Table of contents : Acknowledgments Preface Author's Preface Terminology and Abbreviations Contents 1. Introduction 2. Sources for the Life and Career of Wu Tse-T'ien 3. The Origins and Rise of Wu Tse-T'ien 4. The Empress Wu and the Creation of State Ideology 5. The Road to Usurpation 6. Imperial Power and the Ruling Class 7. The Examination System and the Bureaucracy 8. Chinese Arms and Foreign Policy to 684 9. The Chou Dynasty 10. Retrospect Appendix A: Historiography of the Empress Wu Appendix B: The tsai-hsiang, 618-705 Notes Selected Bibliography Glossary Index About the Author