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99-517: Wang Mang (45 BCE – 6 October 23 CE), courtesy name Jujun , officially known as the Shijianguo Emperor ( 始建國天帝 ), was the founder and the only emperor of the short-lived Chinese Xin dynasty . He was originally an official and consort kin of the Han dynasty and later seized the throne in 9 CE. The Han dynasty was restored after his overthrow, and his rule marked

198-479: A dancing girl. In 16 BC, she finally capitulated to her son's wishes, and in preparation, Emperor Cheng first created Feiyan's father Zhao Lin the Marquess of Chengyang, so that she would no longer be viewed as coming from low birth. On 13 July, she was created empress. Feiyan seems to be the mastermind behind all of this, because everything turned out in her favor, but in the future, it turns out that her sister Hede

297-472: A formal and respectful purpose. In traditional Chinese society, using someone’s given name in adulthood was considered disrespectful among peers, making courtesy names essential for formal communication and writing. Courtesy names often reflect the meaning of the given name or use homophonic characters, and were typically disyllabic after the Qin dynasty . The practice also extended to other East Asian cultures, and

396-454: A frivolous man in his words and deeds, had secretly received bribes from the deposed Empress Xu and had promised to help her become "left empress", and that he had promised his associates important position once he succeeded Wang Gen. In 8 BCE, he informed Wang Gen and Empress Dowager Wang of the evidence, and both Wang Gen and Empress Dowager Wang were greatly displeased with Chunyu. They exiled Chunyu back to his march. Chunyu, before he left

495-399: A housekeeper to a rich family. Their adoptive father's name was Zhao Lin (趙臨) and they took his surname. When she grew up, she was assigned to the household of Princess Yang'a (陽阿公主), a sister of Emperor Cheng. She became a courtesan there, and she received the name that she would become known for—Feiyan (literally, flying swallow ) because she was so slender and so agile in dance that she

594-607: A result, the general perception of the Wang clan as arrogant, wasteful, and petty, began to be reversed. In 7 BCE, Wang's cousin Emperor Cheng died suddenly, apparently from a stroke (although some historians have suggested the possibility of an overdosage of aphrodisiacs given to him by Consort Zhao Hede ). Emperor Cheng's nephew Crown Prince Liu Xin (劉欣) was the son of Emperor Cheng's brother, Prince Kang of Dingtao (Liu Kang 劉康). Liu Xin became emperor (as Emperor Ai). For

693-461: A stroke (although historians also report the possibility of an overdose of aphrodisiacs given to him by Consort Zhao Hede). Immediately there were many rumors that he had in fact had concubines who bore him sons, but that those sons and their mothers were murdered by Consort Zhao Hede (out of jealousy) and possibly Emperor Cheng himself. Grieving her husband and apparently fearful of appraisals, Consort Zhao Hede killed herself. Crown Prince Xin ascended

792-586: A title parallel to that of the Duke of Zhou. Believing her nephew to be truly faithful, Grand Empress Dowager Wang transferred more of her authority to him. In 2 CE, Wang Mang issued a list of regulations to the ally-vassal Xiongnu , which the Xiongnu chanyu Nangzhiyasi (囊知牙斯—later shortened to Zhi in response to Wang Mang's request) obeyed, but Wang Mang's tone of treating Xiongnu as a subordinate state rather than an ally offended Nangzhiyasi, which would foreshadow

891-503: A variation of the empress dowager title (ditaihou (帝太后), compared to Empress Dowager Zhao's title huangtaihou (皇太后)). The prime minister Zhu Bo (朱博) and vice prime minister Zhao Xuan (趙玄), at Empress Dowager Fu's behest, submitted a petition to have Wang demoted to commoner status for having previously opposed Grand Empress Fu . Emperor Ai did not do so, but sent Wang back to his march in Xindu (in modern Nanyang, Henan ). While in Xindu, Wang

990-451: Is not known but it is assumed to be 45 BC. According to historical accounts, her personal name might be Yi Zhu (宜主), She was a daughter of two hereditary servants of imperial princes or princesses. Those accounts also say that when she was born, her parents were so poor that they abandoned her, but they saw that she was still alive after three days, so they took her back in and raised her. After her father died she and her sister were adopted by

1089-419: Is smarter than her, but it is not known which leadership role she had on the past events: Which was the fall of Empress Xu and Consort Ban and the promotion of relatives and control over the palace. As an empress, Zhao Feiyan enjoyed the pinnacle of power, wealth, glory and respect inside and outside the palace. She acquiring vast estates, luxurious clothing, and exquisite jewelry; also, her private palace budget

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1188-587: The Book of Rites , after a man reached adulthood, it was disrespectful for others of the same generation to address him by his given name . Thus, the given name was reserved for oneself and one's elders, whereas the courtesy name would be used by adults of the same generation to refer to one another on formal occasions or in writing. Another translation of zi is "style name", but this translation has been criticised as misleading, because it could imply an official or legal title. Generally speaking, courtesy names before

1287-550: The Heavenly Stems were incorporated to number the years , replacing the previous system which used only the Earthly Branches . In 17 CE, in an attempt to refill the depleted imperial coffers, Wang instituted six monopolies: on liquor, salt, iron, coinage, forestry, and fishing. However, because of rampant corruption, the imperial treasury received only limited benefit, while the people were greatly burdened. In

1386-665: The Northern Qi dynasty asserted that whereas the purpose of a given name was to distinguish one person from another, a courtesy name should express the bearer's moral integrity. Prior to the twentieth century, sinicized Koreans , Vietnamese , and Japanese were also referred to by their courtesy name. The practice was also adopted by some Mongols and Manchus after the Qing conquest of China. Empress Zhao Feiyan Zhao Feiyan ( Chinese : 趙飛燕 ,  ? – September or October 1 BC ), formally Empress Xiaocheng (孝成皇后),

1485-502: The Qin dynasty were one syllable, and from the Qin to the 20th century they were mostly disyllabic , consisting of two Chinese characters . Courtesy names were often relative to the meaning of the person's given name, the relationship could be synonyms, relative affairs, or rarely but sometimes antonym. For example, Chiang Kai-shek 's given name ( 中正 , romanized as Chung-cheng) and courtesy name ( 介石 , romanized as Kai-shek) are both from

1584-416: The yù (豫) hexagram 16 of I Ching . Another way to form a courtesy name is to use the homophonic character zi ( 子 ) – a respectful title for a man – as the first character of the disyllabic courtesy name. Thus, for example, Gongsun Qiao 's courtesy name was Zichan ( 子產 ), and Du Fu 's was Zimei ( 子美 ). It was also common to construct a courtesy name by using as the first character one which expresses

1683-419: The "royal family". Wang Man died early when Wang Mang was still young, before Emperor Cheng took the throne and his mother Empress Wang became empress dowager . Unlike most of his brothers, Wang Mang did not have the opportunity to become a marquess . Empress Wang took pity on his family, and after she was widowed, she had Qu moved to the imperial palace to live with her. While Wang Mang was well-connected to

1782-521: The Dingling tribes (around Lake Baikal ), and Xiongnu would be divided into 15 small kingdoms to be ruled by 15 descendants of Chanyu Huhanye , who had first established friendly relations with Han. Under this plan, 300,000 men would be gathered for the attack. However, Wang did not follow his generals' recommendations to start the campaign as soon as a critical mass of men were gathered, but wanted to attack with overwhelming force. This placed pressure on

1881-512: The Fu and Ding relatives. Emperor Ai declined to agree to this request and begged Wang Mang to stay in his administration. Several months later, however, Wang Mang came into direct confrontation with now Empress Dowager Fu. At a major imperial banquet, the official in charge of seating placed Empress Dowager Fu's seat next to Grand Empress Dowager Wang's. When Wang Mang saw this, he rebuked the official and ordered that Empress Dowager Fu's seat be moved to

1980-504: The Han system of using awards to buy the submission of southwestern tribes. When Wang started his campaign against Xiongnu, he requisitioned the forces of Goguryeo within Xin borders. Goguryeo refused to cooperate and marched out of the Xin borders. The Xin army that Wang sent against them was defeated by them. The general Wang sent, Yan You (嚴尤), used humble words to trick their leader, Zou (騶), who

2079-464: The Marquess of Xindu and promoted him to the Chamberlain for Attendants (光祿大夫). It was described by historians that the greater the position that Wang was promoted to, the more humble he became. He did not accumulate wealth, but used the money to support scholars and to give gifts to colleagues which gained him much praise. Wang Mang had only a single wife, Lady Wang , and no concubines. (She had

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2178-570: The Shanyu – once he realized what had happened – would demand the old seal back, destroyed the old seal. Indeed, the next day, Shanyu Zhi realized that the seal's text had changed, and requested that the old seal be returned. However, upon being informed that the old seal had been destroyed (which the ambassadors claimed falsely to be an act of the gods), he acquiesced. The Xiongnu leader nevertheless began to prepare for confrontation with Wang Mang's Xin. The Shanyu built defensive bulwarks some distance from

2277-564: The Wangs. Grand Empress Dowager Wang, sympathetic to the difficult situation facing Emperor Ai, first granted Prince Kang the unusual title of "Emperor Gong of Dingtao" (定陶共皇) and then, under the rationale of that title, granted Princess Dowager Fu the title "Empress Dowager Gong of Dingtao" (定陶共皇太后) and Consort Ding the title "Empress Gong of Dingtao" (定陶共皇后). Several members of the Fu and Ding clans were created marquesses. Grand Empress Dowager Wang also ordered Wang Mang to resign and transfer power to

2376-527: The Weis, to try to break Wang Mang's dictatorial hold. They decided that they would create what appeared to be supernatural incidents to make Wang Mang concerned, and then have Wu Zhang try to persuade Wang Mang to transfer power to the Weis. Wang Yu instructed Lü Kuan to toss a bottle of blood onto Wang Mang's mansion door, but Lü was discovered by Wang Mang's guards. Wang Mang then arrested Wang Yu, who committed suicide, and his wife (Lü Kuan's sister) Lü Yan (呂焉) who

2475-465: The Xin outpost of Shuofang ( 朔方 , modern Ordos , Inner Mongolia ). He also began to accept Xiyu ("Western Regions", in modern Xinjiang and central Asia ) kingdoms' pledges of allegiance, an action that had been banned by Wang. Wang, irritated, declared war against Xiongnu. The strategy that he set out was to divide the Xin forces into 12 armies to divide and conquer Xiongnu. Under this scenario, Chanyu Zhi would be attacked and forced to retreat to

2574-522: The Xin, Wang, in anger, executed Deng and his attendants. In 13 CE, Chanyu Zhi died. The powerful official Xubu Dang (須卜當) and his wife Yun, the Princess Yimuo (the daughter of Chanyu Huhanye and Wang Zhaojun ), who advocated peaceful relations with Xin and who were also friendly with Xian, supported Xian as the new Chanyu. Even though Xian was unaware that Wang Mang had executed his son Deng, relations between Xiongnu and Xin remained tense. There

2673-540: The Xiongnu to inform Shanyu Zhi that Wang Mang had become emperor and that Xin had replaced Han. The ambassadors requested that the great seal of the shanyu, which Han had issued, be exchanged for a new seal issued by Xin. The old seal read, "the Great Seal of the Shanyu of Xiongnu" ( 匈奴單于璽 ; Xiongnu Chanyu Xi ); the new seal read "the Seal of the Shanyu of Gongnu of Xin" ( 新恭奴善于章 ; Xin gong nu Shanyu zhang ), changing

2772-508: The Zhou system of five grades of nobility—duke (公, gong ), marquess (侯, hou ), earl (伯, bo ), viscount (子, zi ), and baron (男, nan ). Several members of the imperial Liu clan were naturally suspicious of acting Emperor Wang's intentions. They started or were involved in several failed rebellions against Wang: After Zhai and Liu Xin were defeated, Wang was satisfied that the empire was entirely under his control. So he decided to finally seize

2871-414: The bearer's birth order among male siblings in his family. Thus Confucius , whose name was Kong Qiu ( 孔丘 ), was given the courtesy name Zhongni ( 仲尼 ), where the first character zhong indicates that he was the second son born into his family. The characters commonly used are bo ( 伯 ) for the first, zhong ( 仲 ) for the second, shu ( 叔 ) for the third, and ji ( 季 ) typically for the youngest, if

2970-473: The border regions as they strained to accommodate, over what turned about to be a lengthy period, the men who had arrived, while fruitlessly waiting for the full support of 300,000 to be gathered. In the first stage of this plan, one of the local commanders kidnapped one of Chanyu Zhi's brothers, Xian (咸), the Prince of Zuoliwu (左犁汙王), and his sons Deng (登) and Zhu (助), by trickery. Xian and Zhu were made Chanyus,

3069-464: The capital Chang'an and periodically meet with him to give advice. However, in 5 BCE, Empress Dowager Fu achieved success in her quest for titles. Emperor Ai removed the qualification "of Dingtao" from his father's posthumous title (thus making him simply "Emperor Gong"), and then gave his grandmother a variation of the grand empress dowager title (ditaitaihou (帝太太后), compared to Grand Empress Dowager Wang's title taihuangtaihou (太皇太后)) and his mother

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3168-545: The capital, gave his horses and luxurious carriages to his cousin Wang Rong (王融), the son of his uncle Wang Li (王立), with whom he had a running feud. Wang Li, happy with Chunyu's gift, submitted a petition requesting that Chunyu be allowed to remain at the capital. However, this request was treated with suspicion by Emperor Cheng because he knew of the feud between Wang Li and Chunyu. He ordered Wang Rong to be arrested, and Wang Li knowing this ordered his son to commit suicide in

3267-473: The capital. In 1 CE, after bribing the distant Yueshang tribes (probably in modern southern Vietnam ) to submit offerings of an albino pheasant (considered a rare sign of divine favour), Wang Mang was successful in having his followers persuade Grand Empress Dowager Wang to create him the Duke of Anhan (安漢公). This was despite the Han nobility system not including dukes and no duke had ever been created in Han history up to that point. This action gave Wang Mang

3366-534: The commander of the armed forces (大司馬), at the age of 37. After Wang Mang was promoted to this position, effectively the highest in the imperial government. In this position, all memorials and notes, both serious and minor, first passed through his office and were done by him, then went to the emperor to be approved and rejected, after that, the emperor's edicts were also entrusted to him and were issued with his approval. He became even better known for his self-discipline and promotion of capable individuals than before. As

3465-551: The deposed Empress Xu) in 11 BC. However, both of the sons were murdered in their infancy by orders of Consort Zhao Hede, with at least tacit agreement from Emperor Cheng; Consort Cao was forced to commit suicide after her son was murdered. The report further alleged that the Zhao sisters engaged in many tactics, such as forced abortions, assassinations, and poisonings, to make sure that no other concubine would bear an imperial heir. In 9 BC, still heirless, Emperor Cheng appeared to come to

3564-514: The emperor. In the winter of 5 CE, Wang submitted pepper wine (considered in those days to be capable of chasing away evil spirits) to the 13-year-old emperor, but had the wine spiked with poison. As the emperor was suffering the effects of the poison, Wang wrote a secret petition to the gods, in which he offered to substitute his life for Emperor Ping's, and then had the petition locked away. (Historians generally believed that Wang had two motives in doing this: firstly, in case Emperor Ping recovered from

3663-470: The empire's property, known as wangtian (王田) (meaning Wang's land or the king's land), a system that bore similarity to the well-field system attributed to the Zhou dynasty. Any further real estate transactions were banned, although property owners were allowed to continue possessing their properties. If a household had less than eight members but had one "well" or larger property (about 0.6 km (0.23 sq mi)), then they were required to distribute

3762-409: The eventual breakdown of relationships with the Xiongnu. In the same year, Wang Mang decided to marry his daughter to Emperor Ping to further strengthen his position. Initially, he started a selection process of eligible noble young ladies (after declaring, in accordance with ancient customs, that Emperor Ping would have one wife and 11 concubines). However, in an act of false modesty intended to create

3861-446: The examination process was proceeding, the mayor of South Chang'an submitted a rock with mysterious red writing on it. The message on the rock was "Wang Mang, the Duke of Anhan, should be emperor." In May, Wang had his political allies force Grand Empress Dowager Wang to issue an edict granting him the title of "Acting Emperor" (假皇帝), with a commission to rule as emperor until one of Emperor Xuan's great-great-grandson could be selected as

3960-454: The excess land to fellow clan members, neighbours, or other members of the same village. Criticism of the wangtian system was punishable by exile. The existing aristocracy were not too fond of having their land stripped from them, so they start bribing local officials to keep their lands, and local officials who were landlords themselves also started resisting the wangtian system. Some local officials took this opportunity to take free land from

4059-404: The family consists of more than three sons. General Sun Jian 's four sons, for instance, were Sun Ce ( 伯符 , Bófú), Sun Quan ( 仲謀 , Zhòngmóu), Sun Yi ( 叔弼 , Shūbì) and Sun Kuang ( 季佐 , Jìzuǒ). Reflecting a general cultural tendency to regard names as significant , the choice of what name to bestow upon one's children was considered very important in traditional China. Yan Zhitui of

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4158-558: The first income tax through a 10% tax of net earnings from wild herb and fruit collection, fishing, shepherding, and various nonagricultural activities and forms of trading. People were obligated to report their taxes to the government and officials would audit these reports. The penalty for evading this tax was one year of hard labor and confiscation of the entirety of a person's property. Previously, all Chinese taxes were either head taxes or property taxes , in addition to corvée labour. Because it caused popular discontent, this income tax

4257-440: The first two of the planned 15. Chanyu Zhi became enraged and launched massive attacks against Xin border regions, causing the border regions much distress and economic and human loss. Eventually, Xian escaped back to Xiongnu, but his sons were kept as hostages. After Zhu died, Deng succeeded him. However, in 12 CE, after hearing reports that Xian's other son Jiao (角) had been a successful Xiongnu strategist in military actions against

4356-442: The full support that Wang envisioned). However, after Chanyu Xian found out late in 14 CE that Deng had been executed, he resumed raids against the border regions but maintained a façade of peace. When Wang Mang first became emperor, his ambassadors visited the southwestern tribes (in modern Guizhou , Yunnan , and southwestern Sichuan ), whose chieftains Han had largely granted the titles of princes. Wang's new seals demoted them to

4455-472: The future the Wangs would suffer a popular backlash once Emperor Ping was an adult. In response he formed friendships with Emperor Ping's Wei uncles, and told Consort Wei to offer assurances to Wang Mang that she would not act as Emperor Ai's mother and grandmother did, trying to become an empress dowager. Wang Mang still refused to let her visit the capital. In 3 CE, Wang Yu formed a conspiracy with his teacher, Wu Zhang (吳章), his brother-in-law, Lü Kuan (呂寬), and

4554-495: The gods. He gave Ying the epithet Ruzi , the same epithet that King Cheng of Zhou had when he was in his minority and under the regency of the Duke of Zhou . This was intended to support Wang Mang's claim that he was as faithful as the Duke of Zhou before him. However, Emperor Ruzi did not ascend the throne, but was given the title of crown prince . Empress Wang was given the title empress dowager. As acting emperor, Wang reinstituted

4653-584: The harmonious society he saw in the Chinese classics , his efforts ended in chaos. Wang Mang's late reign saw large-scale peasant rebellions , most notably the revolt of the Red Eyebrows . In October 23 CE, the capital Chang'an was attacked and the imperial palace ransacked. Wang Mang died in the battle. The Han dynasty was re-established in either 23 CE when the Gengshi Emperor took

4752-417: The imperial family, he did not have the luxurious life style that his cousins enjoyed. Unlike his relatives who lived luxuriously and competed with each other on who could spend more, Wang Mang was praised for his humility, thriftiness, and his desire to study. He wore not the clothes of young nobles but those of a young Confucian scholar. He was also praised on how filial he was to his mother and how caring he

4851-600: The imperial government. She put him in charge of the armed forces and the government. They summoned Prince Jizi of Zhongshan (the last surviving male issue of Grand Empress Dowager Wang's husband Emperor Yuan) to the capital to succeed Emperor Ai, and he ascended the throne as Emperor Ping . Wang Mang became his regent . In 1 BCE, Wang Mang, now back in power, took drastic action to attack actual or perceived political enemies: Wang Mang, having thus consolidated his power, began to further build up his personality cult , encouraging others to submit false prophecies in which he

4950-468: The law, both found themselves opposing the new system. Eventually, faced with resistance for both of these policies, Wang was forced to repeal both of them just three years later in 12 CE. In 10 CE, Wang set up a state economic adjustment agency, seeking to control fluctuations in the prices of food and textiles by purchasing excess goods and then selling them when the price went up. The same agency also became responsible for loaning money to entrepreneurs, at

5049-427: The legendary golden age of the early Zhou dynasty as theorised in the Book of Rites . To that end, he modified the governmental structure to better conform with standards attributed to the Zhou. He also continued the regime of modifying geographical names to fit with ancient names (or more euphemistic names). This meant that even imperial edicts discussing the locations by their new names were forced to include notes on

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5148-445: The meanings "ferocious slave" ( 匈奴 ; Xiongnu) to "respectful slave" 恭奴 ; "Shanyu" 單于 (the chief of the tribes) to "Shanyu" 善于 ; and "seal" 璽 to "badge" 章 , implying that the Xiongnu were nothing but a vassal of the Xin. This contrasted with the Han who had been somewhat ambiguous about whether the Xiongnu were a vassal group. Without examining the new seal, Shanyu Zhi agreed to the exchange. The ambassadors, apprehensive that

5247-420: The middle of his panic. This dramatic action only made Emperor Cheng more suspicious. He therefore had Chunyu arrested and interrogated. Chunyu admitted to deceiving Empress Xu and receiving bribes from her, and he was executed. On 16 November 8 BCE, Wang Gen, by was then seriously ill, submitted his resignation and requested that Wang Mang succeed him. On 28 November 8 BCE, Emperor Cheng made Wang Mang

5346-417: The money-based economy came to a halt. Eventually, Wang was forced to abolish all but two kinds of coins: the small coin that had the same value of a Han coin, and the large coin that had the value of 50 small coins. However, despite fairly severe penalties, people lost faith in the Xin dynasty's currency, and continued to use Han coins in an underground trade economy. In 13 CE, during Emperor Wang Mang's rule,

5445-525: The new Emperor. To further bolster his claims, Wang also created a false genealogy, declaring himself a descendant of the Yellow Emperor , a legendary emperor revered in Chinese culture. In the spring of 6 CE, acting Emperor Wang selected the child Ying, then just one year old, as the designated successor to Emperor Ping, claiming that soothsayers told him that Ying was the candidate most favoured by

5544-476: The old names so that the recipients of the edicts could tell what locations he was referring to. As part of this regime, the name of the capital was changed. Chang'an 長安 ; 'eternal peace' was redesignated Chang'an 常安 ; 'constant peace'. The characters are now homophones in Standard Mandarin, but had distinct pronunciations at the time. In 9 CE, Wang Mang promoted his wife Lady Wang to

5643-616: The opposite result, he then petitioned Grand Empress Dowager Wang that his daughter not be considered. Wang Mang then started a petition with the aim of having the Chinese people have his daughter selected as empress. The petitioners stormed the outside of the palace, and Grand Empress Dowager Wang, overwhelmed by the display of affection for Wang Mang, ordered that Wang Mang's daughter be made empress. In 4 CE, Emperor Ping officially married her and made her empress. Wang Mang's son, Wang Yu (王宇), disagreed with his father's dictatorial regime and program to build up his personality cult, afraid that in

5742-422: The penalties would be required to perform work for the state. The new emperor had not accounted for people unable to find work, nor those living in mountainous areas with little work, already struggling to survive. Many old people who wanted to live a quiet life in the mountains were forced to move back in with their children to avoid taxation . In 9 CE, Emperor Wang Mang of the Xin dynasty (9 to 23 CE) established

5841-407: The people and redistribute it amongst their clan members. Farmers who were at first thrilled at the idea of getting free land but found that not only were they not getting free land – because Wang Mang didn't do anything to ensure that local officials were doing their jobs right – in addition to corrupt local officials who were taking the opportunity to take what little land they had left in the name of

5940-629: The poisoning, to use the petition to try to absolve himself of involvement in the poisoning and, secondly, to leave for posterity evidence of his faithfulness to the emperor. After a few days of suffering, Emperor Ping died. Because the young Emperor Ping didn't have any children with his wife Empress Wang or any of his concubines, there were no heir. Also, there were now no surviving male issue from Emperor Ping's grandfather, Emperor Yuan. Emperor Ping's great-grandfather's Emperor Xuan progeny were therefore examined for possible successors. There were 53 great-grandsons of Emperor Xuan then still living but at

6039-506: The position of empress. By this point, only two of her four sons were still alive. The older Wang An ( 王安 ) was described as lacking in talent, so Wang Mang made the younger Wang Lin ( 王臨 ) crown prince , and made Wang An the Lord of Xinjia ( 新嘉辟 ). Wang Mang selected many Confucian scholars to serve as advisors for Crown Prince Lin. Wang, grateful to his aunt Grand Empress Dowager Wang (who, however, resented him for deceiving her and usurping

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6138-487: The rate of three percent per month. Six offices were set up: in Chang'an, Luoyang , Handan , Linzi (modern Zibo , Shandong ), Wancheng (modern Nanyang, Henan ), and Chengdu . In the same year, Wang Mang instituted a "sloth tax": if landowners left their land uncultivated, city dwellers left their houses without trees, or citizens refused to work, they would pay penalties in the form of textile tributes. Those unable to pay

6237-667: The resolution of making either his younger brother Prince Liu Xing of Zhongshan (中山王劉興) or his nephew Prince Liu Xin of Dingtao his heir. Emperor Cheng became convinced that Prince Xin was more capable, and at the same time, Prince Xin's grandmother Consort Fu was endearing herself to Empress Zhao, her sister Hede, and Emperor Cheng's uncle Wang Gen with lavish gifts, and so the Zhaos and Wang Gen both praised Prince Xin as well. Emperor Cheng made Prince Xin crown prince on 20 March 8 BC. Emperor Cheng died suddenly in April 7 BC, apparently from

6336-558: The same family name as Wang Mang which is seen as strong evidence that at this point the taboo against endogamy based on the same family name was not firmly in place in Chinese culture.) However, as later events would show, Wang was not completely faithful to his wife, even at this time. Emperor Cheng appointed his uncles, one after another, to be the commander of the armed forces (the most powerful court official), and speculation grew as to who would succeed Wang Mang's youngest surviving uncle, Wang Gen (王根, commander 12–8 BCE). Wang Mang

6435-413: The same year, Wang abolished slavery to limit the power of the landowning families. Anyone who offended the law will be punished by (paradoxically) being turned a slave. Wang also did not account for the fact that because of the aforementioned "sloth tax" many people would sell themselves into slavery to earn money so they could help their families pay the tax. Following Wang's assassination in 23 CE, slavery

6534-474: The separation between the Western Han dynasty (before Xin) and Eastern Han dynasty (after Xin). Traditional Chinese historiography viewed Wang as a tyrant and usurper, while more recently, some historians have portrayed him as a visionary and selfless social reformer. During his reign, he abolished slavery and initiated a land redistribution program. Though a learned Confucian scholar who sought to implement

6633-404: The side, which drew great ire from Empress Dowager Fu, who then refused to attend the banquet. To soothe her anger, Wang Mang resigned, and Emperor Ai approved his resignation. After this event, the Wangs gradually and inexorably lost their power and Empress Dowager Fu displayed her dominance over her grandson even more. After Wang Mang's resignation, Emperor Ai initially requested him to remain in

6732-452: The son of Wang Gen, back to the capital to assist Grand Empress Dowager Wang. However, Wang Mang was to have no official post and was to exert little influence on politics. Emperor Ai died suddenly in 1 BCE, without an heir. Taking decisive action, Grand Empress Dowager Wang seized power back from Emperor Ai's male favourite and likely lover Dong Xian (who was the commander of the armed forces by this point) and summoned Wang Mang back to

6831-515: The state, and had himself given the nine bestowments (九錫). (The "nine bestowments" would, after Wang Mang, become a customary step for usurpers to receive before they usurped the throne.) Around 5 CE, Emperor Ping, appeared to grow out of the heart condition from which he had suffered as a child. It soon became clear that he resented Wang Mang for killing his uncles and not allowing his mother to visit him in Chang'an . Wang therefore resolved to murder

6930-461: The succeeding Emperor Ping . Wang Mang, who wanted to extinguish all dissent (and who previously bore a grudge against Emperor Ai for demoting him and extended that grudge to those who supported Emperor Ai) had Empress Dowager Zhao demoted from her position as empress dowager to the title of Empress Xiaocheng. A few months later, she was further demoted to a commoner and ordered to guard her husband's tomb. That day, she committed suicide. Her biography

7029-552: The throne and start a new dynasty. In the winter of 8 CE, after receiving a false prophecy written by a criminal named Ai Zhang (哀章) which pretended to be a divine decree from Emperor Gaozu (Liu Bang) stating that the throne should be given to Wang, and that Grand Empress Dowager Wang should follow this divine will, Wang issued a decree accepting the position of emperor, establishing the Xin dynasty . Early in his reign, Emperor Wang Mang confidently sought to implement his ideals of restoring

7128-471: The throne as Emperor Ai. Because the rumors largely centered around Hede and because of her role in Emperor Ai's becoming Emperor Cheng's heir, Empress Zhao was personally unscathed, and Emperor Ai honored her with the title of empress dowager . However, she would have little or no political influence during the reign of Emperor Ai. After the investigative report commissioned by Grand Empress Dowager Wang

7227-399: The throne), continued to honour her as empress dowager, but also gave her an additional title of Wangmu (王母), the same title carried by the mother of King Wen of Zhou , implying that she was also his mother and had helped establish a new dynasty. She died in 13 CE. In 9 CE, Wang Mang instituted a revolutionary land redistribution system, ordering that all land in the empire legally become

7326-591: The throne, or in 25 when Emperor Guangwu of Han took the throne after defeating the Red Eyebrows who had deposed the Gengshi Emperor. Born in 45 BCE, Wang Mang was a son of Wang Man (王曼), a younger brother of Empress Wang Zhengjun , and his wife Qu (渠, family name unknown). His lineage can be traced back to the kings of Qi , whose descendants changed their surname to Wang ( lit. 'king', 'royal') as Qi locals referred to them as

7425-432: The time and they were all adults. Wang Mang disliked the fact that they were all adults as he wanted a child whom he could control. Therefore, he declared that it was inappropriate for members of the same generation to succeed each other (even though Emperor Ping had succeeded his cousin Emperor Ai several years earlier). He then examined the 23 great-great-grandsons of Emperor Xuan—all of whom were infants or children. While

7524-467: The time being, Wang remained in his post and continued to be powerful in the imperial court, as his aunt became grand empress dowager and was influential and powerful. However, that position soon changed. Emperor Ai's grandmother, Princess Dowager Fu of Dingtao (concubine of Grand Empress Dowager Wang's husband Emperor Yuan ) was a domineering with strong personality woman who was able to control her grandson and guide him as she pleases. She greatly wanted

7623-462: The title of empress dowager as well. Initially, Grand Empress Dowager Wang decreed that Princess Dowager Fu and Emperor Ai's mother, Consort Ding, see him every 10 days. However, Princess Dowager Fu soon began to visit her grandson every day, constantly provoking him to her advantage and to the detriment of her opposition, and she insisted that two things be done: that she receive an empress dowager title, and that her relatives be granted titles, just like

7722-796: The title of “Zhaoyi” (second in rank; which meant “the Lady of Bright Deportment”), and received the nearly exclusive affection and proximity of Emperor Cheng. While the sisters initially were jealous of each other, they later reconciled, and continued to dominate the palace together, and both turned the imperial harems into hell, and no one could stop the actions of these two. Their actions made Empress Dowager Wang more dissatisfied with them, but Emperor Cheng continued to support both more and more. However, neither of them would produce any children who could serve as imperial heir—something greatly troubling to Emperor Cheng (whose earlier favorites Empress Xu and Consort Ban were also childless, and no other consort of whom

7821-788: The titles of marquesses. One of the more powerful chieftains, Han (邯), the Prince of Juting (句町王), responded by angrily cutting off relations with Xin. Wang instructed the local commandery governor, Zhou Xin (周歆), to arrange for the killing of Han. In response, Han's brother Cheng (承) started a rebellion, killing Zhou, and starting a campaign of harassment against Xin borders. By 16 CE, the Commandery of Yizhou (modern northeastern Yunnan) had become corrupt while Juting remained powerful. So Wang commissioned two generals, Lian Dan (廉丹) and Shi Xiong (史熊), to attack Juting. They were initially successful, but soon became caught in problems with food supply and disease. However, Wang continued to refuse to reinstitute

7920-570: Was a Chinese courtesan and empress. She was an empress during the Han dynasty . Her husband was Emperor Cheng . She was known in the collective consciousness of Chinese society more for her beauty than for the regal presence that she and her sister, the Consort Zhao Hede engaged in and exuded, but unlike most of the famous beauties in Chinese history (such as the Four Beauties ), she was often vilified by her own sisters. She

8019-462: Was a marquess of Goguryeo, into a meeting with him where he treacherously killed Zou. Wang then changed Gaogouli to the derogatory term "Xiagouli" ( gao means "high", while xia means "low"), and reduced their king's rank to marquess, which further enraged Goguryeo, causing them to attack the Xin northeastern regions with great ferocity. Courtesy name Unlike art names , which are more akin to pseudonyms or pen names , courtesy names served

8118-482: Was a temporary détente in 14 CE, when Xian returned Xin defectors Chen Liang (陳良) and Zhong Dai (終帶), who, as junior army officers in Xiyu, had killed their superiors and surrendered to Xiongnu (perhaps seeking to have Xiongnu help them re-establish Han) so that Wang could execute them. In response, Wang recalled the forces located in the northern regions which were intended to be used to attack Xiongnu (but were never given

8217-431: Was abolished in 22 CE. Wang also instituted a state monopoly on liquor and weapons. Another economic change instituted by Wang – which turned out to be disastrous – was to issue 28 types of coins: made of gold, silver, tortoise shells, cowrie shells, or copper. Because there were so many kinds of coins in comparison to the one kind that the Han used, people were unable to work out which coins were genuine or counterfeit, and

8316-476: Was born in slavery and trained in the performing arts, a background that made her appointment as empress highly controversial. Subsequent persecution by her political enemies eventually led to her being forced to commit suicide. After her death, her reputation was marred by accusations of vicious scheming, murder of other imperial consorts and their offspring, and relentless promiscuity, punctuated by bouts of extravagant shopping. The actual birth date of Zhao Feiyan

8415-488: Was careful not to associate with many people (to prevent false accusations that he was planning a rebellion). In 5 BCE, when his son Wang Huo killed a household servant, Wang Mang ordered him to commit suicide . By 2 BCE, there had been several hundred petitions by commoners and officials requesting Wang Mang's return to the capital. Emperor Ai, who also respected Wang Mang, summoned him and his cousin Wang Ren (王仁),

8514-514: Was considered one of the possibilities, while another was his cousin Chunyu Zhang (a son of Empress Dowager Wang's sister), who had a much closer personal relationship to Emperor Cheng than Wang Mang. Chunyu also had friendly relations with both Emperor Cheng's wife Empress Zhao Feiyan and his deposed former wife Empress Xu . To overcome Chunyu's presumptive hold on succeeding Wang Gen, Wang Mang took action. He collected evidence that Chunyu,

8613-419: Was deposed, and while Consort Ban was able to successfully plead her case, she did not wish to return to the same environment and instead became a lady in waiting for Empress Dowager Wang . The Zhao sisters now dominated the palace and they had captured the love of Emperor Cheng. Emperor Cheng wanted to make Feiyan the new empress, but Empress Dowager Wang complained about her low birth and prior occupation as

8712-418: Was even higher than what Empress Xu received early in Emperor Cheng's reign, which was later reduced in 28 BC, although it remained unchanged for Feiyan until the end of Emperor Cheng's reign. Zhao Feiyan as empress, acquired all things with very great luxury and her position and performance in the palace was safe and powerful. However, she began to lose favor from Emperor Cheng, while her sister Hede had acquired

8811-541: Was known to have had children). It was alleged that Empress Zhao, with her sister covering for her, often engaged in adulterous acts with men who were known to have fathered many children, in hopes of becoming pregnant. Empress Zhao and her sister Hede would also be alleged to have been involved in something even more sinister around this period. Based on an investigative report later authored in 6 BC (after Emperor Cheng's death), Emperor Cheng had two sons—one born to Consort Cao in 12 BC and one born to Consort Xu (a relative of

8910-408: Was like a flying swallow . Circa 19 BC, Emperor Cheng was visiting Princess Yang'a when he saw both her and her sister Hede, and he became enamored with them. He had both of them sent to his palace, and they became greatly favored imperial consorts, and they took his affection away from Empress Xu and Consort Ban . In 18 BC, they falsely accused Empress Xu and Consort Ban of witchcraft; Empress Xu

9009-622: Was mentioned as the second coming of Ji Dan, the Duke of Zhou and the regent for King Cheng of Zhou , or other great mythical personalities. He also began a regime of modifying the governmental structure to recall the governments of the Zhou dynasty and the even more ancient Shang dynasty . This included numerous changes to officials' titles and even to geographical locations. To prevent Emperor Ping's maternal Wei clan uncles from becoming powerful, he ordered that they, along with Emperor Ping's mother, Consort Wei , not be allowed to visit Emperor Ping in

9108-475: Was often compared and contrasted with Yang Guifei , the concubine of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang , because she was known for her slender build while Yang was known for her full build. This led to the Chinese idiom huanfei yanshou (環肥燕瘦, literally "plump Huan, slender Fei"), which describes the range of the types of beauties. Later, the idiom was also used as a figurative expression on literary styles that can be either verbose or sparse, but were equally effective. She

9207-553: Was on very friendly relations with Emperor Ai's domineering grandmother Consort Fu (who had now insisted on, and receiving, the title of grand empress dowager as well). Some of her relatives, instead of going into exile, were hidden by Grand Empress Dowager Wang's nephew Wang Ren (王仁), but after they were discovered, Wang was punished by being sent back to his march . In August 1 BC, Emperor Ai died. In decisive action, Grand Empress Dowager Wang seized power back from Emperor Ai's favorite Dong Xian and made her nephew Wang Mang regent to

9306-405: Was published in 6 BC, accusing Consort Zhao Hede of the atrocities against the other imperial consorts and their children (and implicitly, although not directly, accusing Empress Dowager Zhao of the same thing), Empress Dowager Zhao's family was exiled, and the marquess titles granted to her brother and her nephew were removed. However, Empress Dowager Zhao herself was spared, particularly because she

9405-489: Was reinstituted. The first sign of irritation came sometime before 10 CE when the Xin director of Wuhuan affairs informed the Wuhuan tribes not to pay further tribute to Xiongnu. In response, Xiongnu carried out a punitive military raid against Wuhuan, capturing about 1,000 women and children to serve as hostages. Later, on Wang Mang's orders, the Xiongnu were forced to return the Wuhuan hostages. Wang sent his ambassadors to

9504-499: Was sometimes adopted by Mongols and Manchus during the Qing dynasty . The choice of a courtesy name was significant, intended to express moral integrity and respect within the cultural context. A courtesy name is a name traditionally given to Chinese men at the age of 20 sui , marking their coming of age . It was sometimes given to women, usually upon marriage. The practice is no longer common in modern Chinese society. According to

9603-885: Was then executed. Wang Mang subsequently executed Wu Zhang and the entire Wei clan, except for Consort Wei. It is not known what happened to Lü Kuan, but it is unlikely he could have escaped death. Wang Mang took this opportunity to wipe out other potential enemies. Wang Yu and Lü's co-conspirators were tortured with anyone who they mentioned being arrested, and then either executed or forced to commit suicide. The victims of this purge included Emperor Yuan's sister, Princess Jingwu (敬武長公主), Wang Mang's uncle, Wang Li, and his cousin, Wang Ren. He falsely advised Grand Empress Dowager Wang that they had died of illnesses. Many other officials who were not willing to follow Wang Mang were victimized in this purge. After this, Wang Mang's hold on power became absolute. In 5 CE, Wang Mang revived an ancient ceremony intended for those who had made great contributions to

9702-460: Was therefore given the post of imperial attendant (黃門郎) and later promoted to be one of the subcommanders of the imperial guards (射聲校尉). In 16 BCE, another of Wang Mang's uncles, Wang Shang (王商) the Marquess of Chengdu, submitted a petition to divide part of his march and to make Wang Mang a marquess. Several well-regarded officials concurred in this request, and Emperor Cheng was impressed with Wang Mang's reputation. He therefore made Wang Mang

9801-474: Was to the wife and son of his deceased brother Wang Yong ( 王永 ). Wang Mang befriended many capable people and served his uncles conscientiously. When Wang Mang's powerful uncle, commander of the armed forces Wang Feng ( 王鳳 ; 33–22 BCE) grew ill, Wang Mang cared for him day and night and attended to his medical and personal needs. Wang Feng was touched, and before his death, he asked Empress Dowager Wang and Emperor Cheng to take good care of Wang Mang. Wang Mang

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