Who they were
She entered the palace as a junior consort of Taizong, became empress consort of his successor Gaozong in 655, and increasingly ran the government herself.
What they did
After ruling through her sons, she proclaimed her own Zhou dynasty in 690. She promoted officials who had risen through the examinations, weakening the old aristocracy, and patronized Buddhism — the Longmen grottoes flourished in her era. Forced to abdicate in 705 shortly before her death, she saw the Tang restored.
Legacy
Traditional Confucian historians vilified her, while modern assessments also note her effective administration.