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A brief history of women in power Historically, the most common way for a woman to become a ruler was as a regent. There were, however, many cases where the regent decided to stay in power. A prime example is Empress Wu Zetian who, as consort, ruled over China’s Tang Dynasty. She married Emperor Gaozong in 655; however, when he suffered a debilitating stroke five years later, she became the Administrator of the court until his death in 683 and went on to rule for another twenty-two years. Initially this was as regent in place of her son, Emperor Zhongzong, but she then deposed him in favour of his younger brother. But that was not the end: after 690, Wu Zetian assumed control again and ruled in her own right, the only woman to do so, thereby establishing the Zhou dynasty as a short break within the Tang Dynasty.

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