曌, what does the word mean and how to pronounce it?

Wu Zhao of Zhou Dynasty

Wu Zetian, named Wu Zhao (pronounced zhào, Tongzhao, a word Wu Zetian created for herself, meaning the sun and moon are in the sky), was born in Bingzhou Wenshui (today's Shanxi Wenshui County), the daughter of Wu Xun (pronounced yuē), Minister of Industry of the Tang Dynasty. When she was 14 years old, she was selected into the palace and became a talented person of Emperor Taizong. She was given the title "Wu Mei" and was known as Mei Niang.

In September 690 AD, Wu Zetian deposed Ruizong and ascended the throne as emperor. He changed the name of the country to "Zhou", the historical name was Wu Zhou, the reign name was changed to "Tianshi", and the self-respecting title was "Holy God Emperor" , became the only female emperor in Chinese history. She was 67 years old when she ascended the throne, and was the oldest emperor in Chinese history.

The sun and moon are bright and the sky is Zhao - About the origin of the word "曌"

One day, Wu Zetian had a whim and wanted to choose a good word for herself, but After pondering for several days, I still couldn't find the most suitable one, so I decided to solicit the most auspicious characters from literati all over the world, so a list of soliciting imperial characters was posted on the wall of Chang'an.

It is said that there is a fire-burning monk in Shaolin Temple named Mingkong. Apart from the monk's name taught him by the abbot, this person does not know many characters.

On this day, Mingkong went to Chang'an to buy groceries. After returning from shopping for groceries, when he arrived at the city wall, he suddenly felt a stomachache and wanted to go to the toilet. He looked up and saw a piece of paper posted on the city wall. He tore it off without thinking about it and prepared it for use in the toilet.

The imperial guard guarding the imperial list saw that no one had unveiled the list for several days, so he went to a watermelon stall nearby to eat watermelon. When the imperial soldier came back from eating the watermelon, he happened to see Ming Kong unveiling the list. He was happy: someone finally revealed the list, and he could return to life.

The imperial soldier saw that Mingkong had uncovered the list and wanted to leave. He was anxious, so he went up and grabbed Mingkong: "Monk, you can't leave!"

Mingkong saw a soldier. He held himself back, not knowing what was going on, and asked: "Master, why don't you let me go?"

The imperial soldier told Wu Zetian about the calligraphy.

When Mingkong heard this, he sat down on the ground and passed out! When the imperial soldiers woke him up, Mingkong cried loudly and begged: "Master, I don't know, how can I measure words? Please let me go, and I will put up the royal list again. Do you think it's okay?" ?"

The imperial soldier shook his head and said, "No, you must come with me to the palace!" Seeing that he could not plead for mercy, Mingkong had no choice but to go with the imperial soldier to see Wu Zetian.

Mingkong was annoyed and scared along the way. He was annoyed that he had recklessly uncovered the royal list, and was afraid that he would lose his head. However, he didn't want to die in a daze like this, so he made up his mind and decided to pay attention.

Wu Zetian was very happy when she heard that someone had revealed the list. Quickly let the person who unveiled the list enter the palace.

Mingkong walked into the palace tremblingly, and when he saw Wu Zetian, he knelt down and apologized. When Wu Zetian saw a monk coming in, he apologized again and asked: "Monk, are you the one who unveiled the imperial decree? Why are you apologizing?"

Mingkong lowered his head and said, "I am a monk and I am afraid that I will not reveal the royal decree." It's appropriate and insulting to the saint!"

Wu Zetian smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, can you tell me what words you are testing for me?"

At this time, Mingkong had no choice but to risk it. , said: "The word "I" is not in the dictionary."

Wu Zetian said: "Then write it down!"

So Wu Zetian ordered Mingkong to get paper and ink. Mingkong wrote the character "曌" crookedly. This was what Mingkong thought of on the road. He knew his own two characters, so he simply superimposed the two characters and changed it into "曌".

When Wu Zetian saw this character, hehe, it was quite unique, and asked: "Monk, how do you pronounce this character?" Mingkong was stunned, he had forgotten this. Fortunately, he was quite clever, and he turned his eyes and said: "When the sun and moon shine on the earth, let's call it shine!"

Wu Zetian was overjoyed after hearing this and rewarded Mingkong with 100,000 taels of silver to rebuild the Shaolin Temple. Mingkong returned to Shaolin Temple happily.

Later, Wu Zetian became the emperor and wrote a limerick about this word:

When the sun and the moon are in the sky, the sky will always smile; once I become the emperor, I will be the proudest in the world.