Chrysanthemum Cakravartin: How the Convergence of the Double Ninth Festival and a Buddhist Prophecy of a Female Warrior King Helped Wu Zhao Inaugurate the Zhou Dynasty and Fashion a New Paradigm of Political Authority

Why did China’s first and only female emperor, Wu Zhao 武曌1 (624–705), keenly preoccupied as she was with time and timeliness, inaugurate her Zhou 周 (690–705) dynasty on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month in 690? And why, during the first half of her reign as emperor, did she so often use that same date to inaugurate new reign eras, announce ever-grander Buddhist titles, and celebrate personal triumphs? What was the significance of this date, and why did it become her special day, her holiday, her holy day? In my 2008 biography of Wu Zhao, I drew a connection between the inauguration of her Zhou dynasty and Chongyangjie 重陽節, the Double Ninth Festival: “On October 16th, 690, the ninth day of the ninth lunar month—an autumnal holiday when the elderly, feeling their youthful vigor restored by the crisp fall air, climbed mountains and sought longevity, a day when the male yang essence, having crested, gave way to rising female yin—66-year-old Wu Zhao ascended the dragon throne to become China’s first and only female emperor.”2 While this