In 141 BC, the 15-year-old Emperor Wu of Han succeeded to the throne, beginning his half-century-long reign. His Wenzhi martial arts continued to push the Han Dynasty to the peak of its prosperity and ushered in an era of strong Men. China's territory is constantly expanding, its population is growing, and Chinese's vision is also on fire, which makes the 50 years of his rule the greatest 50 years in China's history. (141 BC to 87 BC, actual rule was 54 years)
During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, it can be described as "talents gushing out of the water", and pioneering talents have emerged in various fields. The great historian Ban Gu once commented in the Book of Han: "The han is a man, and this is the prosperity!" "Then let's take stock of which nine talents that are difficult to surpass emerged in the era of Emperor Wu of han."
1. Military: Wei Qing, Huo Went ill
The reason why Emperor Wu of Han can be called "Wu" is naturally inseparable from his strong martial arts. At that time, the Xiongnu were rampant and constantly causing trouble on the border, and in order to relieve the threat of the Xiongnu, Emperor Wudi of han launched a large-scale counterattack against them. Fortunately, Emperor Wu of Han got two world-famous generals, Wei Qing and Huo Qi.
Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty employed people and adopted the policy of "meritocracy", not asking about origin, only asking about talent. Wei Qing and Huo Fuyi were both lowly illegitimate children, of which Wei Qing was born as a slave. Later, Wei Qing's sister Wei Zifu was favored, and Wei Qing began to emerge in the Military Circles of the Han Dynasty.
After the outbreak of the Han-Hungarian War, Wei Qing repeatedly made miraculous achievements, swept through the desert north six times, and won every battle, and fought the Xiongnu with great courage. Later, Wei Qing's nephew Huo Went ill turned out to be ill. Huo Went ill and obtained the martial arts of Qin Chuan, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, and with the strength of the newborn calves who were not afraid of tigers, they went deep alone and continuously defeated the Xiongnu by means of blitzkrieg. The land of Hexi was seized, and Gansu was permanently incorporated into the territory of China.
In 119 BC, Wei Qing and Huo Fuyi each led 50,000 troops to attack the main force of the Xiongnu, annihilating a total of 110,000 enemies, beating the "proud son of heaven" to a standstill, and killing the "chief of a hundred barbarians" in mourning. Since then, "Wei Huo" has become synonymous with famous generals.
Second, the economy: Sanghong sheep
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was a pioneering monarch who embarked on large-scale economic reforms in order to raise funds for attacks against the Xiongnu and South Vietnam. The chief architect of this economic reform is Sang Hongyang.
Sang Hongyang, a native of Luoyang, came from a merchant family. He was good at calculation and coordination, and was entrusted with heavy responsibilities by Emperor Wu of Han. In order to pool funds, Sang Hongyang began the reform of nationalization. Successively, economic policies such as counting, telling, salt and iron official camps, equalizing losses, equalizing the reform of the currency system, and drinking wine have greatly increased the state's fiscal revenue, curbed the mighty and powerful, lightened the burdens of the people, and also effectively supported the battle ahead.
As a forward-looking economist, he opposed the policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce, promoted rich countries in industry and commerce, and paid attention to foreign trade and commodity circulation, which can be said to be the sage of classical reform and opening up, which is in sharp contrast with the later policy of closing the country to the outside world. And his status was also pushed to the peak after the founding of the country.
Diplomacy and Exploration: Zhang Qian
Zhang Qian, the Marquis of Bowang, was one of the few great explorers in China, and he single-handedly "hollowed out" the Silk Road and brought Xinjiang into the territory of China from then on. At that time, the Xiongnu were rampant, and Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty decided to contact the Great Moon Clan State in the far west in order to win allies. And the young Zhang Qian, without hesitation, embarked on this journey that is likely to have no return.
Under the siege and interception of the Xiongnu, Zhang Qian was detained in the Xiongnu for more than ten years. No matter how much persecution and hardship he experienced, he still did not forget his mission. He managed to escape the control of the Xiongnu and run to the vast western land, and the vision of the Chinese suddenly opened up, and the originally closed East and West were united from then on. In addition, Zhang Qian also brought back crops such as alfalfa, grapes, and carrots from the western region, which greatly enriched the table of the Chinese.
Zhang Qian, the only explorer in China, made the world communicate as one, and was the ancestor of Columbus and Magellan. No wonder Liang Qichao praised him: "Without Zhang Qian, there would be no world history."
4. Agronomy: Zhao Guo
Zhao Guo, a great agronomist of the Western Han Dynasty, was a lieutenant of the official Susu. He was appointed by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and was responsible for the agricultural work of the whole country. He invented the Daida method, developed the raking car, and discovered the cultivation technology of the two-ox bar, which greatly accelerated the efficiency of cultivation and weaving. At that time, after a long war, the Han Dynasty had lost a large number of people, and the country was close to the brink of a large-scale civil uprising. Zhao Guo, on the other hand, reversed this trend with technology and pushed the population of the Han Dynasty to the peak of 60 million.
In China, no agronomist has such a huge role in promoting Chinese agriculture as Zhao Guo, and perhaps only the modern Yuan Longping can match it.
V. Historiography: Sima Qian
The reason why we can appreciate the history of the Han Dynasty today is inseparable from the account of the great historian Sima Qian. Sima Qian was born in a family of historians, and from an early age he made up his mind to complete a general history. Therefore, he traveled in all directions and finally spent his life completing the immortal masterpiece of "History".
Before Sima Qian, China had only history books, but no historiography. However, Sima Qian created historiography and innovated the style of history books, which became the basis for the next 24 histories. Later historian Zhai Bozan praised: "Chinese historiography has become an independent learning from the Western Han Dynasty, and the founding master of this kind of learning was the great historian Sima Qian. ”
To this day, no historical book dares to claim to have surpassed the "History of History", and Sima Qian has become a historian that no one in China can surpass.
Literature: Sima Xiangru
During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, there were many great literary scholars, and Sima Xiangru was one of the best, and he single-handedly pushed the genre of Hanfu to the peak. There are 6 extant "ZiFu", "Tianzi Hunting Fu", "Adult Fu", "Nagato Fu", "Beauty Fu", and "Sorrowful Qin II Fu", all of which are fine works.
Among the writers of the two Han Dynasties, Sima Xiangru had the highest achievements, and his great endowment even became the paradigm of Han Dafu's creation, so studying the characteristics of Sima Xiangru's creation has far-reaching significance for the study of Hanfu and even the entire Han Dynasty literature.
7. Confucianism: Dong Zhongshu
Dong Zhongshu was the Confucian scholar who had the greatest influence on China after Confucius and Mencius. His ideas of "deposing hundreds of families and respecting Confucianism alone," "great unification," "heaven and man induction," and "Spring and Autumn Prison Execution" had a tremendous impact on China.
Some people believe that the "dethronement of the Hundred Families" has led to the collapse of Chinese intellectual circles, and Dong Zhongshu should be a sinner in China. However, the fact is that as a unified autocratic empire, a unified ideology is necessary, and a unified ideology must be had to be had. Confusion in thinking will lead to confusion at the level of national reality.
At the initiative of Dong Zhongshu, Confucianism became the guiding ideology of China's feudal dynasties until the fall of the Qing Dynasty. Thus, China ushered in the era of external Confucianism and internal law. Confucianism is centered on patriarchal thought, mixed with the Five Elements of Yin and Yang, and runs through the theocracy, monarchy, patriarchy, and husband power to form an imperial theological system.
VIII. Genius Emperor: Emperor Wu of Han
Today, the reason why we Han people are given the name of "Han" is inseparable from the Wenzhi martial arts of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. He ruled for a total of 54 years, but set so many precedents for China.
He defeated the Xiongnu, unified South Vietnam, and henceforth incorporated the two cantons into the territory of China; he implemented the Tuien Order, which completely ended the situation of the division of princes since the Eastern Zhou Dynasty; he promoted the Chinese and Korean system, which greatly strengthened the centralization of power; he formulated the inspection system, from which local talents had channels to serve the central government, and the relationship between the local and the central government was greatly strengthened.
In terms of employment policy, Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty was eclectic, whether it was a commoner, a slave, or a servant, as long as he had talent, he could be appointed. For example, the Xiongnu Jin Riju was appointed by Emperor Wu of Han as a minister of the Orphans. It was Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty that opened the era of Chinese blowouts.
Without such an emperor who reigned for so long and had such a pioneering spirit, we still don't know what China would become today. Although Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had countless shortcomings and problems, and could even be called a tyrant, he was "guilty of a moment, and the merit was in a thousand autumns" . What's more, in his later years, he also took the lead in writing the "Edict of Sin", regretting his own mistakes, changing his course, resting with the people, and finally restoring the Han Dynasty to strength.
Therefore, Mao Zedong would evaluate Emperor Wu of Han: "Emperor Wu of Han was a man of great talent, pioneering Liu Bang's achievements, and in his later years he knew the evils of extravagance, martial arts, and alchemists, and he made a decree on himself, which is a prosperous world." ”
Of course, there were more than these nine talents during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and Zhang Tang, Zhao Chongguo, Li Guang, The Main Father, Zhu Maichen, Gongsun Hong, Dongfang Shuo and others also led the way in various fields of that era. With the joint efforts of these masters, the Chinese nation finally faded its youthful naivety and entered the vigorous youth period, and since then it has stood like a giant in the forest of the world's great powers.