Emperor Wu of Han
Emperor Wu of Han ruled China for fifty-four years, from 141 to 87 BC, one of the longest reigns in Chinese history, and expanded the empire to roughly the extent it has claimed ever since. He came to the throne at about fifteen and ruled personally after his grandmother's death in 135 BC. He made Confucianism the official doctrine of the state, establishing an imperial academy in 124 BC to train officials in the classics — the beginning of the examination-based bureaucracy that governed China for two millennia. In practice his administration combined Confucian form with Legalist method. He broke the century-old policy of appeasing the Xiongnu confederation with tribute and marriage alliances, and went to war instead. Campaigns under Wei Qing and Huo Qubing drove them from the Ordos and the Gansu corridor, extending Han control west and securing the route into Central Asia. He annexed territory in the northeast into Korea, and in the south into what is now Guangdong, Guangxi and northern Vietnam. He sent the envoy Zhang Qian west in 138 BC to seek allies. Zhang was held by the Xiongnu for a decade, and the report he eventually brought back on the kingdoms of Central Asia opened the routes later called the Silk Road. The wars were ruinously expensive. He financed them by creating state monopolies on salt, iron and liquor, debasing coinage and taxing merchants heavily. His late reign was disfigured by the witchcraft persecutions of 91 BC, in which his heir was driven to revolt and suicide and tens of thousands died. He issued an edict of regret in 89 BC and turned to consolidation.
- Lived: 156 BCE – 87 BCE
- Nationality: Chinese
- Roles: emperor
