Liu Che, known posthumously as Emperor Wu of Han, ruled from 141 to 87 BCE. His early reign developed within a court shaped by powerful relatives, and he gained control after the death of the grand empress dowager in 135. He recruited scholars and officials beyond the hereditary circles and supported classical learning. The imperial academy established in his reign strengthened the place of Confucian texts in government, although administration continued to employ coercive and legal techniques not reducible to a single philosophical school.

Emperor Wu transformed foreign policy through sustained campaigns against the Xiongnu. Generals including Wei Qing and Huo Qubing carried operations far beyond earlier defensive positions, acquiring territory and horses while imposing heavy costs. Zhang Qian's missions provided information about Central Asia and encouraged diplomatic and commercial links along routes later associated with the Silk Road. These connections developed existing networks rather than inventing long-distance trade from nothing.

Han forces also expanded southward, into the southwest, and onto the Korean peninsula. Garrisons, migration, and new commanderies extended state control over diverse populations. The campaigns required substantial revenue, and policies including state monopolies on salt and iron and tighter fiscal supervision increased the government's economic reach. The court sponsored literature, ritual, and historical writing, but independent judgment could be dangerous. The historian Sima Qian's punishment after defending a military officer illustrates the severity of imperial authority.

Later years brought succession anxiety, searches for immortality, and accusations of witchcraft that produced purges. In 91 BCE the crown prince Liu Ju rebelled after being implicated and died, a catastrophe for the imperial household. Before his death in 87, Emperor Wu arranged a regency for a young successor. His long reign consolidated the Han state and greatly expanded its territorial influence, but warfare and intervention burdened subjects and conquered communities. Later admiration for imperial strength can obscure these costs. His career established durable models of scholarship and government while showing that support for learning did not guarantee tolerance or restraint. The name Martial Emperor captures only part of a rule that combined expansion, fiscal organization, ideological patronage, and destructive court politics.