Han emperor who reigned for 54 years, fought the Xiongnu, sent 张骞 west to Central Asia and made Confucianism the state teaching. The phrase 秦皇汉武 pairs him with the First Emperor.
National power reached unprecedented heights during Emperor Wu of Han's reign.
Tips
history
He put salt and iron under state monopoly. The famous slogan for his turn to Confucianism, 罢黜百家，独尊儒术, 'dismiss the hundred schools, revere only Confucianism', is not a Han text: it was coined in 1916.
culture
The idiom 金屋藏娇 comes from a story about him as a small boy: asked whether he wanted the princess's daughter 阿娇 as his wife, he promised to keep her in a house of gold. Today it means keeping a mistress.
