Emperor Han Wudi - Ancient China's Greatest Conqueror

Don't have anything fun to say, as usual. Blinkist is good, though: www.blinkist.com/nc/partners/kings-and-generals

“Even the finest sword plunged into salt water will eventually rust.” ― Sun Tzu

Chinese History is insanely dense and fascinating

Ultimately Wudi was both, internally he was very heavy handed and severe, and externally ruthless. However those qualities alone still does not take away his achievements. Internally Wudi's war efforts were crippling to the populace, with heavy taxes and demands for fresh soldiers. During his long rule he was not loved nor particularly respected by his own citizenry. Remember the K&G episode where it mentioned that the Han frequently killed their failed generals? Well- that, more than anything was more emblematic of Wudi's reign, where he frequently killed his generals and if he suspected treachery from them- exterminated their lines. This is not to mention his castration of the Grand Historian himself Sima Qian for criticizing him. Externally made even less friends. In short, whenever his ambassadors are killed his armies soon relentlessly followed. One has to be somewhat in awe at someone who fought tattooed Yue, the mighty Xiongu and other fierce steppe nomads, the bright haired and bright eyed Tocharians, and even Greeks and fought all of them in 1 life time- some right during the 1st contact between these peoples. Despite his rapacious wars he was unimaginative in his campaigns, despite championing the virtues of Confucianism in reality he was a harsh legalist. At the end of Wudi's rule he was so troubled with his own rule, and his wrongful forced-killing of his Crown Prince that Wu himself has to draft an Edict named "Repenting Edict of Lun Pavilion," where by he publicly apologized for parts of his misrule, his heavy taxes, and his wrongful killings as Emperor and promised the empire would turn to peace after his death. Though to be fair, this final act alone is extremely rare among political figures in history. That being said, despite all of these unsavory qualities, as previously mentioned, one cannot ignore his achievements. and must also examine his excesses In context. At Wudi's worst he was still not as draconian as Qin Shihuang. For someone who lived half a century before Julius Caesar, he didn't do to his enemies the same outright genocide as committed by Caesar on the tattooed Gauls in merely 1 generation. By contrast, Yue culture stubbornly persevered even well after the fall of the Han dynasty 200 years later. Or measured by that of his bitterest foes, the Xiongnu and the Khagans of the steppe, who frequently destroyed whole tribes and forcibly assimilated them into a greater Confederacy. At the end of the day? Perhaps Wu should be measured by his objective merits: of the qualities that endured. He roughly doubled the size of the Han empire of China during his reign, much of which even today are part of China. Confucianism became a mainstay of greater society and governing principle for 2,000 of the following years. He was the man whose heavy hands shaped 1/4 of the planet's population for millennias. In that matter (in terms of land and culture) he has few equals. For~ unlike what many, so many conquerors have done in all of history, very few of their gains could be felt by their descendants today...as compared to this harsh monarch's own.

Han Wudi was a name given posthumously. "Han" is the dynasty, "Wu" was given because of his many military conquests during his reign, and "Di" literally means "Emperor". "Emperor Han Wudi" in the title literally has 2 'Emperors' in there

There is a mistake in the map. Xi'an and Chang'an are the same city. Chang'an is just the old name of Xi'an.

"Philosophers had no place in an Empire constructed by sword". That some Robert Erwin Howard quote right here, boys.

This emperor gave the Chinese people so much confidence that since Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty, the Chinese have called themselves "Han people".

A mistake the video made, "Wu Di" is the Posthumous name the imperial court gave him AFTER he died. Wu Di 武帝 , means Martial Emperor. These names uses one or two Chinese characters to describe the Emperor's reign, It can be positive or negative or neutral or sympathetic. among the positive ones are Wen Di, which means "scholar emperor", Wu Di got his name of Martial Emperor for the obvious reasons.

It's always a delight to see a Kings and Generals video about China.

Emperor Wu, ~ Wu 武 could be translated as The "Martial One" or the "Warrior" signifying his half century of wars. * A qualifier that his successors bequeathed on him

After the incident in 90BC, the emperor released an edict (罪己诏) outlining his crimes for burdening the populace during his reign with various projects and conquests. Few emperors throughout Chinese history have had the humility to admit their own shortcomings.

I'm so glad to have been born in a time where such a detailed description of an Emperor is available for free.

Han dynasty's name came from that Liu Bang, first emperor of Han dynasty was previously conferred the tile of the King of Han. "Han"(漢) referred to the region located south of Shaanxi province of modern day China. The region got the name "Han" due to it is adjacent to River of Han. The River of Han got the name because "Han"(漢) means the milky-way in ancient time and the River of Han is viewed as a reflection of the milky-way on earth by ancient astrologist. I'd like to share all these because the region of "Han" is the place where my parents were born. : )

Great video. These more focused videos that discuss a single person and/or a shorter timeperiod are much more appropriate than much less focused videos about broad subjects and timeperiods (such as K&G's previous video about ancient Chinese armies that tried to cover a huge topic spanning a thousand years and ended up riddled with inaccuracies and other issues).

Wow, that's a truly marvelous video. Very informative. Han Wudi cannot be understated, indeed.

he did made an enduring mark in the Chinese history and its national identity...

Wu of Han is possibly the most ballsy emperor ever. Who even thinks about invading steepe nomads on Horse back through a desert. He paid a huge cost in horses and man power but escaped Xiongnu hegemony and became emperor of China.

I would argue Tang is China's golden age, culture-wise, influence-wise and martial-wise.

I'd like to see a comparison of Confucius' ideas about ruling by sagely virtue and Plato's ideas about the philosopher kings.