汉文帝

A son of 刘邦, he was brought to the throne in 180 BC after the court crushed the clan of 吕后. He cut the land tax, kept the peace with the Xiongnu and wore patched robes. When a girl named 缇萦 offered herself as a palace slave to save her father from mutilation, he abolished the mutilating punishments.

He is one of the 二十四孝 'Twenty-four Filial Exemplars': during his mother's three years of illness he tasted every dose of her medicine himself before she drank it.