Zhang Yue (Tang Dynasty) - During Wu Zetian's Reign

During Wu Zetian's Reign

During the reign of Emperor Gaozong's wife Wu Zetian (r. 690-705), Zhang Yue was gradually promoted to You Bujue (右補闕), a low-level official at the legislative bureau of government (鳳閣, Fengge). While serving there, he participated in a project, headed by Li Jiao to create a work known as the Essence of Pearls from the Three Religions (三教珠英, Sanjiao Zhuying) -- a compilation of various poetry about Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, in which Wu Zetian's lovers Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong also participated, to give them a legitimate reason to enter the palace. In 700, when Wu Zetian spent summer and fall at Sanyang Palace (三陽宮), away from Luoyang (which she had made capital), Zhang Yue submitted an earnest petition urging her to return to Luoyang, which she did not accept. Early in her Chang'an era (701-705), the Essence of Pearls from the Three Religions was completed, and the participants were rewarded -- with Zhang Yue becoming You Shi (右史), an imperial chronicler, as well as an imperial attendant; he was also put in charge of grading the entries of imperial examination takers. Sometime thereafter, he was promoted to be Fengge Sheren (鳳閣舍人), a mid-level official at the legislative bureau.

In 703, Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong were apprehensive that if Wu Zetian, who was ill at the time, died, they would be killed by the senior chancellor Wei Yuanzhong. They therefore falsely accused Wei and the official Gao Jian (高戩) of having said that Wu Zetian was too old and that it was better to support her son and crown prince, Li Xian. Wu Zetian, in anger, arrested Wei and Gao, who proclaimed their innocence. Zhang Changzong promised Zhang Yue a promotion if he would corroborate the accusations against Wei, who was Zhang Yue's superior. Zhang Yue initially agreed, but as he entered the palace, several fellow junior officials, Song Jing, Zhang Tinggui (張廷珪), and Liu Zhiji, pointed out to him that it was important for him to leave a clean name in history. After he entered Wu Zetian's presence, instead of corroborating Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong's accusations against Wei, he proclaimed Wei's innocence and accused Zhang Changzong of suborning perjury. Wu Zetian, while angry at Zhang Yue, spared Wei and Gao as a result, exiling them and Zhang Yue instead to the Lingnan region -- in Zhang Yue's case, to Qin Prefecture (欽州, roughly modern Qinzhou, Guangdong). Zhang Yue would remain there for the rest of Wu Zetian's reign.