xin2

漢

WANG MANG'S XIN DYNASTY 

AD 9 – 23 Xīn-huángdì Wáng Mǎng Jùjūn (新 皇帝 王 莽 巨君) Xīn Emperor. Born in 46, Wáng Mǎng was a filial and intelligent member of a powerful clan of Imperial-in-Laws; his aunt, the Empress Dowager was the highest ranking woman at the Han court. As such he filled a number of roles in the Imperial bureaucracy: Gentleman of the Yellow Gates, Archery Drill Colonel, Cavalry Commandant, Counsellor of the Palace and Palace Attendent. In 16 BC he was made Marquis of Xīndū (新都侯). At the death of his uncle in 8 BC he was appointed Grand Marshal; the highest office of state. However, after the accession in 7 BC of Āidì, who was not directly related to the Wáng clan, as the Thirteenth Emperor, his clan's power waned and he lived in the countryside until 1 BC when Píngdì a direct relative and an infant, acceded as the Fourteenth Emperor. Once more Grand Marshal, he also served as defacto Regent. He adopted the guise of the ideal Confucian minister and grew increasingly popular with the bureau. In AD 1 the bureaucracy declared him Senior Tutor to the Emperor, and Duke Ānhàn (安漢公), the title of Duke associated him with the ancient ideal minister, the Duke of Zhou, and making him the highest ranking noble in China, while the title itself, meaning "Han Peace", announcing his guiding role to the dynasty. Everyone say that the way to get ahead was to recommend honours for this up-and-coming minister. Hundreds of thousands of submissions reached the Emperor Píngdì requesting that Wáng Mǎng be granted further honours and powers; the last of these was an official appointment as Regent. Emperor Píngdì died suddenly, in AD 6; a new royal infant was found, but he was never enthroned. Wáng Mǎng progressively adopted more and more trappings of Imperial rule, always "on behalf of" the unthroned infant; this included the regnal title of Jū-shè (居攝). A series of portents convinced Wáng Mǎng that the Mandate of Heaven had passed from the Han Dynasty to himself and, finally, in AD 9 he declared himself Emperor of the Xīn, meaning 'New,' Dynasty. 

The ideal minister continued to behave strictly according to Confucian precepts - and in doing so proved not to be an ideal Emperor. In foreign relations, Wáng Mǎng adopted a haughty tone towards the powerful Xiongnu nomads, sending them a new seal proclaiming their ruler a Chinese vassal. Raids followed and Wáng Mǎng planned a major counter-invasion of the Xiongnu and many other nomadic people. Many in the army balked at this and deserted, taking up banditry. Internally, he initiated a number of reforms: informing on senior officials was encouraged, the autonomous kingdoms were abolished to be governed like other provinces, the sale of land and slaves was abolished, the number of state-run monopolies was increased, prices for basic goods were fixed, private ownership of gold was banned, and coinage was reformed (twice, because the first run was deemed inauspiscious). These were idealistic attempts to prevent the private accumulation of wealth, but they were ineffective at best and inspired famine and rebellion at worst. Even had they been effective, the fate of the new dynasty was sealed in AD 11 when the dykes of the Yellow River, which rose far above their floodplain, leaky, weak, and in desperate need of attention for generations, finally burst. Together with his economic reforms the result was widespread devestation and famine. The peasantry took up banditry, and from AD 21 rebelled outright. The Capital swelled with angry refugees. In AD 23, a further rebellion, organised by a member of the ousted Han Dynasty, flared up, capturing several cities and defeating Wáng Mǎng's generals in battle. Wáng Mǎng sunk into despair; publically appealing to Heaven to save his Dynasty or strike him down. Heaven chose the latter course - his generals were defeated and the armies of the restored Han Dynasty advanced on the Capital. His last troops deserted, refugees set his palace and family temples alight and he was slain in the hopeless fighting that followed. His corpse was ripped apart and his head displayed in the marketplace.

He married (first) a daughter of Yíchūn-hóu Wáng Xian Zhangbó (宜春侯 王 咸 長伯), Marquis of Yichun and Superintendent of Ceremonial (26 – 25). 

He took as concubine (first) Zēngzhì (增秩). 

He took as concubine (second) Huáinéng (懷能). 

He took as concubine (third) Kāimíng (開明).

He took as concubine (fourth?) Yuánbì (原碧), who had relations and plotted rebellion with Wáng Mǎng's disgraced son in AD 21.

In AD 23 he married (second), a daughter of Shi Chen