Wu Di, great emperor of Han

Emperor Wu Di almost wasn't emperor. Born Prince Che to the Emperor Jing and the concubine Wang Zhi, he wasn't the eldest son, and another had been named Crown Prince. It was not birthright, but a mixture of luck, cunning and intrigue that would bring one of China's best emperors to the throne.

In this first article, we shall explore the early years of Emperor Wu's reign. His greater achievements will be discussed in the next article.

A fortuneteller speaks

Zhang Tu, Wang's mother, was told by a fortuneteller that Wang and her sister were destined for great honours. Never mind that Wang was already married to someone else with whom she already had a daughter. Zhang forced them to divorce and offered Wang as consort to the Crown Prince Liu Qi. Prince Che was born in 156 BC, soon after Liu Qi ascended the throne as Emperor Jing. In 153 BC, Prince Che was made the Prince of Jiaodong.

The emperor's wife, Empress Bo, had no sons. So, it was the eldest son, Liu Rong, of his favorite concubine, Consort Li who was named Crown Prince. Consort Li had aspirations to become Empress, since Empress Bo was deposed in 151 BC. But, as often happens in these complicated court intrigues, her arrogance brought about her downfall.

Consort Li refused to allow her son to marry the daughter of Emperor Jing's sister, Princess Liu Piao. Finding the opening she needed to advance her son's position, Consort Wang offered her son Prince Che as husband for Princess Liu Piao's daughter, Chen Jiao. Consort Li had earned the ire of the emperor's sister, who took to criticizing her for her jealousy and arrogance. Princess Liu Piao then started insinuating that if Consort Li were to become empress dowager, many of the emperor's consorts could suffer the same fate as Consort Qi, who was tortured and killed by the Empress Dowager Lü after the death of Emperor Gao, the first emperor of the Han dynasty.

Emperor Jing eventually gave in and deposed Prince Rong as Crown Prince in 150 BC. That same year, Consort Wang was made Empress and Prince Che the Crown Prince. Consort Li? It is said that she died of anger.

When Emperor Jing died in 141 BC, the 15-year old Prince Che succeeded the throne as Emperor Wu.

The reign of a young emperor

It was during the Emperor Wu's reign that Confucianism started to become the State's official doctrine. In 140 BC, he conducted an examination of over a hundred young scholars who were recommended by officials. A young Confucian scholar named Dong Zhongshu was judged to have submitted the best essay. It might be a bit too coincidental though, that the Prime Minister Wei Wan was himself an adherent to Confucianism.

Because Emperor Wu was just in his teens when he ascended the throne, the running of the empire was handled mostly by three figures -- his grandmother, the Grand Empress Dowager; his mother, the Empress Dowager; and his mother's half-brother Tian Fen, Marquess of Wu'an, who commanded the armed forces.

Emperor Wu, however, was able to assert his will at times. He was always looking for young officials who were his age, who shared his thoughts and ideas about running the government. These young officials enjoyed a very close relationship with the Emperor and were often promoted. Emperor Wu, however, was not reluctant to punish officials, even executing those who have been found corrupt. At the same time, he respected advisers who would honestly tell him what they thought.

Emperor Wu's marriage to his cousin Chen Jiao was at first a happy one. But because the Empress Chen could not bear him a son, their relationship started to deteriorate. On one of Emperor Wu's visits to his sister Princess Pingyang, a female entertainer, caught his eye. She soon became his favorite concubine. Empress Chen was so distressed about the turn of events that she tried to commit suicide several times, although all her attempts failed.

Upon the death of the Grand Empress Dowager Dou in 135 BC, Emperor Wu began to take an even more active part in governance. It was also around this time that the Emperor Wu started on a campaign to expand the territory he governed. This would later become one of the hallmarks of his reign.