Wang Mang (wäng mäng), 45 B.C.–A.D. 23, Chinese Han Han (hän), dynasty of China that ruled from 202 B.C. to A.D. 220.
..... Click the link for more information. dynasty regent who usurped the throne and ruled (A.D. 8–23) as emperor of the Hsin [new] court, carrying out many reforms. Although he portrayed his government as a revival of the idealized state of early Chou Chou (jō), dynasty of China, which ruled from c.1027 B.C. to 256 B.C.
..... Click the link for more information. times, his reforms were aimed essentially at strengthening the bureaucracy and solving the current financial crisis. To refill the imperial coffers, Wang Mang instituted government monopolies, debased the currency, and introduced agricultural reforms. In his most famous reform he decreed (A.D. 9) that the large tax-free estates be dissolved and that the land be redistributed to the peasants, who were to pay taxes. Pressure from the aristocracy, however, forced him (A.D. 12) to rescind the measure. Wang Mang's control ultimately collapsed in the face of the social disorder and rebellion that spread following a disastrous change in the lower course of the Huang He. He died at the hands of rebels when his capital, Chang'an (Xi'an), was sacked; his centralized bureaucracy was destroyed at the same time. A battle for the throne continued until A.D. 25, when Liu Hsiu Liu Hsiu (ly

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..... Click the link for more information. restored the Han and began the long process of rebuilding the central administration.

Wang Mang

(born 45 BC, China—died Oct. 6, AD 23, Chang'an) Founder of the short-lived Xin dynasty (AD 9–25), an interlude between the two halves of the Han dynasty in China. Wang's family was well connected to the Han imperial family, and in 8 BC Wang was appointed regent, only to lose the position when the emperor died. When the new emperor died in 1 BC, Wang was reappointed regent and married his daughter to the subsequent emperor, Ping, who died in AD 6. Wang picked the youngest of more than 50 eligible heirs to follow Ping and was named acting emperor. In AD 9 he ascended the throne and proclaimed the Xin dynasty. His dynasty might have endured had the Huang He (Yellow River) not changed course twice before AD 11, causing massive devastation and attendant famines, epidemics, and social unrest. Peasants banded together in ever larger units. In AD 23 rebel forces set the capital, Chang'an (modern Xi'an), on fire, forced their way into the palace, and killed him.