Usually when people mention "Wang Mang", the label of "traveler" will most likely pop up in people's minds unconsciously, or they may naturally add the word "usurper of Han" to it. If you look through the history books again, you will always find that he is the younger brother of Empress Yuan of the Western Han Dynasty and the uncle of Emperor Ping of the Western Han Dynasty. The evaluation of him by history is always inseparable from the fact that "he was a treacherous person who relied on the power of his relatives and conspired to codify the Han Dynasty with the surname Liu." But he was deeply afraid that people would be dissatisfied, so he was humble and respectful in advance, courteous to the virtuous and corporal, and pretended to be benevolent and righteous. At that time, everyone in the world praised Wang Mang's name of sage, benevolent and righteous. Later, Wang Mang finally forced to pass on the national jade seal from the Queen Mother, and established himself as emperor. Reading further leads to the poem "The Duke of Zhou was afraid of the day of rumors, and when Wang Mang humbled his subordinates. If he died at that time, who would know his loyalty in his life?" In this way, two thousand years of history have characterized Wang Mang as a "hypocrite" and a "rebellious traitor", making him infamy for thousands of years.
However, we should not accept this conclusion without thinking. In fact, there are many articles today that say good things about Wang Mang and even try to vindicate him.
Some people say that the reason why Wang Ju received such treatment from history lies in the word "usurpation" and the word "pseudo". "Usurping" means "taking something and turning it against its will". Taking something by unfair means is called "usurping". Historians say that Wang Ju usurped the Han Dynasty and established himself on his own, creating a precedent for ministers to seize the monarch's status. China is a family dynasty, and the succession to the throne is a hereditary system based on the eldest son inheritance system, that is, the throne must be passed down from the father. In some cases, because the emperor has no heirs, the successor may not necessarily be a direct lineal one, but must also be a noble nobleman from heaven who is related by blood, in order to be considered legitimate and legitimate. Wang Mang was a relative of the Han Dynasty with a different surname, so replacing him was naturally regarded as an illegitimate inheritance. He was also the initiator of this kind of usurpation of the throne, and of course his crime was unforgivable.
According to the above-mentioned hereditary succession standards, there were at least dozens of "usurper" emperors in ancient China. In fact, since the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, among all the people who have successfully changed dynasties, which one has not committed the crime of superiority and taken the throne against others? The Southern and Northern Dynasties and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period were almost all the founding kings of various countries. The well-known today Cao Pi, Sima Yan, Yang Jian, Zhao Kuangyin and Hu Hai, Yang Guang, Li Shimin, Zhu Di, etc. can hardly escape their guilt. The first four were the founding emperors, but they were all ministers of the former dynasty, and like Wang Ju, they deposed their masters and established themselves; although the last four were descendants of the royal family, they were not the legitimate heirs determined by their father. Some conspired to kill their brothers and seize the throne, and some went to war to drive away their nephews and ascend to the throne. Even if Li Shimin and Zhu Di were praised by future generations as one of the best emperors in China, they could not wash away the infamy of usurping the throne.
How can Shibi use the word "tamper" as a trademark of Wang Mang's patent?
As for whether Wang Mang is a "hypocrite"?
We should first review the history of that time.
Since childhood, Wang Mang has been filial to his mother and respectful to his sister-in-law, living a frugal life, reading poetry and books, making friends with wise men, and his reputation has spread far and wide. Wang Mang was extremely respectful to his uncle Wang Feng who was the great Sima . Before Wang Feng died, he asked Wang Zhengjun to take care of Wang Mang.
When Emperor Cheng of Han Dynasty (22 BC), 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 Doctor Shizhong.
In the first year of Suihe (8 years ago), he succeeded his three uncles and uncles as Da Sima at the age of 38. The following year, Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty died. After Emperor Ai of Han Dynasty succeeded to the throne, Empress Dowager Fu, Empress Dowager Ding and their relatives gained power, 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.
2 years ago, Wang Mang returned to the capital to live. Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty died one year ago and left no heirs. The Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun was in charge of the imperial seal. Wang Mang was appointed Grand Sima, in charge of military orders and the imperial army. He established Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty, which won the support of the government and the public.
In 1 AD, Wang Mang accepted the title of Duke Anhan after repeated refusals, and transferred his salary to more than 20,000 people.
html In 2003, Wang Mang's daughter became the queen.In the fourth year of Yuanshi (AD 4), 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 5 AD, Wang Mang poisoned Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty and established the two-year-old Ruzi Ying as the crown prince. The Queen Mother Wang ordered Wang Mang to act on behalf of the emperor, calling him the "false emperor" or "photographer emperor".
In the second year of Jushe (AD 6), Zhai Yi raised an army against Wang Mang, and some people began to use various excuses to persuade Wang Mang to advance.
In the first year of the founding of the country (8 AD), Wang Mang proclaimed himself emperor after accepting Ru Ziying's abdication. He changed the country's name to "Xin" and changed Chang'an to Chang'an. This was the first year of the founding of the country. In fact, Wang Mang did usurp the Han Dynasty to obtain the throne, and at the same time, the Han Dynasty clan was destroyed. Therefore, from the perspective of the Han Dynasty political power, it is natural for Wang Mang to be regarded as a traitor and traitor. And it is understandable that his various actions before taking the throne were regarded as grounds for being a traitor and traitor. However, even his commendable characters such as being honest and frugal, being filial to his elders, being humble as a corporal, and caring about the people, were regarded as treacherous and cunning, which seemed a bit excessive.
Lu Simian , the leader of the four major modern historians, also believes that the historical evaluation based on the Han Dynasty is unfair, that is, all Wang Mang's advantages are covered up with the word "pseudo". Wang Mang himself was well-educated, courteous and respectful to his mother and widowed sister-in-law. The higher his status, the more humble he was towards others. Moreover, he and his family always lived close to poverty. Even Wang Mang's wife was considered a servant because she dressed plainly and went out to welcome guests. Lu Simian believes that anyone who commits hypocrisy must have an agenda. After Wang Mang achieved his goal of usurping the Han and proclaiming himself emperor, his frugal life did not change. His actions throughout his life were consistent, so how could he call it "hypocrisy"? This reminds me of the comparison between Yang Guang's behavior before and after he came to power in the Sui Dynasty. How "hypocritical" he was! From this point of view, I really don’t know whether it is Wang Mang’s misfortune or the tragedy of history?
However, Wang Mang also has his shortcomings and mistakes. Famous scholars such as Qian Mu, Fu Lecheng, Huang Renyu, etc. all said that his theory was completely scholarly politics, superstitious and retrograde, divorced from reality, without virtuous assistants, and even more suspicious of his subordinates. It's a failure, of course.
Having written this, I might as well turn around and talk about that poem that has been recited thousands of times. This poem originally came from Bai Juyi 's "Fang Yan" three of five poems. The whole poem is as follows:
"I give you a method to resolve doubts, without drilling turtles and blessings.
It takes three days to burn the jade, and it takes seven years to identify the material.
Zhou Gong was afraid of the rumor, but Wang Mang was humble and did not usurp the time.
Xiangshi died, who knows the authenticity of his life? "
Later generations cut out the last four sentences and rewrote them into several versions. Because it is so catchy, this poem has been recited and quoted for thousands of years. Wang Mang's image in ordinary people's mind is fixed by the two words "tampering" and "pseudo". Perhaps it was not what Bai Juyi had expected.
