Who they were
Liu Che, the seventh sovereign of the Han dynasty, ruled an activist, centralizing state for 54 years. It was under him that the historian Sima Qian wrote — and was punished.
What they did
He made Confucianism the official state ideology, promoting Confucian scholars and establishing the imperial academy (Taixue) in 124 BC. He waged long wars against the Xiongnu with the generals Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, sent Zhang Qian west in 138 BC, and expanded Han power into Central Asia, the far south (Nanyue), and Korea, where the Lelang commandery was established in 108 BC. The wars were funded by state monopolies on salt and iron.
Legacy
His reign brought the Han its greatest territorial reach and set the Confucian-bureaucratic model of empire that endured for two millennia.