The third-longest reigning emperor in Chinese history, Wudi (meaning "the Martial Emperor") of the Han Dynasty (r. 141-87 B.C.) sent legendary generals sallying forth from the Chinese heartland for the sake of conquest. Their campaigns and his heavy-handed imperialist policies vastly expanded China's territories. But the wars were terribly costly in both human and economic terms. And although some conquered territories became inseparable parts of China, many other victories proved ephemeral.Wudi's influential reign, then, raises an Eastern version of that fraught and complicated question: Imperialism--what's it good for?
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