Han Wudi

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Han Wudi1.gif
Hàn Wǔdì (漢 武帝)
Family name : Liú ( )
First name : Zhi (彘), later Che (徹)
Major Age Name (Zi): Tong (通)
Posthumous title :
(short)
Wǔ ( )
Posthumous title :
(complete)
Xiàowǔ ( 孝武 )
Temple name : Shizong (世宗)
Reign: March 9, 141 BC BC - March 29, 87 BC Chr.
Era names : Jiàn Yuán ( 建元 ) 140–135 BC Chr.

Yuán Guāng ( 元 光 ) 134–129 BC Chr.

Yuán Shuò ( 元朔 ) 128–123 BC Chr.

Yuán Shòu ( 元狩 ) 122–117 BC Chr.

Yuán Dǐng ( 元鼎 ) 116–111 BC Chr.

Yuán Fēng ( 元 封 ) 110-105 BC Chr.

Tài Chū ( 太初 ) 104-101 BC Chr.

Tiān Hàn ( 天 漢 ) 100–97 BC Chr.

Tài Shǐ ( 太 始 ) 96–93 BC Chr.

Zhēng Hé ( 徵 和 ) 92–89 BC Chr.

Hòu Yuán ( 後 元 ) 88–87 BC Chr.

Emperor Wu von Han , Chinese  漢 武帝  /  汉 武帝 , Pinyin Hàn Wǔdì , (* 156 BC ; † March 29, 87 BC ) was one of the most important rulers of China . He was born as Liu Che and ruled for 54 years, from 141 to 87 BC. BC, as emperor of the Han dynasty .

Han Wudi already took over from his father Han Jingdi (who smashed the revolt of the “Seven Kingdoms” ie old feudal holders in 154 BC) a state that was finally centralized, divided into provinces and internally consolidated through moderate politics.

The emperor raised around 135 BC BC made Confucianism the philosophy of the state, by letting it be taught and demanded from future officials. But he was also personally addicted to Daoist alchemy, which u. a. Victims at Laozi's birthplace (from 156 BC). Both philosophies fought bitterly for the leadership position at court, with Daoism z. B. was supported by the Emperor's widow Dou, but lost his rank after her death. In Wudi's time, around 120 BC The first Buddhist monks came to China as well, but their religion was not officially recognized until 65 under Emperor Han Mingdi .

Extensive wars took place under Han Wudi, the most far-reaching wars ever waged by a purely Chinese emperor: across the Tarim Basin to the Fergana Valley (102/101 BC), to Korea (108 BC), and across the south various present-day Chinese provinces and their ethnic groups (111 BC conquest of Canton ) as far as Vietnam . The successes in the south were permanent and contributed to the consolidation of China and the population growth of the empire. For the first time, wars and embassies also resulted in trade contacts as far as the Iranian region, as well as an expanded worldview.

The first foreign policy position was the defense of the Xiongnu , with which the emperor broke with the previously practiced appeasement policy (see heqin ). The military actions were preceded by extensive ambassadors and espionage activities by Zhang Qian († 113 BC) and the establishment of his own horse breeding and cavalry. 119 BC The Xiongnu suffered a severe defeat at the Orkhon in Mongolia under Mao-tun's grandson Yizhixie (126–114 BC) , as the Shanyu did not trust the Chinese under the general Huo Qubing to cross the Gobi desert safely. However, Chinese horse breeding perished in this war, leaving the Xiongnu in control of the steppe.

108 BC He founded the Lelang-Kommandantur (Lo-lang - in today's Pyongyang ), Chinese colonies in Korea (also Lintun, Xuantu and Zhenfan), which the conqueror found necessary when the local population allied with the Xiongnu. Large administrative buildings were built in the Lelang colony. Hundreds of graves, many of which have been uncovered, are in the area. The amount of high-quality Chinese goods found - ceramics, lacquer work and metal objects, together with the traditional Chinese wooden boxes - speak for the close ties between the emigrated Chinese and the mother country. The colony was destroyed by Goguryeo warriors in 313 AD .

However, Wudi's lavish foreign policy was expensive, taxes had to be increased and state monopolies created. The important industries iron and salt had been around since about 117 BC. State monopolies for well over a century, an idea that was later renewed in Tang times. Han Wudi's tax policy is also attributed to an incipient privatization of land ownership, which favored wealthy provincial families, upset the social balance and thus initiated the slow decline of the dynasty.

At the end of Wudi's government, open power struggles broke out within the imperial family (Li versus Wei). The Crown Prince Liu Ju revolted but was defeated; his mother, the Empress Wei, had to commit suicide (91 BC). Before his death, Han Wudi appointed three regents for his underage son Fuling, who succeeded him as Emperor Han Zhaodi .

The Maoling Mausoleum is the tomb of Emperor Wu.

literature

Web links

Commons : Han Wudi  - album with pictures, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Emperor Wu of Han  - Sources and full texts (Chinese)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ "Wudi". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2015. Web. 19 May 2015 [1]
  2. ^ Glyn Daniel : Encyclopedia of Archeology p. 289
predecessor Office successor
Jing Emperor of China
141–87 BC Chr.
Zhao