Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che

In the first year of Jianyuan (141 BC), sixteen-year-old Liu Che took the scepter from his father, Emperor Jing of Han, ushering in the first true imperial age in Chinese history. This emperor, whose posthumous title "Emperor Wu" would go down in history, brought the Han dynasty to its zenith during his fifty-four-year reign, then issued an edict of self-reproach in his later years, acknowledging the limits of imperial power. His life traced a path like the borders of the empire he ruled, marked by a stunning arc of expansion and scars that could never heal. Gazing out from the ruins of Weiyang Palace's front hall, we can still feel the mighty spirit of the era of Emperor Wu of Han. The recommendation system he established laid the groundwork for the imperial examinations of the Sui and Tang dynasties. The evolution from the commandery-and-kingdom system to the province-and-commandery system foreshadowed later administrative reforms, while the establishment of the term "Han people" witnessed the first elevation of ethnic identity. This emperor, who held the Fengshan Ceremony atop Mount Tai, expanded the space in which Chinese civilization could survive through military force, while forging the spiritual foundations of the Chinese nation through cultural integration. His story continues to offer later generations endless food for thought, caught in the eternal tension between the ambitions of a great ruler and the price paid by the people.