China's Emperor of Evil

This documentary is a re-examination of the life of Wu Zeitian...the only woman who declared herself 'Emperor' of China! In many ways, she was like Hatshepsut* of ancient Egypt...a woman who became the Pharoah and who, like Zeitian, was later reviled by later writers and people of their kingdoms. This show seeks to determine, as best possible with new evidence, whether or not Wu was as bloody, evil and incompetent as she was portrayed after death. Considering the horrible things said about her came well after her death, many academics wonder if she was, in fact, competent and a good leader.

The documentary seems to assert that in fact Wu WAS ruthless...having put many family members to death. But it also seemed to say that she was very competent and a good leader in many ways. Rememeber though...it's hard to know any of this for sure given she lived in the 7th century AD.

Overall, rather interesting and something history lovers will no doubt enjoy. Otherwise, I can't see the average person watching it in the first place.

*Later Egyptians so hated the idea of a female pharaoh that nearly every image of her was deliberately destroyed.