Cen Changqian - During Wu Zetian's Reign

During Wu Zetian's Reign

Later in 690, Empress Dowager Wu took the throne herself (and was thereafter known as Wu Zetian) and took the title of "emperor," demoting Emperor Ruizong to be crown prince, but with the unusual title of Huang Si (皇嗣) rather than the usual title of Huang Taizi (皇太子), and she changed the name of the state from Tang to Zhou (周). She encouraged people to submit signs of fortune and of Zhou's rise, and it was said that Cen Changqian, apprehensive of his situation, submitted a proposal to have Crown Prince Dan's surname changed from Li to Wu, which Wu Zetian accepted. To reward Cen, she created him the Duke of Deng, and further bestowed on him the surname of Wu as well as the honorific title Tejin (特進).

However, Cen would soon offend Wu Zetian and her Wu clan members. There had been a movement started by the official Zhang Jiafu and the commoner Wang Qingzhi (王慶之) to have Wu Zetian's nephew Wu Chengsi made crown prince—under the theory that given that Wu Zetian was now emperor, she should be succeeded by a member of the Wu clan rather than her husband's Li clan. They circulated a petition among officials, and Cen refused to sign—and further suggested to Wu Zetian that, as Wu Dan was already crown prince, this proposal should be firmly rejected and that the group of people that Zhang and Wang had gathered before the palace to petition Wu Zetian should be disbanded. He was supported in this by fellow chancellor Ge Fuyuan. Cen and Ge's actions offended both Wu Zetian and her Wu clan members.

At that time Buddhist monks from He Prefecture (和州, roughly modern Chaohu, Anhui) submitted a sutra, the Dayun Sutra (大雲經), which purportedly foretold Wu Zetian's rise to power. Wu Zetian issued an edict that this find be commemorated by the construction of the impressive Dayun Temple (大雲寺). Cen opposed this as well, further drawing her displeasure. To remove Cen from the capital Luoyang, in late 690, she ordered him lead an army against the Tufan, but even before his army could reach the front, she recalled him to Luoyang and imprisoned him. One of Wu Zetian's favored secret police officials, Lai Junchen, then tortured Cen's son who was serving as Magistrate of Lingyuan (靈源) and obtained a confession implicating Ge and fellow chancellor Ouyang Tong, as well as a large group of other officials. In winter 691, Cen Changqian, Ge, and Ouyang were all executed. Cen Changqian's five sons were forced to commit suicide, and his ancestral tombs were destroyed. Dozens upon dozens of officials and their relatives were executed, exiled, or fled to Southern China during the reign of Wu Zetian. After Emperor Ruizong was eventually restored to the throne in 710, he restored Cen's titles and reburied him with honor. His nephew (actually son of his cousin i.e. a grandson of Cen Wenben) Cen Xi later also served as a chancellor during Emperor Ruizong's and Emperor Xuanzong's reigns.