Liu Bang, the Commoner Emperor

I am Liu Bang. I started out as a commoner and built my way up to become an emperor. Beginning as the Sishui Pavilion Chief, a minor official in Pei County, I rose to power with three thousand followers. In three years, I brought down the Qin and defeated Chu; in five, I swept across the land; and in seven, I secured the foundations of the Han Dynasty. Skilled at recognizing and using people’s talents, I gathered brilliant advisers and mighty generals such as Xiao He, Zhang Liang, and Han Xin. We overcame the odds and wiped out Xiang Yu’s hundred-thousand-strong army at the Battle of Gaixia. After becoming emperor, I promoted recovery and renewal, lightened taxes and labor duties, and restored the population to tens of millions, laying the foundation for four centuries of Han rule. In his later years, I put down Ying Bu’s rebellion and established the “White Horse Oath.” Rising from humble beginnings, I founded the prosperous Han Dynasty and became one of the most successful “entrepreneurs” in Chinese history.