早年经历

据《史记》、《汉书》的武帝本纪以及《汉武故事》，刘彻生于汉景帝前元元年（前156年），母王氏；汉景帝中子，具体排序不详。其母王氏在怀孕时，汉景帝尚为太子。王氏梦见太阳进入她的怀中，告诉景帝后，景帝说：「此贵徵也。」刘彻还未出生，他的祖父汉文帝就逝世了。汉景帝即位后，刘彻出生，他亦是王氏唯一的儿子。一说刘彻的乳名为刘彘，根据《汉武故事》记载刘彻被立太子时方才改名，但此说与史书说法有出入。

前元四年（前153年），刘彻以皇子的身份被封为胶东王。同年，景帝的长子、他的异母长兄刘荣获封为太子。前元六年（前151年）秋九月，无子无宠的薄皇后被废。第二年（前150年）春正月，废太子刘荣为临江王；夏四月乙巳，其母王氏被立为皇后，丁巳，刘彻被立为太子。他成为太子与其母孝景王皇后和其姑母馆陶公主刘嫖有很大关系。刘嫖许诺将她的女儿陈氏嫁给当时四岁（古代按虚岁计算）的胶东王刘彻。刘彻后娶陈氏为妃，两人成婚的时间无考。

后元三年正月甲子（前141年3月9日），景帝逝世，太子刘彻即位，尊皇太后窦氏曰太皇太后，皇后王氏曰皇太后。太子妃陈氏后获封为皇后（具体时间不详）。

君临天下

政治

设立内朝

汉武帝建立了内朝削弱相权，巩固皇权。「内朝」又称「中朝」，由一些亲信、侍从如尚书、常侍等任职「大司马、左右前后将军、侍中、常侍、散骑诸吏组成宫中的决策中枢；相对的丞相以下至六百石则为「外朝」」。中、外是相对皇帝居住的宫禁而言，中朝（内朝）官员享有较大的出入宫禁的自由，可随侍皇帝左右且能在宫中办公，外朝官员则无此特权。藉由此来培植一批立足于宫中、与以丞相为首的原有朝臣有所分别的内廷官员。重要政事，在「中朝」宫室之内就先作出了决策，再交由「外朝」的丞相来执行。尚书，本来是皇帝身边的秘书，掌管文书员。「中朝」形成之后，尚书的地位日益重要。尚书和一般只参与朝廷议政的官员不同，由于既有官署、官属，又有具体的职司，在「中朝」逐渐居于核心地位。

监察制度

汉武帝在地方设十三州部，即冀、兖、豫、青、徐、幽、并、凉、荆、扬、益、朔方、交趾共13州，置刺史，京师七郡则设立司隶校尉；每年8月巡行所部，用以加强治理地方、打击地方豪强。岁终至京师向御史中丞禀报。此时的刺史为监察官，秩六百石，较郡守的秩比二千石为低。

行推恩令

西汉初，诸侯王的爵位，封地都是由嫡长子单独继承的，其他子孙得不到尺寸之地。虽然文景两代采取了一定的削藩措施，但是到汉武帝初年，「诸侯或连城数十，地方千里，缓则骄，易为淫乱；急则阻其强而合从，谋以逆京师」，严重威胁著汉朝的中央集权。因此元朔二年正月，武帝采纳主父偃的建议，颁行「推恩令」。推恩令吸取了晁错削藩令引起七国之乱的教训，规定诸侯王除以嫡长子继承王位外，其馀诸子在原封国内封侯，新封侯国不再受王国管辖，直接由各郡来管理，地位相当于县。这使得诸侯王国名义上没有任何的削藩，避免激起诸侯王武装反抗的可能。于是「藩国始分，而子弟毕侯矣」，导致封国越分越小，势力大为削弱，从此「大国不过十馀城，小侯不过十馀里」。

创察举制

察举制为中国古代有系统选拔人才制度之滥觞，对后世影响极大。主要用于选拔官吏。它的确立是从汉武帝元光元年（公元前134年）开始的。察举制不同于以前先秦时期的世袭制和从隋唐时建立的科举制，它的主要特徵是由地方长官在辖区内随时考察、选取人才并推荐给上级或中央，经过试用考核再任命官职。察举制此后成为汉代聘用官吏的制度，有的学者曾经指出，汉武帝「初令郡国举孝廉各一人」的元光元年，是「中国学术史和中国政治史的最可纪念的一年。」

徵辟制是汉武帝时推行的一种自上而下选拔官吏制度，就是徵召名望显赫的人士出来做官，主要有皇帝徵聘和府、州郡辟请两方面，皇帝徵召称「徵」，官府徵召称「辟」。用以作为察举制的补充。

创立年号

在中国历史上，年号由汉武帝发明及首先使用，首个年号为建元（前140年—前135年）。此前的帝王只有年数，没有年号。据满清赵翼的《二十二史札记》考证，年号纪年是在汉武帝十九年首创的，年号为「元狩」，并追认元狩前的年号建元、元光和元朔。《汉书》上记载说，前122年十月，汉武帝出去狩猎，捉到一只独角兽白麟，群臣认为这是吉祥的神物，值得纪念，建议用来记年，于是立年号为「元狩」，称那年（前122年）为元狩元年。可是，过了六年，又在山西汾阳地方获得一只三个脚的宝鼎，群臣又认为这是吉祥的神物，建议用来纪年，于是改年号为「元鼎」，称那年为元鼎元年。后来，人们把这记录年代的开始之年称为「纪元」，改换年号叫做「改元」。此后，每次新皇帝登基，常常会改元。一般改元从下诏的第2年算起，也有一些从本年年中算起。

名臣良将

• 卫青

• 霍去病

• 霍光

• 董仲舒

• 张骞

• 桑弘羊

• 司马迁、司马谈

• 李广、李陵、李敢

• 主父偃

• 张汤

• 苏武

• 司马相如

• 东方朔

• 汲黯

• 窦婴

• 韩安国

• 田千秋

• 公孙弘

• 金日磾

• 李芯悦

汉武盛世

汉武盛世为西汉的全盛打下基础。

军事

汉匈战争

匈奴自秦末以来一直威胁中国北边，使农耕生产的受到严重影响。武帝即位之后，自前133年马邑之战起，结束汉朝初期对匈奴的和亲政策，决心设法解决匈奴的外患问题。从元光六年（前129年）开始对匈奴作战。经过卫青和霍去病等人的反击后，西汉西北边境上的威胁暂时解除。中原北边农耕经济从匈奴造成严重破坏的局面中得以恢复。匈奴在军队主力以及人畜资产受到严重损失的情况下，继续向北远遁，并有七年时间即从公元前119年至前112年漠南无王庭，不过其后匈奴又南下与羌人组织联盟攻击汉朝。而西汉军队占领从朔方至张掖、居延和廷间的大片土地，设置酒泉、武威、张掖及敦煌四郡，并且命令关东地区人民移民这一地区，此举不但保障河西走廊的安全，使西部地区的得到开发，更打通了中原文化和西域文化交通的通路。

开疆拓土

汉武帝除了北伐匈奴之外，也武力平定四方，大幅开扩领土，在西南，汉朝消灭夜郎及南越国，先后建立七个郡，使到今日的两广地区自秦朝后第二次归纳中国版图。而海南岛在历史上，也首次纳入中国的版图。在东方，他于公元前109年至前108年派兵消灭卫氏朝鲜，并且将卫氏朝鲜的国土分为四郡──乐浪郡、真番郡、临屯郡及玄菟郡。

外交

汉武帝派遣了张骞出使西域，张骞的两次出使打通了中原文化和西域文化交通的通路。即丝绸之路，极大促进了中国同西方经济及文化的交流。

文化

罢黜百家，表彰六经

建元元年（辛丑，公元前140年）诏举贤良方正直言极谏之士，上亲策问以古今治道。广川董仲舒上天人三策，对曰「《春秋》大一统者，天地之常经，古今之通谊也。今师异道，人异论，百家殊方，指意不同，是以上无以持一统，法制数变，下不知所守。臣愚以为诸不在六艺之科、孔子之术者，皆绝其道，勿使并进，邪辟之说灭息，然后统纪可一而法度可明，民知所从矣！」。汉武帝对董仲舒的「罢黜百家，表彰六经」的建议没有表态，「罢黜百家是后汉班固的总结，汉武帝也没有「独尊儒术」，无论阴阳或者道儒，只要是贤能的人汉武帝都重用。而今天一些学者认为汉武帝是独尊儒术，结束了先秦以来「师异道，人异论，百家殊方」的局面，于是「令后学者有所统一」。为儒学在中国古代的特殊地位铺路，亦使到儒学成为了中国社会的基础思想。对中国后代的政治、社会及文化等领域产生了深远的影响。但是，亦有人认为他利用儒学敦化民风，同时采用法术及刑名巩固政府的权威，即是所谓儒表法骨或儒表法里。

创建太学

汉武帝元朔五年，创建太学，是接受当时儒家学者董仲舒的建议。此举也为后世儒学的传播奠定基础。董仲舒指出，太学可以作为「教化之本原」，也就是作为教化天下的文化基地。他建议，「臣愿陛下兴太学，置明师，以养天下之士」，这样可以使国家得到未来的人才。所谓「养天下之士」，体现出太学在当时有为国家培育人才和储备人才的作用。汉武帝时期的太学，虽然规模很有限，只有几位经学博士和五十名博士弟子，但是这一文化雏形，代表著中国古代教育发展的方向。太学的成立，助长民间积极向学的风气，对于文化的传播，成为重要的推手，同时使大官僚和大富豪子嗣垄断官位的情形有所转变，一般人家子弟得以增加入仕的机会，一些出身社会下层的人才，也有机会到朝廷做官。

建立乐府

乐府一名本指管理音乐的官府。汉武帝在掌管雅乐的太乐官署之外，另创立乐府官署，掌管俗乐，收集民间的歌辞入乐。「采诗夜诵，有赵、代、秦、楚之讴」、「以李延年为协律都尉，多举司马相如等数十人造为诗赋，略论律吕，以合八音之调，作十九章之歌」。后人把乐府机关配乐演唱的诗歌，也称乐府。

颁太初历

太初历是中国历史上曾经使用过的一种历法，亦是中国历史上第一部完整统一，而且有明确文字记载的历法。在天文学发展历史上具有划时代的意义。在汉武帝太初元年（前104年），由邓平、唐都、落下闳等根据对天象实测和长期天文纪录所制订。《太初历》的制订是中国历史上具有重要性的一次历法大改革。《太初历》的科学成就，首先在于历法计算上的精密准确。中国汉初以前，主要采用「古六历」（黄帝、颛顼、夏、殷、周、鲁）中的《颛顼历》。这个古历，计算一年为三百六十五又四分之一日，一月是二十九天又九百四十分之四百九十九。由于岁差的原因，颛顼历到汉代时的计算已经不够精密，常出现月初是无月光的朔日，但实际天空中却有圆满的月光；月中是有月光的望满之日，夜晚却并没有月亮。为了改变这种不对照的现象，制订《太初历》时，重新进行了反覆地周密地运算和实践验证。还在于第一次计算了日月蚀发生的周期和精确计算了行星会合的周期。

经济

改革币制

指中国西汉武帝统治时期进行的币制改革。西汉自建立以来，币制混乱，郡国铸币失控又是汉景帝时期七国之乱发生的原因之一。汉武帝统治时期，由于对外征伐不断，中央财政从此前「京师之钱累巨万，贯朽而不可校」的丰盈一变而为入不敷出的困局。「而富商大贾或蹛财役贫，转榖百数，废居居邑，封君皆低首仰给。」富商大贾富可敌国，恰与窘困的中央财政形成了鲜明对比。中央政府除了靠鬻武功爵等方式快速增加财政收入外，「冶铸煑盐，财或累万金，而不佐国家之急，黎民重困。于是天子与公卿议，更钱造币以赡用，而摧浮淫并兼之徒。」增加中央财政收入，打击大商人，此即汉武帝币制改革的初衷。故汉武帝即位后，为了中央政府在经济管理和政治统治上的需要，便十分重视解决币制问题，先后进行了六次币制改革，基本解决了汉初以来一直未能解决的币制问题。一方面稳定了金融，另一方面将地方的铸币权重新统一于中央。六次改革后三官五铢的发行一举解决了困扰西汉金融多年的私铸、盗铸问题，汉武帝的币制改革至此取得了较大成功。

盐铁国营

中央政府在盐、铁产地分别设置盐官和铁官，实行统一生产和统一销售，利润为国家所有。这项制度实施，使国家独占国计民生意义最重要的手工业和商业的利润，可以供给皇室消费以及巨额军事支出。当时，人民的赋税的负担没有增加，国家的收入大增，不但弥补财政上的赤字，并且还有盈馀。不过官营盐铁却给社会经济和民众生活带来负面的影响。例如官盐价高而味苦，铁制农具粗劣不合用等。

汉武帝元封元年，桑弘羊针对「诸官各自市（购买），相与争，物以故腾跃，而天下赋输，或不偿其僦费」的情况，在全国推行均输法，下令各郡设均输盐铁官，将上贡物品运往缺乏该类货物的地区出售，然后在适当地区购入京师需求的物资。此法既能解决运费高昂的问题，又可调节物价。更重要的是均输法舒缓汉武帝晚年的财政危机，桑弘羊对此曾有所赞扬：「山东被灾，齐赵大饥，赖均输之蓄，仓禀之积，战士以奉，饥民以赈」。然而，均输法却被批评未能解决物价问题，「轻贾奸吏，收贱以取贵，未见准之平也」。

重视农业

在经济方面，汉武帝为推动农业，采取了一系列措施。他在全国修了不少水利工程，例如：龙首渠，六辅渠等等，以便农田灌溉，所以汉代田亩和农业产量，都超越前代。命赵过出任搜粟都尉，并推广代田法，改良农具，提高了农业生产力。

其他功绩

晚年

危机突显

汉武帝到处巡行、封禅。如元封元年（前110年），他亲率十八万骑兵，旌旗千里，封泰山，东巡海上，再至碣石山。用帛百馀万匹，钱几万万。汉武帝对汉初建造的长乐宫、未央宫，犹感不足，而动用大量的人力、物力扩建上林苑，开凿昆明池，建造首山宫、明光宫、建章宫等宫殿。太初元年（前104年）建造建章宫，规模超过了未央宫。它的正门高25丈。玉堂殿有12门。建章宫的神明台上有高达70馀米的仙人承露台。宫内的奇华殿，专门陈列外国贡献的奇珍异物。宫内凿有太液池，池中有蓬菜、方丈、瀛洲等神山。长安城内外和远郊的离宫内中，有宫人、女子七八千人。汉武帝追慕黄帝，期待遇到神仙，重用方士，赐予大量钱财。曾被两方士欺骗，而他仍然相信黄帝成仙，求道之心不灭。。

元鼎二年（前115年）三月，关东大雨雪；夏天又发大水。当地百姓有几千人饿死。元鼎三年（前114年）四月，许多地方发生大雹灾，关东十几个郡发生大灾荒，田间颗粒无收，发生了人吃人的现象。武帝下诏令，叫饥民到江淮一带自己谋生，又调集有限的巴蜀粟米救济灾民。元封四年（前107年）夏天，又发生大旱灾，土地龟裂，河水枯竭，百姓大批渴死。关东出现200万流民，其中没有户籍可查的农民达40万。元封六年（前105年）春，汉武帝下诏兴建首山宫。秋，再次发生大旱灾和蝗灾，庄稼被蝗虫吃尽。太初、天汉年间，汉武帝又徵用全国大量的人力、物力支持李广利远征大宛和匈奴。

天汉二年（前99年），泰山、琅琊一带的徐勃发动民变。他们占山结寨，攻打城邑，抢武器，释囚犯，活捉郡守、都尉，杀掠二千石一级大官。此外南阳的梅免、百政，楚的段中、杜少，燕、赵的坚卢、范主等人也纷纷发动民变。汉武帝先派小股部队镇压，再派大军追剿，前后杀死了几万人。

巫蛊之祸

征和元年（西元前92年）十一月，巫蛊之祸兴起。丞相公孙贺之妻使用巫术诅咒及在驰道埋木偶人的事件被告发，公孙贺一家被斩杀，同时还牵连到阳石公主和皇后卫子夫所生的女儿诸邑公主。其后汉武帝又发动了三辅骑士在皇家园林进行搜查，并且在长安城中到处寻找，过了11日才收兵。征和二年七月，与太子刘据结怨的武帝宠臣江充指使胡巫，说宫中有蛊气。武帝命令江充与按道侯韩说等入宫追查，江充诬告太子宫中埋的木人最多，又有帛书，所言不守道法。太子得知后非常恐惧，听从少傅石德的计策，派人诈称武帝使者捕杀江充等人。汉武帝命令丞相刘屈氂派兵击溃太子，太子举兵对抗。激战五日，太子兵败逃亡，被汉武帝所废，被围捕，乃自杀，灭族，唯汉武帝曾孙刘病已就是后来的宣帝得亲信保全。征和三年，此谋反案的根源巫蛊案真相渐明，田千秋上书直言进谏，武帝感悟，下令族灭贰师将军李广利、丞相刘屈氂、太监苏文、江充家族。

发轮台诏

汉武帝将盐铁酒国营专卖，实行平准均输政策，防止商人从中渔利，从而增加政府收入，达到了调节物价及防止市场垄断的功效，但是亦造成了政府与民争利的局面。商人遂将注意力转移至土地买卖，导致土地兼并严重。虽然汉武帝武功极盛，但是到处征伐也造成了国库空虚，大量人民被徵召从军，死伤甚重，也影响了经济发展。由于民生困苦、社会动荡不安、人民流离失所及民怨沸腾，天汉二年（前99年），齐、楚、燕、赵和南阳等地相继爆发大规模农民起义；征和四年（前89年）汉武帝颁下了《轮台诏》，辛德勇认为，轮台诏不是罪己诏，关于汉武帝罪己是资治通鉴的虚构，汉武帝死后并未改变西汉对外战争的基本国策。而田馀庆认为汉武帝晚期改弦易辙。

临终托孤

汉武帝晚年得子刘弗陵，甚爱之。刘据于巫蛊之乱死后，汉武帝立刘弗陵为太子。太子即位前不久，其生母钩弋夫人被处死，避免未来再有太后涉政的现象。前88年，汉武帝命令画工画了一张《周公背成王朝诸侯图》送予霍光，意思是让霍光辅佐他的小儿刘弗陵作为未来皇帝。对此，中国史学家吕思勉对《汉书·霍光传》的此记载颇有异议，认为汉武帝于临终前杀掉刘弗陵生母是为了避免母后干政、托孤说的「立少子，君行周公之事」和画周公辅政图完全属于捏造。

前87年3月29日（二月丁卯），汉武帝驾崩于五柞宫，享年70岁。4月15日（三月甲申），葬于茂陵，谥号为孝武皇帝。本始二年（前72年），汉宣帝为曾祖父汉武帝上庙号为世宗。

文学造诣

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汉武帝爱好文学，为提倡辞赋的诗人。他个人的文学造诣甚高，在南北朝以前的皇帝中属于文采一流的人物，颜之推把他归类为曹操、曹丕一级文才的君主。明朝王世贞以为，其成就在「长卿下、子云上」（《艺苑卮盐》）其他存留的诗作，《瓠子歌》、《天马歌》、《悼李夫人赋》都「壮丽鸿奇」（徐祯卿《谈艺录》），为诗词评论家所推崇。

后世评价

• 夏侯胜：武帝虽有攘四夷广土斥境之功，然多杀士众，竭民财力，奢泰亡度，天下虚耗，百姓流离，物故者半。蝗虫大起，赤地数千里，或人民相食，畜积至今未复。亡德泽于民，不宜为立庙乐。

• 桓谭：汉武帝才质高妙，有崇先广统之规，故即位而开发大志，考合古今模范，获前圣代故事，建正朔，定制度，招选俊杰，奋扬威怒，武义四加，所征者服，兴起六艺，广进儒术，自开辟以来，惟汉家最为盛图，故显为世宗，可谓卓尔绝世之主矣。

• 崔駰：昔孝武皇帝始为天子，年方十八，崇信圣道，师则先王，五六年间，号胜文、景。及后恣己，忘其前之为善。

• 刘歆：孝武皇帝愍中国罢劳，无安宁之时，乃遣大将伏波、楼船之属，灭百越七郡。北攘匈奴，降昆邪之众，置五属国，起朔方，以夺其肥饶之地。东伐朝鲜，起玄菟、乐浪以断匈奴之左臂。西伐大宛，并三十六国，结乌孙，起敦煌、酒泉、张掖、武威，以隔氐羌，裂匈奴之右肩。单于孤将远遁漠北，四垂无事，斥地远境，起十馀郡。功业既定，乃封丞相为富民侯，以安天下，富实百姓，其规模可见。又招集天下贤俊，与协心同谋，兴制度，改正朔，易服色，立天地之祀。建封禅，殊官号，存周后，定诸侯之制，永无逆争之心，至今累世赖之。单于守蕃，百蛮服从，万世之基也。中兴之功，未有高焉者也。

• 班固：汉承百王之弊，高祖拨乱反正，文、景务在养民，至于稽古礼文之事，犹多阙焉。孝武初立，卓然罢黜百家，表章《六经》，遂畴咨海内，举其俊茂，与之立功。兴太学，修郊祀，改正朔，定历数，协音律，作诗乐。建封禅，礼百神，绍周后，号令文章，焕然可述，后嗣得遵洪业而有三代之风。如武帝之雄材大略，不改文、景之恭俭以济斯民，虽《诗》、《书》所称何有加焉！

• 荀悦: 孝武皇帝，规矩万世之业，固后世之基地。内修文学，外耀武威，以延天下之士，先王之风粲然可考者矣。然犹好其文，未尽其实；发其始，不克其终。奢侈而无限，穷兵极武，百姓空竭，万民罢弊。当此之时，天下骚然，海内无聊，而孝文之业衰焉。

• 曹丕：孝武帝承累世之遗业，遇中国之殷阜，府库余金钱，仓廪畜腐粟，因此有意乎灭匈奴而廓清边境矣。故即位之初，从王恢之画，设马邑之谋，自元光以迄征和四五十载之间，征匈奴四十馀：举盛馀，逾广汉，绝梓岭，封狼居胥，禅姑幕，梁北河，观兵瀚海，刈单于之旗，剿阏氏之首，探符离之窟，扫五王之庭。纳休屠昆邪之附，获祭天金人之宝。斩名王以千数，馘酋虏以万计。既穷追其散亡，又摧破其积聚，虏不暇于救死扶伤，疲困于孕重堕殒。元封初，躬秉武节，告以天子自将，惧以两越之诛，彼时号为威震匈奴矣。

• 曹植：世宗光光，文武是攘。威震百蛮，恢拓土疆。简定律历，辨修旧章。封天禅土，功越百王。

• 刘渊︰世宗孝武皇帝拓土攘夷，地过唐日。

• 虞世南：汉武承六世之业，海内殷富，又有高人之资，故能总揽英雄，驾御豪杰，内兴礼乐，外开边境，制度宪章，焕然可述。方于始皇，则为优矣。至于骄奢暴虐，可以相亚，并功有馀而德不足。

• 唐太宗：「近代平一天下，拓定边方者，惟秦皇、汉武。」

• 李渤︰景、武、昭、宣，亦各有美，皆以乐贤从谏，风流无穷。

• 司马贞：「孝武纂极，四海承平。志尚奢丽，尤敬神明。坛开八道，接通五城。朝亲五利，夕拜文成。祭非祀典，巡乖卜征。登嵩勒岱，望景传声。迎年祀日，改历定正。疲秏中土，事彼边兵。日不暇给，人无聊生。俯观嬴政，几欲齐衡。」

• 何去非︰孝武帝以雄才大略，承三世涵育之泽，知夫天下之势将就强而不振，所当济之以威强而抗武节之时也。方是时也，内无奸变之臣，外无强逼之国，而世为汉患者独匈奴耳。夫匈奴自楚、汉之起，乘秦之乱，复践河南之地，而其势始强。高帝曾以三十万之众困于白登之围，盖士不食者七日，已解而归，不思有以复之，而和亲始议矣。高后被其书之辱，临朝而震怒矣，终之以婉辞顺礼慰适其桀骜之情。凡此者，皆欲与民息肩，姑置外之而不校也。孝文之立，其所以顺悦输遗者甚，至饰遣宗女以固其欢。盖送车未返，而彼已大举深入，候骑达于甘泉、雍梁矣。其后乍亲乍绝，盖为寇患至于近，严霸上、棘门、细柳之屯以卫京都。以孝文之宽仁镇静，摄衣发奋，亲驾而驱之者再，乃至乎辍饭搏髀而思颇、牧之良能也。孝景之世，其所以悦奉之情与夫遗给之数又加至矣。然其寇侵之暴，纷然其不止也。由是观之，汉之于匈奴，非深惩而大治之，则其为后患也，可胜备哉？是以孝武抗其英特之气，选待习骑，择命将帅，先发而昌诛之。盖师行十年，斩刈殆尽，名王贵人俘获百数，单于捧首穷遁漠北，遂收两河之地而郡属之。刷四世之侵辱，遗后嗣之安强。至于宣、元、成、哀之世，单于顿颡臣顺，谒期听令以朝，位次比内诸侯。虽曰劳师匮财，而功烈之被远矣。使微孝武，则汉之所以世被边患，其戍役转饷以忧累县官者，可得而预计哉？甚矣！味者之议，不知求夫天下之势、强弱之任所当然者，而猥曰：「文、景为是慈俭爱民，而武帝黩于兵师祈祀。」至与秦皇同日而非诋之，岂不痛哉！使孝武不溺于文成、五利之奸以重耗天下，攘敌之役止于卫、霍之既死，而不穷贰师之兵，则其功烈与周宣比隆矣。

• 司马光：「孝武穷奢极欲，繁刑重敛，内侈宫室，外事四夷，信惑神怪，巡游无度，使百姓疲敝，起为盗贼，其所以异于秦始皇无几矣。然秦以之亡，汉以之兴者，孝武能尊王之道，知所统守，受忠直之言，恶人欺蔽，好贤不倦，诛罚严明，晚而改过，顾托得人，此其所以有亡秦之失而免亡秦之祸乎！」

• 李纲：「茂陵仙客，算真是，天与雄才宏略。猎取天骄驰卫霍，如使鹰鸇驱雀。战皋兰，犁庭龙碛，饮至行勋爵。中华疆盛，坐令夷狄衰弱。追想当日巡行，勒兵十万骑，横临边朔。亲总貔貅谈笑看，黠虏心惊胆落。寄语单于，两君相见，何苦逃沙漠。英风如在，卓然千古高著。」

• 洪迈：「汉之武帝、唐之武后，不可谓不明。」

• 朱熹：「武帝天资高，志向大，足以有为。末年海内虚耗，去秦始皇无几。轮台之悔，亦是天资高，方能如此。」

• 朱元璋︰三王、五帝之书不尽传于世，故后世鲜知其行事。汉武帝购求遗书，《六经》始出，唐、虞、三代之治，可得而见。武帝雄才大略，后世罕及，至表章《六经》，阐明圣贤之学，尤有功于后世。

• 王夫之：「武帝之劳民甚矣，而其救饥民也为得。虚仓廥以振之，宠富民之假贷者以救之，不给，则通其变而徙荒民于朔方、新秦者七十馀万口，仰给县官，给予产业，民喜于得生，而轻去其乡以安新邑，边因以实。」

• 王夫之：「武帝之发觉而捕弗满品者，二千石以下至小吏，主者皆死，则欲吏之弗匿盗不上闻、而以禁其窃发也，必不可得矣。……汉武有丧邦之道焉，此其一矣。」

• 赵翼：「仰思帝之雄才大略，正在武功。」

• 王仕云︰「世宗孝武，雄才大略。初向儒术，董生对策。协律定吕，祀郊兴学。继志神仙，复穷武功。才臣竞起，驰骛奋庸。汤禹定令，相如赋雄。武骞奉使，汲郑质直。卫青去病，扬名戎狄。至于受遗，霍光日磾。晚节知悔，得人最盛。轮台一诏，国本用滋。」

• 吴裕垂：「武帝雄才大略，非不深知征伐之劳民也，盖欲复三代之境土。削平四夷，尽去后患，而量力度德，慨然有舍我其谁之想。于是承累朝之培养，既庶且富，相时而动，战以为守，攻以为御，匈奴远遁，日以削弱。至于宣、元、成、哀，单于称臣，稽玄而朝，两汉之生灵，并受其福，庙号『世宗』，宜哉！」

• 曾国藩︰「自古英哲非常之君，往往得人鼎盛。若汉之武帝，唐之文皇，宋之仁宗，元之世祖，明之孝宗。其时皆异材勃起，俊彦云屯，焜耀简编。」

• 鲍东里︰ 「武帝慕古，庙号世宗，内实多欲，好大喜功。劝学兴礼，表章六经，初立年号，行夏建寅。仲舒之贤，汲黯之直，未能大用，是为可惜。内侈宫室，外事甲兵，好仙嗜利，重敛繁刑。巫蛊事起，祸及太子，为因少主，钩弋赐死。轮台一诏，悔心之萌，顾命霍光，实为得人。」

• 夏曾佑：「有为汉一朝之皇帝者，高祖是也；有为中国二十四朝之皇帝者，秦皇、汉武是也。」

• 白寿彝：「促进了经济繁荣与国家统一。」

• 翦伯赞：「用剑犹如用情，用情犹如用兵」。

• 黄仁宇：「有专制魔王的毛病。」

• 钱穆：「『王莽代汉』源自汉武帝种下的恶果。」

• 孙中山：「「秦皇汉武、元世祖、拿破仑，或数百年，数十年而斩，亦可谓有志之士矣。拿破仑兴法典，汉武帝纪赞，不言武功，又有千年之志者。」

• 毛泽东：「汉武帝雄才大略，开拓刘邦的业绩，晚年自知奢侈、黩武、方士之弊，下了罪己诏，不失为鼎盛之世。」

• 傅乐成：「武帝的一生行事，真是多采多姿，但也充满矛盾。他尊重儒家，但他的好大喜功以及迷信神仙又无不与儒家思想相背驰。...他有时表现的异常果敢，如痛惩匈奴及游侠；一方面却又非常怕死，时时提防别人的暗算。他有过人的聪明，但有时又被人愚弄如孩提....他一生兴高采烈的致力于开边事业，最后又在痛悔中结束。总之，在中国历代的帝王中，很难再找到像武帝这样一位矛盾人物。」

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家庭成员

后妃

汉帝自刘邦以降，皇帝择夫人，多由美色而定，如高祖择薄姬、武帝幸卫子夫等；迥异于先秦之际，周代天子、诸侯间后妃婚配，女子多来自异姓诸侯间宗室，皆受过良好的教育，是故较无「外戚乱政」之问题。西汉开国后，汉高祖曾立誓曰：「非刘氏而王，天下共击之」，于是汉代天子既无诸侯王女婚配，立后妃标准但凭帝王喜恶，外戚格局自西汉产生质变，其中以汉武帝立寒门出身的卫子夫为皇后为志，在此之前，西汉诸帝固然宠爱寒门，却不致封后。

皇后

• 陈皇后，一说名阿娇，母馆陶长公主刘嫖，武帝姑表姐。武帝元配，太子妃，后为皇后。后因无子失宠加上涉嫌巫蛊被废居于长门宫。死后以馆陶公主之女的身份葬在汉文帝霸陵的郎官亭东。

• 思后卫子夫（？－前91），弟卫青、姨甥霍去病、霍光。为平阳公主府歌姬，入宫有孕封夫人，生卫长公主、诸邑公主、石邑公主。元朔元年生戾太子刘据，立为皇后。在皇后位38年，是中国在位第二长的皇后。 巫蛊之祸中支持刘据起兵，被武帝缴其印玺后自杀。苏文以小棺葬于长安城南桐柏。曾孙汉宣帝即位后改葬曾祖母，上谥号，并设置思后园。

• 孝武皇后李氏，野史记载名「妍」，兄李延年、李广利。生昌邑王刘髆。武帝逝世后被霍光追封为孝武皇后，配飨汉武帝，葬于茂陵。其孙海昏侯刘贺曾短暂即帝位。

• 皇太后赵氏（前113年－前88年），姿色美艳，称拳夫人，又称钩弋夫人，封婕妤。生汉昭帝刘弗陵。以子幼母壮，被武帝赐死，葬于云陵，昭帝即位后被追封为皇太后。

妃嫔

• 王夫人，生齐怀王刘闳。去世后武帝哀痛，追赠齐王太后，方士少翁曾诈用皮影为汉武帝召唤王夫人的鬼魂。

• 李姬，生鄂邑公主、燕刺王刘旦、广陵厉王刘胥。无宠，以忧死。

• 尹婕妤，汉武帝宠妃。

• 邢娙娥，汉武帝宠妃，气质出尘，令尹婕妤自愧不如。

• 宫人丽娟

据《史记·外戚传》，汉武帝即位后数年没有生育：「武帝初即位，数岁无子。」汉武帝的有生育的后妃皆出身低微：「及李夫人卒，则有尹婕妤之属，更有宠。然皆以倡见，非王侯有土之士女，不可以配人主也。」「故诸为武帝生子者，无男女，其母无不谴死。」可见《史记》这里写的「生子」「无子」，是生儿生女都算上。

子女

儿子

• 戾太子刘据，母卫子夫。巫蛊之祸时被迫起兵诛江充，兵败后逃亡至湖县自缢。其全家被杀，唯有尚未满月的孙子刘病已得以幸存，后改名刘询，即汉宣帝。

• 齐怀王刘闳，母王夫人。早薨，无子，国除。

• 燕剌王刘旦，母李姬。汉昭帝即位，他与宗室刘长、刘泽及大臣上官桀、桑弘羊等谋反诛霍光夺取帝位，失败自杀，国除。

• 广陵厉王刘胥，母李姬。昭帝时，觊觎帝位，使女巫祝诅。宣帝即位，复与楚王延寿私通书信，后谋叛事发觉，又药杀当事人二十馀人以灭口，为汉中央追穷治罪，自杀，国除。

• 昌邑哀王刘髆，母李夫人。其子为汉废帝刘贺，在汉昭帝死后当过27天皇帝，后被霍光所废改封海昏侯。

• 汉昭帝刘弗陵，母赵婕妤。在位13年，无后。

女儿

（由于历史记载不详，汉武帝之女未有明确排序，而且很可能部分女儿未曾在史书留名。）

• 卫长公主，又称当利公主，母卫子夫。先嫁与表哥曹襄，曹襄早死，后嫁与栾大，栾大被汉武帝腰斩。

• 诸邑公主，母卫子夫。死于巫蛊之祸。

• 石邑公主，母卫子夫。

• 鄂邑盖长公主，又称盖主，生母无明确记载，可能是盖姓妃嫔或李姬。曾抚养昭帝。后与燕王刘旦、上官桀、上官安及桑弘羊等合谋诛除霍光，事发后自杀。

• 阳石公主，生母不详，死于巫蛊之祸。

• 夷安公主，生母不详。下嫁隆虑公主之子昭平君。

逸事典故

双性恋

根据《史记》和《汉书》的描述，汉武帝为双性恋。记载于史书上有韩嫣、李延年和韩说。《佞幸列传》纪录李延年「与上卧起，甚贵幸。」大臣金日磾之子亦曾经为弄儿（娈童）。

代汉者当涂高

汉武帝巡游汾河，在船上和群臣饮宴，汉武帝突然对群臣说：「汉朝有六七之厄，六七四十二，汉朝传到第42代皇帝，会有当涂高取代汉朝。」群臣说：「汉朝应天受命，王朝长过商周，永世不绝，陛下为何说这种亡国之言？」汉武帝表示「只是醉言，但是自古以来没有一姓可以一直拥有天下，不过即使汉朝灭亡，不要灭亡在我父子手上就行。」

当涂高的意思是路上有很高的东西，后来的公孙述、袁术和曹丕等都用「代汉者当涂高」这句谶言为自己称帝造势。

微服外出

汉武帝建元年间，汉武帝和随从微服外出打猎，麻烦事不断。一天夜晚汉武帝和随从投宿旅社，旅社主人觉得一行人来者不善，对汉武帝等人非常傲慢。旅社主人准备和门客一同杀死汉武帝等人，但是主人妻子觉得汉武帝等人气势非凡，不像强盗，于是将她丈夫灌醉，偷偷放走汉武帝等人。后来又不慎踩伤农民庄稼，引发纠纷，农民叫来县令。汉武帝自称平阳侯，县令本想拜谒，汉武帝随从却想鞭打县令。县令大怒，扣押汉武帝随从，拒绝他们离开。汉武帝不得已，向县令展示皇家身份，县令才予以放行。后来汉武帝微服外出的举动被众人得知，地方政府纷纷建立行宫招待汉武帝。汉武帝认为微服外出会扰民，乾脆建立上林苑，专供皇家打猎。

争议

名称

汉武帝曾经以彘为名的说法出自于志怪小说《汉武故事》。《史记》和《汉书》则明确纪录刘彻于被封为胶东王前，名字为彻，无彘字。即使是后世由司马光编纂的《资治通鉴》，亦无采信《汉武故事》的说法。

出生日期争议

《史记》王太后传云「未生而孝文帝崩，孝景帝即位，王夫人生男。」而索隐《汉武故事》云「帝以乙酉年七月七日生于猗兰殿」，《汉书》王太后传云「未生而文帝崩，景帝即位，王夫人生男。」，《史记》与《汉书》皆以武帝生于景帝即位后而孕于文帝去世前，汉文帝崩于后七年六月己亥（前157年7月6日）时武帝在孕期内，六月丁未（前157年7月14日）景帝即位。若据《汉武故事》云「帝以乙酉年七月七日生于猗兰殿」，则武帝生于景帝元年乙酉年七月七日（前156年7月31日），与《史记》、《汉书》所记「未生而文帝崩，景帝即位，王夫人生男」相差一年，且孕期超过十三个月（前157年7月6日文帝去世之前怀孕至前156年7月31日武帝出生）非一般正常孕期。《史记》汉武帝本纪云「孝景四年，以皇子为胶东王。孝景七年，栗太子废为临江王，以胶东王为太子。孝景十六年崩，太子即位，为孝武皇帝。」，《汉书》汉武帝纪云「年四岁立为胶东王。七岁为皇太子，母为皇后。十六岁，后三年正月，景帝崩。甲子，太子即皇帝位。」，以《史记》和《汉书》所记武帝当生于景帝元年（前156年）而为周岁，至孝景四年四岁立为胶东王，至孝景七年七岁立为皇太子，孝景十六年十六岁太子即位为孝武皇帝，武帝当生于汉景帝元年（前156年）而当在三月份或三月前应不出十个月的孕期，《汉武故事》所记日期「乙酉年七月七日」当不可信。

艺术形象

• 《汉武帝梦会卫夫人》 吴楚帆 饰 （1954年）

• 《汉武帝梦会卫夫人》 任剑辉 饰 （1959年）

• 《汉武之恋》 赵秀治 饰 （1988年）

• 《大汉春秋》 黄香莲 饰 （1990年）

• 《汉武帝》 周里京 饰 （1996年）

• 《司马迁》 许还山 饰 （1997年）

• 《凤求凰》 杨佩衡 饰 （1997年）

• 《乌龙闯情关》 柯受良 饰 （2001年）

• 《大汉天子》系列 黄晓明 饰 （2002～2006年）

• 《奔月》 刘威 饰 （2001年）

• 《凤求凰》 刘小峰 饰 （2004年）

• 《汉武大帝》 杜淳（青年）、陈宝国 饰 （2005年）

• 《剑行天下》 郑国霖 饰 （2007年）

• 《东方朔》 靳东 饰 （2008年）

• 《夜郎王》 吕士刚 饰 （2008年）

• 《美人心计》 茅子俊 饰 （2010年）

• 《仙女湖之墨仙》 陈颢文 饰 （2012年）

• 《卫子夫》 林峰 饰 （2014年）

• 《大汉情缘之云中歌》 胡兵 饰 （2015年）

• 《沧海丝路》 张丰毅 饰 （2018年）

• 《中国》（第一季） 于朦胧 饰 （2020年）

• 《霍去病传奇》 黄维德 饰 （待播）

引用

注释

Names and dates

The personal name of Emperor Wu was Liu Che (刘彻). The use of "Han" (汉) in referring to emperor Wu is a reference to the Han dynasty of which he was a part. His family name is "Liu"; the ruling family or clan of the Han dynasty shared the family name of "Liu", the family name of Liu Bang, the founding father of the Han dynasty. The character "Di" (帝) is a title: this is the Chinese word which in imperial history of China means "emperor". The character "Wu" (武) literally means "martial" or "warlike", but is also related to the concept of a particular divinity in the historical Chinese religious pantheon existing at that time. Combined, "Wu" plus "di" makes the name "Wudi", the emperor's posthumous name used for historical and religious purposes, such as offering him posthumous honours at his tomb. The emperor's temple tablet name is Shizong (世宗).

Regnal years

One of Han Wudi's innovations was the practice of changing reign names after a number of years, as deemed auspicious or to commemorate some event. Thus, the practice for dating years during the reign of Wudi was represented by the nth year of the Year Name (where nth stands for an ordinal integer) and "Reign Year Name" for the specific name of that regnal year. This practice was continued by later emperors until the Ming and Qing eras, whereby the emperors of the two dynasties used only one reign name for their entire reign (unless interrupted, as in the case of Emperor Yingzong of Ming).

Calendar reform

In 104 BC (1st year of the Taichu (太初) era), a new calendar was put into effect: the Taichu calendar (太初历). This calendar came about due to the observations of three officials (Gongsun Qing (公孙卿), Hu Sui (壶遂) and Sima Qian (author of Shiji) that the calendar then in use was in need of reform. Among other reforms, the Taichu calendar made the zheng month (正月, also known as the first month) the beginning of a new year, rather than the tenth month in the Zhuanxu calendar. From then on, the Chinese calendar had retained the property of having the first month as the beginning of the year.

Early years

Liu Che was the 11th son of Liu Qi, the oldest living son from Emperor Wen of Han. His mother Wang Zhi (王娡) was initially married to a commoner named Jin Wangsun (金王孙) and had a daughter from that marriage. However, her mother Zang Er (臧儿) (a granddaughter of the one-time Prince of Yan, Zang Tu, under Emperor Gao) was told by a soothsayer that both Wang Zhi and her younger sister would one day become extremely honoured. She then got the idea to offer her daughters to the then crown prince Liu Qi, and forcibly divorced Wang Zhi from her husband at the time. After being offered to Liu Qi, Wang Zhi bore him three daughters – Princess Yangxin, Princess Nangong (南宫公主), and Princess Longlü.

On the day of Liu Qi's accession to the throne as Emperor Jing of Han (upon the death of his father Emperor Wen in 156 BC), Wang Zhi gave birth to Liu Che and was promoted to a consort for giving birth to a royal prince. While she was pregnant, she claimed that she dreamed of a sun falling into her womb. Emperor Jing was ecstatic over the divine implication, and made the young Liu Che the Prince of Jiaodong (胶东王) on 16 May 153 BC. An intelligent boy, Liu Che was considered to be Emperor Jing's favourite son from a very young age.

Crown prince

Emperor Jing's formal wife, Empress Bo, was childless. As a result, Emperor Jing's oldest son Liu Rong, born to Lady Lì (栗姬, Emperor Jing's favorite concubine and mother of three of his first four sons), was made crown prince in 153 BC. Lady Li, feeling certain that her son would become the future emperor, grew arrogant and intolerant, and frequently threw tantrums at Emperor Jing out of jealousy over him bedding other women. Her lack of tact provided the opportunity for Consort Wang and the young Liu Che to gain the emperor's favour.

When Emperor Jing's older sister, Eldest Princess Guantao (馆陶长公主) Liu Piao (刘嫖), offered to marry her daughter with (陈午), the Marquess of Tangyi, to Liu Rong, Lady Li rudely rejected the proposal out of her dislike of Princess Guantao, who often procured new concubines for Emperor Jing and was diffusing the favor received by Lady Li. Insulted by the rejection, Princess Guantao then approached the next favorite of Emperor Jing's concubines – none other than Consort Wang, who had been observing these developments quietly from the sidelines. Guantao offered to marry her daughter to the consort's young son, Liu Che, then aged only 5. Seizing the opportunity, Consort Wang accepted the offer with open arms, securing a crucial political alliance with Princess Guantao.

Princess Guantao's daughter Chen Jiao, also known by the milk name A'Jiao (阿娇), was of marriageable age (which was legally marked at the time by menarche), making her at least eight years older than the young prince. Due to this age difference, Emperor Jing initially did not approve of this union. According to the Wei-Jin era fable Hanwu Stories (汉武故事 / 汉武故事 also called Stories of Han Wudi), during a subsequent royal gathering, Princess Guantao held the 5-year-old Liu Che in her arms and asked the nephew whether he wanted to marry his first cousin A'Jiao. The young prince boasted that he would "build a golden house for her" if they were married. Princess Guantao then used the boy's response as a divine sign to convince Emperor Jing to finally agree to the arranged marriage between Liu Che and Chen Jiao. This inspired the Chinese idiom "putting Jiao in a golden house" (金屋藏娇).

Now sealed in the marriage alliance with Consort Wang, Princess Guantao began incessantly criticising Lady Li in front of Emperor Jing. Over time, Emperor Jing started to believe his sister's words, so he decided to test out Lady Li. One day he asked Lady Li whether she would happily foster-care the rest of his children if he were to pass away, only to have her rudely refuse to comply. This made Emperor Jing angry and worried that if Liu Rong were to inherit the throne and Lady Li to become empress dowager, many of his concubines might suffer the tragic fate of Consort Qi in the hands of Empress Lü. Princess Guantao then began to openly praise her son-in-law-to-be to her royal brother, further convincing Emperor Jing that Liu Che was a far better choice for heir apparent than Liu Rong.

Taking advantage of the situation, Consort Wang put in place the final step to defeat Lady Li – she persuaded a minister to officially advise Emperor Jing that he make Lady Li empress, as Liu Rong was already the crown prince. Emperor Jing, already firm in his view that Lady Li must not be made empress, was enraged and believed that Lady Li had conspired with government officials. He executed the clan of the minister who had made that proposal, and deposed Liu Rong from the crown prince to the Prince of Linjiang (临江王) and exiling him from the capital city Chang'an in 150 BC. Lady Li was stripped of her titles and placed under house arrest; she died of depression not long after. Liu Rong was arrested two years later for illegal seizure of imperial shrine lands and committed suicide while in custody.

As Empress Bo had been deposed one year earlier in 151 BC, the position of empress was left open and Emperor Jing made Consort Wang empress four months later. The seven-year-old Liu Che, now legally the oldest son of the Empress, was made crown prince in 149 BC.

In 141 BC, Emperor Jing died and Crown Prince Liu Che ascended to the throne as Emperor Wu at the age of 15. His grandmother Empress Dowager Dou became the grand empress dowager, and his mother became Empress Dowager Wang. His cousin-wife A'Jiao from the political child marriage officially became Empress Chen.

Early reign and reform attempt

The Han dynasty up to this point was run according to a Taoist wu wei ideology, championing economic freedom and government decentralization. Regarding foreign policy, periodic heqin was used to maintain a de jure peace with the Xiongnu to the north. These policies were important in stimulating economic recovery following the post-Qin dynasty civil war, but had their drawbacks. The non-interventionist policies resulted in loss of monetary regulation and political control by the central government, allowing the feudal vassal states to become powerful and unruly, culminating in the Rebellion of the Seven States during Emperor Jing's reign. Nepotism among the ruling class also stagnated social mobility and encouraged nobles' rampant disregard of laws, leading to the rise of local despots who bullied and oppressed the population. The heqin policy also failed to protect the Han borders against nomadic raids, with Xiongnu cavalries invading as close as 300 li (100 miles, 160 km) from the capital during Emperor Wen's reign, and over 10,000 border residents abducted or enslaved during Emperor Jing's reign. Prominent politicians like Jia Yi and Chao Cuo had both previously advised on the necessity of important policy reforms, but neither Emperor Wen nor Emperor Jing was willing to risk implementing such changes.

Unlike the emperors before him, the young and vigorous Emperor Wu was unwilling to put up with the status quo. Only a year into his reign in late 141 BC, Emperor Wu took the advice of Confucian scholars and launched an ambitious reform, known in history as the Jianyuan Reforms (建元新政). The reforms included:

• Officially endorsing Confucianism as the national philosophy (乡儒术). Previously, the more libertarian Taoist ideals were held in esteem;

• Forcing noblemen back to their own fiefdoms (令列侯就国). A large number of noblemen were living in the capital Chang'an, lobbying court officials while exploiting the central government's budget to cover their expenses despite already having gained great wealth from their own feudal land tenure taxation. Emperor Wu's new policy dictated that they could no longer live off the government's spending and must leave the capital if lacking any justifiable reason to keep staying;

• Removing checkpoints that were not sanctioned by the central government (除关). Many lords of vassal states had established checkpoints along main state roads that went through their territory with the purpose of collecting tolls and restricting traffic. Emperor Wu wanted to seize the control of transportation from local authorities and return that control back to the central government;

• Encouraging the reporting and prosecution of criminal activities by nobles (举谪宗室无行者). Noblemen engaged in illegal activities would be impeached and punished and their assets or lands could be confiscated back as state property;

• Recruiting and promoting talented commoners in government positions (招贤良) in order to reduce the administrative monopoly by the noble class.

However, Emperor Wu's reforms threatened the interests of the nobles and were swiftly defeated by his powerful grandmother Grand Empress Dowager Dou, who held real political power in the Han court and supported the conservative factions. Most of the reformists were punished: Emperor Wu's two noble supporters Dou Ying (窦婴) and Tian Fen (田蚡, Empress Dowager Wang's half-brother and Emperor's uncle) lost their positions, and his two mentors Wang Zang (王臧) and Zhao Wan (赵绾) were impeached, arrested and forced to commit suicide in prison.

Emperor Wu, deprived of any allies, was now the subject of conspiracies designed to have him removed from the throne. For example, his first wife Empress Chen Jiao was unable to become pregnant. In an attempt to remain his first love, she had prohibited him from having other concubines. Emperor Wu's political enemies used his childlessness as an argument to seek to depose him, as the inability of an emperor to propagate a royal bloodline was a serious matter. These enemies of Emperor Wu wished to replace him with his cousin Liu An, the King of Huainan, who was renowned for his expertise in Taoist ideology. Even Emperor Wu's own maternal uncle Tian Fen switched camps and sought Liu An's favor, as he predicted the young emperor would not be in power for long. Emperor Wu's political survival now relied heavily on the lobbying of his influential aunt / mother-in-law, Princess Guantao (Liu Piao), who served as a mediator in seeking the Emperor's reconciliation with his powerful grandmother. Princess Guantao took every opportunity to influence the Grand Empress and also constantly made demands on behalf of her nephew / son-in-law.

Emperor Wu, already unhappy with his lack of an heir and Empress Chen's spoiled behavior, was further enraged by her mother Princess Liu Piao's greed, that she took a lot from him in everything she did for him. However, Emperor Wu's mother, Empress Dowager Wang, convinced him to tolerate Empress Chen and Liu Piao for the time being, as his aging grandmother was declining physically and would soon die. He spent the next few years pretending to have given up any political ambition, playing the part of a docile hedonist, often sneaking out of the capital Chang'an to engage in hunting and sightseeing and posing as an ordinary nobleman.

Solidifying power

Knowing that the conservative noble classes occupied every level of the Han court, Emperor Wu changed his strategy. He secretly recruited a circle of young loyal supporters from ordinary backgrounds and promoted them to middle-level positions in order to infiltrate executive ranks in the government. These newly established officials, known as the "insider court" (内朝), took orders and reported directly to Emperor Wu. They had real influence over the operation of government affairs though lower in rank. They became a powerful counter against the "outsider court" (外朝) made up of the Three Lords and Nine Ministers that, at the time, were mostly composed of anti-reformists. Furthermore, Emperor Wu sent out nationwide edicts appealing to grassroots scholars such as Gongsun Hong to enrol in government services in an attempt to break the stranglehold that the older-generation noble class had on the nation's levers of power.

In 138 BC, the southern autonomous state of Minyue (in modern-day Fujian) invaded the weaker neighbouring state of Dong'ou (in modern-day Zhejiang). After their king Zuo Zhenfu (驺贞复) died on the battlefield, the battered Dong'ou desperately sought help from the Han court. After a heated court debate over whether to offer military intervention for such a distant vassal state, Emperor Wu dispatched a newly promoted official Yan Zhu (严助) to Kuaiji (then still located in Suzhou, rather than Shaoxing) to mobilize the local garrison. However the tiger tally, which was needed to authorize any use of armed forces, was in Grand Empress Dowager Dou's possession at the time. Yan Zhu, as the appointed imperial ambassador, circumvented this problem by executing a local army commander who refused to obey any order without seeing the tiger tally and coerced the governor of Kuaiji to mobilize a large naval fleet to Dong'ou's rescue. Seeing that superior Han forces were on the way, Minyue forces became fearful and retreated. This was a huge political victory for Emperor Wu and set the precedent of using the Emperor's decrees to bypass the tiger tally, removing the need for cooperation from his grandmother; Of course, this did not mean that Grand Empress Dowager Dou's influence and intervention would disappear, she was a serious and insurmountable obstacle and competing authority in administration for Emperor Wu until the end of her life. But now with the military firmly in his control, Emperor Wu's political survival was assured, and his grandmother or anyone else could no longer threaten to dethrone him as directly, easily and quickly as before.

In the same year, Emperor Wu's newly favoured concubine Wei Zifu became pregnant with his first child, effectively clearing his name and silencing any political enemies who had schemed to use his alleged infertility as an excuse to have him removed. When this news reached the state of Huainan, Liu An, who was hoping the young Emperor Wu's infertility would allow him to ascend to the throne, went into a state of denial and rewarded anyone who told him that Emperor Wu was still childless.

In 135 BC, Grand Empress Dowager Dou died, removing the last major obstacle against Emperor Wu's ambition for reform.

Imperial expansion

Conquest of the south

After the death of Grand Empress Dowager Dou in 135 BC, Emperor Wu had full and unrivaled control of the government. While his mother, Empress Dowager Wang, and his uncle Tian Fen were still heavily influential, they also benefited from the death of the old woman, especially the mother of Emperor Wu, but they lacked the ability to restrain the Emperor's actions.

Emperor Wu began military campaigns focused on territorial expansion. This decision nearly destroyed his empire in its early stages. Reacting to border incursions by sending out the troops, Emperor Wu sent his armies in all directions but the sea.

Conquest of Minyue

Following the successful manoeuvre against Minyue in 138 BC, Emperor Wu resettled the people of Dang'an into the region between the Yangtze and Huai Rivers. In 135 BC, Minyue saw an opportunity to take advantage of the new and inexperienced king of Nanyue, Zhao Mo. Minyue invaded its south-western neighbour and Zhao Mo sought help from the Han court.

Emperor Wu dispatched an amphibious expedition force led by Wang Hui (王恢) and Han Anguo (韩安国) to address the Minyue threat. Again fearing the Han intervention, Luo Yushan (雒余善), the younger brother of Minyue's King Ying, orchestrated a coup with other Minyue nobles, killed his brother with a spear, decapitated the corpse and sent the severed head to Wang. Following the campaign, Minyue was split into a dual monarchy: Minyue was controlled by a Han proxy ruler, Zou Chou (驺丑), and Dongyue (东越) was ruled by Luo Yushan.

As Han troops returned from the Han–Nanyue War in 111 BC, the Han government debated military action against Dongyue. Dongyue, under King Lou Yushan, had agreed to assist the Han campaign against Nanyue, but the Dongyue army never reached there, blaming the weather while secretly relaying intelligence to Nanyue. Against the advice of General Yang Pu (杨仆), Emperor Wu rejected a military solution, and the Han forces arrived home without attacking Dongyue, though border garrisons were told to prepare for any military conflicts. After King Yushan was informed of this, he became overly confident and proud and responded by revolting against the Han, proclaiming himself emperor and assigned his "Han-devouring generals" (吞汉将军) to invade neighbouring regions controlled by the Han. Enraged, Emperor Wu sent a combined army led by generals Han Yue (韩说), Yang Pu, Wang Wenshu (王温舒) and two marquesses of Yue ancestry. The Han army crushed the rebellion, and the Dongyue kingdom began to fragment after King Yushan stubbornly refused to surrender. Elements of the Dongyue army defected and turned against their ruler. Eventually, the king of the other Minyue state, Zou Jugu (驺居股), conspired with other Dongyue nobles to kill King Yushan before surrendering to the Han forces. The two states of Minyue and Dongyue were then completely annexed under the Han rule.

Conquest of Nanyue

In 135 BC, when Minyue attacked Nanyue, Nanyue also sought assistance from Han even though it probably had enough strength to defend itself. Emperor Wu was greatly pleased by this gesture, and he dispatched an expedition force to attack Minyue, over the objection of one of his key advisors, Liu An, a royal relative and the Prince of Huainan. Minyue nobles, fearful of the massive Chinese force, assassinated their king Luo Ying (骆郢) and sought peace. Emperor Wu then imposed a dual-monarchy system on Minyue by creating kings out of Luo Ying's brother Luo Yushan (雒余善) and nobleman Zou Chou (驺丑), thus ensuring internal discord in Minyue .

Although initially launched as a punitive expedition by Emperor Wu against the autonomous kingdom of Nanyue, the entire Nanyue territory (which includes modern Guangdong, Guangxi, and North Vietnam) had been conquered by the Emperor's military forces and annexed into the Han Empire by 111 BC.

War against the northern steppes

Military tension had long existed between China and the northern "barbarians", mainly because the fertile lands of the prosperous agricultural civilization presented attractive targets for the poorer but more militaristic horseback nomads. The threat posed to the Xiongnu by the northward expansion of the Qin Empire ultimately led to the consolidation of the many tribes into a confederacy. Following the end of the Chu-Han Contention, Emperor Gao of Han realized that the nation was not yet strong enough to confront the Xiongnu. He therefore resorted to the so-called "marriage alliance", or heqin, in order to ease hostility and buy time for the nation to "rest and recover" (休养生息). Despite the periodic humiliation of appeasement and providing gifts, the Han borders were still frequented by Xiongnu raids for the next seven decades. Following the death of his powerful grandmother, Emperor Wu decided that Han China had sufficiently recovered enough to support a full-scale war.

He first ended the official policy of peace with the Battle of Mayi in 133 BC, which involved a failed plan to trick a force of 30,000 Xiongnu into an ambush of 300,000 Han soldiers. While neither side suffered any casualties, the Xiongnu retaliated by increasing their border attacks, leading many in the Han court to abandon the hope for peace with the Xiongnu.

The failure of the Mayi operation prompted Emperor Wu to switch the Han army's doctrine from the traditionally more defensive chariot–infantry warfare to a highly mobile and offensive cavalry-against-cavalry warfare. At the same time, he expanded and trained officers from his royal guards.

After a series of defeats by Wei Qing (the half-brother of Emperor Wu's favourite concubine) and Wei's nephew, Huo Qubing between 127 and 119 BC, the Xiongnu were expelled from the Ordos Desert and Qilian Mountains. As a result of these territorial acquisitions, the Han dynasty successfully opened up the Northern Silk Road, allowing direct access to trade with Central Asia. This also provided a new supply of high-quality horse breeds from Central Asia, including the famed Ferghana horse (ancestors of the modern Akhal-Teke), further strengthening the Han army. Emperor Wu then reinforced this strategic asset by establishing five commanderies and constructing a length of fortified wall along the border of the Hexi Corridor, colonizing the area with 700,000 Chinese soldier-settlers.

The Battle of Mobei (119 BC) saw Han forces invade the northern regions of the Gobi Desert. The two generals led the campaign to the Khangai Mountains where they forced the Chanyu to flee north of the Gobi Desert, and then out of the Gobi Desert.

The Xiongnu, destabilized and worried about further Han attacks, retreated further north into the Siberian regions where they suffered starvation due to livestock loss from harsh climates. The battle was however also costly for the Han forces, which lost almost 80% of their warhorses. The cost of the war led the central Han government to introduce new levies, increasing the burden on average peasants, and the population census of the empire showed a significant drop from famines and people fleeing to avoid having to pay the taxes.

Invasion of the Korean Peninsula

Emperor Wu carried out an invasion of the northern Korean Peninsula and established the Commandery of Canghai, but abandoned it in 126 BC. Some of the military colonies established at that time survived into the 4th century, leaving behind various particularly well-preserved funerary artefacts. After the conquest of Nanyue in 111 BC, Emperor Wu launched a second invasion of the Korean peninsula and by 108 BC completed the Han conquest of Gojoseon in what is now present-day North Korea and Manchuria. Han Chinese colonists in the Xuantu and Lelang commanderies of northern Korea would later fight against frequent raids by the Goguryeo and Buyeo kingdoms. However, they would engage in mostly peaceful trade relations with surrounding Korean peoples over the centuries, the latter of whom became gradually and significantly influenced by Chinese culture.

Diplomacy and exploration

The exploration into Xiyu was first started in 139 BC, when Emperor Wu commissioned Zhang Qian to seek out the Kingdom of Yuezhi, which had been expelled by Xiongnu from the modern Gansu region. Zhang was to entice the kingdom to return to its ancestral lands with promises of Han military assistance, with the intention that Yuezhi forces would fight against the Xiongnu. Zhang was immediately captured by Xiongnu once he ventured into the desert, but was able to escape around 129 BC and eventually made it to Yuezhi, which by then had relocated to Samarkand. While Yuezhi refused to return, it and several other kingdoms in the area, including Dayuan (Kokand) and Kangju, established diplomatic relations with Han. Zhang was able to deliver his report to Emperor Wu when he arrived back in the capital Chang'an in 126 BC after a second and shorter captivity by Xiongnu. After the Prince of Hunxie surrendered the Gansu region, the path to Xiyu became clear and regular embassies between Han and the Xiyu kingdoms commenced.

Another expansion plan, this one aimed at the south-west, was aimed at the eventual conquest of Nanyue, which was viewed as an unreliable vassal. The plan was to first obtain submission of the south-western tribal kingdoms – the largest of which was Yelang (modern Zunyi, Guizhou) – so that a route for a potential back-stabbing attack on Nanyue could be made. The Han ambassador Tang Meng (唐蒙) was able to secure the submission of these tribal kingdoms by giving their kings gifts; Emperor Wu established the Commandery of Jianwei (犍为, headquarters in modern Yibin, Sichuan) to govern over the tribes, but eventually abandoned it after being unable to cope with local revolts. Later, after Zhang Qian returned from the western region, part of his report indicated that embassies could more easily reach Shendu (India) and Anxi (Parthia) by going through the south-western kingdoms. Encouraged by the report, Emperor Wu sent ambassadors in 122 BC to try to persuade Yelang and Dian (modern eastern Yunnan) into submission again.

Religion

Han Gaozu, founder of the Han dynasty, had installed shaman cultists from the area of the former state of Jin (in the area of the modern province of Shanxi) as official religious functionaries of his new empire. Emperor Wu worshiped the divinity Tai Yi (or, Dong Huang Tai Yi), a deity to whom he was introduced by his shaman advisers, who were able to provide him with the experience of having this god (and other spiritual entities, such as the Master of Fate, Si Ming) summoned into his presence; the emperor even went so far as to construct a "House of Life" (shou gong) chapel at his Ganquan palace complex (in modern Xianyang, Shaanxi) specifically for this purpose, in 118 BC. One of the religious rituals that Emperor Wu organized was the Suburban Sacrifice, and the nineteen hymns entitled Hymns for Use in the Suburban Sacrifice were written in connection with these religious rites and published during Wu's reign.

It was also during this time that Emperor Wu began to show a fascination with immortality. He began to associate with magicians who claimed to be able to, if they could find the proper ingredients, create divine pills that would confer immortality. However, he himself punished others' use of magic severely. In 130 BC, for example, when the witch Chu Fu tried to approach Empress Chen to teach her sorcery and love spells to curse Consort Wei and regain Emperor Wu's affections, he dispatched Zhang Tang to execute Chu Fu for witchcraft, which was illegal at the time.

Despotism at home

Around the same time, perhaps as a sign of what would come to be, Emperor Wu began to trust governing officials who were harsh in their punishment, believing that such harshness would be the most effective method to maintain social order and so placing these officials in power. For example, one such official, Yi Zong (义纵), became the governor of the Commandery of Dingxiang (part of modern Hohhot, Inner Mongolia) and executed 200 prisoners, even though they had not committed capital crimes; he then executed their friends who happened to have been visiting. In 122 BC, Liu An, the Prince of Huainan (a previously trusted adviser of Emperor Wu, and closely enough related to have imperial pretensions) and his brother Liu Ci (刘赐), the Prince of Hengshan, were accused of plotting treason. They committed suicide; their families and many alleged co-conspirators were executed. Similar action was taken against the other vassal Princes, and by the end of the reign, all the vassal kingdoms had been political and militarily disabled.

A famous wrongful execution happened in 117 BC, when the minister of agriculture Yan Yi (颜异), was falsely accused of committing a crime, though he was actually targeted because he had previously offended the emperor by opposing a plan to effectively extort double tributes out of princes and marquesses. Yan was executed for "internal defamation" of the emperor, and this caused the officials to be fearful and willing to flatter the emperor.

Further territorial expansion, old age, and paranoia

Starting about 113 BC, Emperor Wu began to display further signs of abusing his power. He began to incessantly tour the commanderies, initially nearby Chang'an, but later extending to much farther places, worshipping the various gods on the way, perhaps again in search of immortality. He also had a succession of magicians whom he honoured with great things. In one case, he even made one a marquess and married his daughter, the Eldest Princess Wei, to him; that magician, Luan Da, was later exposed as a fraud and executed. Emperor Wu's expenditures on these tours and magical adventures put a great strain on the national treasury and caused difficulties on the locales that he visited, twice causing the governors of commanderies to commit suicide after they were unable to supply the emperor's entire train.

In 112 BC, a crisis in the Kingdom of Nanyue (modern Guangdong, Guangxi, and northern Vietnam) erupted, leading to military intervention. At that time, the King Zhao Xing and his mother Queen Dowager Jiu (樛太后) – a Chinese woman whom Zhao Xing's father Zhao Yingqi had married while he served as an ambassador to Han – were both in favor of becoming incorporated into Han. This was opposed by the senior prime minister, Lü Jia (吕嘉), who wanted to maintain the kingdom's independence. Queen Dowager Jiu tried to goad the Chinese ambassadors into killing Lü, but the Chinese ambassadors were hesitant to do so. When Emperor Wu sent a 2,000-man force led by Han Qianqiu (韩千秋) and Queen Dowager Jiu's brother Jiu Le (樛乐) to try to assist the king and the queen dowager, Lü staged a coup d'état and had the king and the queen dowager killed. Lü then made another son of Zhao Yingqi, Zhao Jiande, king and went on to annihilate the Han forces under Han and Jiu. Several months later, Emperor Wu commissioned a five-pronged attack against Nanyue. In 111 BC, the Han forces captured the Nanyue capital Panyu (番禺, modern Guangzhou ) and annexed the entire Nanyue territory into Han, establishing ten commanderies.

That same year, one of the co-kings of Minyue (modern Fujian), Luo Yushan, was fearful that Han would attack his kingdom next and made a pre-emptive attack against Han, capturing a number of towns in former Nanyue and in the other border commanderies. In 110 BC, under Han military pressure, Luo Yushan's co-king Luo Jugu (骆居古) assassinated him and surrendered the kingdom to Han. However, Emperor Wu did not establish commanderies in Minyue's former territory; instead, he moved its people to the region between the Yangtze and Huai Rivers.

Later that year, Emperor Wu, at great expense, carried out the ancient ceremony of the Feng and Shan sacrifices fengshan (封禅) at Mount Tai; this involved the worship of heaven and earth and presumably a secret petition to the gods of heaven and earth to seek immortality. He then decreed that he would return to Mount Tai every five years to repeat the ceremony, but only did so once in 98 BC. Many palaces were built for him and the princes to accommodate the anticipated cycles of the ceremony.

It was around this time that, in reaction to the large expenditures by Emperor Wu that had exhausted the national treasury, his agricultural minister Sang Hongyang conceived of a plan that many dynasties would repeat later: creating national monopolies for salt and iron. The national treasury would further purchase other consumer goods when the prices were low and sell them when the prices were high at profit, thus replenishing the treasury while at the same time making sure the price fluctuation would not be too great.

In 109 BC, Emperor Wu started yet another territorial expansion campaign. Nearly a century earlier, a Chinese General named Wiman had taken the throne of Gojoseon and had established Wiman Joseon at Wanggeom-seong, (modern Pyongyang), which became a nominal Han vassal. When Wiman's grandson King Ugeo refused to permit Jin's ambassadors to reach China through his territories, Emperor Wei sent an ambassador She He (涉何) to Wanggeom to negotiate a right of passage with King Ugeo, but King Ugeo refused and had a general escort She back to Han territory. When they got close to Han borders, She assassinated the general and claimed to Emperor Wu that he had defeated Joseon in battle. Emperor Wu, unaware of his deception, made him the military commander of the Commandery of Liaodong (modern central Liaoning). King Ugeo, offended, made a raid on Liaodong and killed She. In response, Emperor Wu commissioned a two-pronged attack (one by land and one by sea) against Joseon. Initially, Joseon offered to become a vassal, but peace negotiations broke down by the Chinese forces' refusal to let a Joseon force escort its crown prince to Chang'an to pay tribute to Emperor Wu. Han took over the Joseon lands in 108 BC and established four commanderies.

Also in 109 BC, Emperor Wu sent an expeditionary force against the Kingdom of Dian (modern eastern Yunnan), planning on conquering it. When the King of Dian surrendered, it was incorporated into Han territory with the King of Dian being permitted to keep his traditional authority and title. Emperor Wu established five commanderies over Dian and the other nearby kingdoms.

In 108 BC, Emperor Wu sent general Zhao Ponu (赵破奴) on a campaign to Xiyu, and he forced the Kingdoms of Loulan on northeast border of the Taklamakan Desert and Cheshi (modern Turpan region, Xinjiang) into submission. In 105 BC, Emperor Wu gave a princess from a remote collateral imperial line to Kunmo (昆莫), the King of Wusun (Issyk Kol basin) in marriage, and she later married his grandson and successor Qinqu (芩娶), creating a strong and stable alliance between Han and Wusun. The various Xiyu kingdoms also strengthened their relationships with Han. An infamous Han war against the nearby Kingdom of Dayuan (Kokand) erupted in 104 BC. Dayuan refused to give in to Emperor Wu's commands to surrender its best horses, Emperor Wu's ambassadors were then executed when they insulted the King of Dayuan after his refusal. Emperor Wu commissioned Li Guangli, the brother of concubine Lady Li, as a general to direct the war against Dayuan. In 103 BC, Li Guangli's army of 26,000 men (20,000 Chinese and 6,000 steppe cavalry), without adequate supplies, suffered a humiliating loss against Dayuan, but in 102 BC, Li with a new army of 60,000 men, was able to put a devastating siege on its capital by cutting off water supplies to the city, forcing Dayuan's surrender 3,000 of its prized horses. This Han victory further intimidated the Xiyu kingdoms into submission.

Emperor Wu also made attempts to try to intimidate Xiongnu into submission, but even though peace negotiations were ongoing, Xiongnu never actually submitted to becoming a Han vassal during Emperor Wu's reign. In 103 BC, Chanyu Er surrounded Zhao Ponu and captured his entire army – the first major Xiongnu victory since Wei Qing and Huo Qubing nearly captured the chanyu in 119 BC. Following Han's victory over Dayuan in 102 BC, however, Xiongnu became concerned that Han could then concentrate against it, and made peace overtures. Peace negotiations failed when the Han deputy ambassador Zhang Sheng (张胜) was discovered to have conspired to assassinate Chanyu Qiedihou (且鞮侯). The ambassador, the later-famed Su Wu, would be detained for two decades. In 99 BC, Emperor Wu commissioned another expedition force aimed at crushing Xiongnu, but both prongs of the expedition force failed. Li Guangli's force became trapped but was able to free itself and withdraw, while Li Ling, Li Guang's grandson, surrendered at the end after being surrounded by Xiongnu forces. One year later, receiving a report that Li Ling was training Xiongnu soldiers, Emperor Wu had Li's clan executed.

Moreover, Emperor Wu already bore a grudge against the famed historian Sima Qian because Sima's Shiji was not as flattering to Emperor Wu and his father Emperor Jing as Emperor Wu wanted, so Emperor Wu had Sima Qian castrated.

In 106 BC, in order to further better organize the territories, including both the previously existing empire and the newly conquered territories, Emperor Wu divided the empire into 13 prefectures (zhou, 州), but without governors or prefectural governments. Rather, he assigned a supervisor to each prefecture, who would visit the commanderies and principalities in the prefecture on a rotating basis to investigate corruption and disobedience with imperial edicts.

In 104 BC, Emperor Wu built the luxurious Jianzhang Palace (建章宫) – a massive structure that was intended to make him closer to the gods. He later resided at that palace exclusively, rather than the traditional Weiyang Palace, which Xiao He had built during the reign of Emperor Gao.

Wu (156–87 BC) collected min qian (a form of business tax) from merchants, businessmen, and handicraftsmen.

About 100 BC, due to the heavy taxation and military burdens imposed by Emperor Wu's incessant military campaigns and luxurious spending, there were many peasant revolts throughout the empire. Emperor Wu issued an edict that was intended to suppress the peasant revolts: he made officials whose commanderies saw unsuppressed peasant revolts liable with their lives. However, this edict had the exact opposite effect, since it became impossible to suppress all of the revolts, officials would merely cover up the existence of the revolts. He executed many people who made fake coins.

In 96 BC, a series of witchcraft persecutions began. Emperor Wu, who was paranoid over a nightmare of being whipped by tiny stick-wielding puppets and a sighting of a traceless assassin (possibly a hallucination), ordered extensive investigations with harsh punishments. Large numbers of people, many of them high officials, were accused of witchcraft and executed, usually along with their entire clans. The first trial began with Empress Wei Zifu's elder brother-in-law Gongsun He (公孙贺, the Prime Minister at the time) and his son Gongsun Jingsheng (公孙敬声, also an imperial official, but arrested under corruption charges), quickly leading to the execution of their entire clan. Also caught in this disaster were Crown Prince Ju's two elder sisters Princess Yangshi (阳石公主, who was said to have a romantic relationship with her cousin Gongsun Jingsheng) and Princess Zhuyi (诸邑公主), as well as his cousin Wei Kang (卫伉, the eldest son of the deceased general Wei Qing), who were all accused of witchcraft and executed in 91 BC. These witchcraft persecutions later became intertwined in succession struggles and erupted into a major catastrophe.

Crown Prince Jus revolt

In 94 BC, Emperor Wu's youngest son Liu Fuling was born to a favorite concubine of his, Lady Gouyi (Consort Zhao). Emperor Wu was ecstatic in having a child at such an advanced age (62 years old), and because Consort Zhao purportedly had a pregnancy that lasted 14 months (the same as the mythical Emperor Yao), he named Consort Zhao's palace gate "Gate of Yao's mother." This led to speculation that the emperor, due to his favor of Consort Zhao and Prince Fuling, wanted to make Liu Fuling the crown prince instead. While there was no evidence that he actually intended to do anything as such, over the next few years, conspiracies against Crown Prince Ju and his mother Empress Wei arose that were inspired by such rumors.

Up to this point, there had been a cordial but somehow fragile relationship between Emperor Wu and his crown prince, who perhaps was not as ambitious as his father wished. As he grew older, the Emperor came to be less attracted to Ju's mother, Empress Wei Zifu, though he continued to respect her and she had such absolute power over palace affairs that Emperor Wu did not ask for any report from Empress Wei, contrary to the custom and law that emperors asked empresses to report on important actions regarding the house and the royal family once every five days. When he left the capital, the Emperor would delegate authority to Crown Prince Ju. Eventually, however, the two began to have disagreements over policy, with Ju favoring leniency and Wu's advisers (harsh and sometimes corrupt officials) urging the opposite. After Wei Qing's death in 106 BC and Gongsun He's execution, Prince Ju had no strong allies left in the government. The other officials then began to publicly defame and plot against him. Meanwhile, Emperor Wu was becoming more and more isolated, spending time with young concubines, often remaining unavailable to Ju or Wei.

Conspirators against Prince Ju included Jiang Chong (江充), the newly appointed head of secret intelligence, who had once had a run-in with Ju after arresting one of his assistants for improper use of an imperial right of way. Another conspirator was Su Wen (苏文), chief eunuch in charge of caring for imperial concubines, who had previously made false accusations against Ju, claiming he was joyful over Wu's illness and had an adulterous relationship with one of the junior concubines.

Jiang and others made many accusations of witchcraft against important people in the Han court. Jiang and Su decided to use witchcraft as the excuse to move against Prince Ju himself. With approval from Emperor Wu who was then at the Ganquan Palace, Jiang searched through various palaces, ostensibly for witchcraft items, eventually reaching Prince Ju's and Empress Wei's palace. While completely trashing the palaces up with intensive digging, he secretly planted witchery dolls and pieces of cloth with mysterious writings. He then announced that he had found the items there during the search. Prince Ju was shocked, knowing that he was framed. His teacher Shi De (石德), invoking the story of Ying Fusu of the Qin dynasty and raised the possibility that Emperor Wu might already be dead, suggesting that Prince Ju start an uprising to fight the conspirators. Prince Ju initially hesitated, wanting to speed to Ganquan Palace to defend himself before his father. But, when he found out that Jiang's messengers were already on their way, he decided to follow Shi's suggestion.

Prince Ju sent an individual to impersonate a messenger from Emperor Wu to lure and arrest Jiang and the other conspirators. Su escaped, but Ju accused Jiang of sabotaging his relationship with his father, and personally killed Jiang. With the support of his mother, Ju enlisted his guards, civilians, and prisoners in preparation to defend him.

Su fled to Ganquan Palace and accused Prince Ju of treason. Emperor Wu, not believing it to be true and correctly (at this point) believing that Prince Ju had merely been angry at Jiang, sent a messenger back to Chang'an to summon Prince Ju. The messenger did not dare to proceed to Chang'an, but instead returned and gave Emperor Wu the false report that Prince Ju was conducting a coup. Enraged, Emperor Wu ordered his nephew, Prime Minister Liu Qumao (刘屈牦), to put down the rebellion.

The two sides battled in the streets of Chang'an for five days, but Liu Qumao's forces prevailed after it became clear that Prince Ju did not have his father's authorization. Prince Ju was forced to flee the capital following the defeat, accompanied only by two of his sons and some personal guards. Apart from a grandson Liu Bingyi, who was barely a month old and thrown into prison, all other members of his family were left behind and killed. His mother, Empress Wei, committed suicide when Emperor Wu sent officials to depose her. Their bodies were carelessly buried in fields without proper tomb markings. Prince Ju's supporters were brutally cracked down on and civilians aiding the crown prince were exiled. Even Tian Ren (田仁), an official city gatekeeper who did not stop Prince Ju's escape, and Ren An (任安), an army commander who chose not to actively participate in the crackdown, were accused of being sympathizers and executed.

Emperor Wu continued to be enraged and ordered that Prince Ju be tracked down. After a junior official, Linghu Mao (令狐茂), risked his life to speak on Prince Ju's behalf, Emperor Wu's anger began to subside. However, he waited to issue a pardon for Prince Ju.

Prince Ju fled to Hu County (湖县, in modern Sanmenxia, Henan) and took refuge in the home of a poor peasant family. Knowing that their good-hearted hosts could never afford the daily expenditure of so many people, the Prince sought help from an old friend who lived nearby. However, this move exposed their whereabouts, and he was soon tracked down by local officials eager for a reward. Surrounded by troops and seeing no chance of escape, the Prince hung himself. His two sons and the family housing them died with him after the government soldiers eventually broke into the yard and killed everyone. The two local officials who led the raid, Zhang Fuchang (张富昌) and Li Shou (李寿), wasted no time in taking the Prince's body to Chang'an to claim a reward from the emperor. Emperor Wu, although greatly saddened to hear the death of his son, had to keep his promise and rewarded the officials.

Late reign and death

Even after Jiang Chong and Prince Ju both died, the witchhunt continued and combined with Wei Zifu's jealousy led to the execution of the Li family on accounts of treason. General Li Guangli caused unnecessary losses with his military incompetence. In 90 BC, while Li was assigned to a campaign against Xiongnu, a eunuch named Guo Rang (郭穰) exposed how Li and his political ally, Prime Minister Liu Qumao, were conspiring to use witchcraft on Emperor Wu. Liu and his family were immediately arrested and later executed. Li's family was also taken into custody and later executed after the traitor Li Ling also defected to the Xiongnu. Li, after learning the news, used risky tactics to attempt a standoff against Emperor Wu, but failed when some of his senior officers mutinied. On his retreat, he was ambushed by Xiongnu forces. He defected to Xiongnu and Emperor Wu executed the Li clan for treason soon after. Even within the Xiongnu, Li himself also fought with other Han traitors, especially Wei Lü (卫律), who was extremely jealous of the amount of Chanyu's favor that Li gained as a new, high-profile defector.

By this time, Emperor Wu realized that the witchcraft accusations were often false accusations, especially in relation to the crown prince rebellion. In 92 BC, when Tian Qianqiu, then the superintendent of Emperor Gao's temple, wrote a report claiming that Emperor Gao told him in a dream that Prince Ju should have only been whipped at most, not killed, Emperor Wu had a revelation about what had led to his son's rebellion. He had Su burned and Jiang's family executed. He also made Tian prime minister. Although he claimed to miss Prince Ju greatly (he even built a palace and an altar for his deceased son as a sign of grief and regret), he did not at this time rectify the situation where Prince Ju's only surviving progeny, Liu Bingyi, languished in prison as a child.

With the political scene greatly changed, Emperor Wu publicly apologized to the whole nation about his past policy mistakes, a gesture known to history as the Repenting Edict of Luntai (轮台悔诏). The Prime Minister Tian he appointed was in favor of retiring the troops and easing hardships on the people. Tian also promoted agriculture, with several agricultural experts becoming important members of the administration. Wars and territorial expansion generally ceased. These policies and ideals were those supported by Crown Prince Ju, and were finally realised years after his death.

By 88 BC, Emperor Wu had become seriously ill. With Prince Ju dead, there was no clear heir. Liu Dan, the Prince of Yan, was Emperor Wu's oldest surviving son, but Emperor Wu considered both him and his younger brother Liu Xu, the Prince of Guangling, to be unsuitable, since neither respected laws. He decided that the only suitable heir was his youngest son, Liu Fuling, who was only six at that time. He therefore also chose a potential regent in Huo Guang, whom he considered to be capable and faithful, and entrusted Huo with the regency of Fuling. Emperor Wu also ordered the execution of Prince Fuling's mother Consort Zhao, out of fear that she would become an uncontrollable empress dowager with full power like the previous Empress Lü. At Huo's suggestion, he made ethnic Xiongnu official Jin Midi and general Shangguang Jie co-regents. He died in 87 BC, shortly after making Prince Fuling crown prince. Crown Prince Fuling then succeeded to the throne as Emperor Zhao for the next 13 years.

Empress Chen Jiao and Empress Wei Zifu were the only two empresses during Emperor Wu's reign. Emperor Wu did not make anyone empress after Empress Wei Zifu committed suicide, and he left no instruction on who should be enshrined in his temple with him. He lies buried in the Maoling mound, the most famous of the so-called Chinese pyramids. Huo Guang sent 500 beautiful women there for the dead emperor. According to folk legend, 200 of them were executed for having sex with the guards. Huo's clan was later killed and the emperor's tomb was looted by Chimei.

Legacy

Historians have treated Emperor Wu with ambivalence, and there are certainly some contradictory accounts of his life. He roughly doubled the size of the Han empire of China during his reign, and much of the territory that he annexed is now part of modern China. He officially promoted Confucianism, yet just like Qin Shi Huang, he personally used a legalist system of rewards and punishments to govern his empire.

Emperor Wu is said to have been extravagant and superstitious, allowing his policies to become a burden on his people. As such he is often compared to Qin Shi Huang. The punishments for perceived failures and disloyalty were often exceedingly harsh. His father saved many participants of Rebellion of the Seven States from execution, and made some work in constructing his tomb. Emperor Wu had killed thousands of people and their families over the Liu An affair, Hengshan, his prosecution of witchcraft, and the Prince Ju revolt.

He used some of his wives' relatives to fight Xiongnu, some of whom become successful and famous generals. There is evidence to suggest that the two of them, Wei Qing and Huo Qubin, may have been his lovers. Wei Qing was buried in the Emperor's mausoleum.

He forced his last queen to commit suicide. His lover, Han Yuan, whom he had known since childhood, was executed on the Queen Dowager's orders for having an affair with a palace maid. Out of the twelve prime ministers appointed by Emperor Wu, three were executed and two committed suicide while holding the post; another was executed in retirement. He set up many special prisons (诏狱) and incarcerated nearly two hundred thousand individuals in them.

Emperor Wu's political reform resulted in the strengthening of the Emperor's power at expense of the prime minister's authority. The post of Shangshu (court secretaries) was elevated from merely managing documents to that of the Emperor's close advisor, and it stayed this way until the end of the imperial era.

In 140 BC, Emperor Wu conducted an imperial examination of over 100 young scholars. Having been recommended by officials, most of the scholars were commoners with no noble background. This event would have a major impact on Chinese history, marking the official start of the establishment of Confucianism as official imperial doctrine. This came about because a young Confucian scholar, Dong Zhongshu, was evaluated to have submitted the best essay in which he advocated the establishment of Confucianism. It is unclear whether Emperor Wu, in his young age, actually determined this, or whether this was the result of machinations of the prime minister Wei Wan (卫绾), who was himself a Confucian. However, the fact that several other young scholars who scored highly on the examination (but not Dong) later became trusted advisors for Emperor Wu would appear to suggest that Emperor Wu himself at least had some actual participation.

In 136 BC, Emperor Wu founded what became the Imperial University, a college for classical scholars that supplied the Han's need for well-trained bureaucrats.

Poetry

Various important aspects of Han poetry are associated with Emperor Wu and his court, including his direct interest in poetry and patronage of poets. Emperor Wu was also a patron of literature, with a number of poems being attributed to him. As to the poetry on lost love, some of the pieces attributed to him are considered of well-done, there is some question to their actual authorship.

The following work is on the death of one of his concubines:

Emperor Wu facilitated a revival of interest in Chu ci, the poetry of and in the style of the area of the former Chu kingdom during the early part of his reign, in part because of his near relative Liu An. Some of this Chu material was later anthologized in the Chu Ci.

The Chuci genre of poetry from its origin was linked with Chu shamanism, and Han Wudi both supported the Chu genre of poetry in the earlier years of his reign, and also continued to support shamanically linked poetry during the later years of his reign.

Emperor Wu employed poets and musicians in writing lyrics and scoring tunes for various performances and also patronized choreographers and shamans in this same connection for arranging the dance movements and coordinating the spiritual and the mundane. He was quite fond of the resulting lavish ritual performances, especially night time rituals where the multitudinous singers, musicians, and dancers would perform in the brilliant lighting provided by of thousands of torches.

The fu style typical of Han poetry also took shape during the reign of Emperor Wu in his court, with poet and official Sima Xiangru as a leading figure. However, Sima's initial interest in the chu ci style later gave way to his interest in more innovative forms of poetry. After his patronage of poets familiar with the Chu ci style in the early part of his reign, Emperor Wu later seems to have turned his interest and his court's interest to other literary fashions.

Another of Emperor Wu's major contribution to poetry was through his organization of the Imperial Music Bureau (yuefu) as part of the official governmental bureaucratic apparatus: the Music Bureau was charged with matters related to music and poetry, as lyrics are a part of music and traditional Chinese poetry was considered to have been chanted or sung, rather than spoken or recited as prose. The Music Bureau greatly flourished during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, who has been widely cited to have founded the Music Bureau in 120 BC.

However, it seems more likely that there was already a long-standing office of music and that Emperor Wu enlarged its size as part of his governmental reorganization, changing its scope and function and possibly renaming it and thus seeming to have established a new institution. The stated tasks of this institution were apparently to collect popular songs from different and adapt and orchestrate these, as well as to develop new material. Emperor Wu's Music Bureau not only collected folk songs and ballads from where they originated throughout the country, but also collected songs reportedly based on Central Asian tunes or melodies, with new lyrics which were written to harmonize with the existing tunes, and characterized by varying line lengths and the incorporation of various nonce words. In any case, he is widely held to have used the Music Bureau as an important part of his religious innovations and to have specifically commissioned Sima Xiangru to write poetry. Because of the development and transmission of a particular style of poetry by the Music Bureau, this style of poetry has become known as the "Music Bureau" style, or yuefu (and also in its later development referred to as "new yuefu", "imitation", or "literary yüeh-fu").

Era names

• Jianyuan (建元) 140 BC – 135 BC

• Yuanguang (元光) 134 BC – 129 BC

• Yuanshuo (元朔) 128 BC – 123 BC

• Yuanshou (元狩) 122 BC – 117 BC

• Yuanding (元鼎) 116 BC – 111 BC

• Yuanfeng (元封) 110 BC – 105 BC

• Taichu (太初) 104 BC – 101 BC

• Tianhan (天汉) 100 BC – 97 BC

• Taishi (太始) 96 BC – 93 BC

• Zhenghe (征和) 92 BC – 89 BC

• Houyuan (后元) 88 BC – 87 BC

Family

Consorts and issue

• Empress Chen, of the Chen clan (皇后 陈氏; 166/165–c. 110 BC), first cousin, personal name Jiao (娇)

• Empress Xiaowusi, of the Wei clan (孝武思皇后 卫氏; d. 91 BC), personal name Zifu (子夫)

　• Eldest Princess Wei (当利公主)

　　• Married Cao Xiang, Marquis Pingyang (曹襄; d. 115 BC), and had issue (one son)

　　• Married Luan Da, Marquis Letong (栾大; d. 112 BC) in 112 BC

　• Princess Zhuyi (诸邑公主; d. 91 BC)

　• Princess Shiyi (石邑公主; d. 91 BC)

　• Liu Ju, Crown Prince Wei (卫太子 刘据; 128–91 BC), first son

• Lady Li, of the Li clan (李氏), personal name Yan (妍)

　• Liu Bo, Prince Ai of Changyi (昌邑哀王 刘髆; d. 88 BC), fifth son

• Lady Guoyi, of the Zhao clan (皇太后 赵氏; 113–88 BC)

　• Liu Fuling, Emperor Xiaozhao (孝昭皇帝 刘弗陵; 94–74 BC), sixth son

• Furen, of the Wang clan (夫人 王氏; d. 121 BC)

　• Liu Hong, Prince Huai of Qi (齐怀王 刘闳; 123–110 BC), second son

• Furen, of the Yin clan (夫人 尹氏)

• Lady, of the Xing clan (邢氏), personal name Xing'e (娙娥)

• Lady, of the Li clan (李氏)

　• Liu Dan, Prince La of Yan (燕剌王 刘旦; d. 80 BC), third son

　• Liu Xu, Prince Li of Guangling (广陵厉王 刘胥; d. 54 BC), fourth son

• Gongren, of the Li clan (宫人 丽氏), personal name Juan (娟)

• Unknown

　• Princess Eyi (鄂邑公主; d. 80 BC)

　　• Married, and had issue (one son)

　• Princess Yangshi (阳石公主, d. 92)

　• Princess Yi'an (夷安公主)

Ancestry

Cultural depictions

Emperor Wu is one of the most famous emperors of ancient China and has made appearances in quite a lot of Chinese television dramas, examples include:

• The Prince of Han Dynasty

• The Emperor in Han Dynasty

• Beauty's Rival in Palace

• The Virtuous Queen of Han

Emperor Wu is also a major character in Carole Wilkinson's novel Dragonkeeper and its sequels, Garden of the Purple Dragon and Dragon Moon. The three novels, which center on the journeys of a former slave girl and the dragons in her care, loosely depict the first years of Emperor Wu's reign and includes a number of references to his quest for immortality.