Liu Heng (202-157 BC) was the fourth son of Liu Bang, the founder of the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220). He created the Wenjing Reign Period (Wen Jing Zhi Zhi), which was a flourishing period in feudal China.
Liu Heng, given birth by a concubine of Liu Bang, was appointed as a vassal king at a young age. He ascended the throne as the third emperor of the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24) when his half-brother, Emperor Hui, and Empress Lv, the wife of Liu Bang, both died.
During his 23-year of rule from 179 BC to 57 BC, he attached great importance to agriculture and carried out a benign administration, which improved the quality of people’s lives.
He offered rewards to encourage agricultural development, reduced taxes to relieve people’s living burdens, allowed farmers to take their production activities on to state-owned mountains and rivers, as well as abolished the interregional pass to promote commodity circulation.
He also made great legal reforms. The terms of imprisonment were set according to the severity of crimes, and collective punishment and severe punishment were abolished.
He strived to maintain a peaceful relationship with ethnic groups, and tried to avoid wars against them.
In the royal court, he encouraged officials to share their views and declared that the emperor should take responsibility for officials’ mistakes.
He once wanted to build a gazebo, but gave up this idea when learning that it would take hundreds of gold. He cut down financial expenses and set a good example for noblemen and officials.
During the Wenjing Reign Period, people enjoyed a peaceful and prosperous life, with the emperor’s popularity growing and the people’s incomes increasing. It was said that the available food and money were beyond the demand, leading to wheat rotting in warehouses and the twines that strung up the copper coins decaying.
In his last hours, he ordered that his funeral shouldn’t be elaborate, and people shouldn’t be forbidden from getting married, sacrificing, drinking wine, and eating meat during his funeral.