Which emperor do you like best?

[JonBI]

But didn't:

Maybe he was a revolutionary who did eventually help, (in terms that some of his revolutionary ideas were good) but were there not a lot of things that Mao did which were the symptoms of a despotic ruler?

Kangxi, on the other hand:

On the subject of Cao Cao. Yes, he wasn't known as an actual King, more of a Prime Minister of the Han, but he was also named "King" by his son once he had taken the throne from the Han emperor, but doesn't that make him even less of a legitimate candidate for best emperor?

He ruled over 1/2 of China, and after his fall, China was left in a terrible state for tens of years. (Wu Hu Period (304–439 CE)) Is this really a ruler you would call one of the greatest of all time?

Kangxi wasn't perfect either. There was quite a bit of persecution and putting down of descent in his rule, as there was in Qianlong's rule after the first 15 years of his reign.

The difference with Mao however, is that, historically speaking, he was caught at a time when mass death was inevitable; the population killed in his plans were unfortunate, however, if you look at the past 100 years of rulers before him, such death is rather minor in comparison; the population growth and mass modernization that befell his reign generally seem to mark a rather successful transition, even if disaster and hardship cut during the way.

Of course, it is a mark of the hypocrisy of Western views that Mao is so hated. The First Emperor historically speaking, was always revered as a great genius who had a positive influence on China, despite his brutality, by Western scholars. Truth be told, Western scholarship seemed to like most of the Martial emperors. Mao, who sought to rehabilitate and emulate them, and follow in their footsteps on their plans generally was met with the exact opposite response, despite the fact that he adheres to a favored model - something better liked in the west than in China.

[Zomac]

Guess who he is? Would he be a choice?

- He never indulged himself in an extravagant ceremony. He rarely arranged any of them.

- He successfully controlled the expansion of bureaucracy.

- he practiced the laizze-faire policy and his reign enjoyed prosperous economy growth and ample fiscal income.

- He saved Korea from Japanese occupation and defeated Japanese army in the very first Sino-Japanese war.

He's Wanli Emperor, regarded as the lamb emperor in history.