Civilization V Leader | Wu Zetian of China

Like most civilizations, China has been male-dominated throughout much of its history. Until very recently, women were afforded few rights, and direct power was all but totally denied to them. For a woman to attain the rank of Emperor, to become the most powerful person in China, was almost unheard of. Only one person in the entirety of Chinese history was able to do so. That person was Wu Zetian (c. 625 - 705 AD), one of the most remarkable rulers - female or male - the world has ever seen.
- from Civilopedia

[@caesarott]

Wu Zetian became ruling empress in her sixties. You'd think you would get someone who sounds older and more ruthless.

[@joelim5010]

Technically she started becoming an empress during her 30s.

[@plucas1]

In the game she functionally rules the Chinese for five thousand years, so a historically accurate portrait of her for most of human history would be a mummified corpse.

[@coltjames9159]

@@plucas1 Mummies? *The Egyptians have entered the Comments.*

[@kytemode1401]

It's funny how she starts off cool and calm and then becomes the empress from hell who will "Disembowel you all."

[@LoganSewell83]

She is every warehouse manager in the City of Industry, California.

[@azunkor422]

It was told that Wu Zetian was a tyrant so it isn't suprising

[@enternalmoonlight]

@@azunkor422 nope she isn't. what she did was necessary for her to do since she was an emperor. she never even did 1/2 of amount of ruthlessness the male emperors did. since she's a woman she was criticized but jokes on them, cause till now the only greatest emperor who was so loved by her ppl and at the same time was productive, is wu zetian.

[@coltjames9159]

@@enternalmoonlight I'm guessing she was a 'tyrant' because she was a woman. But I have heard she's one of the greatest rulers of China? At least Chinese Emperors or Empresses didn't murder scientists, artists or 10k citizens because they protested. *Looking at you, Communist China.*

[@thanhnam8394]

@@coltjames9159 she did murder alot, if you read the history, or atleast what left of it. Not that kind of murder you would expecting from Hitler, but the kind that actually saved her own dynasty from crumbling. Same as communist china though.

[@eddsworldgaming9696]

"China is a sleeping giant. When she wakes, she will shake the world." - Napoleon Bonaparte

[@user-ib7jf6lc7j]

they probably just pulled a random Chinese student from nyu or something and gave her a hundred bucks to do the voice acting

[@ArmyJames]

She sounds like a rude office receptionist from Shanghai.

[@coltjames9159]

Better than being Karen wanting to speak to the manager. lol

[@matrix91234]

@@coltjames9159 Excuse me sir, can i speak to your manager?

[@pedrovigiljr8698]

It's kind of understandable she doesn't speak in Classical Chinese, but they should at least include some ancient things into her speech patterns like the Chinese soap operas do. For example, the emperor never refers to himself as 我, only he may use the pronoun 朕. 我 implies that he/she is on an equal level to who is being addressed, but that was never the case with the Chinese emperor.

[@JackChentzuyen]

LOLLL Empress Wu ZeTian sounds like a commoner

[@coltjames9159]

She's anything but a commoner.

[@LetsFacetheMusicandDance]

Exactly... the voice is kind of cute, though. ;)

[@coltjames9159]

@@LetsFacetheMusicandDance It is. Sure, it's not historically accurate but.. I like the voice.

[@zhiqianwen]

Ikr, Qing Shi Huang is much better

[@itsgabbybtch5587]

I mean... her father was technically a commoner, her mother was from the ruling family of the Sui dynasty though.

[@VChong1991]

0:45 moment you declare war the chinese music of war has begun

[@coltjames9159]

China has such beautiful music, honestly.

[@evnejg94]

She would never.... ever..... EVER say sorry...

[@IapetusStag]

Her vernacular accent, plus her speaking in modern Mandarin, just sound so weird (and so wrong) for an empress who lived during the Tang-Wu Zhou Dynasty. She doesn't even sound like a regal person for being perhaps most powerful and feared woman of East Asia of all time. She sounds either like an auto-voice, an angry merchant (after you insist on a discount), an angry receptionist, an angry landlady, or an angry teenager with issues. IDK Also, her royal han fu (Chinese robe) and ornaments looks so dull for such a powerful person of the Middle Kingdom.

[@user-tq4dq5lo5g]

Well, it is not easy to reconstruct how Classical Chinese pronounced during Ancient and Medieval periods due to absense of the Chinese alphabet by the Modern times (what is not problem for restorators of former actively used Western languages like Greek, Latin, Old English, Old French etc.) but anyway developers of Civ V could use some Chinese dialects like Minnan or Cantonese as more archaic than Mandarin (similar thing they did with the language of the Holy Roman Empire in Civ IV where units speak not modern German (Deutsch) but Limburgish widespread in North Rhine-Westphalia where is Charles' capital - Aachen).

[@MajoradeMayhem]

No joke. My Mandarin is practically non-existent, but even I can hear that this is modern Mandarin with no attempt at a historical accent, or formal use of the language. This is the Mandarin you use when asking where the baking soda is in a shop.

[@FranTizUndici]

Agreed, plus, a smart use of Chu-ko-nu crossbowmen and you smash anyone.

[@chriszhang1660]

0:44 "Idiots! I'll gut all of you!" 0:53 "Sorry, I beg your pardon?"

[@izzelbas2720]

*opens the borders *Wu Zetian has declared war on you!

[@wbc888828]

Im Chinese , this voice actor sounds not professional at all.I mean her mandarin sounds weird

[@Kardia_of_Rhodes]

maybe it's the other dialect, I forget what it's called.

[@WiggaMachiavelli]

MAXZONE47 Japanese?

[@aringsinukuan769]

WiggaMachiavelli Why would Japanese be another dialect of Chinese? And it's Mandarin, not Hokkien or Cantonese dialect

[@WiggaMachiavelli]

Nicolas Aure Tagalog?

[@TheGreat114]

Vincent W Maybe they used to talk like that? :p

[@I3loom]

0:57 I think they wanted to say something like "Come again?!" but instead it's more like "Excuse me, say it again."

[@salamonthegreat]

It’s more like “I beg your pardon, say that again” in a sarcastic way

[@contractki11er]

Japanese culture was heavily influenced by the Imperial dynasties of China.

[@enternalmoonlight]

so was korea and basically all east asian countries.

[@Iisdabest889]

Specifically Tang dynasty, I think

[@Name-mq3xm]

No one asked

[@contractki11er]

@@Name-mq3xm And no one asked for your opinion, yet here you are.

[@user-tq4dq5lo5g]

Not only Japanese but also Korean, Vietnamese and partly Mongolian, so Classical Chinese was even the official language in those states during Middle Ages (like at the same time Latin in Catholic states or Arabic in Muslim states).

[@HarBosSar]

That intro music sounds like H E A V E N.

[@joelim5010]

Omg i felt so weird out by how this wu zetian sounds like commonor. Noblewomen and consorts does not talk like that, their way of speech have to be perfected and elegant. That is like the fundamental basic of getting into the concubine palace.

[@joelim5010]

@Sahib Wu Ze Tian itself is a mandarin word Lmao. What kind of history book are you reading?

[@joelim5010]

​@Sahib BRO, literally everything after the han dynasty was spoken in mandarin. Sure they might have some dialect. But they speak primarily in mandarin. And if you wanna be specific, during Wu Zetian reign. There are many people that speak hokkien. So she might be called in Hokkien dialect. But cantonese, not so much. I don't think there are any dynasty that uses cantonese. It's usually mandarin in primarily, hokkien and hakka.

[@joelim5010]

@Sahib you must've dig a lot to find so much information huh. Well my understanding of mandarin is its called hanyu in chinese. Maybe I was taught wrong. But lets just agree that they speak hokkien during her reign. That I'm sure of.

[@joelim5010]

@Sahib you have broaden my view on the chinese language. Looks like I have alot of research to be done.

[@nelswolf]

@@joelim5010 Hanyu just refers to written chinese. Spoken Chinese is much different

[@RexGalilae]

Hey, but in my game, her clothes are slightly different in the top. how could this be?

[@-gemberkoekje-5547]

0:16 tissue

[@joshcooldudeyeah]

She meant, "Proceed" or "continue" in Mandarin

[@formerunsecretarygeneralba9536]

@@joshcooldudeyeah tissue

[@salamonthegreat]

继续

[@heavenbright2342]

1) Chinese didn't speak Mandarin then 2) She is speaking in vernacular, that's hilarious 3) Obviously, she's an angry receptionist

[@coltjames9159]

1. Do you know anyone who currently speaks ancient Chinese? 2. So? 3. She's the fucking Empress, she can do what she wants. lmao

[@salamonthegreat]

I don’t think they’re going to go out of their way to find a women specialising in Classical Chinese voice acting

[@Discontinuedalready7372]

@@coltjames9159 _She's speaking a modern vernacular Mandarin. Thats like a British king speaking chav_

[@coltjames9159]

@@Discontinuedalready7372 Yeah, I can see how it's weird. But, does anyone actually speak ancient Chinese/Mandarin? Though, to be honest, I'm surprised everyone's just criticizing her voice and not the fact that red pigment was rare or something. (Me, acting like I remember shit. Stupid ADD.)

[@draekalloy3673]

@@coltjames9159 I know this comment is a year old, but I just want to clarify a few things. Speaking modern mandarin isn't the problem here, it's more that she's speaking in commoner's language, such as referring to herself as 我(wo3) instead of 朕(zheng4), i.e. it doesn't feel we're talking to someone of regal status, but more of a casual discussion with a stranger, really. There are a lot of historical dramas of ancient emperors that use modern mandarin, but they use regal language which is distinct from casual speech, which is what causes the whiplash here.

[@dannyqin7118]

Okay Chinese people back then do NOT speak like that

[@coltjames9159]

No but it's still Mandarin.

[@Etherspear]

Xd. She sound like a telephone operator : "Nǐhǎo ! Welcome to the Zhōnghuá Hotline. If you want free Asian p0rn press "1". If you want your own Communist membership card press "2". If you press "2" you will have some cake... and it's not a lie. If you want freedom of speech [insert laughs here] please press "nothing". Zhù nǐ jīntiān yúkuài."

[@Etherspear]

+Nomunbishrelt Batsukh xp

[@FranTizUndici]

In the video she's young, so young voice, i'm wrong?

[@omaronnyoutube]

How would Wu Zetian have sounded like if she speaks Cantonese or Hokkien?

[@Drakelx555]

I love playing as my home nation, Long live China!!

[@coltjames9159]

If only China still had their Imperial dynasties and not Communism.

[@formerunsecretarygeneralba9536]

@@coltjames9159 do you not know chinese history?

[@coltjames9159]

@@formerunsecretarygeneralba9536 Somewhat, yes.

[@Drakelx555]

and what civilization would that be?:)

[@HolyKhaaaaan]

She sounds a bit like my boss - who is Thai.

[@Duke0Forever]

ChesterKhan let me guess: your boss is a he?

[@HolyKhaaaaan]

Deus Paligorius Ah, was, but yes.

[@coltjames9159]

I have a feeling he didn't sound like her. lmao

[@drandomvideocritic]

As accomplished as Wu Zetian was, I'd actually pick Qin Shi Huang, Confucius, Sun-Yat-Sen or even Mao himself for the sake of impact on Chinese History

[@HsienKoMeiLingFormerYANG]

Confucius & Sun-Yat-Sen don't really led China.

[@Oken111]

Sun-Yat-Sen would have been epic but he didn't last long :/ Wu Ze Tian probably incarnates the best the chinese historical aspect

[@MiguelSagunto]

Qin shi Huang was choose in Civ 6. And Mao.... no way in hell.

[@yin_xing]

I would add her to and Cixi

[@MartialArtsCat101]

Sebastian Gonzalez mao is in the earlier civ games

[@Drakelx555]

Thats cool, i agree, south america should be represented in Civ V

[@coltjames9159]

The Maya were in the game I believe.

[@Cthight]

what is "dao lung bushing"? 00:38

[@sionkisaragi7719]

Cthight 当然不行=dang ran bu xing=of course not

[@user-ln3uy2rh9p]

当然不行=of course not

[@suleimansghk]

當然不行 of course not

[@Cthight]

@@sionkisaragi7719 Thx everyone guys. My Chinese got a little better :)

[@Hug02002]

I love Chinese culture

[@matrix91234]

Reminds me of Paramedic from MGS3. Except she says "I love Japan".

[@HDDigi]

0:43 What does she say In Chinese when you declare war.

[@pinklighter4060]

Frank Guo ugh I don't like that "bowl" in there

[@ARCStudiosyt]

I think she says - "Fools! I shall disembowel you all!"

[@joshproductions4283]

+AlexDoesThings that is correct

[@ARCStudiosyt]

Joshproductions Oh thank god. I'm not an extreme pro at Chinese XD

[@joshproductions4283]

+AlexDoesThings neither am I, I'm trying though!

[@frankkdu]

looks so cool!wht game is it??

[@hoangjenq3435]

Civ 5

[@kasikasivendjinn5345]

chun huo, wo yao ba nimen kaitangpodu LMAO

[@Drakelx555]

Never mess with China ill tell you that

[@user-mx5pe7np2f]

所以這是…… 潘迎子演的武則天 還是范冰冰演的武則天？

[@lg4179]

明遠 梁 怀疑是古代壁画上的唐朝女子

[@jl-fz3um]

lol she sounds like a cctv broadcaster

[@senazumi3472]

J B lmfao yes

[@VincentLee-tp1fv]

it sounds the voice actor mother language are not Chinese.

[@slopedarmouredpony]

Yeah, long live the guy who "mysteriously" died by falling off his horse and breaking his back.... ....ok, rant over. Respect for a guy who was still riding horse up to real old age.

[@frankkdu]

wasnt*

[@outisnemo555]

Why does the Empress Wu have the robotic voice of a half-baked AI? Also why does she not address herself as 朕 (the Royal pronoun)？

[@zhiqianwen]

Where is her crown????? and the clothes are so plain

[@vladmoonseeker]

配音弱爆了。

[@19920607atanqing]

东亚四国的领袖发言都毫无气场。

[@librafrankie]

中 日 韓 蒙? 我覺得織田信長還算不錯吧

[@kasikasivendjinn5345]

Why so serious 他恐怕说的是泰国

[@19920607atanqing]

哈哈，配得太搞笑了。

[@suleimansghk]

由其是「蠢貨！我要把你們開膛破肚！」

[@19920607atanqing]

其实这已经算勉强过关了。拉美西斯二世直接来现代阿拉伯语埃及方言。

[@suleimansghk]

civ 6 的秦始皇說文言文 比 civ 5 的武則天好很多了

[@sstlibertas6440]

难道他们会找会说古埃及语的专家来给个游戏录音？

[@19920607atanqing]

@@sstlibertas6440 做古埃及语研究的专家欧美有的是，又不是在大陆。

[@nuclearwarfareaw]

Its better if u know chinese

[@pkpkpkok]

女皇