to turn my back on Earth to reach Heaven, my homeland, my birthplace.

Scribe of Loyalty withdrew and had the newly translated sutra disclosed. My nephews used the opportunity to instigate my deification. They were impatient to be the imperial household and change my husband’s relations into outsiders. The monasteries of the Great Cloud built in the four corners of the Empire rang their bonze bells, whipping up fervor among the people. As a celestial daughter and bodhisattva who would be Savior of the World, I was hope and happiness and the promise of a better life. From that moment on, the people prayed for my well-being before statues of Buddha Maitreya of the Future who bore my enigmatic smile. They begged me to lead them back to the path of deliverance toward the Heaven of Pure Rejoicing. With this faith, I was ready to defy the ancestors, the deceased, and the living-to become the first woman emperor of all time.

The Tang dynasty, founded by conquerors and sullied by blood and warfare, would be turned like the page of a book. Every form of renewal is a purification. I did away with the calendar of the ancient Xia dynasty and applied the Zhou calendar, used by my glorious ancestors, in which the new year begins in the eleventh moon. I undertook to change the way things were written by publishing a series of new characters including my name, Heavenlight, now represented as the Sun and the Moon carried by the Heavens. My eldest nephew, Piety, had recently been named Great Chancellor of the Left, and while he busied himself trying to alter the course of history, I very quietly suggested my decision to the government: My sacred mission would be accomplished only if I inaugurated a new dynasty based on peace, compassion, and divine justice.

On the morning of the third day of the ninth moon-phase, shouting broke out by the Gate to the Forbidden City and interrupted the morning salutation. The overseeing magistrate, Fu Yu Yi, stepped forward and presented me with a petition signed by the 900 men and women kneeling before the southern entrance. I had the scroll opened; it was covered with signatures, some beautiful, some hideous, others simple thumbprints: “The sky does not have two suns; the earth does not recognize two kings. Your Sacred Majesty must obey the will of the gods who entrust the sovereignty of the Empire to her. Heaven is commanding her to inaugurate a new dynasty, and to gratify her son, her successor, with her name-Wu. So that henceforth her lineage may prosper and illuminate the four seas for eternity.”

Without waiting for a reaction from the high-ranking officials, I dictated my reply: “I, who obey the wishes of the previous emperor; I who am devoted to serving Heaven and who long for peace in the world and joy in the hearts of every people; I am determined to take on my duties without claiming any glory.”

A ripple rang through the audience hall. Several ministers stepped forward from the ranks, trying to make me accept the celestial invitation and reasons of State. Their numbers were far from the majority. I rejected their request but rewarded Fu Yu Yi, who had understood my intention. I immediately appointed him councilor to the Chancellery.

The following day I learned that the 900 inhabitants of Luoyang had still not moved. They had been joined by monks and Taoists, traders and beggars, children and the elderly. Twelve thousand people were now kneeling before the Forbidden City, determined to rise to their feet only once I agreed to satisfy the petition. Accompanied by my ministers, I climbed to the highest level of the Pagoda of Contemplation and saw a carpet of prostrate figures before the Forbidden City. My heart faltered with emotion. This change of dynasty would see no bloodshed or violence. For the first time in our history, the people were choosing their sovereign. Let their wishes be heard!

Still, I hardened my tone to voice my refusal: “The sun shines, but it wears no crown. The gods govern this earth, but our offerings are paltry in the face of their goodness. Buddha’s power lies in his boundless and universal compassion. He asks only for prayer. The sovereign who transcends divine goodness, and the blessings of our forebears must be the most humble servant of the Empire, an officiator in religious rituals constrained to moral purity. The sovereign should have no belongings or glory. My power was passed on to me by the previous emperor; my vocation was revealed by Heaven. I deserve no special title.”

Two days later there were sixty thousand people outside the Southern Gate; they had come from the four corners of the Empire calling for my eternal reign. During the morning salutation, the officials, officers, princes, and barbarian kings also presented me with a petition. The Great Eunuch Overseer took it upon himself to give me a letter sent by the entire population of the gynaeceum. I also received a letter from my daughter, the Princess of Eternal Peace, expressing the wish of all the women dignitaries to see me found a new dynasty. Finally, my son Miracle, whose silent existence had been a mute form of opposition, announced to the world that he had abdicated. He publicly asked for my permission to abandon his paternal name, Li, and to bear my name, Wu.

Voices strangled with emotion cried out in every direction to try and persuade me: “At dawn this morning, a phoenix flew over the Southern Gate, followed by hundreds of different birds. Then thousands of scarlet sparrows came from east of the horizon, escorted by golden orioles. When the sun rose, clouds tinged with happiness spread over the sky for a long time before dispersing. The whole capital witnessed this marvel, and your servants heard your people proclaiming: ”The presence of these celestial beings heralds a sacred revolution! Scarlet sparrows symbolize fire, golden orioles represent the earth. Now, according to the law of the five elements, fire begets the earth. That is why the golden orioles escorting the scarlet sparrows announce a celestial oracle: The son shall follow the mother, shall bear the maternal name!“

“In the
Book of Mutation,
the Ancients observed: ”When a great man receives the mandate of Heaven, he can overturn the former order, and his actions are called Revolution.“ Your servants have learned that when a great man obeys the will of Heaven, he becomes invincible; when he obeys the will of the people, his lineage will prosper. Today Heaven has appointed Your Majesty master, and the people have asked for Your Majesty as a mother. The law of Heaven is destiny; the intentions of the people are fate. Your Majesty is disobeying Heaven and showing contempt for the people, but she is choosing virtue and modesty: These actions run counter to the course of history and to the Law of Distribution. Your servants will no longer be able to venerate you! Your Majesty’s refusal is a betrayal of Heaven and a blow to the people: How can you govern now?”

After uttering the refusal three times, in keeping with the ancient code, I bowed before the Will of Heaven. The imperial soothsayers and Great Ministers chose the ninth day of the ninth moon, the day of the Double Sun, to celebrate my enthronement.