Xin dynasty
Xin dynasty
新朝 | |||||||||
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9–23 | |||||||||
Xin dynasty | |||||||||
Capital | Chang'an | ||||||||
Government | Monarchy | ||||||||
Emperor | |||||||||
• 9-23 | Wang Mang | ||||||||
History | |||||||||
• Wang Mang usurpation | 10 January[1] 9 | ||||||||
• Chang'an captured by Lülin | 5 October[2] 23 | ||||||||
Currency | Chinese coin, gold, silver, tortoise shell, seashell | ||||||||
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Today part of |
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The Xin dynasty (/ʃɪn/; Chinese: 新朝; pinyin: Xīn Cháo; Wade–Giles: Hsin Ch'ao; literally: "new dynasty") was a Chinese dynasty (termed so despite having only one emperor) which lasted from 9 to 23 AD.[3] It interrupted the Han dynasty, dividing it into the periods of the Western Han and the Eastern Han.
The sole emperor of the Xin dynasty, Wang Mang (chinese 王莽) was the nephew of Grand Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun. After the death of her step-grandson Emperor Ai in 1 BC, Wang Mang rose to power. After several years of cultivating a personality cult, he finally proclaimed himself emperor in 9 AD. However, while a creative scholar and politician, he was an incompetent ruler, and it aroused the discontent of many people. After a while, the country became poor, and the peasants, merchants, and descendants of the former imperial clan rebelled. Despite the fact that Wang Mang had twice the number of soldiers and had a sturdy city wall surrounding his capital of Chang'an, the rebels used an ingenious invention to get over the city walls into the city and defeated his army. He died soon after the siege, and the Han dynasty was restored by descendants of the former imperial clan.
Personal name | Portrait | Period of reign | Era names and dates |
---|---|---|---|
Wang Mang | 9–23 AD |
Shijianguo (始建國; Shǐ Jìan Guó; "Start to establish a nation") 9–13 AD |
Notes
- ↑ Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 36.
- ↑ Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 39.
- ↑ Perkins, Dorothy (2013-11-19). Encyclopedia of China: History and Culture. Routledge. ISBN 9781135935627.
References
- Book of Han, vol. 99, parts 1, 2, 3.
- Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 36, 37, 38, 39.
- Yap, Joseph P. Wars With the Xiongnu - A translation from Zizhi tongjian Chapter 13–17 - pp 404–601 ISBN 978-1-4490-0605-1 (sc)