Liu Heng is a son of Emperor Gao of Han and Consort Bo, later empress dowager.

When Emperor Gao of Han suppressed the rebellion of Dai, he had created Liu Heng Prince of Dai.

After Empress Dowager Lü's death in 180, the court officials eliminate the powerful Lü clan, and deliberately choose the Prince of Dai as the emperor, since his mother, Consort Bo, has no powerful relatives, and her family is known for its humility and thoughtfulness.

His nephew, Emperor Houshao, viewed as a mere puppet of Grand Empress Dowager Lü and suspected of not being actually a son of Emperor Wen's older brother Emperor Hui, is deposed and executed.

Emperor Wen’s reign brings a much needed political stability that will lay the groundwork for prosperity under his grandson Emperor Wu.

Emperor Wen of Han quickly shows an aptitude to govern the empire with diligence, and appears to be genuinely concerned for the people's welfare.

Heavily influenced by his Taoist wife, Emperor Wen governs the country with the general policies of noninterference with the people and relaxes laws.

His personal life is marked by thriftiness and general willingness to forgive.

He is initially very deferential to Zhou Bo, Chen Ping, and Guan Ying, who had been instrumental in his accession, and they are to serve as successive prime ministers.

In 179 BCE, he abolishes the law that permitted the arrest and imprisonment of parents, wives, and siblings of criminals, with the exception for the crime of treason.

He also creates a governmental assistance program for those in need.

Loans or tax exemptions are offered to widowers, widows, orphans, and seniors without children.

He further orders that monthly stipends of rice, wine, and meat be given to seniors over eighty years in age, and that additional stipends of cloth and cotton be given to seniors over ninety years in age.

Moreover, he makes peace with Nanyue, consisting of parts of the modern Chinese provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and much of modern northern Vietnam, whose king, the Han Chinese general Zhao Tuo, Empress Dowager Lü had offended by an economic embargo and which has therefore engaged in raids against the Principality of Changsha (modern Hunan) and the prefecture of Nan (modern Hubei).

Emperor Wen accomplishes this by writing humble yet assertive letters to Zhao offering peace with dignity and by caring for Zhao's relatives remaining in his native town of Zhending (in modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei).

Finally, after some hesitation (during which he, apparently influenced by the theory of chanrang, thought that maybe it would be more proper for him to find the wisest person in the empire and offer the throne to him, or that he should consider offering the throne to his uncle Liu Jiao, the Prince of Chu; his cousin Liu Pi, the Prince of Wu; or his younger brother Liu Chang, the Prince of Huainan), he creates his oldest son Liu Qi the Crown Prince and Prince Qi's mother, Consort Dou, Empress.

Jewish resistance to Greek cultural hegemony peaks during the reign of Antiochus IV (175-164), whose promotion of Hellenism culminates in his raising a statue to Zeus in the temple at Jerusalem.

This act sparks the Maccabean uprising beginning in 165.

The inexorable decline of the Seleucid Empire accelerates after the death of Antiochus IV with the loss of Commagene in Syria and of Judea in Palestine.

In the narrative of I Maccabees, a book written in Hebrew by a Jewish author after the restoration of an independent Jewish kingdom, a rural Jewish priest from Modiin, Mattathias the Hasmonean, sparks a revolt against the Seleucid Empire by refusing to worship the Greek gods after Antiochus IV issues his decrees forbidding Jewish religious practice.

Mattathias kills a Hellenistic Jew who steps forward to offer a sacrifice to an idol in Mattathias' place.

He and his five sons flee to the wilderness of Judah.

After Mattathias' death about one year later in 166 BCE, his son Judah Maccabee leads an army of Jewish dissidents against the Seleucid dynasty in guerrilla warfare, which at first is directed against Hellenized Jews, of whom there are many.

The Maccabees destroy pagan altars in the villages, circumcise boys and force Jews into outlawry.

The term Maccabees as used to describe the Jewish army is taken from the Hebrew word for "hammer".

The revolt itself involves many battles, in which the Maccabean forces gain notoriety among the Seleucid army for their use of guerrilla tactics.

After the victory, the Maccabees enter Jerusalem in triumph and ritually cleanse the Temple, reestablishing traditional Jewish worship there and installing Jonathan Maccabee as high priest.

A large Seleucid army is sent to quash the revolt, but returns to Syria on the death of Antiochus.

Its commander, Lysias, preoccupied with internal Seleucid affairs, agrees to a political compromise that restores religious freedom.