He was said by Liu Xiang to have been fond of reading the works of Shen Buhai, using Xing-Ming[broken anchor] to control his subordinates and devoting much time to legal cases.

[4][5] Emperor Xuan was open to suggestions, was a good judge of character, and consolidated his power by eliminating corrupt officials, including the Huo family who had exerted considerable power since the death of Emperor Wu, after Huo Guang's death.

Bingyi's great-grandmother Empress Wei also committed suicide, and his grandmother (Prince Ju's concubine) Consort Shi and his parents died in the incident as well in the capital Chang'an.

For reasons not completely clear, baby Bingyi was spared, but was imprisoned in a prison overseen by the Ministry of Vassal Affairs.

Bing knew that Prince Ju was actually innocent of witchcraft and took pity on the child, and selected two kind female prisoners, Hu Zu (胡組) and Guo Zhengqing (郭徵卿) to serve as his wet nurses and caretakers.

Emperor Wu fearing that whoever the aura came from would later steal the throne from the imperial clan ordered that all prisoners, regardless of whether they had been convicted or not and regardless of the severity of the charges, were to be executed.

The eunuch filed charges against Bing for refusing to abide by the edict—a capital offense—but by that time Emperor Wu had realized his error, and declared a general pardon.

After Hu's sentence was over, Bing hired her out of his own pocket to continue to serve as a wet nurse for several months, before letting her leave.

As a teenager, he had many friends from all walks of life and was able to see the dark sides of society and the suffering of the people at the hands of corrupt officials.

After Emperor Zhao died in 74 BC at the age of 20, the regent Huo Guang initially offered the throne to Prince He of Changyi.

Emperor Xuan did not explicitly reject this proposal but issued an order to seek out the sword that he owned as a commoner.

Xiongnu had been incessantly attacking the Xiyu (central Asia) kingdom of Wusun, whose queen was the Han princess Liu Jieyou (劉解憂).

Emperor Xuan's early reign was generally known for his willingness to innovate, to commission officials who were lenient on the people, and to listen to advice.

Later, Bing Ji (who had not yet revealed by this point the extent of his contribution to the emperor's survival in his young age) also became a key official.

During the middle stage of his reign, Emperor Xuan's administration continued to be known for the promotion of honest officials who generally cared for the people.

He was also characterized by attention to detail and willingness to have correspondences with his generals in which he kindly but firmly had concrete discussions with them on proper military strategy in dealing with minority tribes and foreign nations.

Emperor Xuan had initially approved the plan and establish military settlements to better prepare for any future rebellions.

He was seriously considering making Consort Zhang, the mother of his son Liu Qin (later the Prince of Huaiyang), empress but he was still a bit traumatized over the fact Empress Huo nearly succeeded in poisoning Crown Prince Shi, and fearing that it would happen again if Consort Zhang where to be made emperess.

He resolve this by choosing to create an empress who did not have a sons of her own, was kind and gentle but hard and strict when time comes and have moral values.

In 63 BC, having realized the extent of Bing's contributions to him, Emperor Xuan decided to repay him, and others who were involved in his upbringing, for their kindness.

Late in his reign, Emperor Xuan began to moderately become luxurious in living but was still comparatively thrifty in his expenditures.

For example, there were large numbers of reported sightings of fenghuang (Chinese phoenixes) – mythological birds who were considered symbols of divine favor—during this period, and while in ancient China there might have been "legitimate" sightings of phoenixes (that is, rare birds that were then-considered phoenixes), a good number of these reports were later shown to be likely hoaxes, but Emperor Xuan accepted these reports without critically examining them: although in the case of reported sightings of a green rooster and golden horse in Shu (modern Sichuan), Xuan did dispatch one of his favored poets and a Shu native, Wang Bao, to investigate and to bring back the golden horse, if found (though Wang became ill and died on the way).

However, in general, Emperor Xuan's reign, even in this period, was marked by his concern for the people and unwillingness to undertake military action unless necessary.

By 56 BC, Xiongnu had been fractured into three separate regimes, ruled by Chanyus Runzhen (閏振), Huhanye (呼韓邪), and Zhizhi.

With Han assistance, his strength grew, and Chanyu Zhizhi, who had previously been stronger, was forced to move west.

In 51 BC, after Chanyu Huhanye's visit, Emperor Xuan, in his most shining moment, remembered key officials who had been instrumental in his success.

By this time, the Western Han dynasty would reach its peak in terms of territorial size, even greater than during the reign of Emperor Wu.

Xuan's court was somewhat of a literary center, something which extended to his royal hunts, which he turned into somewhat of a poetry competition for accompanying poets.