Please give me some historical information about Wang Mang

Wang Mang (45 BC - October 6, 23 AD), also known as Jujun, accepted the abdication of the Liu family of the Han Dynasty and established the new dynasty (reigned from 9 AD to 23 AD). Known as the New Mang Emperor in history. Later, after the end of the New Dynasty, the Han Dynasty restored its power. Historians generally believe that Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty and established the New Dynasty, but some historians believe that he was a far-sighted and selfless social reformer[

Life

Wang Mang, courtesy name Jujun, was a native of Yuancheng, Wei County (east of Daming County, Hebei Province). The nephew of Wang Zhengjun, the empress of Han Yuan Dynasty. His father Wang Man passed away when he was young, and soon his brother also passed away. Wang Mang was filial to his mother and respected his sister-in-law. He lived a frugal life, read poetry and books, and made friends with wise men. His reputation spread far and wide.

Wang Mang was extremely respectful to his uncle Wang Feng, who held the position of Grand Sima. Before Wang Feng died, he asked Wang Zhengjun to take care of Wang Mang. In the 22nd year before Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty, Wang Mang first served as Huang Menlang and was later promoted to Shesheng Xiaowei. Corporal Wang Mang was a courteous and virtuous man who was honest and frugal. He often distributed his salary to his retainers and the poor, and even sold his carriage to help the poor. He was deeply loved by everyone. His uncle Wang Shang wrote a letter willing to give up part of his fiefdom to Wang Mang. In the first year of Yongshi (16 BC), he was granted the titles of Xinduhou, Qiduwei and Guanglu Dafu Shizhong. In the first year of Suihe (8 BC), he succeeded his three uncles and became the Grand Sima at the age of 38. The following year, Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty died. After Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty succeeded to the throne, Queen Ding's relatives gained power, and Wang Mang abdicated and lived in seclusion in Xinye. During this period, his son killed a domestic slave, and Wang Mang forced his son to commit suicide, which was well received by the world.

Two years ago, Wang Mang returned to the capital to live. Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty died one year ago and left no heirs. Wang Zhengjun held the imperial seal, and Wang Mang was appointed Grand Sima, in charge of military orders and the imperial army. He established Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty and won the support of both the government and the public. In 1 year, Wang Mang accepted the title of "Anhan Gong" after repeatedly declining, and transferred his salary to more than 20,000 people. In 3 years, Wang Mang's daughter became the queen. In the fourth year of the Yuan Dynasty (4th year), he was given the title of prime minister, ranking above the princes and princes. He vigorously promoted the education of etiquette and music, gained the support of Confucian scholars, and was awarded Jiuxi. In the fifth year of the Han Dynasty, Wang Mang poisoned Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty and established the two-year-old Ru Ziying as the crown prince. The Empress Dowager ordered Wang Mang to act as the emperor in the government, calling him the "false emperor" or "photographer emperor". Since Zhai Yi raised an army against Wang Mang in the second year of residence (6 years), people have been trying to persuade Wang Mang to advance under various pretexts. In the first year of the founding of the People's Republic of China (the 8th year), Wang Mang proclaimed himself emperor after accepting Ru Ziying's abdication. He changed the name of the country to "Xin" and changed Chang'an to Chang'an. This was the first year of the founding of the People's Republic of China (the 9th year) [January 15, 9, is the tenth day of the first year of the founding of the People's Republic of China. On the first day of February, Wang Mang changed it to the first day of the first month of the first year of the founding of the People's Republic of China]. Wang Mang became the first emperor in Chinese history who usurped the throne. Since the traditional view of history despises usurping the throne as a method of transferring power, Wang Mang has since been described as a hypocrite by Chinese historians.

After he became the emperor, he implemented the New Deal by imitating the system of the Zhou Dynasty. He repeatedly changed the currency system, changed the official system and official names, restored the well field system under the name of Wangtian system, and integrated salt, iron, wine, currency systems, and mountains, forests, and rivers. It was nationalized and restored to the Zhou ritual model of the Western Zhou Dynasty. "Today, the fields in the world are renamed the king's fields, and the slaves and maids are called the private property, and they are not allowed to be bought or sold." Because the policies were often roundabout and inconsistent with the actual situation, the people suffered harm before benefiting from them, which constantly aroused dissatisfaction among the nobles and common people in the world.

In addition, Wang Mang’s foreign policy is extremely inappropriate. He downgraded the rulers of the Xiongnu, Goguryeo, the Western Regions, and the southwestern barbarians who had originally submitted to the Han Dynasty from "kings" to "hous". He also took back and destroyed the "Seal of the Xiongnu Chanyu" and awarded it to the "New Xiongnu Chanyu Seal"; he even changed the name of the Xiongnu Chanyu to "Submit to the Nu" and changed the name of Goguryeo to "Xiaguryeo". Therefore, all countries refused to surrender to the new dynasty. This resulted in endless wars on the border.

In the fourth year of Tianfeng's reign (17th year), farmers from all over the country rose up, forming a large-scale resistance in Chimei and Green Forest. In the fourth year of Emperor Di Huang's reign (23rd year), Wang Mang held a crying ceremony in the southern suburbs. In the same year, the Green Forest Army invaded Chang'an. Wang Mang was killed by businessman Du Wu in the chaos. His head was beheaded by the school lieutenant Gongbin and hung in Wan City. The new dynasty perished.

[edit] Evaluation

In Chinese history, Wang Mang's evaluation is generally not high. He is generally considered to be just a "hypocrite" and a sinner through the ages. This is evident from the fact that the "Book of Han", one of the Twenty-Four Histories, lists Wang Mang as a "rebellious minister". The evaluation of later generations was largely influenced by historians of the Later Han Dynasty.

In fact, Wang Mang himself usurped the Han Dynasty to gain the throne, and at the same time he was destroyed by the Han clan. From the perspective of the Han Dynasty's political power, it is not surprising that Wang Mang was regarded as a "rebellious traitor". His various actions before he obtained the throne were regarded as the reasons for Wang Mang to be regarded as a "rebellious traitor". For example, he killed Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty and established Ru Ziying as emperor.

Hu Shi, a recent scholar, began to vindicate Wang Mang: "Wang Mang was China's first socialist." He agreed with Wang Mang's three major policies of state-owned land, equalization of property, and abolition of slavery. "Wang Mang accepted Nineteen hundred years of injustice have not yet been fairly resolved. His noble family member Wang Anshi was reviled for a while, but someone had already redressed his injustice. However, Wang Mang was a great politician, and his courage and skill were far away. Above Wang Anshi...it is pitiful that such a diligent and conscientious person, who "cannot do nothing" by nature and wants to "equalize the common people, suppress and merge", died on the beheading platform in the end...no one said a word of justice for him "[2] ※However, in fact, many of the policies that Wang Mang actually implemented ran counter to Hu Shi's so-called socialists, such as superstitious governance (from the Regency to the Xin Mang era, visions and Fu Rui were prevalent, and until the Xin Mang Dynasty, In the late Mang Dynasty, the original government decrees, reign titles, etc. were changed due to strange phenomena, which was no different from the feudal dynasties of the past), and the so-called equalization of land system was actually the royal land system, which was still very different from the land reform advocated by socialism. contradict each other. To be fair, Wang Mang's ideals and actual policies can only be described as "retrospective", which includes all religions and legal systems, all of which are retrograde to the Western Zhou system of the Neolithic Age (Wangtian, divination, and witchcraft are all without exception) ). The Western Zhou Dynasty system was the ancestor of the complete "feudal system" that was completely contrary to socialism. Hu Shi's argument is not only crude, but also far from the facts~

But from another perspective, Wang Mang is also a scholar-like politician. The New Deal implemented by Wang Mang after he came to the throne was mostly designed to imitate the system of the Zhou Dynasty. For example, he repeatedly changed the currency system, changed the official system and official names, restored the well field system under the name of Wang Tian System, and combined the salt, iron, wine, currency system, mountains, forests, and rivers. The nationalization is a continuous restoration of the Zhou ritual model of the Western Zhou Dynasty. However, ancient and modern customs are different, and the environments are different. New laws derived from ancient systems may not always be in time and appropriateness. These new policies all violated the laws of history, so their failure to implement them was a historical necessity. So from this perspective, Wang Mang is a politician who is retrograde in everything and divorced from reality. Just as historian Qian Mu said: "Wang Mang's politics is completely the politics of a scholar."

History in the United States Huang Renyu, a scholar, pointed out that from the series of edicts issued by Wang Mang after he ascended the throne, it can be seen that Wang Mang's policies were completely out of touch with the actual environment at the time and lacked appropriate employment arrangements. He commented sarcastically on Wang Mang in "The Great History of China": "He believed in Chinese classics and really thought that the pyramid could be built upside down.

After Wang Mang became emperor, he carried out many reforms, but the decrees were cumbersome and The reforms failed, leading to the fall of the new dynasty. The following are the reforms during Wang Mang's reign:

Land reform-Wang Tian system: Wang Mang proposed to limit private land holdings, and the excess was state-owned. The government allocated one hundred acres to one man, but it was completely unenforceable. The purpose was to solve the serious problem of land annexation since the late Western Han Dynasty.

Ban the reward of slaves

Promote state-owned enterprises.

Reforming the Currency System

The New Dynasty was the first in Chinese history to usurp the throne to become emperor. Because the traditional view of history despises usurping the throne as a method of transferring power, rather than gaining power through war and revolution. Since then, Wang Mang has been famous for being described as a hypocrite by Chinese historians. Wang Mang was the only one in charge of the entire New Dynasty, and was eventually replaced by the Eastern Han Dynasty established by Liu Xiu, a clan member of the Han Dynasty.

Ancient Chinese historians have a negative opinion of the New Dynasty. The evaluations of Wang Mang were almost all negative, especially the "Book of Han" regarded Wang Mang as a traitor and traitor. Later generations also evaluated Wang Mang from the perspective of the Book of Han, and it was not until the late Qing Dynasty that the evaluation changed.

Establishment

The idea of ??abdicating the throne and changing the name of Yuan Dynasty to the new era has a long history in the Western Han Dynasty. As early as the third year of Yuanfeng, Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty (78 BC), Suihong borrowed the large stone of Mount Tai to stand on his own and the resting place of Shanglin Garden. Withered Willow Zili was born and attached to the meeting and said, "The former teacher Dong Zhongshu said that although there is a successor who keeps the text, it will not harm the saint's appointment. After Yao of the Han Dynasty, there was a destiny to spread the country.

The Emperor of the Han Dynasty asked who sent all over the world to seek out sages, Zen [3] took the throne, and retreated to Baili, like the Queen of Yin Zhou, in order to obey the destiny of heaven. [4] When the Han Dynasty became emperor, "Qi people Gan Zhongke fraudulently created the Tianguan Calendar and Bao Yuan Taiping Jing in twelve volumes, saying that "the Han family is facing the end of heaven and earth, and should be ordered by heaven, and the emperor of heaven will make the real person "Red sperm, please teach me this way." Zhongping can be taught by Xia Heliang, Rongqiu Dingguangshi, Dongjun Guochang, etc. Liu Xiangzhong, the captain of the middle base, can pretend to be ghosts and deceive the public. . [4] At the time of Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty, Xia Heliang, a disciple of Gan Zhongke, and others stated, "As he declined in the Han Dynasty, he should receive more orders. The emperor did not obey the destiny of heaven, so he had no heirs. Your majesty is suffering from illness and has mutated frequently, so God is condemning people." "If you change the name of the Yuan Dynasty in a hurry, you will be able to live longer, and the prince will be born, but the disaster will be gone. If you can't do it, you will die. There will be no floods, and the fire will come to wipe out the people." So Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty changed the name to the Yuan Dynasty. The general was named "Emperor Chen Sheng and Liu Taiping. The scale is one hundred and twenty." Later, because there was no response, Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty executed Xia Heliang and others. [4][5] It can be seen from these claims that the theory Wang Mang relied on when he established the new dynasty had its origins and was not a new theory of Wang Mang's time.

In the first year of Emperor Yongshi of the Han Dynasty (16 BC), Wang Mang was granted the title of Marquis of the New Capital. On the night of Wuwu in June of the second year of Yuanshou of Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty (1 BC), Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty was dying. On the order of the Empress Dowager, Wang Mang was introduced to the Weiyang Palace as the new capital prince; Geng Shen was worshiped as the Grand Sima, filling the third public position. On Bingchen of the first month of the first year of the Yuan Dynasty (1st year) of Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty, when the Empress Dowager came to the court to take the throne, Wang Mang worshiped him as Taifu, gave him the title Anhan Gong, and prepared four auxiliary officers. In April Jiazi of the fourth year of the Yuan Dynasty (4th year), Wang Mang was worshiped as Prime Minister and became a Duke. At this time, he was "titled Marquis of Xindu, titled Anhan Gong, and his official titles were Prime Minister, Taifu, and Grand Sima." Engraved with the seal of "Prime Minister Da Sima", he holds a heavy handle and has power over the government and the public. After Wang Mang gained considerable power, he gradually began to implement restructuring while further consolidating his power. [6]

On the fifth day of the fifth month of the Yuan Dynasty (Year 5), the Empress Dowager gave Wang Mang Nine Tins. In the autumn of the same year, Liu Qing, Marquis of Quanling, wrote: "King Cheng of Zhou is a young boy, and he is called Ruzi. The Duke of Zhou is here to take care of him. Now that the emperor is rich in the Spring and Autumn Period, he orders Duke Anhan to do the things of the emperor, just like Duke Zhou." All the officials said: "Jin is like Qing. "In December of that year, Emperor Ping died and he was granted amnesty. In the same month, Qianhui Guang thanked the martial arts commander Meng Tong for dredging the well and obtained the white stone. Taibao Wang Shun and others immediately ordered the Queen Mother to issue an edict: "...Now Qian Huiguang Hey, the talisman of the martial arts Changtong Shangyan Danshi, I thought deeply about it, and said that "being an emperor" means taking care of the emperor's affairs. He has the law to make things easy, and he who is not a saint has the law to make Anhan Gongju. According to the story of Duke Zhou, Wugong County was chosen as the land of Anhan Gong, and it was named Han Guangyi." This gave Wang Mang the status of photographing the emperor's affairs. After hearing the report from the ministers, Wang Mang was able to "live in Jian Zuo and serve as the emperor's crown prince. He carried an ax and rested on the roof of the house. He faced the ministers in the south and listened to political affairs. Chariots and uniforms came and went on guard, and the people and ministers called them concubines. They were all like the emperor. The system of worshiping heaven and earth in the suburbs, worshiping in the Mingtang, worshiping in the ancestral temple, and worshiping the gods. He praised him as the "fake emperor", and the people called him "the emperor", and called himself "yu" to settle the affairs of the court. The emperor's edict was called "Zhi", in order to obey the emperor and heaven, support the Han Dynasty, protect the young heirs of Emperor Xiaoping, and then entrust him with the meaning of long Zhiping. . Since the administration of the imperial family, it is like the story of the etiquette of the princes. "In the fifth month of the first year of Jushe (6th year), the Queen Mother ordered Mang to meet the Queen Mother and call her "the false emperor." [6]

In the third year of residence (8th year), Wang Mang invited the Queen Mother and obtained the "Bronze Talisman and Silk Picture", and used this to "invite the Queen Mother to visit the Shenzhi Ancestral Temple and report to the Emperor." The Empress Dowager and Empress Xiaoping are both called false emperors. They give orders to the world, and they do not say anything about "photographing". Raise a child, make him a king of Zhou Dynasty, declare the great power of the Empress Dowager to all directions, and educate him in the hope of wealth. [6]

In the eleventh month of the first year of the first year (8th year), on Wuchen, Mangzhigao Temple worshiped the God of the Golden Chamber, wore the crown, paid a visit to the Queen Mother, and sat in the front hall of Weiyang Palace, writing a letter: "It is unethical to entrust the emperor's first ancestor to test the descendants of the Yellow Emperor, and the emperor's descendants, and the last descendants of the empress dowager. The emperor and heaven God showed great blessings, established the order of the order, the symbols and pictures, and the golden book. The gods' edicts are given to the people of the world.

The spirit of Emperor Gao of the Han clan, the Red Emperor, inherits the mandate of heaven and transmits the book of the country's financial policy. I am so afraid that I dare not accept it! Directly determined by Wuchen, the Royal Crown will be the true emperor, and it will definitely have the title of Xin in the world. Its corrections are easy to change, and it is easy to change colors, change sacrifices, have special emblems, and have different systems. The twelfth lunar month is the first lunar month of the first year of the founding of the People's Republic of China, and the rooster's crow is the time. The color of the uniform should be yellow, and the sacrifice should be white. The flags of the envoy should all be pure yellow, and the inscription is "New Envoy Five Power Festival" to honor the majesty of the Emperor and God. ” [6] Here Wang Mang adopts the theory of the end of the Five Virtues and explains it according to the mutual generation of the five elements. The Han Dynasty is the fire virtue and the New Dynasty is the earth virtue; Liu Bang is the Red Emperor, and Wang Mang is the successor of the Yellow Emperor and Yu Emperor.

On the first day of the first lunar month of the first year of the founding of the People's Republic of China, "The Marshal Gonghou and his ministers presented the Empress Dowager's seal to the Empress Dowager and followed her orders to go to the Han Dynasty."[7]

[edit] Politics

In November of the second year of the founding of the People's Republic of China (10th year), the founding general Sun Jian, in view of the Liu family's rebellion in various places in the Han Dynasty, suggested that "the Liu family should be divided according to the number of their households." The fifth rank will be dismissed; all those who are officials will be removed from the family. "Wang Mang said, "Yes. The master of Jiaxin Duke has given Fu Ming as his four assistants, Mingdehou Liu Gong, Lilihou Liu Jia and other thirty-two. Everyone knows that if you offer heavenly talismans, pay tribute, or arrest rebels, you will have great achievements. Those who have the same ancestor as Liu and the thirty-two people should not be dismissed, and they will be given the surname "King of Weiguo". The teacher married a woman to Mangzi, so she did not give her a surname. She changed her title to Queen Mother Huang, which was different from the Han Dynasty. "[7]

In the second year of the founding of the country (10 years), General Zhen was replaced. Feng's son Zhen Xun (then the Shizhong Jingzhao Dayin and Maodehou) was dissatisfied with his father's low reward, so he made a fortune teller and said that the new family should be divided into Shaanxi and establish two uncles. Feng was named the right uncle, and Taifu Pingyan was the left uncle. , such as the story of Zhou Zhao." (Yan Shigu said: "Those who divide Shaanxi want to follow the stories of Zhou Gong and Zhao Gong, and call the princess from the east of Shaanxi, and call the princess from the west of Shaanxi. Shaanxi is now Shaanxi Province, and this is its place. ) Wang Mang immediately followed him and worshiped Zhen Feng as his right uncle; then he arrested Zhen Xun because he made a fortune teller and falsely claimed that the head of the Huang royal family was his wife. The murder case broke out, Zhen Xun fled, and Zhen Feng committed suicide. Huashan, he was captured at the age of more than 10 years old. He resigned from the State Master Xinzi to serve the Middle East psychic general, Longwei Hou Fen, the fifth minister official, Fen's younger brother Youcao Changshui captain of the army defeated the captive Hou Yong, and Zuoguan general Tangwei Houyi, the younger brother of the great minister Kongyi, As well as Ding Long, a member of the Xinmen family, he led the ministers, relatives and princes, and hundreds of people died. ""Shang Shu Shun Dian" says: "Shun "went to Youzhou to work, and went to Chongshan for pleasure. "Three seedlings fled to Sanwei, Gun was killed in Yushan, and the four crimes were punished by the world." Wang Mang followed Shun's old example of punishing workers and others, "Floated in Youzhou, released Xun in Sanwei, and killed Long in Yushan. His corpse was carried in all the post carriages and passed down to the clouds. "[7] In that year, "Yao Xun, the Marquis of Chumu, was appointed as the general of Ningshi." Zhen Feng, who had committed suicide, had no one to replace him.

Han Dynasty Volume 12: Chronicles of Ping Emperor No. 12

Biography Volume 99, Part 1 of Wang Mang’s Biography, Part 69 of Volume 99, Part 1 of Wang Mang’s Biography, Part 69 of Volume 99

Volume 99 of Part 2 of Wang Mang’s Biography, Part 69 of Volume 99