Wu Zetian's Buddhist Patronage and Statuary

Timeline

1. 690Luoyang · HenanAround the time she declared herself emperor, Wu Zetian ordered monks to write commentaries on the Great Cloud Sutra, promoting the idea of Maitreya's descent and a female ruler's advent, providing a religious theoretical basis for a woman to take the throne, and promulgated it throughout the realm.
2. 690–704Longmen Grottoes · HenanWork continued at the Longmen Grottoes near the divine capital Luoyang, including the colossal Vairocana Buddha at Fengxian Temple, using imperial merit-making to project the image of Wu Zhou's golden age and embodying the fusion of Buddhist art and political power.
3. 695–705Luoyang · HenanWu Zetian supported monks such as Yijing in translating sutras, built Buddhist structures like the Hall of Heaven and the Hall of Light, elevated the status of monks and nuns, and placed Buddhism at the center of Wu Zhou state ritual and ideology.