emperor guangwu (born liu xiu; 15 january 5 bc – 29 march 57), courtesy name wenshu, 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.