   emperor guangwu (13 january 5 bc â 29 march 57),bielenstein, 245. born liu xiu, was an emperor of the chinese han dynasty, restorer of the dynasty in ad 25 and thus founder of the later han or eastern han (the restored han dynasty). he ruled over parts of china at first, and through suppression and conquest of regional warlords, the whole of china was consolidated by the time of his death in 57. liu xiu was one of the many descendants of the han imperial family. following the usurpation of the han throne by wang mang and the ensuing civil war during the disintegration of wang's short-lived xin dynasty, he emerged as one of several descendants of the fallen dynasty claiming the imperial throne. after assembling forces and proclaiming himself emperor in the face of competitors, he was able to defeat his rivals, destroy the peasant army of the chimei, known for their disorganization and marauding, and finally reunify the whole of china in ad 36. he established his capital in luoyang,  east of the former capital chang'an, ushering in the later/eastern han dynasty. he impleme
1st-century_Chinese_monarchs 57_deaths Eastern_Han_dynasty_emperors People_from_Xiangyang