r/todayilearned 7h ago

(R.4) Related To Politics [ Removed by moderator ]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Mang

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u/proteus88 7h ago

He has an obsession with the ancient early Zhou dynasty which is 1000yrs prior to his reign.

To that end he minted 28 different coins to emulate the ancient Zhou because to him that was the glorious golden age of philosophy that he seek to replicate for his reign.

But his royal dumbass didn't stop to think that Zhou dynasty wasn't yet a centralised state at the time, its just a collection of loose states that swear nominal loyalty to the Zhou that each has its own economy and law and so had its own mint. By the time of Han dynasty everyone already uses a single currency because who the fk need tortoise shell to trade for horse saddle...

Every advisor told him it's a bad idea and would collapse the economy, he disregard them all. By the end ppl were so fed up with him the rebellion burn down the entire capital so throughly that the restored Han had to abandon it and establish a new capital in Louyang.

u/Hyo38 6h ago

and then a few hundred years later that new capital burned down and they went back to the old one for awhile.

u/proteus88 5h ago edited 5h ago

Razing the capital is kinda Chinese signature move really, the Forbidden City is built on top of the old Yuan capital after it has been razed to the ground.

u/Skythewood 6h ago

Actually, Wang Mang was the leader of the "renaissance group" who believes the Zhou dynasty to be perfect. So every advisor actually agree with him and even go to extreme lengths to Make Ancient-China Great Again. Those who don't agree with him gets purged.

He ruled on the platform that his predecessor, the Liu family has lost their way. He probably claim the guy before him rubber stamped everything like an auto-pen or something.

u/proteus88 5h ago

Wang Mang comes from the family of consort kin, he is the culmination of some long power play by these family behind the scene. These consorts manipulated multiple Han emperors in succession appointing their relatives/favourites to position of power. Wang Mang basically just put the charade out of it's misery and take over for real instead.

What remains of few actual advisors who saw what a train wreck this will be got ignored, and yea purged for the most part.

u/fartingbeagle 5h ago

Make the Middle Kingdom Great Again !

u/nostalgic_angel 5h ago

It is like if some Italian guy thinks ancient Rome was peak of civilisation and try to restore it.

u/proteus88 4h ago

Si si si si si

u/Zealousideal_Pen2614 7h ago

The difference is that Wang Mang was SO educated that he prefered archaic place names. As for the other person, well...

u/_pupil_ 7h ago

Sure, but did he have a choice?

Hey guys, check it out: now we have the Lake Wang, the Gulf of Wang, Wang Towers, Wang Mountain, and … … stop it! You all suck. I’m going to my room.

u/RoseRedRhapsody 7h ago

Wang Mang also wanted a happy, peaceful society with happy, peaceful people.

A certain someone should give thst a try.

u/Cynical_Classicist 7h ago

Reminds me of someone, can't think who...

u/Beagle_Knight 7h ago

Nah he was better

“During his reign, he abolished slavery and initiated a land redistributionprogram. A learned Confucian scholar who sought to implement the harmonious society he saw in the Chinese classics,[3] his efforts ended in chaos.”

u/Fritzkreig 7h ago

Huh, I think that I heard that one before‽

u/Level-Ad7848 6h ago

At the time, people throughout the Han dynasty were influenced by the Confucian concept of the Mandate of Heaven and the Daoist Huang-Lao tradition.

There was a kind of collective consciousness that the Han dynasty’s Mandate of Heaven was coming to an end, and that transferring the throne to someone else was both legitimate and right, and what people generally wanted. Wang Mang simply took advantage of this widespread belief.

So even if he had done nothing at all, the dynasty he founded could probably have lasted for several generations. But the Xin dynasty collapsed in little more than a decade, and that really was because of the mess he made of things.

u/risk_is_our_business 4h ago

had an obsession of renaming geographic regions. His empire collapsed by nation-wide rebellion. 

Reminds me of someone, but I can't quite put my finger on it.

u/Cynical-Rambler 7h ago

The winner is king, the loser is the criminal. Much of stories of Wang Mang incompetencies is likely came from the fact that he lost.

u/Caramel_Last 6h ago

Likely he was very unpopular among people.

u/Cynical-Rambler 6h ago

Most people likely don't know who he was until he grabbed power and changes things.

u/Half-PintHeroics 6h ago

The fact that his wang had mange probably didn't help

u/user10205 7h ago

Poor guy, only got to rule for 68 years?

u/Wooden-Anteater-8256 7h ago

he lived for 68 years, only ruled for about 5 years

u/Wooden-Anteater-8256 7h ago

alright it was about 15 years

u/Half-PintHeroics 6h ago

Checks out. Back in those days, one year was as long as three years.

u/GeshtiannaSG 5h ago

Just like 2020.

u/Herb_Alman 7h ago

History has a habit of repeating itself.

u/francisdavey 6h ago

First as tragedy then as farce.

u/TheHaplessBard 7h ago

Please Lord.

u/not_yuri_gagarin 7h ago

I want a dinosaur!

u/TheHaplessBard 7h ago

Cough cough cough

u/Outside_Reserve_2407 3h ago

And also Hitler was a vegetarian and loved dogs. A certain world leader doesn't have any pets and scarfs down hamburgers.

u/suzer2017 5h ago

Hmmmm 🤔

u/ScreenTricky4257 4h ago

You might even say he...Mang-led the names.

u/Kiria-Nalassa 3h ago

CK3 player irl

u/totallyclips 3h ago

That old saying, 'those who ignore history are bound to repeat it' and here we are again with the wrong man in power again

u/Ziral44 7h ago

Should have renamed himself haha

u/Beagle_Knight 7h ago

“Unstoppable celestial court meat sword”

u/Ziral44 7h ago

We had a teacher in high school named Harry wang and I still remember how much the kids joked about it