Why didn't Wu Zetian carve a word on her tombstone?

Wu Zetian, whose name is Wu Zhao, was born in Wenshui, Bingzhou (now Wenshui, Shaanxi). The only orthodox female emperor in the history of China is also one of the oldest and longest-lived emperors who acceded to the throne.

After her death, Wu Zetian and Tang Gaozong Li Zhi were buried together in Liangshan. Now there are two tall stone tablets, one in the west is the imperial edict tablet, and the inscription of more than 8,000 words mainly praises Tang Gaozong's great achievements, among which actually Wu Zetian also took the opportunity to raise himself. To the east is another monument, carved from a huge stone, decorated with eight intertwined beheadings and dragons. Fine carvings such as horse drinking water and lion moire can be clearly seen on the pedestal. But surprisingly, there is no lettering on this tombstone, which is Wu Zetian's "wordless monument". The "tablet without words" and "tablet for telling the holy record" were set by Wu Zetian at the death of Emperor Gaozong, so this "tablet without words" is naturally a "merit tablet" prepared by Wu Zetian in advance.

There are many conjectures in modern times about why there is no lettering on the tablet without words. One way of saying this is that Wu Zetian thinks that her merits are boundless. Wu Zetian felt that she had achieved great success, which can no longer be described in words. Although she is a woman, her talent is definitely higher than that of Tang Gaozong. He thought that the numerous measures she took, the prosperous New Century, the impressive achievements and the glory in history could not be recorded in an inscription, so Wu Zetian left an empty monument to show her infinite merits.

There is also a saying that there is no word in the monument, which is to let future generations comment on merits and demerits. Wu Zetian has been busy all her life. There must be something worthy of praise from future generations, but there should also be mistakes. Facing the complicated imperial politics at that time, he was able to save and stabilize the situation at that time, which proved his extraordinary political talent. However, in the late period of the rule, the court became increasingly corrupt, and with the usurpation of the throne and the spread of profligacy among the people, Wu Zetian might know that she was guilty of a heinous crime and it was difficult to write an inscription herself, so she set up a tablet without words for future generations to evaluate her merits and demerits.