Wang Mang proclaims the Xin dynasty

A nephew of Grand Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun, Wang Mang became regent in 1 BC and ruled for the boy emperor Ping and then, from AD 6, as “acting emperor”, for the infant Ruzi Ying. In the winter of the Chinese year that corresponds to AD 8, citing a forged prophecy by one Ai Zhang that claimed to convey the will of the Han founder, he accepted the throne and proclaimed himself emperor on 10 January 9. Ruzi Ying was made Duke of Ding’an and kept under house arrest. The name Xin is usually translated as “new”, although it may derive from Wang Mang’s earlier title of Marquess of Xindu.

Wang Mang set out to restore the legendary golden age of the early Zhou: he declared all farmland “royal fields” and banned the sale of land and slaves (both measures had to be repealed in 12), changed the coinage again and again and revived the state monopolies. The reforms failed or were abandoned, and together with the Yellow River floods and famine they provoked peasant risings. The Xin fell in 23, when rebels broke into Chang’an and killed Wang Mang.