Emperor Gaozu, also known under the name Liu Bang, was the first emperor of the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 24 AD). He was one of the two low-brow emperors in Chinese history.

Born into a peasant family and had served as a very low ranking official for the Empire of Qin. He deserted his post for fear of punishment because he had set free some prisoners. Later, he became the leader of one of the peasant insurrection forces against the Qin Dynasty. He broke the Xianyang city, capital of Qin in 209 BC, putting an end to the notorious Qin Dynasty. There, he removed the harsh laws of Qin and instituted regulations to protect the interests of normal people. These made him very popular with the people.

The ensuing years saw Liu Bang and another insurgent leader, Xiang Yu engaged in four years of war, struggling for control over the country, which eventually ended with Xiang Yu's defeat and suicide. Liu Bang established the empire of Han and made himself emperor in 202 BC. Liu Bang became historically known as Emperor Gaozu.
Liu Bang was very good at using talents. The famous general Han Xin who had helped Liu Bang defeat Xiang Yu was just a low-ranking officer in charge of army provisions when Liu Bang listened to the suggestions of a close advisor and made him a commander-in-chief.

Liu Bang had been through some dangerous moments in his lifetime. Not long after he broke the Qin's capital, he only narrowly escaped an assassin by Xiang Yu's generals in the Hongmen Banquet extended to him by Xiang Yu.

Another time, he had led the Han army to fight the Xiongnu tribes who frequently assaulted the Han border towns at the early years of Han's establishment. His force was surrounded by 300,000 Xiongnu troops for seven days and nights in Baidengshan mountain in today's Shanxi province. He managed a truce with the Xiongnu forces and escaped. In the years after, he had to marry off girls from royal court to Xiongnu leaders to pacify them. 

As an emperor, Liu Bang took a series of measure to stimulate agriculture development. He reduced taxes, set free prisoners and slaves, discharge soldiers to have them back to agriculture activities. Soon the population grew larger and agriculture developed.
 
Meanwhile, he continued to use the centralism created by Qin, replaced original vassals and granted lands to his relatives.  Emperor Gaozu's efforts laid a solid foundation for the over four-hundred-year reign of the Han Dynasty.

In the 12th year of Gaozu's reign, one of his former generals, Ying Bu rebelled. Gaozu led an army to suppress the rebellion and was hit by an arrow and died later.