To be fair, whether from the perspective of historical merits, contributions to the current society, and the love of the people of the world, Emperor Xuan of Han was higher than Emperor Wu of Han. However, the reputation of Emperor Wu of Han in history is far higher than that of Emperor Xuan of Han. Whether a person pays attention to history or not, he knows who Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty was and what he did. But if this person does not pay attention to history, it is likely that he did not know that the Han Dynasty had such an emperor as Han Xuandi. What's going on here?
(Stills of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty)
There are several reasons for saying that the historical merits of Emperor Xuan of Han were greater than those of Emperor Wu of Han, and that the degree of recognition of the people of the world was higher than that of Emperor Wu of Han.
First, Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty, because of his great achievements, wantonly expanded the territory and consumed almost all the social wealth accumulated since the "rule of Wenjing", and the Han Dynasty entered a stage of poverty and weakness at the end of the Han Dynasty. During the more than twenty years of the reign of Emperor Xuan of Han, he regained the policy of recuperation during the "rule of Wenjing" period, and gradually revived the country and allowed the Han Dynasty to continue later.
Second, the many wars launched by Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty were not loved by the broad masses of the people. Perhaps for some generals, there is a successful joy of worshiping the general and the marquis, but for the vast majority of the people, it is a disaster. The so-called "one will achieve ten thousand bones", which is the truth. Although Emperor Xuan of Han also fought against the Xiongnu and the Western Qiang, on the whole there were few wars, and the broad masses of the people were able to cultivate and produce in a stable manner. This is a fortunate thing for the people.
Third, there were too many battles between Emperor Wu of Han and the Xiongnu, and there was still a certain impact on the Xiongnu in the early days, and a certain amount of land was obtained. However, it did not convince the Xiongnu, who had been fighting against Emperor Wu of Han. In the wars against the Xiongnu launched by Emperor Wu of Han in his later years, most of the battles were lost. Emperor Wu of Han had to collect troops in disgrace. Emperor Xuan of Han and the Xiongnu did not fight much, but the Xiongnu were very obedient to Emperor Xuan of Han and came to defect to Emperor Xuan of Han many times. As a result, the Han Dynasty set up the Western Regions Capital Protectorate, and that piece of land was officially under the administration of the Han Dynasty. That is to say, Emperor Xuan of Han adopted a relatively moderate policy, but the land area obtained was not less than that of Emperor Wu of Han.
(Stills of Emperor Xuan of Han)
Fourth, in the later years of Emperor Wu of Han, because of his greed for the throne and his suspicion of gods and ghosts, he forced the prince he had established to commit suicide, and he also killed many people. Later, in order to establish Liu Fuling as emperor, he also forced Liu Fuling's mother, Lady Hook Yi, to die. Emperor Wu of Han not only killed the emperor's relatives, but also killed many ministers. This atrocity of Emperor Wu of han caused a very bad influence between the emperor and his ministers. Later, when Emperor Xuan of Han built a temple for him, the controversy at that time was very big. It can be seen from this that everyone is dissatisfied with Emperor Wu of Han. But Emperor Xuan of Han rarely killed innocents indiscriminately. Although he eliminated the Huo family's power, it did not affect more people, and he always gave Huo Guang a high status. He was also dissatisfied with his own crown prince, but he did not kill innocents like Emperor Wu of Han. He has always insisted that this prince be the emperor, which has caused controversy and influence in the imperial family.
Since Emperor Xuan of Han surpassed Emperor Wu of Han in many ways, why is the reputation of Emperor Wu of Han much higher in history than that of Emperor Xuan of Han? I think there are some reasons for this.
First, the pursuit of the big land is in line with the psychology of the Chinese people. Although in ancient times, it was a society under the family world, strictly speaking, those lands actually had nothing to do with ordinary people, they were all emperors, and they were "the world of decay". But ordinary people will feel wishful thinking that this is also "our world". Moreover, the education that intellectuals have received from childhood is the Confucian idea of "cultivating oneself and ruling the country and the world together", which has also established the consciousness of "the rise and fall of the world, and the responsibility of the husband" among the people. Under such a mainstream ideology, future generations will feel that Emperor Wudi of Han was right.
(Attacking the Xiongnu, trying to take its meaning)
Second, the long-term confrontation between the north and the south has made more people affirm the behavior of Emperor Wu of Han. In ancient China, there was always a strong confrontation between the nomadic peoples in the north and the Han peoples in the south. This confrontation was also mainly provoked by the nomadic peoples of the north. Because the nomadic peoples in the north lack resources and lack the necessary living conditions, they always have to come to the south to plunder and loot.
In the confrontation between the north and the south, if the south is prosperous, it will generally suppress the northern nomads. But if the south is in turmoil, then the northern nomads will bring deep disasters to the south. Moreover, in the history of China, there are two times such as the Yuan Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty, when the northern nomads destroyed the southern countries and unified China. In short, the north-south confrontation greatly provoked the nerves of the Han people in the south. Therefore, they were very relieved by Emperor Wudi's use of a tough approach to resolutely crack down on the northern nomads. From ancient times to the present, there have been many literary and artistic works praising Emperor Wudi of Han, praising Wei Qing, Huo Quyi, and Li Guang, which has also expanded the influence of Emperor Wudi of Han in the folk.
Third, the actual effect of Emperor Xuan's policy, although greater than that of Emperor Wu of Han, is actually because Emperor Wu of Han laid a very good foundation. Emperor Wu of Han fought hard, scared the Huns, and fought a split, so during the han Xuan Emperor period, some of the Huns would be annexed. This is the so-called "one shot and one flaccid" and "hit and shoot". On the other hand, if there was no such tough suppression during the Han Wudi period, the Han Xuan Emperor period did not have such a huge harvest. In one case, people would think that Emperor Xuan of Han was actually the one who harvested the wheat, and emperor Wu of han was the one who planted the wheat. The man who harvests the wheat certainly does not have as much merit as the man who plants the wheat.
(References: Records of History, Book of Han)