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Community Assessment Essay The name of my community is Buchanan County, Va. The total size of the area is approximately 504 square meters. (County Date, â€Å"n.d.†) The county was named after James Buchanan the 15th President of the United States. The approximate number of families in the community according to the U.S. Census is 6,866. (Population, 2010,) Buchanan County is a residential type of community. Buchanan County is a community with people who have been here from generation to generation. The community is a very family oriented community. Families are very close and always lived here all their life in this part of Virginia in this small pleasant community. The majority of houses in Buchanan County, VA are privately owned. Rental houses are of plenty in Buchanan. They are more trailers parks that are occupied and rented than rental houses. Most of the trailer parks and rental houses are in poor condition a lot of privately owned houses are in good condition. There’s maybe approximately 200ft in some areas between neighbors. The typical age of homes is 10-30 yr. old homes. Buchanan County has no subdivisions per driving thru the community. The population of the community is as follows: Infants as of 2007 where 203(Public records infants, 2007). The number of preschoolers are 149 which is 3%, Kindergarten 174 and 3.5%, grades 1-8 which is 2,089 and is 42.3%, grades 9-12 which is 1,132 and is 22.9%.(county assessment, 2011). Fifteen years and over marital status is as follows total is 22,457 (100%) of this age population, never married 4,069 (18.1%), now married 14,265 (63.5%), separated 641 (2.9%), , divorced 1,595 (7.1%), ages 30-34 is 1,418 (5.9%), ages 50-54 is 2,086 (8.7%), ages 85 and over is 308 (1.3%), and widowed 1,887 (8.4%).(census 2010, 2010) There are 10 public schools and 1 private in the county which are as follows Twin Valley Elementary/Middle School which is located in the Oakwood, VA area which is from PK-7 grade and has approximately 417 children receiving an education, Twin Valley High School which is located in the Pilgrims Knob, VA area which is from 8-12 grade and has approximately 286 children receiving an education, Grundy High School which is located in Grundy, VA which is from 9-12 grade and has approximately 472 children receiving an education, Hurley High School which is located in Hurley, VA which is from 8-12 grade and has approximately 257 children receiving an education, Haysi High School which is located in Haysi, VA which is from 9-12 grade and has approximately 284 children receiving an education, Hurley Middle School which is located in Hurley, VA which is from PK-7 grade and has approximately 419 children receiving an education. Council Elementary/Middle School which is located in Council, VA which is from PK-7 grade and has approximately 217 children receiving an education, Russell Prater Elementary School which is located in Vansant, VA which is from PK-5 grade and has approximately 116 children receiving an education, Riverview Elementary School which is located in Grundy, VA which is from PK-8 grade and has approximately 921 children receiving an education, JM Bevin’s which is located in Grundy, VA which is from K-5 grade and has approximately 132 children receiving an education, and Mountain mission is a private school located in Grundy, VA which is from PK-12 grade and has approximately 259 children receiving an education.(Schools, 2011) To the best of my knowledge I don’t believe we have any type of daycare facilities. Buchanan County has a head start program in the community. Almost every school has a Pre-k program. There is a public Library located in Grundy, Va. There is a vocational center at Grundy, VA as well. There are several forms of higher education, Southwest Virginia Community College at Richland’s, VA, Appalachian College of Pharmacy in Oakwood, VA, and Appalachian School of Law in Grundy, Va. As of 2007 there were 125 voters in Buchanan County, Va. (census 2010, 2010) There are several voting locations throughout the community. Most of the voting booths are located at most of the surrounding area schools. Most individuals may travel up to 10miles or more to get to a voting location depending on what area in the county you live in. Air pollution is of plenty in Buchanan County, Va. The Coke ovens of Jewel Smokeless Mines pollute the air with lots of smoke. The coke ovens are located at Dismal Road at Patterson, Va. U.S. route 460 is a very busy highway for all due to much travel from Richland’s, VA and Kentucky to Grundy, VA either to work or to get home. There are several bodies of water throughout the county. The most famous are the Levisa River and Dismal River both located throughout the county. The water source is county water from PSA which our major water source comes from John Flanagan Dam. The sanitation department is located in Grundy, Va. The noise in the county is not bad, but CNX has many ventilation fans that you can hear sometimes running circulating air throughout the underground mining systems. The only crimes I can find that are bad is substance abuse which the county had 991 total drug violations in 2000. (Buchanan County, 2000) The unemployment rate for the county is 7.30% which is high and the average household income is $29, 712. (Income, â€Å"n.d.†) The best occupations for men are to work for CNX in the mines or the gas well occupation. The best occupation for women is the healthcare occupation. The only new jobs in the county were with the coalfield express to make the highway better through the surrounding areas in Buchanan. The Health Department in Grundy, VA offers WIC for low income families and also several other government funds such as Tanf. There’s a food pantry in Grundy, VA. There’s a service called people incorporated that offer assistance such as shelter to children and mothers who have been abused. There’s a free clinic for surrounding areas for Buchanan, Tazewell, and Russell is the Reddy Tri County Health Clinic which is in Richland’s, VA. The stores in Buchanan County are Food city in Vansant, VA, Save a lot in Oakwood, VA, and Wal-Mart in Grundy, VA. All of these stores have healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables and other healthy products. The public transportation is as follows: There’s the County transit bus for all ages and incomes serving the Buchanan County, VA and surrounding areas, and the children have public school buses available for school transportation. There’s about an average of 7-8 red lights throughout the community. The average number of cars per each house as per driving and my observations in the community are about 2 per household. Most of the cars are in good shape. The recreational activities are of plenty in Buchanan. We offer many parks. Each area in the county has some form of recreation. The most famous of parks serving the Buchanan county areas and surrounding areas is the Breaks Interstate Park. The Breaks offers a new Water Park, hiking and biking trails, paddle boats, and Lovers Leap. There’s a park in each community most has a ball field with a track around it. There’s several public pools in the community they are at Twin Valley Elementary School in Oakwood, VA which also has a track and tennis court , the YMCA in Grundy, VA which also has exercise equipment, William P. Harris Park in Council, VA it also has a tennis and volley ball court with a ball field and several picnic shelters. These area parks are for all ages. The area has several churches and religions. The percent of religious people are 24.67%. The Non-religious percent of people are 8.1 %.(religion, â€Å"n.d.†) There are several churches in the community: Baptist churches, Church of Christ, Jehovah Witness, Presbyterian, Methodist, and Pentecostal. The percent’s are as follows: Baptist is 11.30%, Jewish is 0%, Methodist is 1.92%, Pentecostal 0.46%, Presbyterian 1.02%, and other is 9.81%.(religion, â€Å"n.d.†) The cultures in Buchanan are mainly white people (dominant culture) which accounts for 96.3%, black people are 2.8%, American Indian and Alaska Native people are 0.1%, Asian are 0.3%, People reporting two or more races are 0.5%, Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin are 0.4%, and White not Hispanic 96%. (Culture, 2011) The distance of most relatives in Buchanan County would probably be no more than 10-20 minutes away. The countys public water system was designed with the regulations and guidelines of the Virg inia Department of Health. The size of each fire hydrant and water line allow for 250 gallons of water to safely flow from the hydrant each minute. (Wampler, May 11, 2006) The closest police station is in Grundy, VA on Walnut drive, the sheriff’s office is in the same location as the police station. There is also the 29th circuit task force which is on Almarine Dr, in Grundy, VA. There are about 12 fires stations. The most used in the community is Grundy Volunteer Fire Department in Grundy, VA. Most families have locks and gates on their houses for safety. Maybe an average of 20 homes has alarm systems in this area. The numbers of clinics in the community are 10 and are community health clinics. There’s only one hospital in the community and that is Buchanan General Hospital. The only long term care facility is Heritage Hall on Slate Creek Rd. in Grundy, VA. The psychiatric facilities in the community are the Cumberland Mountain House in Keen Mountain, VA and the Baxter House at Oakwood, VA which educate and rehabilitate with group therapy. Patient education is provided by the clinics throughout the area, but mainly at Buchanan General Hospital in Grundy, VA. They are approximately about 15 or more ambulance services in the community. 911 is available in the community. They are several Home health agencies to help with families with disabilities. They are many pharmacies available in the community. A big shortage of Doctors and Dentists in the community. The community only has 69 doctors in the community and six dentists, but on the other hand nursing is of plenty 111.8 per person in Buchanan County, VA. ((Healthy people, 2009) Media Sources in Buchanan are newspapers Virginia Mountaineer and The Voice. Local TV is available our news stations are WCYB and WVVA. Cable is available from Time Warner. Cable and high speed internet are available from time warner and Verizon. Local radio stations are WMJD FM and WNRG AM. The main nursing diagnoses that stand out are: Actual problems with substance abuse, Risk for relocation as evidenced by a shortage of jobs, and Risk for poor health as evidenced by a shortage of healthcare workers. References Buchanan County. (2000). Retrieved July 5, 2012, from www.fedstats.gov/mapstats/arrests/county Census 2010. (2010). Retrieved July 5, 2012, from www.u.s.census.com County Data for Buchanan County, Virginia. (â€Å"n.d.†). Retrieved July 04, 2012, from http://www.landsofvirginia.com/county/detail/?id=5040 County assessment. (2011). Retrieved July 5, 2012, from www.buchanancountyonline.com/communityassessment2011.pdf Profile of general population and housing characteristics: 2010. (2010). Retrieved July 04, 2012, from http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk Public records infants. (2007). Retrieved July 5, 2012, from www.openpublic-records.com/virginia/buchanan_county_public_records Schools. (2011). Retrieved July 5, 2012, from www.localschooldirectory.com/publicschool/88240/VA Wampler, J. (May 11, 2006, May). PSA Cracks Down on Water Thieves. Virginia Mountaineer, pp. 3. Retrieved from www.virginiamountaineer.com Culture. (2011). R etrieved July 6, 2012, from www.quickfacts.census.gov Healthy people of Appalachia. (2009). Retrieved July 6, 2012, from www.healthyappalachia.org/files/docs/word/BuchananDraft%5B1%5D.pdf Income.

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Reading Journal Week 7 â€Å"Soldier’s Home† The whole emphasis of this story lies in the life of a young solider who had served his purpose to his country and returned home only to find the closest place to his hart change dramatically before his eyes. The war has changed him and because of that change he has never completely recovered and event felt left out by everyone in the city except for his sister and his mom. His father was the man he feared and didn’t like as the story revels and when we find out that his father let him use the car for the â€Å"first time† we can see that as the attempt by the father to strengthen the bond †¦but it is too late, because now the solider feels like all this is just a pathetic attempt by his mother to make his father do something for him he’s own son. Week 9 â€Å"I Wondered Lonely as a Cloud† This paper explores the purpose and usage of flowers in poetry using William Wordsworth's "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" as an example. It focuses on Wordsworth's choice of words and also on the greater profound concept that he is trying to depict. The first part of the paper focuses on interpreting the poem. It shows how Wordsworth eloquently uses figurative language, imagery, and personification to describe a scenic display of daffodils. The second part of the paper offers an analysis of the poem. In particular, it examines the concept of the futility of the individual when compared to the collective good of society, as shown in the context of man versus nature. â€Å"Pied Beauty† Gerard’s belief in an omnipotent Creator enabled him to see an especial beauty in the world of Nature - the unpredictable, untamed patterns of the wilderness combining to form a whole far greater than the sum of its parts, glorious and 'true'. But what sets his verse apart from the hordes (I use the word advisedly) of Victorian nature poets was his ability to merge form and content to such a degree of utter perfection - his poetry _sounds_ right; his word-paintings leap off the printed page without traversing the intervening bridge of ordinary 'meaning'. Consider the structure of today's poem - there's a riot of assonance and alliteration, but it's combined with a an unusually high consonant-density; there's a strong underlying rhythm in the pattern of the stresses, but it's never plodding or weighty (indeed, the variations in the unstressed syllables ensure that the verse is kept flexible and 'clean'); the rhymes, though strictly enforced, are kept from becoming monotonous by an unusual rhyme scheme.

Theology in the Chronicles of Narnia the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe

RELAMPAGOS, Nicola Liane C. POSADAS, Klarizze FINAL PROJECT: The Chronicles of Narnia The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is the first book in the Chronicles of Narnia series written by CS Lewis. The book series was such a great success that in 2008, the first book was turned into a film. What many people may not realize is that CS Lewis wrote the book series with a specific goal in mind: to showcase the word of God to different parts of the world through an artistic lens. This paper will focus on the theological nature of CS Lewis’ book based film, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.This will include a number of noticeable parallelisms, allusions and symbolisms found in said work. Although The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe was originally a published book, this paper will focus on the film adaptation of the book. One of the noticeable symbolisms in the movie would be found in the main character s of the film: Aslan, the Witch and the children. Aslan was portrayed as the original king of Narnia and when Narnia was held deep in the clutches of the White Witch, Narnias looked to Aslan as their redeemer.Aslan was also the one who died so that Edmund may live. He was the only one who was capable of defeating the White Witch. Aslan in the film was an artistic representation of Jesus Christ. The parallelism found in the resurrection of Christ, his absorbing of our sins and overcoming death is seen in the depiction The Witch, on the other hand, represents Satan. It was the White Witch who covered Narnia in snow: no sign of life, simply cold and dead. The Witch is consumed in her own vanity and the longing to fully overcome Aslan and rule over Narnia forever.It isn’t clearly stated, but it is seen in certain parts of the movie that The Witch feared Aslan: when the Witch spoke out of turn after their agreement and Aslan roared at her and she quickly sat down in fear of him. M uch like the Witch, Satan will always be inferior to God but will always try to put himself about Christ but will never achieve such. Lastly, the four children (Lucy, Edmund, Peter and Suzan) are human beings. They represent four different kinds of people who have different encounters with God.For Peter, he is the skeptical type of Christian. One who is doubtful by how God can use him to help build God’s kingdom, yet at times he forgets that it is only Christ who can defeat evil and not by his strength alone. Edmund is the type of Christian who has sinned and fallen short many times along the road before choosing to love and follow Christ. While Suzan is the type of Christian who has consistently doubted whether or not Christ, even really exists before fully trusting God with the things that don’t seem to make sense.Lastly, Lucy represents the Christians who just love, follow and dedicate their lives to Christ without hesitation and without doubt. Lucy’s childli keness showcases how Christians should love and trust Christ with our lives. Since the four children can be seen as symbolisms of human beings, their relationship with Aslan shows a lot about the grace, mercy and overall character of God. One of the main examples where this is seen is the grace that Aslan showed to Edmund who was a traitor.Despite Edmunds’ choice to prioritize Turkish delight over his family and his right as one of the king of Narnia, Aslan still accepted Edmund into his army and not only that Edmund still inherited the kingdom of Narnia not by his own works but by Aslan’s choice. Much like the plot of the movie, Christ will continue to accept sinners into his family despite what they have done in the past. As Aslan said, â€Å"What’s done is done, we need not speak to Edmund about what has happened anymore† this has a similar message in Philippians â€Å"I focus on all my energy on one thing: Forgetting what lies behind and focusing on what’s ahead†.Also, Edmund’s choice to pursue Turkish delight over his unmerited right to be a king of Narnia, is similar to the story in the Bible of how Esau gave up his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew. Both Edmund and Esau’s common mentality was the seeing the situation only at the present and forgetting the eternal value and purpose of their lives. But despite Edmund’s decision, Aslan accepted his presence with open arms, which is a similar characteristic to the story of the Prodigal Son.True sacrifice is an act that any human being can never really fathom, due to the only considered true sacrifice that was only made by God Himself by offering his own son to the world that is bound to perish in eternal debt of sin. In the movie, true sacrifice was first depicted through the following event, which was the acceptance of Edmund despite of his treason towards Aslan and his own brothers and sisters. Without the mistake that Edmund committed ea rlier in the movie, true sacrifice would have not been clearly depicted.The scene where Edmund was enticed by the Witch’s offer of Turkish delight and then the throne shows a great parallel of how the world committed the very first sin, the original sin. Adam and Eve were tempted by the devil, who took the form a snake and they were blinded by the temptation of knowledge that was offered by the apple. Same goes to Edmund, he succumbs to the lavish offers of the Witch that led to his treason towards his siblings. In the end, Aslan accepts Edmund despite his betrayal and also became the emancipator from the Witch.This selfless act then led to the suffering and supposed death of Aslan. The altruism that Aslan performed is an exact parallel to the suffering of Christ, which was the crucifixion. With such altruistic acts of both Aslan and Jesus Christ, it is believed that their sacrifices are yet to be unvarnished. No one in this world is capable of such because only the savior ca n absorb the sins of the world. In the movie, Aslan was put to death and was humiliated in front of the presence of many followers of the Witch by cutting off his mane, which is parallel to Christ’s crown of thorns.The Witch wanted to show her iron fist by showing the execution of Aslan in public, which only goes to show that she fears Aslan. She needs the approval of many, for her to feel superior over him. Although she thought she had succeed with the humiliation and execution, little did the Witch know that Aslan was to come back to life and save his followers despite their treason. The representation of Christ’s suffering and resurrection was fairly accurate; the breaking of the stone table which Aslan’s body was left behind is aligned to the opening of Christ’s tomb.In addition, Aslan was first seen back to life by the girls, which in the film were Susan and Lucy, and just like Christ who appeared to the women first (Mary and Mary Magdalene; found in Matthew 28:9). The movie then proceeds to the war between good and evil, which illustrates the consistent internal battle inside every human mind. When Aslan came back to life, he did not eradicate the battle between the Narnians and the forces of the Witch. But instead, the battle continued on even to the point that the Narnians began to face defeat.This shows that although the Jesus Christ overcame death, there will still be an internal battle between good and evil within us. In the film, Peter and Edmund try to lead the battle against the forces of The Witch and even tried to kill her but their attempts only would lead to death. It is only when Aslan comes into the picture, that he is not only able to breathe life back into the dead but also defeat the Witch. This is an artistic depiction of how human beings cannot overcome death by their strength alone. It is only Christ’s power that Satan is fully defeated.Therefore during spiritual battles within humans, one was surren der and acknowledges that he cannot do it by themselves and it is only by God’s help that we can overcome evil. Lastly, Aslan’s words after he defeated the Witch were a direct parallelism to the words that Jesus Christ utters when he defeated death on the cross: â€Å"It is finished†. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe film holds a great number of theoretical references but the major and more obvious events would be the characterization of Asaln, the Witch and the three children, Aslan’s sacrifice and battle between the two forces.

Empress Wu Zetian of Tang and Zhou

Like so many other strong female leaders, from Catherine the Great to the Empress Dowager Cixi, Chinas only female emperor has been reviled in legend and history.  Yet Wu Zetian was a highly intelligent and motivated lady, with a strong interest in government affairs and literature.  In 7th century China, and for centuries afterward, these were considered inappropriate topics for a woman, so she has been painted as a murderer who poisoned or strangled most of her own family, a sexual deviant, and a ruthless usurper of the imperial throne.  Who was Wu Zetian, really? Early Life The future Empress Wu was born in Lizhou, now in Sichuan Province, on February 16, 624.  Her birth name probably was Wu Zhao, or possibly Wu Mei.  The babys father, Wu Shihuo, was a wealthy timber merchant who would become a provincial governor under the new Tang Dynasty.  Her mother, Lady Yang, was from a politically important noble family.   Wu Zhao was a curious, active girl.  Her father encouraged her to read widely, which was quite unusual at the time, so she studied politics, government, the Confucian classics, literature, poetry, and music.  When she was about 13, the girl was dispatched to the palace to become a fifth rank concubine of the Emperor Taizong of Tang.  It seems that she likely did have sexual relations with the Emperor at least once, but she was not a favorite and spent most of her time working as a secretary or lady in waiting.  She did not bear him any children. In 649, when Consort Wu was 25 years old, Emperor Taizong died.  His youngest son, 21-year-old Li Zhi, became the new Emperor Gaozong of Tang.  Consort Wu, since she had not borne the late emperor a child, was sent to Ganye temple to become a Buddhist nun.   Return From the Convent Its not clear how she accomplished the feat, but the former Consort Wu escaped from the convent and became a concubine of Emperor Gaozong.  Legend holds that Gaozong went to the Ganye Temple on the anniversary of his fathers death to make an offering, spotted the Consort Wu there, and wept at her beauty.  His wife, Empress Wang, encouraged him to make Wu his own concubine, to distract him from her rival, Consort Xiao. Whatever actually happened, Wu soon found herself back in the palace.  Although it was considered incest for a mans concubine to then pair up with his son, Emperor Gaozong took Wu into his harem around 651.  With the new emperor, she was a much higher rank, being the highest of the second rank concubines.   Emperor Gaozong was a weak ruler and suffered an illness that frequently left him dizzy.  He soon became disenchanted with both Empress Wang and Consort Xiao and began to favor Consort Wu.  She bore him two sons in 652 and 653, but he had already named another child as his heir apparent.  In 654, Consort Wu had a daughter, but the infant soon died of smothering, strangulation, or possibly natural causes.   Wu accused Empress Wang of the babys murder since she had been the last to hold the child, but many people believed that Wu herself killed the baby in order to frame the Empress.  At this remove, it is impossible to say what really happened.  In any case, the Emperor believed that Wang murdered the little girl, and by the following summer, he had the empress and also Consort Xiao deposed and imprisoned.  Consort Wu became the new empress consort in 655. Empress Consort Wu In November of 655, Empress Wu allegedly ordered the execution of her former rivals, Empress Wang and Consort Xiao, to prevent Emperor Gaozong from changing his mind and pardoning them.  A blood-thirsty later version of the story says that Wu ordered the womens hands and feet chopped off, and then had them thrown into a large wine barrel.  She reportedly said, Those two witches can get drunk down to their bones.  This ghoulish story seems likely to be a later fabrication. By 656, Emperor Gaozong replaced his former heir apparent with Empress Wus eldest son, Li Hong.  The Empress soon began to arrange for the exile or execution of government officials who had opposed her rise to power, according to traditional stories.  In 660, the sickly Emperor began to suffer from severe headaches and loss of vision, possibly from hypertension or a stroke.  Some historians have accused the Empress Wu of having him slowly poisoned, though he had never been particularly healthy. He began to delegate decisions on some government matters to her; officials were impressed with her political knowledge and the wisdom of her rulings.  By 665, Empress Wu was more or less running the government. The Emperor soon began to resent Wus increasing power. He had a chancellor draft an edict deposing her from power, but she heard what was happening and rushed to his chambers.  Gaozong lost his nerve and ripped up the document.  From that time forward, Empress Wu always sat in on imperial councils, although she sat behind a curtain at the back of Emperor Gaozongs throne. In 675, Empress Wus eldest son and the heir apparent died mysteriously.  He had been agitating to have his mother step back from her position of power, and also wanted his half-sisters by Consort Xiao to be allowed to marry.  Of course, traditional accounts state that the Empress poisoned her son to death, and replaced him with the next brother, Li Xian.  However, within five years, Li Xian fell under suspicion of assassinating his mothers favorite sorcerer, so he was deposed and sent into exile.  Li Zhe, her third son, became the new heir apparent. Empress Regent Wu On December 27, 683, the Emperor Gaozong died after a series of strokes.  Li Zhe ascended the throne as Emperor Zhongzhong.  The 28-year-old soon started to assert his independence from his mother, who was given regency over him in his fathers will despite the fact that he was well into adulthood.  After just six weeks in office (January 3 - February 26, 684), Emperor Zhongzhong was deposed by his own mother, and placed under house arrest. Empress Wu next had her fourth son enthroned on February 27, 684, as the Emperor Ruizong.  A puppet of his mother, the 22-year-old emperor did not exert any actual authority.  His mother no longer hid behind the curtain during official audiences; she was the ruler, in appearance as well as fact.  After a reign of six and a half years, in which he was virtually a prisoner within the inner palace, Emperor Ruizong abdicated in favor of his mother.  Empress Wu became Huangdi, which is usually translated in English as emperor, although it is gender-neutral in Mandarin. Emperor Wu In 690, Emperor Wu announced that she was establishing a new dynastic line, called the Zhou Dynasty.  She reportedly used spies and secret police to root out political opponents and have them exiled or killed.  However, she was also a very capable emperor and surrounded herself with well-chosen officials.  She was instrumental in making the civil service examination a key part of the Chinese imperial bureaucratic system, which allowed only the most learned and talented men to rise to high positions in government. Emperor Wu carefully observed the rites of Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism, and made frequent offerings to curry favor with higher powers and retain the Mandate of Heaven.  She made Buddhism the official state religion, placing it above Daoism.  She also was the first female ruler to make offerings at the sacred Buddhist mountain of Wutaishan in the year 666.   Among the ordinary people, Emperor Wu was quite popular.  Her use of the civil service examination meant that bright but poor young men had a chance to become wealthy government officials.  She also redistributed land to ensure that peasant families all had enough to feed their families, and paid high salaries to government workers in the lower ranks. In 692, Emperor Wu had her greatest military success, when her army recaptured the four garrisons of the Western Regions (Xiyu) from the Tibetan Empire.  However, a spring offensive in 696 against the Tibetans (also known as Tufan) failed miserably, and the two leading generals were demoted to commoners as a result.  A few months later, the Khitan people rose up against the Zhou, and it took nearly a year plus some hefty tribute payments as bribes to quell the unrest. The imperial succession was a constant source of unease during Emperor Wus reign.  She had appointed her son, Li Dan (the former Emperor Ruizong), as the Crown Prince.  However, some courtiers urged her to choose a nephew or cousin from the Wu clan instead, to keep the throne in her own bloodline instead of that of her late husband.  Instead, Empress Wu recalled her third son Li Zhe (the former Emperor Zhongzong) from exile, promoted him to Crown Prince, and changed his name to Wu Xian. As Emperor Wu aged, she began to rely increasingly on two handsome brothers who were allegedly also her lovers, Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong.  By the year 700, when she was 75 years old, they were handling many of the affairs of state for the Emperor.  They had also been instrumental in getting Li Zhe to return and become Crown Prince in 698. In the winter of 704, the 79-year-old Emperor fell seriously ill.  She would see nobody except for the Zhang brothers, which fueled speculation that they were planning to seize the throne when she died.  Her chancellor recommended that she allow her sons to visit, but she would not.  She pulled through the illness, but the Zhang brothers were killed in a coup on February 20, 705, and their heads were hung from a bridge along with three of their other brothers.  The same day, Emperor Wu was forced to abdicate the throne to her son. The former Emperor was given the title of Empress Regnant Zetian Dasheng.  However, her dynasty was finished; Emperor Zhongzong restored the Tang Dynasty on March 3, 705.  Empress Regnant Wu died on December 16, 705, and remains to this day the only female to rule imperial China in her own name. Sources Dash, Mike.  The Demonization of Empress Wu, Smithsonian Magazine, August 10, 2012. Empress Wu Zetian: Tang Dynasty China (625 - 705 AD), Women in World History, accessed July 2014. Woo, X.L. Empress Wu the Great: Tang Dynasty China, New York: Algora Publishing, 2008.