Emperor Wu of Han (156 BCE–29 March, 87 BCE), personal name Liu Che, is the seventh emperor of the Han Dynasty of China, ruling from 141 BCE to 87 BCE.
Emperor Wu is best remembered for the vast territorial expansion that occurred under his reign, as well as the strong and centralized Confucian state he organized.
He is cited in Chinese history as the greatest emperor of the Han dynasty and one of the greatest emperors in Chinese history.
Emperor Wu's effective governance makes the Han Dynasty one of the most powerful nations in the world.
As a military campaigner, Emperor Wu leads Han China through its greatest expansion — at its height, the Empire's borders span from modern Kyrgyzstan in the west, to Korea in the east, and to northern Vietnam in the south.
Emperor Wu successfully repels the nomadic Xiongnu from systematically raiding northern China and dispatches his envoy Zhang Qian in 139 BCE to seek an alliance with the Yuezhi of modern Uzbekistan.
This results in further missions to Central Asia.
Although historical records do not describe him as a follower of Buddhism, exchanges probably occurred as a consequence of these embassies, and there are suggestions that he received Buddhist statues from Central Asia, as depicted in the Mogao Caves murals.
While establishing an autocratic and centralized state, Emperor Wu adopts the principles of Confucianism as the state philosophy and code of ethics for his empire and starts a school to teach future administrators the Confucian classics.
These reforms are to have an enduring effect throughout the existence of imperial China and an enormous influence on neighboring civilizations.
Emperor Wu's reign lasts 54 years — a record that will not be broken until the reign of the Kangxi Emperor more than 1800 years later.
