Xin dynasty: A Visual History

The Xin ('new') dynasty was the reign of Wang Mang, a nephew of a Han empress dowager who rose through regency to take the throne for himself in 9 AD. Presenting himself as a restorer of ancient Confucian institutions, he nationalised land, abolished private slave trading, reformed the currency repeatedly and set up state monopolies. The reforms caused chaos; a change in the Yellow River's course brought famine; the Red Eyebrows and Han loyalists rose; and Wang Mang was killed in his palace in 23 AD.

When it existed: the era ribbon

The bold bar is Xin dynasty. The lighter bars are empires and wars from the same era and the same part of the world. Click any bar to jump to its page.

Registered population before and after the Xin

The 2 AD Han census versus the first Eastern Han figures show the scale of disruption (and of registration breakdown).

Timeline of the Xin dynasty

1. 1
   Wang Mang becomes regent
2. 9
   Xin dynasty proclaimed
3. 9-12
   Land and slave reformsRepealed by 12 AD.
4. 11
   Yellow River changes course
5. 17
   Red Eyebrows rise
6. 23
   Kunyang and the fall of Chang'anWang Mang killed.

The regent who took the throne

Wang Mang built a reputation for modesty and Confucian virtue, became regent for a child emperor in 1 AD and for an infant in 6 AD, and encouraged a stream of omens and petitions urging him to rule. In January 9 AD he accepted the Mandate of Heaven and proclaimed the Xin dynasty, claiming to be the reincarnation of the Duke of Zhou.

Reforms

Wang Mang declared all land the property of the state and tried to redistribute it in the ancient 'well-field' pattern, forbade the buying and selling of slaves, introduced a bewildering series of new coins (28 denominations at one point), created monopolies on salt, iron, coinage and forests, and issued state loans. Landowners resisted, merchants hoarded, and the reforms were largely repealed within three years, but not before wrecking confidence.

Flood, famine and fall

Around 11 AD the Yellow River shifted course south of the Shandong peninsula, flooding vast areas and creating millions of refugees. Peasant bands like the Red Eyebrows and Han imperial descendants like Liu Xiu rebelled. Wang Mang's army was routed at Kunyang in 23 AD, rebels stormed Chang'an that October, and he was killed and beheaded in his palace. Two years of chaos later, Liu Xiu restored the Han.

Related empires and wars

Chosen automatically by overlap in time and geography, plus a few hand picked connections.

Empires of the same era and region

• Western Han dynasty (202 BC to 9)
• Eastern Han dynasty (25 to 220)
• Xiongnu Empire (209 BC to 93)
• Northern Xiongnu (48 to 155)

8 surprising things about the Xin dynasty

1. Wang Mang is the only Chinese emperor to have his dynasty consist of himself alone.
2. He issued 28 different denominations of coin, tortoise shells and cowries at one point; the population reverted to barter.
3. His reforms have led some modern writers to call him China's first socialist, though he saw himself as restoring antiquity.
4. The Yellow River's shift in his reign was among the most catastrophic in Chinese history, and helped set off the rebellions.
5. His head was kept in the imperial treasury for nearly 300 years until it burned in a fire in 295 AD.
6. Wang Mang had a captured Xiongnu chief's title changed to 'Surrendered Slave of the Xiongnu', which helped provoke war.
7. He is said to have dyed his hair and beard black to appear vigorous in his last years.
8. Traditional Chinese historians treated the Xin as an interregnum, not a real dynasty.

Sources

• Wang Mang Encyclopaedia Britannica
• Xin dynasty Wikipedia
• Wang Mang World History Encyclopedia
• Hans Bielenstein, The Restoration of the Han Dynasty (1953) Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities

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