Emperor Wu of Han

 

 

Emperor Wu of Han

Emperor Wu of Han (156BC–87 BC), born in Liu Che, was the seventh Emperor of the Han Dynasty.

He was cited in Chinese history as a pioneer of the nation for the vast territorial expansion during his reign.

He was also best remembered for the strong and centralized Confucian state he organized, making him the first Emperor who unified China in ideology. Qin Shihuang, by comparison, was regarded as the first Emperor who unified China in terms of territory.

In 138 BC, Emperor Wu dispatched his envoy Zhang Qian to Central Asia to seek an alliance against the Hun, an ancient tribe that lived in North China who was a powerful threat to the Han Empire. The alliance failed, but as a consequence of the embassy, the notable Silk Road to Central Asia was opened to serve as a route for cultural and economic exchange between the east and the west.