The Empire of Emperor Wu

Name: The Empire of Emperor Wu
ISBN: 9787533939762

Yi ZhongtianZhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House2014

3.9

Word count: 113K words
Chapters: 1
Series: Emperor Wu of Han is one of China's most familiar—and most easily misread—emperors. Call him a man of grand strategy, call him a warmonger: neither label is wrong, yet neither explains what he actually changed. The virtue of Yi Zhongtian's book is that it does not rush to grade the man; it turns the lens on institutions—how the Decree of Grace made vassal kings into lambs, how state monopolies on salt and iron and the wealth tax on merchants and moneylenders funneled riches into the treasury, and how the elevation of Confucianism became a bargain between empire and scholars. At just over a hundred thousand characters, the book advances through five chapters, from "The Empire's Beginnings" to "Merits and Faults," each section short enough to read like a lecture yet laced with judgments. The author proposes three pillars of empire—centralized power, governance through officials, and rule by ethics—and positions Emperor Wu as the pivotal figure who transformed Qin institutions into Han institutions. That thread runs throughout, leaving readers with a coherent picture of the underlying logic of two thousand years of imperial rule. For history enthusiasts it is an excellent primer and connective read; for those who have read the Records of the Grand Historian and the Book of Han, its questioning of whether the Luntai Edict was truly an edict of self-blame offers a doorway to further reflection. As volume eight of Yi Zhongtian's History of China, it follows Qin's Unification of the World and precedes Two Han, Two Romes, yet stands perfectly well on its own.
ISBN: 9787533939762

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Summary

The Empire of Emperor Wu is the eighth volume of Yi Zhongtian's History of China, focusing on the fifty-four-year reign of Emperor Wu of Han (Liu Che) and the Han Empire's full transformation from the restorative quiet of the Reigns of Wen and Jing to a stance of aggressive expansion. The author argues that the imperial edifice rested on three pillars: centralized power, governance through officials, and rule by ethics—and that it was Emperor Wu who established the third, converting Qin policies and Qin institutions into Han policies and Han institutions. The book begins with the accession of the young emperor and the conflicts among consort clans and vassal kings, then untangles the political bargain behind "rejecting the Hundred Schools and honoring Confucianism alone": the empire bought off the scholars by monopolizing official careers in exchange for ideological unity, while the scholars traded their independence for the status of official ideology. It then follows the Decree of Grace to weaken the vassal states, state monopolies on salt and iron together with the wealth tax on merchants and moneylenders to fill the treasury, the campaign against powerful clans, roving swordsmen, and tycoons, and the building of a professional bureaucracy—explaining how the emperor remade the old order of aristocratic co-rule into a bureaucratic politics in which the emperor authorizes and the government administers. The military and frontier sections cover Wei Qing, the Xiongnu question, the Western Regions, and the opening of the Silk Road. The final chapter weighs Emperor Wu's merits and faults, including the historiographical controversy over whether the late-life Luntai Edict was an "edict of self-blame," and is followed by a chronology of the volume. The book continues the series' approach of "global vision, modern interpretation," using short chapters and a narrative punctuated by commentary to turn institutional history into a highly readable story.

Editor's review

汉武帝是中国人最熟悉也最容易被误读的皇帝之一：说他雄才大略，说他穷兵黩武，两句话都不算错，却都没说清他究竟改变了什么。易中天这本书的好处，是不忙着给人物打分，而是把镜头对准制度——推恩令如何让诸侯王变成羔羊，盐铁官营与算缗告缗如何把财富收进国库，独尊儒术如何成为帝国与士人之间的一笔交易。全书只有十余万字，五个章节层层推进，从“帝国之初”讲到“是非功过”，每节短小，读起来像听讲座，却处处有判断。作者提出帝国三根支柱——中央集权、官员代理、伦理治国——把汉武帝定位为“化秦制为汉制”的关键人物，这条主线贯穿始终，读完能对两千年帝制的底层逻辑有一个整体印象。对历史爱好者，它是极好的入门与串联读物；对读过《史记》《汉书》的读者，书中关于轮台诏是否“罪己”的追问，也能提供继续思考的入口。作为《易中天中华史》第八卷，它上承《秦并天下》，下接《两汉两罗马》，单独阅读亦无妨碍。

Who it's for

A good fit for

想系统了解汉武帝一朝政治、军事与经济变革的历史爱好者
读过《史记》《汉书》选篇，希望获得现代解读框架的读者
喜欢短章节、口语化叙述，不习惯大段考据的普通读者
正在追《易中天中华史》系列，需要补齐第八卷的读者

Not a good fit for

期待严密史料考证与学术注释的专业史学研究者
偏好叙事型帝王传记、想看宫廷故事与人物细节的读者
对作者主观论断较多、夹叙夹议风格不适应的人

Reading tips

可先读第五章“是非功过”的结论部分，再回头读前四章的制度演变，脉络会更清楚。
读到“独尊儒术”“推恩令”等关键处，配合《史记·孝武本纪》《汉书·武帝纪》原文对照，效果更好。
若按系列顺序阅读，建议放在《秦并天下》之后、《两汉两罗马》之前。
留意书中反复出现的“帝国三根支柱”提法，它是统摄全书的分析框架。

About the publisher

Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House China · Founded in 1983

Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House is a Chinese publisher specializing in literary publishing. Judging from the 808 titles in the database, its publishing areas cover world classics, foreign literature, social novels, folk literature and classic works, as well as modern and contemporary literature and prose. Representative titles include foreign literary translations such as Anna Karenina, The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, In Praise of Shadows and The Complete Tragedies and Comedies of Shakespeare, alongside classic works by Lao She and Lu Xun such as Camel Xiangzi, Teahouse and Wandering. Its authors and translators include Leo Tolstoy, Cao Ying, Lao She, Yukio Mishima, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki and Zhu Shenghao. The press emphasizes the translation and introduction of classic texts and the compilation of native literary works, giving equal weight to Chinese and foreign literature. Owing to limited public information, its specific series and editorial policies are not elaborated here.

Yi Zhongtian's History of China

FAQ

这本书是讲汉武帝的传记吗？

不完全是。它以汉武帝一朝为切片，重点分析制度变革——集权、官僚制、独尊儒术、财政与边疆，人物生平只是线索，不是传统意义上的帝王传记。

没读过前面的卷册能看懂吗？

可以。本书主题集中在汉武帝一朝，自成单元；上承的《秦并天下》主要交代秦制的由来，知道大概背景即可，不影响阅读主线。

书里说的“帝国三根支柱”是什么？

指中央集权、官员代理和伦理治国。作者认为伦理治国由汉武帝确立，三者结合使秦制转为汉制，成为此后两千年帝制的基本结构。

“轮台罪己诏”在书中怎么讲？

后记专门讨论汉武帝下诏罪己是否属实这一史学争议，作者对传统说法提出质疑，属于书中较有讨论空间的部分，宜带着批判眼光阅读。

这本书大约多少字，多久能读完？

据版权页记载约十一万三千字，篇幅不长，章节短小，普通读者两三个晚上即可通读，适合作为碎片时间的历史读物。

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About the author

Yi Zhongtian Author · Chinese · 1947

Yi Zhongtian, born in 1947 in Changsha, Hunan, is a Chinese writer, scholar and educator. After receiving a master's degree in literature from Wuhan University in 1981, he stayed on to teach and later became a professor and doctoral supervisor at the School of Humanities, Xiamen University. From 2005 he became widely known through his lectures on CCTV's Lecture Room, including "Figures of the Han Dynasty" and "Yi Zhongtian on the Three Kingdoms." His writing spans history, Eastern philosophy, classical literature and cultural commentary, with representative works such as On the Three Kingdoms, Pre-Qin Thinkers, Art Anthropology and Yi Zhongtian's History of China, as well as a collection of traditional culture stories written for his grandson. His clear, accessible style turns academic topics into engaging narratives for general readers, giving him broad influence in popularizing history and traditional culture.