University of Virginia Library

THE HISTORY OF THE [FORMER] HAN [DYNASTY]

[Chapter] XCIX
THE SIXTY-NINTH [MEMOIR]

The Memoir of Wang Mang

A. PART A

Wang Mang, whose courtesy given name was Chü-chün,
was the son of [Wang Wan], a younger [half]brother
of the Empress [nee Wang of Emperor]
Hsiao-yüan. The father, [Wang Chin], and the

[living] elder and younger brothers of the Empress
[nee Wang of Emperor] Yüan were all enfeoffed as
marquises during the reigns of [Emperors] Yüan and
Ch'eng. They occupied [high] positions and had
important influence in the government. In the
clan there were nine marquises and five Commanders-in-chief.[2]
A discussion is in the "Memoir of the
Empress [nee Wang of Emperor] Yüan."

Only [Wang] Mang's father, [Wang] Wan, who
had died young, was not made a marquis. The various
elder and younger cousins of [Wang] Mang were
all the sons of Generals or of the Five Marquises,[4]
so they took advantage of their opportunities and
were extravagant. In their equipages and horses,
music and women, idleness and gadding[5] they competed
with one another.

[Wang] Mang alone was an orphan and in humble
circumstances, hence he humbled himself and made
himself courteous and temperate.[6] In studying the

Classic of Rites [the Yi-li], he rendered to Ch'en
Ts'an, [a man] from P'ei Commandery,[8] the services
due to a teacher. [Wang Mang] fatigued himself
and studied extensively, wearing garments like the
Confucian masters. He served his mother and the
widow of his elder brother, [Wang Yung], and reared
[Wang Kuang], the orphaned son of his elder brother.
Thus his conduct was quite perfect. Moreover, outside
[his clan] he associated with eminent persons,
and within [his clan] he served his various uncles,
paying minute attention to the spirit of the rules of
proper conduct.

During [the period] Yang-so, when his paternal
uncle who was the heir of his grandfather, the
General-in-chief, [Wang] Feng, became ill, [Wang]
Mang waited upon him in his illness, himself tasting
the medicine [before administering it]. For successive
months, [Wang Mang's] hair was disordered, his
face uncleansed, and he did not [even] loosen the
girdle to his garments. When [Wang] Feng was
about to die, he therefore confided [Wang Mang] to
the Empress Dowager [nee Wang] and Emperor
[Ch'eng]. He was installed as a Gentleman of the
Yellow Gate and was promoted to be Colonel of the
Archers Who Shoot By Sound.

After a long time, his paternal uncle who was
younger than [Wang Mang's] father, the Marquis of
Ch'eng-tub, [Wang] Shang1b, memorialized that he
wished to divide the households of his estate in order
to enfeoff [Wang Mang]. Moreover, the Privy
Treasurer of the Ch'ang-lo [Palace], Tai Ch'ung, the
Palace Attendant, Chin Shê, the Colonel of Northern
Barbarian Cavalry, Chi Hung, the Chief Commandant
of Shang-ku [Commandery], Yang Ping,
and the Gentleman-of-the-Household, Ch'en T'ang,
who were all gentlemen well-known in that age, all
spoke in behalf of [Wang] Mang. Because of that,
the Emperor esteemed [Wang] Mang. In the first
year of [the period] Yung-shih, he enfeoffed [Wang]
Mang as Marquis of Hsin-tuc with an estate of fifteen
hundred households in the Tu District of Hsin-yeh
[County] in Nan-yang [Commandery]. He was
promoted to be Chief Commandant of Cavalry, Imperial
Household Grandee, and Palace Attendant,
and was careful as [an imperial] guard.

As his noble rank and position became more and

more honorable, his conduct became more and more
humble. He distributed equipages and horses,
clothes, and fur garments, and bestowed them upon
his guests, so that in his household there was no
surplus [wealth]. He received and succored well-known
gentlemen. He associated with a very large
number of generals, chancellors, ministers, and
grandees, hence those who occupied official positions
in turn recommended him. Travelers talked about
him; his empty fame flourished and spread, so that it
overwhelmed that of his various uncles. He dared
to do affected deeds which created a stir and performed
them without shame.

[Wang] Mang's elder brother, [Wang] Yung3, had

been a Department Head. He had died young and
had had a son, [Wang] Kuang1. [Wang] Mang sent
him to study at the gates of the Erudits. When
[Wang] Mang took his leave, [usually once each five
days], he led out and arranged his chariots and horse-
men and brought sheep and wine to recompense and
offer to [Wang Kuang1's] teachers; his favor was [also]
shown to all of [Wang Kuang1's] fellow-students, so
that the masters all stared at him and the elders
admired him.

[Altho Wang] Kuang1 was younger than [Wang]

Mang's son, [Wang] Yü3, [Wang] Mang had them
[both] married on the same day. [At the wedding
feast], when the guests had filled his halls, in a
moment a man told him that his Lady Dowager
[mother] was suffering from a certain pain and must
drink a certain medicine. Up to [the time] when the
guests left, he had [thus] arisen several times.

He once[32] privately purchased a waiting-maid.
Some of his cousins came to know something about it.
Because of that, [Wang] Mang said, "The General
of the Rear, Chu [Po] Tzu-yüan, has no sons. I,
Mang, heard that this girl's line is fruitful in bearing
sons, so I purchased her for him." The same day
he presented the slave-girl to [Chu Po] Tzu-yüan.
In the foregoing manner he hid his desires and sought
for fame.

At this time, Shun-yü Chang, the son of an elder
[half]-sister of the Empress Dowager [nee Wang],
had, because of his ability, become one of the nine
high ministers. He was senior to and ahead of
[Wang] Mang. [Wang] Mang secretly[35] sought out
[Shun-yü Chang's] crimes. [Wang Mang] took advantage
of [this information and informed] the Commander-in-chief,
the Marquis of Ch'ü-yang, [Wang]
Ken, who had him speak [to the Empress Dowager
nee Wang and the Emperor. Thereupon, Shun-yü]
Chang suffered execution. From this [deed, Wang]
Mang obtained [a reputation] for straightforward-
ness. A discussion is in the "Memoir of [Shun-yü]
Chang." [Wang] Ken then begged to retire and
recommended [Wang] Mang to take his place. The
Emperor thereupon selected him to be the Commander-in-chief.
This year was the first year of [the
period] Sui-ho, and [Wang Mang] had reached his
thirty-eighth year.[45]

When [Wang] Mang had surpassed his equals and

succeeded his four uncles, [Wang Feng, Wang
Shang1a, Wang Yin, and Wang Ken], as chief assistant
in the government, he wished to make his
fame and reputation surpass that of his predecessors,
hence he denied himself[47] tirelessly and invited[48]
the Capable and Good [to come to him], making them
Division Head Clerks. He bestowed upon [other]
gentlemen all of his grants [from the Emperor] and
the income from his estate, being even more economical
[in his personal expenses].

When his mother was ill, the ministers and full

marquises sent their Ladies to ask after her illness.
When [Wang] Mang's wife received them, her clothes
did not trail on the ground [and she wore] a linen
apron.[51] Those who saw her, thought she was a
servant, and sent someone to ask [who she was].
When they learned that she was the Lady, they were
all astonished.

[Wang Mang] had been chief assistant in the
government for more than a year when Emperor
Ch'eng died. When Emperor Ai ascended the
throne, he honored the Empress Dowager [nee Wang]
and made her the Grand Empress Dowager. The
[Grand] Empress Dowager [nee Wang] issued an
imperial edict to [Wang] Mang, [ordering him] to go
to his residence and leave [his position vacant for
some of] the Emperor's maternal relatives.[60] [Wang]
Mang [hence] presented to the Emperor a request
begging to retire. Emperor Ai [however] sent his
Prefect of the Masters of Writing, [T'ang Lin], with
an imperial edict to [Wang] Mang, saying,

"The late Emperor entrusted the government to

you, sir, whereupon he departed from his subjects.
We have obtained [the opportunity] to uphold the
[imperial] ancestral temples and will in truth consider
[Ourself] fortunate to be of the same mind and
similar opinions with you, sir. Now you, sir, have
sent [Us a letter saying that you] are ill and ask to
retire. Thereby you make known that We are not
able to uphold or follow the intentions of the late
Emperor. We are greatly saddened. [We] have
already issued an imperial edict to the Masters of
Writing to await your memorials, sir, about [government]
business."

[The Emperor] also sent the Lieutenant Chancellor,
K'ung Kuang, the Grand Minister of Works,
Ho Wu, the General of the Left, Shih1 Tan, and the
Commandant of the Palace Guard, Fu Hsi, to speak
to the [Grand] Empress Dowager [nee Wang], saying,
"The Emperor has heard of the Empress Dowager's
imperial edict and is much saddened. If the Commander-in-chief
[Wang Mang] does not arise, the
Emperor will then not presume to attend to the
government." The [Grand] Empress Dowager [nee
Wang thereupon] again ordered [Wang] Mang to
attend to the [government] business.

At that time, the grandmother of Emperor Ai, the

Queen Dowager [nee] Fu of Ting-t'ao, and his
mother, the Concubine nee Ting [of the deceased
King of Ting-t'ao], were alive, so the Marquis of
Kao-ch'ang, Tung Hung, presented to the throne a
letter saying, "According to the principles of the
Spring and Autumn [in the Kung-yang Commentary],
a mother becomes honorable because of her son, so
that the Concubine [nee] Ting should be presented
with the imperial title [of Empress Dowager]."[65]
[Wang] Mang together with Shih1 Tan impeached
[Tung] Hung for misleading the court, which constituted
inhumanity. A discussion is in the "Memoir
of [Shih1] Tan."

At a later date, there was a banquet in Wei-yang
Palace. The Prefect of the Flunkies spread the
canopy and seat for the Queen Dowager [nee] Fu at
the side of the seat for the Grand Empress Dowager
[nee Wang. Wang] Mang investigated and reproached
the Prefect of the Flunkies, saying, "The
Queen Dowager of [the kingdom of] Ting-t'ao is a
concubine from a tributary [kingdom]. How could
she he permitted to be honored equally with the most
honorable [lady in the palace]? Take it away and
put the seat [of the Queen Dowager of Ting-t'ao]
at a different [place]."

When the Queen Dowager [nee] Fu heard of it,
she was furious and refused to attend [the banquet.
She thereupon held] a great hatred against [Wang]
Mang. [Hence Wang] Mang again begged to retire.
Emperor Ai granted [Wang] Mang five hundred
catties of actual gold, a comfortable carriage and a
quadriga of horses, dismissed him [from his position],
and sent him to his residence. Most of the ministers
and grandees praised him, so the Emperor added his
grace and favor, and established, as [regular] messenger
to his home, a Palace [Attendant Within] the
Yellow Gate to grant him a meal [from the imperial
cuisine] once every ten days. [The Emperor] sent
to his subordinates an imperial edict which said,

"The Marquis of Hsin-tuc, [Wang] Mang, has
worried and toiled for the state and has firmly held
to his fealty. We hoped with him to produce a good
government, [but] the Grand Empress Dowager [nee
Wang] has issued an imperial edict that [Wang]
Mang should go to his residence, for which We are
very sorry. Let [Wang Mang][80] be additionally
enfeoffed with three hundred fifty households in
Huang-yu Village; let his position be Specially Advanced,
let him [be given the rank of] Serving in the
Palace, [be required] to come to court [only] on the
first and fifteenth days of the month, and present
himself with formalities like those of the three highest
ministers. When [the Emperor rides] his chariot of

state, [Wang Mang] may follow in the [imperial
cortege] riding a green chariot.[82]

The second year afterwards, when the Queen Dowager

[nee] Fu and the Concubine [nee] Ting had both
been given the imperial titles [of Emperor's Great
Empress Dowager and the Emperor's Empress Dowager,
respectively], the Lieutenant Chancellor Chu Po
memorialized,

"[Wang] Mang has not previously applied broadly
[enough] the principle of honoring those [deserving
of] honor[88] but has humbled and degraded those who
should be honored with an imperial title, [thereby]
injuring the doctrine of filial piety, so that he ought

to suffer public execution. Fortunately [for him], he
has received [the advantage of a general] ordinance
of amnesty, [yet] it is not proper that he should
possess a noble title or land. I beg that he be dismissed
[from his titles] and made a commoner."

The Emperor said, "Because [Wang] Mang is related
to the Grand Empress Dowager [nee Wang],
let him not be dismissed [from his noble titles], but
be sent away to his estate."

While [Wang] Mang had closed his gates and was
keeping to himself, [Wang] Huob,[96] his son who was
neither his eldest nor his youngest, murdered a slave.
[Wang] Mang bitterly reproached [Wang] Huob
and caused him to commit suicide.

While he had been at his estate to the third year,
officials[99] by the hundreds sent letters to the Emperor
grieving and pleading for [Wang] Mang. In the first
year of [the period] Yüan-shou, when there was an
eclipse of the sun, [some persons who had been recommended
as] Capable and Good, Chou Huo, Sung
Ch'ung, and others, in their written replies to the
examination, praised highly [Wang] Mang's achievements
and virtue. The Emperor therefore summoned
[Wang] Mang [to come to court].

When [Wang] Mang had first gone to his estate,
because [Wang] Mang was an honorable and important
[personage], the Grand Administrator of
Nan-yang [Commandery] selected a Division Head
from his office, K'ung Hsiu, [a man of] Yüan, to be
the acting Chancellor of Hsin-tuc, [Wang Mang's
marquisate. When K'ung] Hsiu went to pay a
visit to [Wang] Mang, [Wang] Mang [treated K'ung
Hsiu] with all possible formalities and in person
welcomed him [at the door]. [K'ung] Hsiu had
also heard of [Wang Mang's] fame and responded to
him in like manner.

Later, when [Wang] Mang was ill, [K'ung] Hsiu
attended upon him. Because of his gracious intent,
[Wang] Mang presented him with his [own] precious
sword having jade furnishings, desiring to make
[K'ung Hsiu] a good friend. [But K'ung] Hsiu refused
to receive it. [Wang] Mang said therefore, "I verily
see that on your face, sir, there is a scar. A fine jade
can extinguish a scar. I merely wanted to present
you with the ring on the hilt of the sword."[104] He
immediately loosed its [jade] sword-ring.

When [K'ung] Hsiu again excused himself and
refused, [Wang] Mang said, "Do you, sir, dislike
[to receive it] because of its [high] value?" Then
he pounded it to pieces, himself tied it up, and thereupon

presented it to [K'ung] Hsiu. [K'ung] Hsiu
then received it.

When [Wang] Mang was summoned [to the court
and was about to] leave, he wanted to see [K'ung]
Hsiu, [but K'ung] Hsiu pronounced himself ill and
did not present himself.

More than a year after [Wang] Mang returned to

the imperial capital, Emperor Ai died. He had no

children and both the [August Grand] Empress
Dowager [nee Fu] and the [Emperor's] Empress
Dowager [nee] Ting had died previously. On the
same day [as the death], the Grand August Empress
Dowager [nee Wang] rode a quadriga to the Wei-yang
Palace, where she secured the imperial seals
with their seal-cords.[112] She sent a messenger galloping
to summon [Wang] Mang. She issued an imperial
edict to the Masters of Writing, [declaring] that the
various insignia and credentials for mobilizing troops,
the matters memorialized by the various officials, and
the troops of the Palace Attendants Within the
Yellow Gate and of the Attendants at the Gates
should all be under the control of [Wang] Mang.

[Wang] Mang advised [the Grand Empress Dowager]
that the Commander-in-chief, the Marquis of
Kao-an, Tung Hsien2a, was too young and [that his
occupying that position] did not accord with public
opinion, [so that she should] take [away] his [official
and noble] seals and cords. On the same day,
[Tung] Hsien2a committed suicide.

The [Grand] Empress Dowager [nee Wang] in an
imperial edict ordered the ministers to recommend
persons who might become the Commander-in-chief.
The Grand Minister Over the Masses, K'ung Kuang,
and the Grand Minister of Works, P'eng Hsüan,
recommended [Wang] Mang. The General of the
Van, Ho Wu, and the General of the Rear,[119] Kung-
sun Lu, recommended each other. The [Grand]
Empress Dowager installed [Wang] Mang as Commander-in-chief
and discussed with him the establishment
of an heir [to the throne].

The Marquis of An-yang, Wang Shun4b, was a

second cousin of [Wang] Mang, was cultivated and
self-controlled[124] in his person, and was trusted and
beloved by the [Grand] Empress Dowager. [Wang]
Mang advised her to make [Wang] Shun4b the General
of Chariots and Cavalry and send him to invite
the King of Chung-shan, [Liu Chi-tzu], to carry on
the posterity of Emperor Ch'eng. This was Emperor
Hsiao-p'ing.

The Emperor was in his ninth year, so the [Grand]
Empress Dowager attended court and pronounced
[that she issued the imperial] decrees.[126] She entrusted
the government to [Wang] Mang.

[Wang] Mang advised her that [the lady] nee
Chao had previously killed some imperial sons[127] and
that [the lady] nee Fu had been proud and arrogant,
so she thereupon dismissed the Empress [nee] Chao
of [Emperor] Hsiao-ch'eng and the Empress [nee] Fu
of [Emperor] Hsiao-ai [from their titles]. Both were

ordered to commit suicide. A discussion is in the
"Memoir of the [Imperial] Relatives by Marriage."

Because the Grand Minister Over the Masses,

K'ung Kuang, was a famous scholar, had acted as
chancellor to three lords [of men], was respected by
the [Grand] Empress Dowager, and the whole empire
trusted him, [Wang] Mang therefore honored
[K'ung] Kuang greatly and served him. [Wang
Mang] introduced [to the court K'ung] Kuang's son-
in-law, Chen Han, and made him a Palace Attendant
and the Chief Commandant of the Imperial Equipages.

[Wang] Mang attributed crimes to all the various
maternal relatives of Emperor Ai, together with
[those of] his great officials and those who held office
whom [Wang] Mang had disliked, and prepared
[unsigned] memorials begging [that they be
punished]. He had [Chen] Han take them to
[K'ung] Kuang. [K'ung] Kuang was habitually
timid and cautious, so did not dare to refuse to send
in these memorials [as his own]. Each time [they
were received, Wang] Mang advised the [Grand]
Empress Dowager to assent to these memorials. In
this way, the General of the Van, Ho Wu, and the
General of the Rear, Kung-sun Lu, were sentenced for
having recommended each other and were dismissed.
The relatives of the Ting and Fu [clans], together
with [those of] Tung Hsien2a were all dismissed from
their positions and from their noble titles and were
exiled to distant regions.

The Marquis of Hung-yang, [Wang] Li5a, was a
younger [half]-brother of the [Grand] Empress
Dowager. Although he did not occupy any [official]
position, yet because he was one of his uncles who
was respected within [the Palace, Wang Mang]
dreaded him. He feared [Wang] Li5a might casually
say something to the [Grand] Empress Dowager
which would bring it about that [Wang Mang] would
not be permitted to follow his own intentions. So
[Wang Mang] had [K'ung] Kuang also memorialize
[Wang] Li5a's former evil deeds: that he had previously
known that the Marquis of Ting-ling, Shun-yü
Chang, had committed the crime of rebellion and he
had [nevertheless] received from him a large bribe and
had falsely[140] spoken for him, [thus] misleading the
court. Later he had advised that a secret son of a
government woman, Yang Chi, [allegedly by Emperor
Ch'eng], should be made an Imperial Son, [a
possible heir to the throne. But] the common opinion
[in the court was, "It is a case of] the reappearance
of the Young Emperor of the Lü clan.[143] It is most
disturbing. It would be suspicious to the empire, so
that it would be difficult to establish [such a babe's
legitimacy] to later generations or to achieve anything
creditable in behalf of [such a babe] in swaddling
clothes." [The memorial] begged that [Wang] Li5a
should be sent back to his state.

When the [Grand] Empress Dowager would not
listen to it, [Wang] Mang said to her, "Now the
Han dynasty has decayed and has been without
[natural] heirs [to the throne] for successive generations.
You alone, [Grand] Empress Dowager, can
take the place of the young lord in directing the
government. It is sincerely to be dreaded that, even

if you strive hard to use justice and uprightness in
leading the empire, it is yet to be feared that [the
empire] will not follow [you. But] now if for the
sake of your private affection you go contrary to the
advice of your highest officials, in this way your
many subordinates will become dangerous and evil;
disorder will arise because of this [event]. It is
proper to approve [this petition], temporarily send
[Wang Li5a] to his state, and, after the situation has
become more tranquil, to summon him back." The
[Grand] Empress Dowager had no alternative, so sent
[Wang] Li5a to his state. The [methods] by which
[Wang] Mang compelled and controlled his superiors
and inferiors were all of the foregoing sort.

In this way, those who attached themselves to him
and accorded with him were promoted and those who
opposed or disliked him were exterminated. Wang
Shun4b and Wang Yi5 became his intimate advisers.
Chen Feng and Chen Han had charge of making
decisions[149] , P'ing Yen had charge of delicate matters[150]
, Liu Hsin1a[151] took care of [classical] literature,
Sun Chien was his military assistant.[152] [Chen]
Feng's son, [Chen] Hsün, [Liu] Hsin1a's son, [Liu]
Fen, Ts'ui Fa from Cho Commandery, and Ch'en
Ch'ung from Nan-yang [Commandery] were all
favored by [Wang] Mang because of their ability.

[Wang] Mang's appearance was severe and his
speech was blunt.[155] When he wanted to have something
done, he subtly indicated it in his bearing; his
clique took up his intentions and manifested them in a
memorial, [whereupon Wang] Mang bent his head
to the earth with tears in his eyes, and firmly declined.
On the one hand, he thereby misled the [Grand]
Empress Dowager, and on the other, he thereby
exhibited faithfulness to the mass of commoners.

First, he had hinted that [the Governor of] Yi
Province should induce the barbarians outside the
barrier to present a white pheasant,[158] and, in the

first year of [the period] Yüan-shih, in the first month,
[Wang] Mang advised the [Grand] Empress Dowager

to issue an imperial edict that the white pheasant
should be offered in the [imperial] ancestral temples.
The many courtiers therefore memorialized, saying,

"The [Grand] Empress Dowager entrusted to the
Commander-in-chief, [Wang] Mang, the duty of planning
the imperial enthronement that gave peace to
the [imperial] ancestral temples. When the former

Commander-in-chief Ho Kuang had the merit of
[similarly] having given peace to the [imperial] ancestral
temples, his enfeoffment was increased by
thirty thousand households, the noble title and estate
[of his posterity was ordered] to be the same [as
that of the founder of their house,[165] and he was
ranked] the same as the [former] Chancellor of
State Hsiao [Ho]. It would be proper for [Wang]
Mang to be [treated] as [Ho] Kuang was formerly
[treated]."[166]

The [Grand] Empress Dowager questioned[167] the
ministers, saying, "Is it really that, because the
Commander-in-chief, [Wang Mang], has achieved

great merit, he ought to be given [high] honors? Or
it is because he is of [Our] flesh and blood that
you have wanted to distinguish him?"

Thereupon various courtiers produced long expositions,
[saying, "Wang] Mang's achievements and

virtuous conduct have brought about the auspicious
presage of a white pheasant [as at the time the Duke
of] Chou [was minister to King] Ch'eng. That in a
thousand years there are similarities is a law of the
sage-kings.[172] When a subject has great achievements,
in his lifetime he should have a laudable title.
Hence the Duke of Chou, during his lifetime, was
given[173] a title with [the name of] the Chou [dynasty
in it. Wang] Mang has the great achievement of
having given stability to the state and of having given
tranquillity to the Han dynasty, so that it is proper
that he should be granted the title, `The Duke Giving
Tranquillity to the Han [Dynasty],' that the [number
of] households [in his noble estate] should be increased,
and [his posterity should be given] the same
noble title and estate [as the founder of their house].
On the one hand, [this appointment] will be in
accordance with ancient principles, and on the other
hand, it will take as its model past situations.
Thereby it will accord with the mind of Heaven."

When the [Grand] Empress Dowager, in an imperial
edict, ordered a Master of Writing to prepare
[an edict for] this matter, [Wang] Mang presented a
letter which said, "Your servant planned the enthronement
[of Emperor P'ing] together with K'ung
Kuang, Wang Shun4b, Chen Feng, and Chen Han.
Now I wish that the achievements and rewards of
[K'ung] Kuang and the others should alone be listed
and that [any rewards for] your servant, Mang,
should be abandoned and set aside. Do not list me
with them."

Chen Han advised the [Grand] Empress Dowager
to issue an imperial edict, which said,

Although a relative should be loved, [yet We] should
not be partial to him. [But] you, sir, have achieved
the merit of having given tranquillity to the [imperial]
ancestral temples. [We] cannot set aside [your
merits] and not exalt them just because you are of
[Our] flesh and blood. You, sir, must not refuse."

When [Wang] Mang again presented a letter excusing
himself, the [Grand] Empress Dowager by an
imperial edict ordered an Internuncio to lead [Wang]
Mang to await [investiture] in the Eastern Wing of
the [Palace] Hall. [But Wang] Mang pronounced

himself ill and would not enter [the Palace Hall, so
the Grand] Empress Dowager sent the Prefect of the
Masters of Writing, [Yao] Hsün, with an imperial
edict to [Wang Mang], saying, "Because you, sir,
are humble,[182] you have refused on account of illness.
Your position, sir, is important, and may not be left
vacant. Arise promptly at this time."

When [Wang] Mang completely and firmly refused,
the [Grand] Empress Dowager again sent the Grand
Coachman at the Ch'ang-hsin [Palace, Wang] Hung,
with an imperial decree summoning [Wang] Mang.
[Wang] Mang [however] insistently pronounced himself
ill. Her entourage advised the [Grand] Empress
Dowager that it was proper not to force [Wang]
Mang's will, and merely to list K'ung Kuang and the

others, whereupon [Wang] Mang would be willing to
arise.

The [Grand] Empress Dowager [thereupon] issued
to her subordinates an imperial edict, saying, "The
Grand Tutor, the Marquis of Po-shan, [K'ung]
Kuang, has guarded [the throne] for four reigns and
from reign to reign has been tutor or chancellor. He
is loyal, filial, benevolent, and sincere; his conduct
and his fealty have been outstanding. He made
the proposal and planned the imperial enthronement.
He shall be additionally enfeoffed with [the income of]
ten thousand households. [K'ung] Kuang shall become
the Grand Master, participating in a government
by Four Coadjutors.

"The General of Chariots and Cavalry, the Marquis
of An-yang, [Wang] Shun4b, has repeatedly and
continually been benevolent and filial; he was sent to
invite the King of Chung-shan, [Liu Chi-tzu, to
ascend the throne] and he has `repulsed [by diplomacy]
the attacks of [the enemy at a distance of]
ten thousand li.'[188] His achievements and virtuous
conduct are abundant and brilliant. He shall be
additionally enfeoffed with [the income of] ten
thousand households. [Wang] Shun4b shall become
the Grand Guardian.

"The General of the Left and Superintendent of
the Imperial Household, [Chen] Feng, has guarded
[the throne] for three reigns. He is loyal, trustworthy,

benevolent, and sincere. He was sent to
invite the King of Chung-shan [to ascend the throne]
and has assisted and guided him and supplied his
needs, thereby giving tranquillity to the [imperial]
ancestral temples. [Chen] Feng shall be enfeoffed
as Marquis of Kuang-yang with the income of a
state of 5000 households. [Chen] Feng shall become
the Junior Tutor.

"Upon all [these persons] there shall be conferred
the position [of being included among] the Four
Coadjutors. Their noble ranks and estates shall be
the same [for their descendants as for the founders
of their houses] and to each shall be given one
residence.

"The Palace Attendant and Chief Commandant
of Imperial Equipages, [Chen] Han, has guarded the
throne and toiled diligently. He made the proposal
and planned the imperial enthronement. [Chen]
Han shall be enfeoffed as the Marquis of Ch'eng-yang

with the income of an estate of two[193] thousand
four hundred households."

When these four persons had received rewards and
[Wang] Mang had not even yet arisen, various
courtiers again presented [a memorial to the Grand
Empress Dowager nee Wang], saying, "Although
[Wang] Mang is able to yield [to others,[194] yet] he
is one whom the court should properly make illustrious
and to whom should be given at [this appropriate]
time [suitable] rewards, [thereby] making well-known
and important one who has achieved great
merits and [thereby] not causing the hopes of the
many officials or of the great multitude to be disappointed."[196]

The [Grand] Empress Dowager thereupon issued
an imperial edict, saying, "The Commander-in-chief,

the Marquis of Hsin-tuo, [Wang] Mang, has been one
of the three highest ministers for three reigns and
has performed the [same] duties [as those performed
by] the Duke of Chou. He has established the plan
[for the succession to the throne that is to endure for]
ten thousand generations. In achievements and
virtuous conduct[200] he has been a model to palace
officials.[201] His influence has spread over [all] within
the [four] seas, so that people of distant [regions]
have thought with affection of right principles; a potentate
of the Yüeh-shang,[202] [whose speech must be]
repeatedly interpreted [from one interpreter to another],
presented a white pheasant as tribute.

"Let [Wang] Mang be additionally enfeoffed with
[the income of] the twenty-eight thousand households
in the two counties of Shao-ling and Hsin-hsi.
His heirs who succeed him shall be exempted
[from taxes and service] and their noble rank and
estate shall be the same [as his].[203] His achievements[204]
shall be [ranked] the same as those of the
[former] Chancellor of State, Hsiao [Ho. Wang]

Mang shall be the Grand Tutor and in charge of the
business of the Four Coadjutors. His title shall be
the Duke Giving Tranquillity to the Han Dynasty.
The first residence, that of the former Chancellor of
State, Hsiao [Ho], shall become the residence of the
Duke Giving Tranquillity to the Han Dynasty. Let
[this ordinance] be established and published as a
[permanent] ordinance and be transmitted [forever]
without end."

Thereupon [Wang] Mang hypocritically[208] feared

that he had no alternative and so he arose and received
his charter [of appointment]. The charter said,

"The Han [dynasty] was in danger because there
was no heir, and your excellency stabilized it. As to
the positions of the Four Coadjutors and the responsibilities
of the three highest ministers, your excellency
controls them. As to the various officials and the
many positions, your excellency rules them. Your
merits and virtue are abundant and brilliant.
Thereby the [imperial] ancestral temples are tranquil.
Verily, the auspicious presage of the white pheasant
is symbolical of [the way the Duke of] Chou [acted
as minister to King] Ch'eng. Hence [We] grant you
the auspicious title of the Duke Giving Tranquillity

to the Han Dynasty. When you are the Coadjutor
and protector of the Emperor, do you aim at bringing
about [a condition of the utmost] tranquillity. Do
not disappoint Our intentions."

[Wang] Mang received the titles of Grand Tutor

and Duke Giving Tranquillity to the Han Dynasty,
[but] he yielded up and returned the matter of his
increase in enfeoffment and his noble rank and estate
being the same [for his descendants as for himself],
saying, "I wish to wait until the people[212] have a
sufficiency in their households and then only should
I be given any rewards." The other highest ministers
again argued with him. The [Grand] Empress
Dowager's imperial edict said, "You, Duke, of your
own accord aim at the people having a sufficiency
in their households, because of which [We] listen to
you. Let it be ordered that your salary, Duke, and
the rewards granted to the members of your suite[216]
shall all be double what they were previously, and
when the people have a sufficiency in their households
so that personally they have enough, the Grand
Minister over the Multitude, [K'ung Kuang], and
the Grand Minister of Works, [Wang Ch'ung], shall
report [the fact] in order that [you may thereupon
be granted the full amount of your reward]."

[Wang] Mang again refused and would not receive
[these honors] and proposed that it would be proper
to set up descendants of the vassal kings [as kings]
and to enfeoff the descendants of the more important
of the meritorious courtiers of the Eminent Founder,
[Emperor Kao], and his successors, as marquises or
to grant them the noble rank of Marquis of the Imperial
Domain with the income of estates; and thereafter
those in office should each have his [full] rank,
[so that there may be] a government making grants to
every one, in which on the one hand, the [imperial] ancestral
temples are honored[219] , by augmenting the
rites and music [employed therein] and on the other
hand, gentlemen and commoners are shown kindness
and widowers and widows [are given] grace
and bounty. A discussion is in the "Annals of
[Emperor Hsiao]-p'ing."

When [Wang] Mang had pleased the mass of commoners,[225]

he also wanted the right to decide matters
on his own authority. He knew that the [Grand]
Empress Dowager had no taste for governing, so he
gave a hint to the ministers. They memorialized her,
saying, "In the past, officials have been promoted in
accordance with the order of their merits to [positions
ranking as] two thousand piculs. They, together
with minor officials who have been recommended
from the provincial divisions as being Abundant Talents
of Unusual Degree, are for the most part not
worthy [of their positions, so that] it would be proper
that they should all interview the Duke Giving
Tranquillity to the Han Dynasty, [Wang Mang].
It is also not proper that the [Grand] Empress
Dowager should in person supervise unimportant
matters."

[Thus they] caused the [Grand] Empress Dowager
to issue an imperial edict which said, "Since the Emperor
is young in years, We are temporarily directing

the government until he puts on the bonnet of virility.[227]
Now most matters are complicated and detailed,
while Our years are many and [Our] bodily
vigor is insufficient. [If We attend to these matters],
there is danger that [We] may not have the means of
keeping [Our] body in health or of caring for the
Emperor. Hence [We] have selected loyal and capable
persons and have set up the Four Coadjutors,
so that [Our] many inferiors should be urged to do
their duty and there should perpetually be prosperity
and peace.

"Confucius `said, "How sublime the way Shun and
Yü held possession of the country and yet remained
indifferent to [the details of government]!" '[232]
From this time and henceforth, except[233] for enfeoffments
of noble titles, which shall nevertheless be reported
[to Us], in all other matters, the Duke Giving
Tranquillity to the Han Dynasty and the Four
Coadjutors shall judge and decide. As to Provincial
Shepherds, [officials ranking at] two thousand piculs,
together with minor officials [who are recommended
as being] Abundant Talents, when they are [considered]
for their first appointment [to office] and
when they memorialize matters, they shall each time
be led into an office near [the palace] to answer
questions; the Duke Giving Tranquillity to the Han
Dynasty, [Wang Mang], shall examine into their
former offices and ask about their new duties, in
order that he may know whether they are worthy
or not."

Thereupon [Wang] Mang received and questioned
each one [of the officials], conveyed to them his
secret gracious intentions, and bestowed upon them
rich parting gifts, while he brought out memorials
concerning those who did not suit his purposes and

dismissed them, so that his power was equal to that
of the lord of men.

[Wang] Mang wanted to delight the [Grand] Empress
Dowager with vain reputation, so advised
her in conversation that since she had herself succeeded
to the extravagance of the Ting and Fu [clans

related to] the deceased [Emperor] Hsiao-ai, while
most of the people did not have enough [to live
on],[237] it would be proper for the [Grand] Empress
Dowager temporarily to wear coarse plain silk,[238] and
to reduce considerably [the expense of] her cuisine,
in order to show [her economical spirit] to the empire.

[Wang] Mang thereupon presented a letter, stating

that he would pay a million cash and offer thirty
ch'ing[243] of cultivated fields, to be paid to the Grand
Minister of Agriculture, for assistance and gifts to
the poor people.[245] Thereupon the ministers all
admired and imitated him.

[Wang] Mang led the various courtiers in a memorial,

saying, "Your Majesty is of an honorable
age, [yet] you have for a long time worn heavy plain
white silk and have reduced your imperial cuisine,
which verily is not the way to sustain your bodily
vigor, to care for the Emperor, or to give tranquillity
to the [imperial] ancestral temples. Your subject,
Mang, has several times knocked his head to the
ground at the door to your Inner Apartments and
has advised and argued with you [concerning this
practise, but my request that this practise be discontinued]
has not yet been approved. Now, thanks
to your Majesty's virtue and beneficence, the wind
and rain have recently been timely, sweet dew has
descended, the supernatural fungus of immortality
has grown, the calendar plant and the red herb,[248]
auspicious cereals and [other] favorable signs have
all appeared simultaneously.

"Your servant Mang and the others are not cap-
able of overcoming their great hopes: we wish that
your Majesty would have compassion upon your
energy, rest your spirit, relax your thoughts, conform
to the regular imperial robes, and restore the
legal cuisine of the Grand[252] Provisioner, thereby
causing each of your subjects and children to be
completely content in his heart and to supply
your needs perfectly. We hope that you will sympathetically
scrutinize [our request]."

[Wang] Mang also caused the [Grand] Empress
Dowager to issue an imperial edict which said,
"Verily, [We] have heard that [according to] the
moral principles for the mother of a ruler, her
thoughts should not go outside the threshold of the
door.[254] Since the state has not received [Heaven's]
blessing and the Emperor is of the age when he is in
swaddling-clothes and is not yet capable of governing
in person, [We] have trembled with apprehension
and [guarded Ourself] for fear that the [imperial]
ancestral temples would not be tranquil. Except
for Us, who can control the general policies of the
state?

"It was for such reasons that Confucius interviewed
Nan-tzu and that the Duke of Chou acted
as regent, which was probably an expedient suited
to the time.[257] [We] have fatigued [Ourself] and
have pondered to the utmost [degree], have toiled
and worried, and have not yet become tranquil.
Hence `if the state is prodigal, then [a sage] gives it
an example of economy,'[258] and `in straightening a

curved [piece of wood, it may be spoiled by being
bent backwards] beyond a straight [line,'[261] so We
may have gone too far in economizing], yet if We
do not personally lead [the empire back to correctness],
what will [We be able] to say to the empire?

"[We] have hoped morning and night that the five
[kinds of] grains should be harvested in abundance
and the peoples' households should have a sufficiency.
When the Emperor dons the cap of virility, [We]
shall entrust the government to him and transfer it
to him.

"[We] now verily have had no leisure for light and
delicate [clothing] or for perfectly flavored [food]
and hope that together with the many officials [We]
may achieve [a good government]. Let [us all] make
[great] efforts towards this [end]."

Every time there was a flood or drought, [Wang]

Mang would eat plain food.[264] When her entourage
advised her of it, the [Grand] Empress Dowager
sent a messenger with an imperial edict to [Wang]
Mang, saying, "[We] have heard that you, Duke,
have been eating [only] vegetables. Your solicitude
for the common people is indeed deep. Since in this
autumn there has fortunately been a good harvest,
and you, Duke, are so diligent in your duties, at this
time you should eat meat and care for your body for
the sake of the state."

[Wang] Mang pondered that the Middle States

were already tranquil, and only the barbarians of the
four [quarters] were still the same as [before]. So
he sent an envoy to give actual gold and valuable
silks, as heavy bribes, to the Hun Shan-yü, in order
to have him send a letter to the Emperor, which
said, "I have heard that in the Middle States a
double personal name is criticized.[268] My former
personal name has been Nang-chih-ya-szu. Now
I change my personal name to Chih, in admiration
of and conformity to the regulations of the sages."
He also sent [Lüan-ti Yün], the Hun Princess [who
had married] Hsü-pu [Tang] and who was the
daughter of Wang [Ch'iang] Chao-chün, to enter
[the court] and wait upon [the Grand Empress
Dowager. Wang Mang thus used] myriads of methods
and stratagems to dazzle deceptively and serve
flatteringly the [Grand] Empress Dowager and her
inferiors down to her Chief Chamberlain who was at
her side.

When [Wang] Mang had become an important
personage, he wanted to mate his daughter to the
Emperor, making her the Empress, in order to make
his power secure. [So] he memorialized, saying, "The
Emperor has been on the throne to the third year,
[yet the occupant of] the Ch'ang-ch'iu Palace, [the
Empress], has not yet been established and [the
positions of] concubines in the Lateral[271] Courts
have not yet been filled. Recently, the difficulties
of the dynasty have originated from heirs being
lacking and from [imperial] marriages and takings
[of concubines] having been incorrect. I beg that
the Five Classics be investigated and discussed in
order to establish rites for [the imperial] marriage
and to fix the principle of [the Emperor's] twelve
women,[275] in order to increase his posterity, and that
there be a wide selection [for his harem] from the
daughters of the principal wives of the descendants
from the two [immediately preceding dynasties of
true] kings, [the Shang and Chou dynasties], the
posterity of the Duke of Chou and of Confucius, and
the marquises in Ch'ang-an."

The matter was referred to the high officials and

they presented [to the Grand Empress Dowager] the
names of a multitude of girls. The girls of the Wang
clan were the most numerous of those selected [as
candidates for becoming the Empress. Wang] Mang
feared that they would compete with his own daughter,[279]
so he immediately presented [a letter] saying,
"I personally am without virtue and my child's
abilities are of a low [order], so that it would not be
proper for her to be put with the multitude of girls
[from whom the Empress] is to be chosen."

The [Grand] Empress Dowager thought that he
was completely sincere, so issued an imperial edict
[for the Emperor], saying, "The girls of the Wang
clan are Our maternal relatives. Let them not be
selected [for the imperial harem]."

The many common people, the [Confucian] masters,
the Gentlemen, the lower officials, and [those
holding] higher positions, who [thereupon came to]
wait at the [Palace] Portals to present letters [to
the Grand Empress Dowager, numbered] more than
a thousand daily; some of the ministers and grandees
went to the middle of the [principal] court and some
prostrated themselves outside the doors of the Inner
[Apartments]. All said, "The sage virtue of your
enlightened edict is as sublime as" that, [or] "The
abundant and glorious services of the Duke Giving
Tranquillity to the Han Dynasty are as magnificent
as" this, [or], "Now that an Empress is to be established,
why should the daughter of the Duke be
specially excluded? Where would the destiny of
the empire be [better] placed? We wish to secure
the daughter of the Duke as the mother of the
empire."

[Wang] Mang sent his Chief Clerk and subordinates
by divisions to instruct and stop the ministers
and the [Confucian] masters, but those who presented
letters [to the Grand Empress Dowager]
were even greater [in number than before, so the
Grand] Empress Dowager had no alternative but to
listen to the ministers and select the daughter of
Wang] Mang [to be the Empress].

[When Wang] Mang again himself advised her

that it would be proper to select widely from among
the host of [suitable] girls, the ministers contested
with him, saying, "It is not proper to select other
girls and thereby alter the proper line of succession,
[which can only come through the daughter of the
Duke]."

[Wang] Mang [accordingly] advised [the Grand

Empress Dowager] that he was willing to have his
daughter interviewed. The [Grand] Empress Dowager
sent the Privy Treasurer of Ch'ang-lo [Palace,
Hsia-hou Fan[291] ], the Superintendent of the Imperial
House, [Liu Hung3b], and the Prefect of the Masters
of Writing, [P'ing Yen[292] ], to present the proposal
[of marriage][293] and to interview the girl. They
returned and memorialized, saying, "The daughter
of the Duke has been imbued with virtue and culture
and has a beautiful and fascinating appearance, so
that it would be proper for her to continue the
heavenly[297] succession and uphold the [imperial]
sacrifices."

There was an imperial edict sending the Grand
Master Over the Masses, [Ma Kung], and the Grand
Minister of Works, [Chen Feng], to inform in an
official document [the imperial ancestors in the imperial]
ancestral temples and in various ways to
perform divination by the tortoise-shell and by the
stalks. They reported unanimously, "The cracks
upon the tortoise-shell which occurred were [a prognostic]
that metal and water will flourish and assist.
The diagram formed by the stalks which occurred was
that the father and mother will occupy [their due]
positions,[298] which may be said to be a response
[presaging] prosperity and security, a portent of
great good fortune."

The Marquis of Hsin-hsiang, [Liu] T'ung2b, pre- sented [to the throne a memorial], saying, "[According
to] the Spring and Autumn, when the Son of
Heaven was about to take [a bride from the state of]
Chi6, he rewarded the Viscount of Chi with the title
of Marquis.[303] The estate of the Duke Giving Tranquillity
to the Han Dynasty, [Wang Mang], is not
yet conformable to [this] ancient regulation."

The matter was referred to the high officials, and
all advised, "Anciently, the Son of Heaven enfeoffed
the father of his Empress [with a fief] a hundred li
[square]; he honored [his father-in-law] and did not
treat him as his subject, in order to give importance
to his ancestral temple. It was the extreme of filial
piety. [Liu] T'ung's advice is in conformity with
the rites and may be approved. We beg that [Wang]

Mang be additionally enfeoffed with the 25,600
ch'ing of cultivated fields in [the county of] Hsin-yeh,
[in order that he may have] a full hundred
li."[307]

[Wang] Mang excused himself, saying, "Your subject
Mang's daughter is really not fit to be mated to
the most honorable person [i.e., the Emperor]. I
furthermore have heard about the discussions of the
many [officials concerning] an increase in my en-
feoffment. I, your subject Mang, myself humbly
meditate that I have been permitted to rely upon
[the fact that I am] a distant relative [of the
throne][311] and have [thus] attained noble rank and
lands. If my daughter is really capable of supporting
and according with your sage virtue, the estate
of your subject Mang is [yet] sufficient to make offerings
for the tribute at the court; it is not necessary
again to give me the favor of added territory. I
wish to return what was to be added." The [Grand]
Empress Dowager approved it.

The high officials memorialized that, [according to]
ancient practises, an empress was betrothed [with a

gift of] twenty thousand catties of actual gold,[315]
which would be two hundred million cash. [Wang]
Mang declined it and asked strongly that it be given
to others, [but] received forty million [cash] and gave
thirty-three million [cash] of that [sum] to the families
of [the Emperor's] eleven concubines, [who were
to accompany the Empress].

Various courtiers again said, "Now the betrothal
presents received for the Empress barely surpass
those for the various concubines." [So] there was
an imperial edict again increasing [the gift to Wang
Mang] by twenty-three million [cash, making it]
altogether thirty million [cash. Wang] Mang again
used ten million [cash] of that [sum] to divide among
the poor persons in his nine [sets of] relatives.

Ch'en Ch'ung was at that time Director of Justice
to the Grand Minister over the Masses, [Ma Kung],
and was good friends with Chang Ch'ang's grandson,

[Chang] Sung. [Chang] Sung was a gentlemen of
wide learning, and drafted for [Ch'en] Ch'ung a memorial
praising the achievements and virtuous conduct
of [Wang] Mang, which [Ch'en] Ch'ung memorialized.
It said,

"[According to] the opinion of your unworthy
servant, from the time that the Duke Giving Tranquillity
to the Han Dynasty first `brought his bundle
of dried flesh [and began studying],'[321] he has been
placed in an age when customs have been highly

extravagent and luxurious, has had the high favor

of being allied in flesh and blood to [the occupants of]
two palaces, [Emperor Ch'eng and the Grand Empress
Dowager nee Wang], and has been covered
with the illustrious brilliance of his various uncles.
His wealth has been great and his power abundant,
so that his will was unopposed.

"Yet he has humbled himself, lived a life of kindness
and goodness, vanquished his desires, and walked
in the path of proper conduct, resisting the age and
correcting its customs, standing firmly alone, [wearing]
poor clothes and [eating] poor food, with a
shabby carriage and sorry horses, with one consort
and no other [woman]. No one of the multitude has

failed to hear of [the wonderful conditions] within
the doors of his inner apartments and of his virtues
of filial piety and friendliness. He is quiescent,
rejoicing in the Way, gentle and good, and associating
with worthy inferiors. He is kindly to his old
friends and servitors and faithful to his teachers and
associates. Confucius said, `No [one] is as good as
the man who is poor and yet happy, rich and yet
loves the rules of proper conduct,'[326] which indeed
applies to the Duke.

"When he was a Palace Attendant and the former

Marquis of Ting-ling, Shun-yn Chang, committed
the crime of treason, the Duke did not presume to
keep it to himself [but] advocated that [his cousin]
should be punished. The Duke of Chou executed
[the King's Uncles] of Kuan and of Ts'ai and Master
Chi [Yu] poisoned Shu Ya,[332] which [precedent]
indeed denotes that the Duke [is like these sages].

"For this reason, Emperor Hsiao-ch'eng gave the
Duke a mandate to be his Commander-in-chief, entrusting
him with the government of the state.

When [Emperor] Hsiao-ai ascended the throne, the Marquis of Kao-ch'ang, Tung Hung, divined the
desires [of the Concubine nee Ting] and sought for
her approbation [by suggesting that the Emperor's
natural mother, this Concubine nee Ting, should be
given the title belonging to his imperial mother,
instead of recognizing that Emperor Ai was the
adopted son of his predecessor, hence his natural
mother could not be his imperial mother. Tung
Hung thus actually proposed] creating two lines of
[imperial] descent. [But] the Duke in person impeached
[Tung Hung] and thereby established a
fundamental principle [of government]. He advocated
that it was not proper for the Queen Dowager
[nee Fu] of Ting-t'ao to have [her canopy and seat
beside] the imperial[336] canopy and seat [of the Grand
Empress Dowager],[337] in order to make plain the
constitution of the state. The Book of Odes says,
which indeed applies to the Duke.

"He firmly held to humility and expressed his
sincerity in yielding his position. When the Queen
Dowager [nee Fu] of Ting-t'ao wanted to secure for
herself the usurped title [of Empress Dowager], she
feared his sense of duty which [made him] rebuke her
to her face [for placing] her canopy and seat [next
to that of the Grand Empress Dowager]. Flattering
and misleading braves, [such as] Chu Po and his
sort, were restrained by the other fact that [Wang
Mang] had in person impeached [Shun-yü] Chang
and [Tung] Hung. [Hence] superiors and inferiors
were united in calumniating, injuring, and causing
confusion, so that they violated and perverted the
regulations, and [the Queen Dowager] succeeded in
usurping the title [of Grand Empress Dowager].
They drove away [men of] stable benevolence and
executed [the imperial] relatives by marriage [who
were related to the preceding emperor, so that]
the Duke suffered the calumny [undergone by
Wu Yüan Tzu]-hsü and [Ch'ü] Yüan, and was
caused to go far away to his state [of Hsin-tuc]. The
court and the government were collapsing in ruins,
the main and subordinate [dynastic] principles were
going to pieces, and the calamity of the overthrow
[of the dynasty] remained suspended by no more
than a hair. The Book of Odes says,
which applies indeed to the Duke.

"At this time, [when Emperor Ai had died], there

was no heir in the [imperial] palaces; Tung Hsien2a
occupied the most important [position], added to
which the Fu clan had the assistance of their daughter,
[who was the Empress]. They all themselves
knew that they had offended the country and had a
feud with [the royal family in the kingdom of]
Chung-shan, so that it would have been necessary
for [the Fu and Ting clans] to be `one in' their worries,
protect each other by [the power which enables a
person] to `shatter metal [bars]',[348] utilize a forged
testamentary edict [of Emperor Ai], make frequent
use of rewards and punishments, first eliminate those
whom they dreaded and hastily introduce [to office]
those who were attached [to them], then make false
accusations against [those against whom they had]
long standing grudges, [i.e., the clan of Emperor
P'ing], and furthermore repress [even] distant [imperial]
relatives. If the circumstances had developed
and occurred [after this manner], it would not have
been difficult [for the Fu and Ting clans to seize the
power of the government].[352]

"Thanks to the Duke, who at once entered [the
court, Tung] Hsien2a was immediately made to retire,
together with his clique and relatives. At this time,
the Duke acted by his own brilliant insight and

wielded an unprecedented majesty. He lifted his
eyebrows with a stern air and disseminated a martial
ardor. Taking advantage of the fact that [Tung
Hsien2a] was not secure [in his position], he crushed
him before he could move. Like a thunderbolt he
set in motion the mechanism [of government] and
his enemies were broken. Even if [Meng] Pen or
[Hsia] Yü had been [there], they would not have
[had time] to take up [their weapons] and touch him;
even if Shu-li [Chi] had been [there], he would not
have had time to use his wits; even if [the Master of]
the Demon Valley had been [there], he would have
been unequal to such rapid [action]. For this reason
Tung Hsien2a lost his spirit and committed suicide
by strangling. People did not [have time] to turn
around, the sun did not [have time to] move on the
sun-dial, when suddenly on all [sides, the conspirators]
were eliminated, [things were] changed and it
became a peaceful court.

"Without your Majesty, [Grand Empress Dowager],

no one could have presented [for appointment]
and given [office] to the Duke; without the Duke no
one could have vanquished this calamity.

The Book of Odes says,

and Confucius said, `With promptness you will have
success;'[360] which indeed apply to the Duke.

"Hence the Duke thereupon advised [the Grand
Empress Dowager] to receive the former Chancellor

of [the kingdom of] Szu-shui, [Chen] Feng, and the

Prefect of T'ai, [Chen] Han, together with the
Grand Minister over the Masses, [K'ung] Kuang, and
the General of Chariots and Cavalry, [Wang] Shun4b,
[and have them] propose and plan [the enthronement
of the Emperor who should care for the dynasty's]
altars to the gods of the soils and grains, go eastwards,
bearing credentials, and invite [the present
Emperor to ascend the throne]. All of them received
enfeoffment or additional territory because of their
achievements and virtuous conduct and became famous
officials of the state. The Book of History says,
`One who knows people is wise,'[363] which applies to
the Duke.

"The ministers all sighed after the Duke's virtue

and all honored the Duke's signal services, [saying
that] they were equal to those of the Duke of Chou,
so that it would be proper to grant him the title of
the Duke Giving Tranquillity to the Han Dynasty
and to increase his enfeoffment by two counties, [but]
the Duke would not accept any of them. A book
says, `Shen Pao-hsü would not receive the reward for
having preserved [the state of] Ch'u,'[369] and `Yen
[Ying] P'ing-chung would not receive the enfeoffment
for having acted as [chief] assistant [in the
government of the state of] Ch'i.'[371] Confucius said,
`If [a prince] is able to rule his state in accordance
with the rules of proper conduct and yielding [to
others], what [difficulty] will he have?',[372] which
apply to the Duke.

"When they were about to determine upon and
establish an Empress-consort for the Emperor, the
high officials sent up [to the Grand Empress Dowager]
the names [of suitable girls], the first of whom
was the daughter of the Duke, [and] the Duke declined
it strongly and asked that it be given to others.
He was constrained and had no resource, and then
only did he accept the imperial edict [ordering his
daughter to be Empress]. The love between father
and child is a Heaven-[endowed quality of human]
nature and spontaneous; [a father] desires glory and
honor for his [child] much more than for himself.
The honor of being Empress is equal to that of being
the Son of Heaven. The opportunity [offered to his
daughter] at that time is rare [even] in a thousand
years. Yet the Duke thought of the great principles
of the state and yielded up the favor of the greatest
blessing. In all matters he was humble, and, [whatever
was done, he firmly refused [honors]. The Book
of History says, `Shun [wished to] yield to someone
more virtuous, and was not delighted [at the prospect
of taking the throne],'[378] which applies indeed to
the Duke.

"From the time that the Duke received his
charter[379] down to the present, he has been indefatigable
and orderly, daily renewing his virtue. He

has added to and cultivated his whole life, so that
he might issue the [proper] commands to the nobles;
he has followed[382] economy and exalted moderation,
so that he might correct the customs of the age. He
has diminished his wealth and disparaged his family,
so that he might lead his many subordinates; he has
humbled himself and held firmly to equity, so that
he might influence the ministers. He has taught
children and has honored scholarship, so that he
might raise the development of the state. His
slaves have worn plain cloth[387] and his horses have
not been fed grain, and the expense for his food and
drink has not surpassed that of ordinary people.
The Book of Odes says,
and Confucius said, `In his food he should not seek
for satiety and in his dwelling he should not seek for
comfort;'[390] which indeed apply to the Duke.

"He has denied his person and was himself frugal,
buying food [only] to the point of what has been
necessary. For all articles he has depended upon the
market-place, daily emptying [his bins] and keeping
no stores.[392] He furthermore sent a letter to the
throne [asking to be permitted] to return the estate
with which Emperor Hsiao-ai had additionally enfeoffed
him and to pay[393] cash [to the government]
and to offer his cultivated fields. He entirely exhausted
his former possessions in order to lead the
many [officials in making contributions]. Thereupon
small and great [turned] towards him in
harmony, accepting his influence and following his
example; outside [the court], kings, the highest
ministers,[397] and the full marquises, and within
[the court, the occupants of the imperial] canopies
and the imperial attendants, harmoniously and at
the same time, each exhausted his possessions. Some
paid gold and cash and some offered cultivated fields
and acres to assist the impoverished and exhausted
and to provide for and support those who had not
sufficient [to live on]. Anciently, what the Chief
Governor [Tou] Tzu-wen had in the morning did not
last until night,[398] and Master Kung-yi [Hsiu] of Lu
would not eat mallow from his garden [in order not
to deprive gardeners of their profit], which indeed
applies to the Duke.

"He opened his gates and invited in gentlemen and

[those of lower rank] down to [the occupants of]
plain houses.[401] He has frequently inspected court
affairs, has controlled all the administration, and has
himself interviewed the [Provincial] Governors and
[Commandery] Administrators and those of lower
[rank], investigating their whole life, until he had
made plain those to be promoted and demoted. The
Book of Odes says,
and the Book of Changes says, `[The superior man]
all day is active and vigilant, and in the evening still
careful and apprehensive of evil,'[407] which indeed
apply to the Duke.

"During three successive reigns he has been [one
of] the three highest ministers and has twice been in
charge of accompanying the imperial funeral cortege.
He has held the position of prime minister and has
pacified and tranquillized the state. The radii of
[all within] the four seas have converged[409] [in him]
and nothing has failed to be given its [proper] place.
The Book of History says, `[Shun] was received as
the chief director [of the administration], and, amidst
violent wind, thunder, and rain, he did not go
astray,'[410] which indeed refers to the Duke.

"All the foregoing have been rare in very ancient
times and would be difficult, [even] for Yü and

[Prince] Millet, yet the Duke encompassed its entirety,
`containing the one pervading principle.'[412]
He may indeed be said to be perfect.

"For this reason, in the course of [these] three
years, his influence has affected [people] like that of
a god and auspicious presages have repeatedly suc-
ceeded [each other]. Is this not the result of your
Majesty, [Grand Empress Dowager], being able to
know people and having obtained a most capable
[person]? Hence not only has the prince received
the mandate [of Heaven, but] also the lives of your
courtiers have indeed not been in vain.[421] For such
a [reason] Prince `Yü was presented a dark-colored
jade tablet'[422] and the Duke of Chou received [the
privilege of] being sacrificed to [after his death] with
the suburban sacrifice.[423] Verily, since [these rulers]
reported [to Heaven the great deeds of those] sent
by Heaven, they did not presume to arrogate to
themselves the merit [that came from] Heaven.

"When we estimate the upright character of the
Duke, it is a model for the empire, and when we look
at the achievements of the Duke, they are a foundation
for ten thousand generations. If a foundation
has been laid and the reward is not appropriate to it,
and if a model has been established and the recompense
is not in accord, [such a condition] is verily not
the way to help the state or to obey the will of
Heaven.

"Emperor Kao rewarded and recompensed [those

persons who had performed] the greatest services.
His Chancellor of State, Hsiao Ho, both [was given]
twice [as many] households for his estate [as others
had] and also received special ritual privileges: of
not [needing to use] his personal name in memorializing
matters and of not [being required to] hasten
in entering the [Palace] Hall.[427] More than ten of
his relatives by marriage were enfeoffed. Since
[Emperor Kao] rejoiced without satiation in goodness,
the recompenses he made were not parsimonious.
If [a person propounded] one [good] plan,
[Emperor Kao] invariably [gave that person] noble
rank. For this reason, [although] the position of
Kung-sun Jung was [merely] that of a Gentleman,
he was selected from [among] the standard-bearers
when he had once explained [the conduct] of Fan
K'uai, and was enfeoffed [with the income of] two
thousand households.[432]

"Emperor Hsiao-wen rewarded the Marquis of
Chiang, [Chou P'o], by adding to his enfeoffment
[the income of] ten thousand households and granting
him five thousand catties of actual gold. Emperor
Hsiao-wu favored and recorded military achievements,
so allocated thirty thousand households
wherewith to enfeoff Wei Ch'ing; [Wei] Ch'ing's
three sons, some of whom were in swaddling clothes,
all became full marquises. Emperor Hsiao-hsüan
made Ho Kuang distinguished and brilliant, adding
to the households [of his estate] and commanding
[that his descendants should have] the same [rank
and estate as the founder of the house]; three persons
[in his clan] were enfeoffed, [enfeoffments] being
extended to the grandsons of his elder [half]-brother
[Ho Ch'ü-ping].[437]

"Now at the time of the Marquis of Chiang, [Chou
P'o], because of the firmness of the Han [dynasty's]

tributary [kings], thru the obstinate courage of the
[Marquis of] Chu-hsü, [Liu Chang1a,] by the support
of the various generals who surrounded [the Empress
Dowager nee Lü], and by the aid of the power of
mutual assistance [of these persons], altho the project
[of the Lü clan] was detestable, they were not able to
progress.

"When Ho Kuang entered his position [as Commander-in-chief],
the authority of having long held

office multiplied the majesty of his great prestige.[442]

[Different from Wang Mang], he never happened
upon a situation that he could not handle and that
caused him to fall into disfavor[444] and [to be compelled]
to leave the court. None of those in charge
of matters in the court failed to be of the same [mind
as he]; when the break [in the imperial line occurred
at the death of Emperor Chao, Ho Kuang had controlled
the government] for a long period and his
direction of the government had brilliantly illuminated
the age. Altho it may be said that he distinguished
himself, he had [those circumstances] to
rely upon, so that [his achievement] was moreover
[comparatively] easy. Yet he suffered the embarrassment
of not being discerning in making his plans
by erroneously summoning [the King of Ch'ang-yi,
Liu Ho, to the throne].

"As to [Wei] Ch'ing and [Kung-sun] Jung, [the
one gained distinction] at the point of his sword,[447]

[and the other performed] the service of [saying] one
word, yet both received a hill-[high] recompense.

"Examining the merits [of the Duke along] with
those of [the Marquis of] Chiang, [Chou P'o], and of
Ho [Kuang, the first shows] creativeness and [the
others] were followers, when compared with [those
of Wei] Ch'ing and [Kung-sun] Jung, [the Duke's
merits are as different] as earth is from heaven.
The Duke, moreover, also performed the service of

controlling the government, hence he ought to be
elevated to be equal in greatness and glory with
Prince Yü and the Duke of Chou, and should receive
the [same] reward and recompense that they did.
Why should he be only discussed at the same time
as those others just mentioned, [the Marquis of
Chiang, Ho Kuang, Wei Ch'ing, and Kung-sun Jung]?
Yet he has not yet obtained nor received the generosity
[received by Wei] Ch'ing and the others.
Your servant is verily mystified by this [circumstance].

"Your servant has heard that, when services are
measureless, the recompense should be boundless,

and that when virtuous conduct is peerless, rewards
should be unrestrained. This is the reason for King
Ch'eng's [treatment] of[453] the Duke of Chou, which
passed beyond the limits of a hundred li [of territory]
and overpassed the restrictions of the nine distinctions,[454]
creating a territory of seven hundred li
[in extent], including both the people of [the states
of] Shang and Yen3a, and granting him to have as his
vassals the six clans from [the state of the] Yin
[dynasty],[455] `the great chariot,[456] the great banner,
[the great bow], Fan-jo, [belonging to] Feng-fu, the
semi-circular jade tablet [used by] the Sovereign of
the Hsia [dynasty, Yü], a [Grand] Intercessor, a
[Master of the Ducal] Clan, a [Grand] Augur, a
[Grand] Astrologer, the appendages [of state, a ducal]
code and institutes, officials, high and low, vases for
offering liquors [in the ancestral temple, and other]
utensils,'[461] with a white bull as his sacrificial victim,[462]
and the rites of the suburban [kingly] sacrifices
and the sacrifice from a distance. `King
[Ch'eng] said, "My uncle, I will establish your eldest
son [as Duke of Lu]." '[463] Son and father were both
installed in order, and received their [fiefs], which
may indeed be called an unrestrained [reward for]
measureless [services. But his honors] did not stop
merely with these; his six sons were all enfeoffed.[465]
The Book of Odes says, The reward must accord with the [deed]; if it does
not accord, it is not a reward.

"When we consider matters done in more recent

[times], there is the oath of the Eminent Founder,
[Emperor Kao], that except for [members of] the Liu
clan, no [one] should be made a king. Yet the
Baronet of P'o, [Wu Jui], was permitted to be King
of Ch'ang-sha and [Emperor Kao] promulgated an
imperial edict praising him as loyal, establishing and
publishing [his position as a permanent] ordinance,[469]
[thus] making plain that where great confidence
exists, [the Emperor] should not be held by the
regulation [restricting vassal kings to the imperial
clan].

"[According to] the Spring and Autumn [in Mr.
Tso's Commentary], Duke Tao of Chin employed the
plan of Wei Chiang and all of China served and followed
him; when the prince of Cheng presented [to
Duke Tao] musical [instruments and musicians],
Duke Tao thereupon granted half of them to [Wei
Chiang. Wei] Chiang declined strongly and asked
that they be given to others, [but] the noble [ruler]
of Chin said, `But for you, sir, I, your humble servant,

would not have been able to cross the [Yellow] River.
Verily, rewarding is in the code of the state and cannot
be annulled. Do you, sir, receive these [things].'
Wei Chiang thereupon possessed musical instruments
of metal and stone.[474] The Spring and Autumn
[in Mr. Tso's Commentary] praises him. It approves
[the fact that] he, a subject, was entirely devoted [to
his prince] and therefore refused [a reward for] his
services, [but] the prince knew his subject, and accordingly
rewarded him.

"Now since your Majesty, [Grand Empress Dowager],
already knows that the Duke has the achievements
and virtuous conduct of the Duke of Chou,[477]
if you do not put into effect the rewards and recompenses
[granted by] King Ch'eng, and consequently
accept the Duke's firm refusals, not considering the
plain meaning of the Spring and Autumn, then how
can the common people and your courtiers praise
[your deeds], and how can they be recounted to ten
thousand generations? In truth, this is not [the
way] the state should be governed.

"Your stupid subject considers that it would be
appropriate to enlarge the Duke's state, causing it
to be like that of the Duke of Chou, and to set up
and establish the Duke's [eldest] son [as a noble],
causing him to be like Po-ch'in. The articles that
are granted to him should also be like those [granted

to the son of the Duke or Chou]. The enfeoffments
of [the Duke's] various sons should all be like those
of the six sons [of the Duke of Chou]. Then your
many subordinates will openly offer[482] their devotion,
and the many people will be brilliantly moved
by your virtue. If your courtiers really offer[483]
their devotion and if the common people are really
moved by your virtue, then which of the deeds of an
[ideal] King would be [lacking]?

"I hope that your Majesty will ponder deeply the
weighty [deeds] of your [imperial] ancestors, respect
and fear the warnings of High Heaven, imitate[485]
the gloriousness of Yü [Shun] and of the Chou
[dynasty, follow] completely and entirely [the example
of] the grants [made] to Po-ch'in, and not be
parsimonious [in granting to the Duke] a recompense
[similar to that made to] the Duke of Chou, in order
that[486] this law of Heaven may be established and a
model may be [set] for later generations. The whole
world would [thus] be favored."

The [Grand] Empress Dowager [nee Wang] thereupon
showed [the memorial] to the various highest
ministers. [But] just when the various highest

ministers were discussing this matter, it happened
that the affair of Lü K'uan arose.

Previously, [Wang] Mang had wanted to arrogate

the [imperial] power to himself, so had said to the
[Grand] Empress Dowager, "Previously, when Emperor
Ai was set up [as Emperor] and went contrary
to the favor and beneficence [shown him by you,
Grand Empress Dowager, the Emperor] himself raised
his maternal relatives, the Ting and Fu [clans], to
high rank, who troubled the state, so that they almost
destroyed the [dynasty's] gods of the soils and grains,
[almost overthrowing the dynasty]. Now, since the
Emperor is young and is again upholding the main
line [of the dynasty] as the [adopted] child of Emperor
Ch'eng, it is proper to make plain the principle of
[only] a single line of [imperial] descent, in order to
ward off [such a] situation as had previously [arisen]
and to make [the new arrangement] a model for later
generations."

Thereupon she had sent Chen Feng, bearing a
kingly seal and cord, who had gone to the Emperor's
mother, the Concubine [nee] Wei, had installed her
as the Queen of King Hsiao of Chung-shan, [the deceased
Liu Hsing], and had granted to the Emperor's
maternal uncles, Wei Pao and [Wei] Pao's younger
brother, [Wei] Hsüan, the noble rank of Marquises
of the Imperial Domain. All of them were detained
in [the kingdom of] Chung-shan and were not permitted
to go the imperial capital.

[Wang] Mang's son, [Wang] Yü3, disapproved [of
the fact] that [Wang] Mang had separated the Wei
clan [from the Emperor] and feared that when the
Emperor grew up, enmity would later appear [between
the Wei and Wang clans. Wang] Yü3 hence
sent a man privately to give letters to [Wei] Pao and
the others, instructing the Emperor's mother to send
a letter to the throne, asking [that she be permitted]
to enter [the imperial palace]. A discussion is in the
"Memoir of the Queen [nee] Wei."

[Wang] Mang did not listen [to this request, so
Wang] Yü3 and his teacher, Wu Chang, together with
his own wife's elder brother, Lü K'uan, discussed the
circumstances. [Wu] Chang considered that [Wang]
Mang could not be admonished, but, since he was
fond of spiritual beings, they should make some
grevious vicissitudes or portentous happenings,[504] in
order to terrify him. [Wu] Chang would thereupon
explain them by citing parallel [instances from history]
and so would cause him to give the government
to the Wei clan. [Wang] Yü3 then had [Lü] K'uan
carry blood at night and sprinkle it at the door of
[Wang] Mang's residence. When the officials discovered
the [plot], [Wang] Mang had [Wang] Yü3
seized and sent to prison, where he drank poison and
died. [Wang] Yü3's wife, [Lü] Yen, who was with
child, was held in prison until she gave birth to the
child; when it had been [born], she was killed.

[Wang] Mang memorialized, saying, "[Wang] Yü3
has been led into error by Lü K'uan and others, who
spread groundless rumors to mislead the crowd, which

is[509] a crime similar to that of the [King's Uncles of]
Kuan and of Ts'ai. Your servant does not dare to
hide [the fact that] he has been executed."

Chen Han and others advised the [Grand] Empress

Dowager to issue an imperial edict saying,
"Verily, T'ang Yao had, [as his son], Tan-chu and
King Wen of the Chou [dynasty] had, [as sons, Hsien
and Tu, who were known as the King's Uncles of]
Kuan and of Ts'ai. These [two rulers] were both
sages of the highest [degree], yet they could not
prevent their sons from being of the lowest [degree]
of stupidity. Why? Because their own [good]
natures could not be transplanted [into the hearts
of these others]. You, Duke, occupy the position of
the Duke of Chou and assist your lord [as he assisted]
King Ch'eng. You have also executed [your son as
he executed the King's Uncles of] Kuan and of Ts'ai,
and have not [allowed] your love for your relatives
to injure the honor [due to] those who are honorable,
[i.e., the imperial family]. We approve of it most
highly.

"Anciently, after the Duke of Chou had executed
the descendants of the four states,[513] his grand transformation
[of the country] was perfected, until
even the multilating punishments [could be] established
but not employed.[514] Do you, Duke, concentrate
on attending to the state and aim at bringing
about the [utmost] transquillity."

Taking advantage of this [edict, Wang] Mang
exterminated the Wei clan and examined exhaustively
the case of Lü K'uan. [Wang Mang] involved [in
this case] the prominent persons of the commanderies
and kingdoms who had in the past criticized him in
memorials, and within [the imperial court] even [implicated]
the Princess of Ching-wu, the King of Liang,
[Liu] Li5a, the Marquis of Hung-yang, [Wang] Li5a,
and the Marquis of P'ing-o, [Wang] Jen. Messengers
tortured or guarded them, and they all committed
suicide. Those who died were numbered by the
hundreds, so that [all] within [the four] seas trembled
at it.

The Commissioner Over the Army [subordinate to]

the Commander-in-chief, Pao1b, memorialized, say-
ing, "The Duke Giving Tranquillity to the Han
Dynasty, [Wang Mang], has suffered from the fact
that his son, [Wang] Yü3, has fallen into the [same]
crimes [as the King's Uncles of] Kuan and of Ts'ai;
his love for his son was very deep, [but], for the sake
of the imperial house, [Wang Mang] has not presumed
to consider his private [interests. Since], however,
[Wang] Yü3 has suffered for his crime, [Wang
Mang] has sighed and has been deeply moved, so he
has composed a writing in eight fascicles, in order to
warn posterity. It would be proper to publish it in
the commanderies and kingdoms and order the school
officials to teach it."

The matter was referred to the various highest
ministers, who begged that it should be ordered that
the officials of the empire who were able to recite and
explain the Duke's warning should therefore be
recorded on the official registers [of meritorious
persons preferred for official positions], just as those
[who recite and explain] the Classic of Filial Piety.[522]

In the fourth year, in the spring, the suburban

sacrifice (chiao) was performed to the [dynasty's]
Eminent Founder, [Emperor Kao], making him the
coadjutor of Heaven, and the sacrifice to the greatest
exemplar (tsung) was performed to Emperor Hsiao-wen,
making him the coadjutor of the Lords on
High.[528]

In the second[531] month, on [the day] ting-wei,
the daughter of [Wang] Mang was established as
Empress. A general amnesty [was granted] to the
empire and the Director of Justice to the Grand
Minister over the Masses, Ch'en Ch'ung, and others,
eight persons [in all], were sent to travel separately
about the empire, to observe and see [the people's]
customs.[534]

The Grand Guardian, [Wang] Shun4b, and others
memorialized, saying, "[According to] the principles
of grading achievements and meritorious conduct in
the Spring and Autumn [in Mr. Tso's Commentary],
`The highest [degree of celebrity] is to establish [an
example of] meritorious conduct, the next [degree] is
to establish [a name for] successful achievements, and
the next [degree] is to establish [wise] sayings.[537]
Verily, those of extreme meritorious conduct or of
great excellence are alone able to do this. Such
persons, if they were courtiers, thereupon [during]
their lifetime received great recompenses and [after]
their death became [known as] exemplary subjects;[538]
Yi Yin in the Yin [dynasty] and the Duke
of Chou in the Chou [dynasty] were such [persons]."

The common people who presented [similar] letters
to the Emperor moreover [numbered] more than
eight thousand persons. They all said, "Yi Yin
became the Supporting Governor and the Duke of
Chou became the Grand Ruler. The Duke of Chou
enjoyed [the honor of] having his seven sons enfeoffed
and had recompenses greater than the highest rank
of the highest ministers. It is proper that [it should
be done] as Ch'en Ch'ung has said."

Their memorials were referred to the high officials,

and the high officials begged that [Wang Mang] be
returned the two counties [of Shao-ling and Hsin-hsi,
with which his enfeoffment] had previously been
increased, [and which he had returned to the government],
together with Huang-yu Village and the
cultivated fields in Hsin-yeh [County, which he
had previously held]; that there be selected [a term]
from [each of] the titles of Yi Yin, [Supporting
Governor], and the Duke of Chou, [Grand Ruler],
so that the Duke should be given the title of Ruling
Governor, with his rank in the highest rank of the
highest ministers; his division head clerks should be
ranked at six hundred piculs; the three highest ministers,
when speaking to him of [government] business,
should say that they `presume to speak of it;'[543] the
various [lower] officials should not be permitted to
have the same personal name as the Duke; when he
goes out he should be followed by twenty Attendants
at the Gates, thirty [members of] the Winged Forest,
and that before and after him there should be ten
great chariots. The Duke's Lady Dowager, [his
mother], should be granted the title, the Baronetess
of Apparent Merits, with the income of an estate of
two thousand households, a golden seal and a red
seal-ribbon; the Duke's two sons should be enfeoffed:
[Wang] An1a as Marquis in Recompense to [the
Marquis of] Hsin-[tu], (Pao-hsin), and [Wang] Lin1a
as Marquis in Reward to [the Marquis of Hsin]-tu
(Shang-tu); and thirty seven million [cash] should be
added to the betrothal present of the Empress,
[making it] altogether a hundred million [cash],[548]
in order to glorify the great rites [of imperial marriage].

The [Grand] Empress Dowager went to the Front
Hall [of the Palace] in person to enfeoff [the Duke
and his sons]. The Duke Giving Tranquillity to the
Han Dynasty was first installed, and his two sons
were later installed, as [had happened] in the former
case of the Duke of Chou. [But Wang] Mang repeatedly
bent his head to the ground, declining and
asking that [these honors] be given to others. When
he had gone out, he memorialized [the Empress
Dowager] concerning these enfeoffments, [declaring
that] he wished only to accept the title for his mother
and [wished] to return the seals and [ceremonial]
aprons of [Wang] An1a and [Wang] Lin1a, together
with their titles, positions, and the households in
their estates.

The matter was referred to the Grand Master,
[K'ung] Kuang, and others, who all said, "These
rewards are not adequate for the achievements [of
him to whom they have been given]. Humility,
self-restraint, retiringness, and yielding are the constant
moderation of the Duke. [His request] should
not be eventually accepted."

[Wang] Mang asked for an audience and firmly
declined [these honors, so the Grand] Empress Dowager

issued an imperial edict which said, "Every time
that the Duke has an audience, he kowtows with
tears falling, as he firmly refuses [his honors]. Now
he has sent [Us] a communication [informing Us]
that he is ill. Should [We] indeed accede to his
yielding so that [We] may order him to attend to his
business? Or should [We] indeed put into effect his
recompenses and send him home to his residence?"[554]

[K'ung] Kuang and the others replied, "[Wang]

An and [Wang] Lin1 have in person received their
seals and aprons, their charters and titles, and it has
been communicated to Heaven, so that the justice
[of their appointments] is patent. The cultivated
fields of Huang-yu, Shao-ling, and Hsin-yeh are
extraordinarily great in their income. [Their disposal]
altogether rests with the Duke. If the Duke
wishes to diminish himself in order to bring about a
[moral] transformation in the state, it is proper that
[his request to yield up these fields] be approved and
acceded to, and it is to be expected that the [moral]
transformation [which will bring about a condition
of] good government and peace will accordingly be
achieved in [due] time.

"[But] the office of Ruling Governor cannot be
attained by [his heirs in the next] generation, [so that
he should not be permitted to refuse it]. The cash
[used] in the betrothal presents[557] [of his daughter]
was moreover to honor her as the [future] Empress,
and not for the Duke's sake. The households [in

the estate] of the Baronetess of Apparent Merits will
lapse with her [death] and not be transmitted [to her
descendants]. The two estates of Pao-hsin and
Shang-tu together [amount only to] three thousand
households, which is indeed very little. [According
to] the conduct of a loyal official, it is moreover
proper that he should humble his own [will] in order
to show his fealty to his lord.

"It would be proper to send the Grand Minister
over the Masses, [Ma Kung], and the Grand Minister
of Works, [Chen Feng], with credentials, bearing
your edict of decree that the Duke must quickly
enter [the court] and attend to business, and give
an edict to the Masters of Writing not again to
receive a memorial from the Duke which yields up
[his honors]." The memorial was approved. [Wang]

Mang thereupon arose and attended to business.

He presented a letter saying, "Your servant, as the

Marquis of Hsin-tuc, in [the year-period] Yüan-shou,
the second year, the sixth month, on [the day]
mou-wu, in a night of haste and confusion, as Marquis
of Hsin-tuc, was led into the Wei-yang Palace. On
[the day] keng-shen, I was installed as Commander-in-chief
and occupied the position of [one of] the three
highest ministers. In [the year-period] Yüan-shih,
the first year, the second[568] month, on [the day]
ping-ch'en, I was installed as Grand Tutor, granted
the title of the Duke Giving Tranquillity to the Han
Dynasty, and merely acted as [one of] the Four Coadjutors.
In the present year, the fourth month, on
[the day] chia-tzu, I was again installed as Ruling
Governor, being ranked in the highest class of the
highest ministers. I, your servant Mang, myself
think humbly that my noble rank is Marquis of
Hsin-tuc, my title is Duke Giving Tranquillity to the
Han Dynasty, my offices are those of Ruling Governor,
Grand Tutor, and Commander-in-chief, so that
my noble rank is [too] high, my title is [too] honor-
able, and my offices are [too] weighty for a single
person. That I should have received [these] five
great favors, is indeed beyond your humble servant's
merits.

"Since in the third year of [the period] Yüan-shih,

the empire had a good harvest, it is proper that those
official subordinate positions which have been abolished
should all be [now] reestablished.

"The Ku-liang Commentary says, `The [Grand]

Ruler of the Son of Heaven should be acquainted with
[all within] the four seas.'[578] Your servant stupidly
considers that the office of Ruling Governor has for
its duties the correcting of all the officials and the
tranquillizing of [all] within [the four] seas. Yet it
has no seal or sign, so that its name does not correspond
to its reality. [Although] your servant Mang
does not have the ability to [hold many] offices concurrently,
since now you, the sage court, have through
an error and mistake employed me, your servant begs
that the Attendant Secretaries should have a seal
engraved for the Ruling Governor with the inscription,
`Ruling Governor, Grand Tutor, and Commander-in-chief,'
and, when the seal is completed,
transmit it to your servant Mang, who will [then]
return the seals of the Grand Tutor and of the Commander-in-chief."
The [Grand] Empress Dowager's
imperial edict said, "It is approved. His [ceremonial]
apron[581] shall be like that of the Chancellor
of State. We will Ourself attend [court] to transmit
it to him."

[Wang] Mang thereupon again took ten million
cash of what had been added to the betrothal present
[for his daughter] and left it with the Chief Chamberlain
at the Ch'ang-lo [Palace], who had charge of
providing for [the Grand Empress Dowager].

The Grand Guardian, [Wang] Shun4b, memorialized,
saying, "The empire has heard that the Duke
would not accept a territory [that would furnish] a
thousand chariots, has refused a present of [the
equivalent of] ten thousand [catties of] gold,[586] has
distributed his wealth and has given it away by the
ten-millions, so that no one fails to reform himself.
A man of Shu Commandery, Lu Chien, and others
have stopped their litigation, blushing for shame, and
retired. Although King Wen [of the Chou dynasty
caused the rulers of the states of] Yü2a and Jui to
cease [their quarrels],[589] how could it be more than
[what Wang Mang has accomplished]? It would be
proper to inform the empire [of the foregoing facts]."
The memorial was approved.

When the Ruling Governor, [Wang Mang], went

out, he was both preceded and followed by ten large
chariots, with a Specially Serving Master of Writing,
Gentlemen, Attending Secretaries, Internuncios, Palace
Attendants Within the Yellow Gate, Attendants
at the Gates, and [members of] the Winged Forest.
The Ruling Governor regularily bore his credentials.
When he stopped [anywhere], an Internuncio held
them for him. The division head clerks of the Ruling
Governor were ranked at six hundred piculs. The
three highest ministers, [in speaking to him] said
that they "presumed to speak of [their business]."[592]

In this year, [Wang] Mang memorialized [the
plans for] and built a Ming-t'ang, a Pi-yung, and a

Spiritual Tower, and for the students [in the Imperial

University] he erected ten thousand houses and had
made a Market and a Regularly Full Granary.[595]

His institutions were very grand. He established
the Classic of Music[599] [as an imperially approved
classic], and increased the regular number of the
Erudits, having five for each Classic. He summoned
those from the empire who were versed in one classic
and were teaching eleven persons or more,[601] together
with those who possessed the lost [chapters of]
the Rites, the ancient [text of] the Book of History,[602]
the Mao [text of] the Book of Odes, the Chou Offices
[the Chou-li],[606] the Erh-ya, [books on] astronomy,
divinations and revelations, the musical tubes, the
"Ordinances for the Months,"[607] military methods,[608]
the written characters in Shih [Chou's]
Fascicles,[609] and who were versed in and understood
their meaning. All went to the [office of the Major
in Charge of] Official Carriages, [so that Wang Mang]
ensnared and collected [all] the gentlemen of uncommon
ability in the empire. Those who came, at
former and later [times], were numbered by the
thousands. All were ordered to write out their explanations
[of the Classics] in his courts, with the
intention of making them correct their discrepancies
and errors and unify differing explanations.

Various courtiers memorialized, saying, "Anciently,
when the Duke of Chou upheld the heir who
succeeded his father, although he possessed the honor
of being in the highest rank of the highest ministers,
yet only in the seventh year were the institutions
fixed.[612] Verily, the Ming-t'ang and Pi-yung have
fallen into ruins and have been abolished for a
thousand years and no one has been able to revive
them. Now the Duke Giving Tranquillity to the
Han Dynasty has arisen from a great family and has
assisted and protected your Majesty for four years
down to the present. His achievements and virtuous
conduct are brilliant.

"The Duke, in the eighth month, when the moon

began to wax, on [the day] keng-tzu,[614] received the
message [authorizing him to] employ [people] for
the purposes of the court,[620] and he himself attended
to the required service and the work of construction.
And on the next day, [the day] hsin-ch'ou, the various
masters and common people assembled in great
harmony; a great crowd of a hundred thousand
[persons] joined together, working with vigor[623] for
twenty [days], when the great work was all completed.
When T'ang [Yao] and Yü [Shun] did
[great] things or when at Ch'eng-chou [the Duke of
Chou] founded the dynasty's [capital], they verily
did no better.

"It is proper that the rank of the Ruling Governor
should be above that of the vassal kings, that he
should be granted bundles of silk to which are affixed
jade circlets, one chariot of state [like that for] a
large kingdom, one comfortable carriage, and two
quadrigae of black horses." The imperial edict said,
"It is approved. Let rules for the nine distinctions
be discussed."

In the winter, a great wind blew off almost all the
roof-tiles on [the buildings at] the eastern gates of
the city wall of Ch'ang-an.[626]

In the fifth year, in the first month, the hsia ancestral
sacrifice to all the ancestors together was
performed in the Ming-t'ang; twenty-eight vassal
kings, one hundred twenty full marquises, and more
than nine hundred scions of the imperial house were
summoned to assist in the sacrifices.[630] After the
rites were ended, thirty-six great-grandsons of [Emperor]
Hsiao-hsüan, [Liu] Hsin4g and others, were
enfeoffed as full marquises.[633] The other [persons
who assisted in the sacrifices] all had households
added [to their estates] or were granted noble ranks
and rewards of money and silk, to each a definite
amount.

At this time, because [Wang] Mang had not accepted

the cultivated fields of Hsin-yeh, the officials
and common people who sent letters to the Emperor,
[including] previous and later [times, numbered]
487,572 persons. Moreover, the vassal kings, the
highest ministers, the full marquises, and [the members
of] the imperial house, when they had audience,
all kowtowed, saying that it would be proper immediately
to give rewards to the Duke Giving Tranquillity
to the Han Dynasty.

Thereupon [Wang] Mang presented a letter to

the throne, saying, "Because I, your servant, am your

maternal relative, I have overleaped my [due] sequence
and occupy my [present] post, [but] I have
not yet been able to be worthy of my position. I
humbly reflect that your sage virtue is pure and
abundant, you have received [the mandate] of
Heaven and have followed ancient [practises], you
have instituted rites in order to govern the common
people, and you have composed music[639] in order to
improve their customs, so that [all within] the four
seas have run and hastened to obey you, [even] the
many barbarians have all come to you, and on the
days when they had to take leave and go, none have
failed to drop tears. If they had not been sincere,
how could this [situation] have been gratuitously
brought about?

"From the vassal kings on down to the lower officials
and common people, all know that your servant
Mang on the one hand and your Majesty on the
other are related as closely as the pellicle inside a
reed is to the reed. Moreover, [now] that I have
been permitted to exercise an [important] charge,
those who attribute merits and rank virtuous conduct
always have some superfluous words about me,
your servant Mang, so that when I, your servant,
have an audience and the nobles of the imperial
house themselves speak of business before me, I never
fail to break out in perspiration and be mortified.
Although my nature is stupid and rustic, I myself
know most sincerely that while my virtue is small
and my position honorable, my strength is too little
and my duties are too great. Day and night I am
fearful and circumspect, continually being afraid that

I will sully and disgrace your sage court.

"Now the empire is well-governed and at peace,
the [people's] customs are uniform, the many barbarians

obey and have submitted, all of which
[comes] from your Majesty's sage virtue and what
you yourself [have done]. The Grand Master,
[K'ung] Kuang, and the Grand Guardian, [Wang]
Shun4b, and others assist you in the government and
aid in ruling. None of the various ministers and
grandees have failed to be sincere and good, hence
it has been possible, in the time of five years, to
attain this extreme achievement.

"I, your servant Mang, have really had no wonderful
plans or extraordinary projects. When I have received
the sage edicts of the [Grand] Empress Dowager
and have promulgated them to your subjects, I
have not been able to attain one-tenth [of the sageness
contained therein]; when I received plans from
various capable [persons] and reported them to the
throne, I have not been able to attain five-tenths [of
the virtue contained therein], so that I ought to suffer
for the crime of being of no benefit [to the empire].
The reason that I temporarily presume to protect my
head and neck for the moment is in reality because
on the one hand I have reposed upon your Majesty's
superabundant glory and [because] on the other hand
I have relied upon my old friends, the highest
ministers.

"Your Majesty could not bear [to refuse] the

words of the crowd, so their writings were each time
referred to [the officials] for discussion. Your servant
Mang previously sought immediately to memorialize
and stop [their proposals], but I feared
that you thereupon would not be willing to stop the
matter.

"Now that the great rites have already been performed
and the assistants at the sacrifices have all
left, I cannot repress my greatest wish. It is my
wish that the various writings which have been referred
to those who are to discuss [these matters]
should all be laid aside and not reported to the
throne, [thereby] causing your servant Mang to be

able to use all his efforts in completing the business
of instituting [Confucian] rites and composing [Confucian]
music.[651] When these matters are completed,
I will then transmit and show them to the
empire and give them to [all] within the [four] seas
to criticize. Supposing that they contain anything
traitorous[652] or evil, your servant Mang ought accordingly
to suffer for the crime of having misled the
Emperor and of having deceived the court. If I
do not undergo any other impeachments, to be permitted
to preserve my life, to be granted to ransom
my person and return home, and to make way for a
worthier person will be the private wish of your
servant. I only hope that your Majesty would have
compassion and pity and favor me somewhat."[653]

Chen Han and others advised the [Grand] Empress
Dowager to issue an imperial edict saying, "It
is permitted. Verily, Duke, your achievements and
virtuous conduct are [the most] brilliant in the empire.
For this reason the vassal kings, the highest
ministers, the full marquises, [the members of] the
imperial house, the various masters, the lower officials,
and the common people were of one accord and

said the same things. They continually waited at
the gate towers and the great court, hence their writings
were referred [by the throne to the proper officials].
On the day when the nobles and the members
of the imperial house took their leave and left, they
again presented their previously emphasized proposals.[656]
Although they were plainly instructed to be
dismissed and sent off, [yet they acted] as if they were
unwilling to leave. When [we] informed them that
in the first month of summer your rewards would be
put into effect, no one failed to rejoice and be pleased.
They called out, `Long life,' and left.

"Now every time that you, Duke, have an audience,
you always drop tears and kowtow, saying that
you wish not to receive a reward and that if a reward
is given you, you will not presume to occupy your
position. Just now [the rites and music] that are
being instituted and composed have not yet been
fixed upon, so that those matters need you, Duke,
to decide upon them, hence for the time being [We]
accede to you, Duke. When what is being instituted
and composed is all completed, the highest ministers

will report it and investigate into the previous proposal
[of the nobles, etc.]. Let the ceremonial for
the nine distinctions be promptly memorialized
[to Us]."

Thereupon the ministers, grandees, erudits, gentlement-consultants,

and the full marquis,[660] Chang
Shun, and others, nine hundred two persons [alto-
gether], all said, "When the sage lords and glorious
kings beckoned to the capable and urged the able [to
come to them], those whose virtuous conduct was
abundant [were given] high positions and those
whose achievements were great [were given] rich
rewards. Hence when an exemplary subject possessed
the honor of being a `high duke with the nine
conferments,'[664] he [also] possessed the favor of having
been promoted `[an additional] step,'[666] with
the nine distinctions.

"Now `the nine [classes of the imperial] kindred
are affectionately harmonius' and `the official class'
is already `honored,' `the myriad states' are `harmonized
and united,' and `the many people have then
become harmonious.'[668] The auspicious presages of
sageness have all arrived and the great peace has
become universal. Of the greatest lords, none were
greater than T'ang [Yao] and Yü [Shun], yet your
Majesty is worthy [of occupying their positions].
Of loyal ministers who had abundant achievements,
none were more outstanding than Yi [Yin and the
Duke of] Chou, yet the Ruling Governor, [Wang
Mang], is equal to them. It is what might be called
a revival [of ancient glories] at a different time, `[and
is as similar to those great days] as the matching of
[the two halves] of a tally.'[669]

"We have carefully taken the universal principles
of the six canons and what is found in the text of the
Classics, [especially] in the Chou Offices and the Record
of Proprieties (Li-chi), and is suitable to the present
[time], and have made the distinctions for the nine
conferments. Your servants beg [your approval of]
the distinctions for the conferments." The memorial
was approved.

[Wang Mang's] charter said, "Verily, in the fifth
year of [the period] Yüan-shih, the fifth month, on
[the day] keng-yin, the Grand Empress Dowager
[nee Wang] came to the Front Hall [of the Palace,
had Wang Mang] conducted and [ordered to] mount
[the steps to the throne], and in person[676] commanded
him by this imperial edict, which said,

" `Let the Duke approach, empty himself,[677] and

listen to Our words. Previously you, Duke, have
guarded the throne [from the time of] Emperor
Hsiao-ch'eng [now] to the sixteenth year. You have
presented your plans and have been completely loyal.
You advised [the Emperor] to execute the former
Marquis of Ting-ling, Shun-yü Chang, in order to
repress his rebellion and reveal the evil-doers. You
mounted to [the position of] Commander-in-chief
and your duties were to assist [the Emperor] at the
court.

" `When Emperor Hsiao-ai ascended the throne,
while the proud concubine, [the Queen Dowager nee
Fu] watched him furtively [for a chance] to work her
will and while his wicked courtiers hatched rebellion,

you, Duke, yourself impeached the Marquis of Kao-

ch'ang, Tung Hung, and [at an imperial banquet]
changed and corrected the usurped seat of the now
deceased [Queen Dowager nee Fu], the mother of
King Kung of Ting-t'ao, [Liu K'ang]. From that
time on, when the officials of the court discussed
[matters], no one failed to accord with the Classics.

" `When you had resigned your position on account
of illness and returned to your great house, you were
endangered by brigand-like officials, [but] after you
had gone to your estate, Emperor Hsiao-ai awakened
[to a comprehension of his error] and again returned
you, Duke, to Ch'ang-an. When he became ill and
[his illness] became increasingly severe, he still did
not forget you, Duke, and again especially advanced
your rank.

" `That night, in [a time of] haste and confusion,
the state was without a presumptive heir and wicked

courtiers filled the court, so that the peril was indeed
great. We reflected that no one was more fitting
than you, Duke, [to make] a plan for giving tranquillity
to the state, [so We] had you inducted into
the court. That same day [We] dismissed the Marquis
of Kao-an, Tung Hsien2a, and within the interval
of a turn of the clepsydra, your loyal plans were
immediately established and the main and subordinate
[dynastic] principles were all set forth in detail.

" `[During the year-periods] Sui-ho and Yüan-shou,

when you twice happened upon the death of
an emperor, you carried out all things perfectly, so
that civil disturbances did not take place. You have
assisted Us to the fifth year, [during which time] you
have corrected fundamental matters of human relationships
and have fixed the altars of Heaven and
Earth.[685] You have carefully served the gods in

heaven and earth and have disposed of [matters in
all] the four seasons. You have restored what had
been abolished for a thousand years and straightened
out the mistakes of a hundred generations.[689]
[People from all over] the empire have met in harmony
and a great crowd has collected together. The
Spiritual Tower [spoken of] in the Book of Odes,[690]
the building of [the city of] Lo in the Book of History,[692]
the institutes of the capital at Hao and the
regulations of the Shang [dynasty's] capital[693] have
been revived by you in the present [age]. You have
made glorious and illustrious the supreme achievements
of the deceased deified rulers and have made
brilliant and manifest the `excellent virtue'[696] of the
founder and exemplars [of the imperial line]. You
have exalted and made apparent the principle that
respect for the father [of a dynasty] consists in
[making him] the coadjutor of Heaven. You have
restored and established the rites for the suburban
sacrifice to the most prominent ancestor of the line
anterior to the founder of the house (chiao), the
sacrifice to the most ancient ancestor of the line (ti),
and for the sacrifice to the greatest exemplar of the
house (tsung),[697] in order to make glorious the great
[principle of] filial piety. For this reason [all within]

the four seas are concordant, all countries incline
towards correct principles, and the barbarians, who
have different customs [from the Chinese], have of
their own accord come [to the imperial court] without
being summoned and are gradually progressing
[in civilization] and have corrected their ceremonial
bonnets and bring their treasures to assist at the
[imperial] sacrifices.

" `You have searched for old [precedents and have
based [yourself] on the [correct] Way [of action], you
have obeyed the [Confucian] canons and honored
ancient [practices, so that] whenever you acted, you
have been successful, and in everything you have
attained the mean. Your extreme virtue and essential
principles have become known to the gods; the
imperial ancestors have esteemed you and rejoiced,
so that lights have shone brightly and happy portents
from Heaven have arrived repeatedly. The
grand [cosmological] principles are universally concordant
[and there have been] more than seven hundred
auspicious presages of unicorns, phoenixes,
tortoises, and dragons.[701]
You are accordingly instituting

rites and composing music, so that you will
have the great merit of having restored peace to the
[imperial] ancestral temples and the [imperial] gods
of the soils and grains. All [persons] under Heaven
rely upon you alone, Duke. Your office is that of
Ruling Governor and your rank is[705] in the highest
class of the highest ministers.

" `[We] now add [to your honors] the distinctions
for the nine conferments. Let them be used in assisting
at the [imperial] sacrifices and in performing
your civil and military duties. [Their favor] shall
moreover be conferred upon your [deceased] ancestors.

Oh! How can that fail to be good!' "

Thereupon [Wang] Mang bent his head to the

ground, and, bowing repeatedly, received [1] a green
apron,[709] a tunic embroidered with dragons and other
figures and a mortar-board hat, a short tunic and
robe, a fine gold mouth for a scabbard and a fine
gold tip for a scabbard,[711] and ornamented shoes,[712]
[2] a princely chariot with bells and a quadriga of

horses,[716] with the dragon banner with nine tails and
the spotted deerskin cap and white silk pleated robe,
a war-chariot with a quadriga of horses, [3] a red bow
and arrows and a black bow and arrows,[717] [4 a] vermillion
axe of authority to be held on his left and a
metal (copper) battle-axe to be held on his right, one
set of armor and a helmet, [5] two flagons of black
millet herb-flavored liquor[718] and two jade tablet
spoons, [6] two green jade tablets for the nine con-

ferments,[723] [7] vermillion doors, [8] inside staircases,[724]
and [9] the insignia of having an Office of
[Superintendancy over] his Clan, an Office of Praying,
an Office of Augury, an Office of Recording, three
hundred men of [the Gentlemen] as Rapid as Tigers,
one Household Steward and one Assistant [Household
Steward]. In each of the Offices over his Clan,
of Praying, of Divination, and of Recording there
were established Bailiffs and Accessory [Officials].
When the Duke Giving Tranquility to the Han Dynasty
was in his yamen inside [the Palace] or in his
residence outside [the Palace, the Gentlemen] as
Rapid as Tigers were to act as the guard at his gates,
and those who were qualified to come out or in were
to have their names inscribed on a register [at his
gates]. From the Four Coadjutors and the three
highest ministers [on down, if anyone] had business
at his yamen or residence, they were all to use passports.
The Prince's Lodge of the Kings of Ch'u was
made the residence of the Duke Giving Tranquillity
to the Han Dynasty. It was grandly repaired and
built and a vacant space [arranged] all around it for

the guard. The temples and funerary chambers of
his [deceased] grandfather and father were all given
vermillion doors and inside staircases.[730]

Ch'en Ch'ung also memorialized, "When the Duke
Giving Tranquillity to the Han Dynasty goes outside
of the city gate for the purpose of sacrificing to his
[deceased] grandfather or father, it would be proper
for the Colonel of the City Gate to accompany [the
Duke] at the head of his cavalrymen. Then when
[the Duke] enters [the city] he will have the guards

of his gates [to protect him] and when he goes out
of [the city] he will have cavalrymen [following him,
by all of which] his state would be made more honorable."
His memorial was approved.

That autumn, because of the auspicious presage
that the Empress [nee Wang] would have descendants,[735]
[Wang] Mang cut the Tzu-wu Road. The
Tzu-wu Road cuts straight across the Southern
Mountains from Tu-ling and passes [into] Han-chung
[Commandery].

The eight messengers[737] [who had been sent to
observe and influence the people's] customs had returned
and had said that the customs of the empire

have been unified. They had falsely invented accompanied
and unaccompanied songs from the commanderies
and kingdoms to praise [Wang Mang's]
achievements and virtuous conduct, in altogether
thirty thousand words. [Wang] Mang memorialized
that [their report] should be established and published
as a [permanent] ordinance.[740] He also memorialized
that [because] there existed such [perfect]
institutions, in the market-places there were not two
prices, the offices were without law-cases or litigation,
towns were without thieves or robbers, the countryside
was without famished people, things dropped on
the roads were not picked up, and males and females
took separate paths,[742] [hence] those who violated
[the institutions should merely suffer] punishments
[which portrayed] the likeness [of the mutilating
punishments in the criminal's clothing].[745]

Liu Hsin1a, Ch'en Ch'ung, and others, twelve persons

[altogether], were all enfeoffed as full marquises
because they had built the Ming-t'ang or had spread
the [imperial] teaching and influence.[748]

Since [in the empire, Wang] Mang had brought

about [the condition of] complete tranquillity, in
that to the north he had influenced the Huns, to the
east he had caused [people] to come [from] beyond
the ocean, and to the south he had attracted the
Huang-chih, [but] only in the western quarter he had
not yet produced [any effects], he therefore sent a
General of the Gentlemen-at-the-Palace, P'ing Hsien,
and others, bearing much money and silk, to tempt
the Ch'iang outside the barriers and have them present
their territory [to the throne and to express] a
desire to be received by and to be subordinate [to
Chinese rule.

Upon his return, P'ing] Hsien and the others memorialized,
saying, "The leaders of the Ch'iang
tribes, Liang Yüan, and others, whose number might

be twelve thousand persons, wish to be received and
to be your subjects. They offer the Hsien-shui Sea,
the Yün Gorge, and the Salt Lake. The level land
with fine grass is all given to the Chinese people,
and [the Ch'iang] will themselves dwell in the narrow
and difficult places and act as guards at the frontiers.

"When I asked Liang Yüan the reason for his submitting,
he replied, saying, `The Grand Empress

Dowager is sage and glorious, the Duke Giving
Tranquillity to the Han Dynasty is most benevolent,
and the world is completely peaceful, so that the five
[kinds of] cereals ripen and there are good harvests.
Some stalks of grain are ten feet or more tall, sometimes
one spikelet has three kernels, sometimes,
without being sown, [grain] springs up of itself,
sometimes [silk] cocoons form themselves without
any worms having been fed, sweet dew comes down
from Heaven and wine springs come out of the
earth,[754] "male and female phoenixes have come
and arrived,"[755] supernatural birds have descended
and perched, so that for the [last] four years the
Ch'iang people have had nothing to suffer [from the
government]. Hence "oh! how pleasant"[756] to be
admitted [to the Chinese empire] and to become
your subordinates.'

"It would be proper at this time to settle them in
[stationary] occupations and to establish a [Chief
Commandant] of a Dependent State to direct and
protect them."

The matter was referred to [Wang] Mang. [Wang]
Mang memorialized in reply, saying, "You, [Grand]
Empress Dowager, have controlled the rule for several
years; your grace and bounty have inundated
and overflowed, so that a filial attitude of submission
[has spread over] the four quarters and not even the
most distant regions with different customs have

failed to turn towards correct principles. A Yüeh-shang
potentate, [whose speech must be] successively
interpreted, presented a white pheasant; the Huang-chih
[came] from [a distance of] thirty thousand li
to offer a live rhinoceros as tribute; kings of the
Eastern Barbarians crossed the Great Ocean to offer
the treasures of their states; the Hun Shan-yü conformed
to [Confucian] institutions and did away with
his double personal name. Now at the western
boundary, Liang Yüan and the others in turn present
their land and [desire to] become your menials.
Anciently T'ang Yao's [virtue] `filled[761] and covered
[all within] the four extremities of the empire,' but
it could not surpass your [virtue].

"Now I have carefully examined that there are
already a Tung-hai (Eastern Sea), a Nan-hai (Southern
Sea), and a Po-hai (Northern Sea) Commandery,
[but] there is not yet a Hsi-hai (Western Sea) Commandery.
I beg that you will accept the territory
which Liang Yüan and the others are offering and
make it the commandery of Hsi-hai.

"Your servant has also heard that when the Sage-kings

gave order to the ornaments of Heaven, [the
stars], and fixed the principles of geographical [arrangements],
they took the mountains, streams, and
customs of the common people as the principles for
the boundaries of their provinces. The territory of
the Han dynasty is broader than that of the two
[sage-]lords and three [dynasties of] kings,[764] having
altogether thirteen provinces. Many of the names
of the provinces together with their boundaries do
not correspond to those in the Classics. The `Canon
of Yao' [speaks of] twelve provinces;[766] later they
were fixed at nine provinces. The vast territory of
the Han dynasty is far-extending. When the Provincial
Shepherds go to inspect their divisions, the
most distant ones are more than thirty thousand li
[away], so that there cannot be [only] nine [provinces].
I would respectfully employ the ideas of the
Classics in correcting the names of the twelve provinces
and make boundaries for them to correspond to
the correct original [boundaries]." The memorial
was approved.

He also added fifty items to the laws. Offenders
were transported to Hsi-hai [Commandery]. Those
who were transported were counted by the thousands
and ten-thousands, so that the common people for
the first [time] held grudges [against Wang Mang].

The Marquis of Ch'üan-ling, Liu Ch'ing4i, sent

to the imperial court a letter saying, "When King
Ch'eng of the Chou [dynasty] was a minor, he was
called the Young Prince, and the Duke of Chou acted
as Regent. Now that the Emperor is rich in youthfulness,
it would be proper to order the Duke Giving
Tranquillity to the Han Dynasty to perform the
duties of the Son of Heaven like the Duke of Chou."
The various courtiers all said, "it would be proper
[to do] as [Liu] Ch'ing4i has said."

In the winter, when [the planet] Mars was occulted
by the moon,[774] Emperor P'ing became ill.
[Wang] Mang made a written declaration [to
Heaven] in which he begged for [the Emperor's] life
at the altar to the Supreme [One]. He had a jade
circlet hung on his person, carried jade insignia, and
[declared] that he was willing in person to take the
place [of the dying Emperor]. The declaration was
stored in a "metal-bound coffer"[776] and placed in the
Front Hall [of the Palace]. He ordered the various
highest ministers not to presume to speak [to him
about government business, in order that he might
concentrate on caring for the Emperor's illness].[779]

In the twelfth month, Emperor P'ing died. A

general amnesty [was granted] to the empire.
[Wang] Mang summoned those who understood the
rites, Tsung-po Feng and others. With them,
[Wang Mang] determined that the officials of the
empire [ranking at] six hundred piculs and above
should all wear mourning to the third year. [Wang
Mang] memorialized, that the Temple of [Emperor]
Hsiao-ch'eng should be honored with the title of
[the Temple of] the Controlling Exemplar and the
Temple of [Emperor] Hsiao-p'ing with the title of
[the Temple of] the Primary Exemplar.

At that time, the line of descent from Emperor
Yüan had been ended, but of the great-grandsons of
Emperor Hsüan there were living: five kings and

forty-eight full marquises, [including] the Marquis of
Kuang-chi, [Liu] Hsien3c.[785] [Wang] Mang hated it
that they were adults, so advised, "A cousin is not
permitted to be the successor [to his cousin of the
same generation]." So he selected the very youngest
among [Emperor Hsüan's] great-great-grandsons,
[Liu] Ying1a, the son of the Marquis of Kuang-chi,
[Liu] Hsien3c. He was in the second year of his age.
[Wang Mang] took as a pretext that when he was
divined about and physiognomized, he was the most
auspicious [of all].

In this month, the Displayer of Splendor in the

South, Hsieh Hsiao, memorialized that the Chief of
Wu-kung [prefecture], Meng T'ung, while a well was
being dug, had secured a white stone, round above
the square below, with red writing on the stone.
The writing said, "An instruction to the Duke Giving
Tranquillity to the Han Dynasty, [Wang] Mang,
that he should become the Emperor." The coming
of mandates [from Heaven] through portents began
indeed with this one.

[Wang] Mang had the various highest ministers

advise the [Grand] Empress Dowager [nee Wang]
of it. The [Grand] Empress Dowager said, "This
[thing] is trumped up to deceive the empire. [Its
message] cannot be put into practise." The Grand
Guardian, [Wang] Shun4b, said to the [Grand] Empress
Dowager that when matters have already
reached such [a condition as they had], there was
nothing that could be done [about it], that if she
wished to check it, she did not have the strength to
stop it; and also that [Wang] Mang would not presume
to have any other [intentions], but merely desired
to be entitled[798] the Regent, in order to make
his power greater and to settle the empire and make
it obedient. The [Grand] Empress Dowager listened
to him and promised [to do so].

[Wang] Shun4b and others thereupon together had
the [Grand] Empress Dowager issue an imperial
edict which said, "Verily, [We] have heard that when
`Heaven gave birth to' the crowd of `common people,'
they were unable to govern themselves, so `He set
up princes for them',[799] in order to control them.
When a prince is young, there must be someone
whom he can rely upon, who should then act as
regent. Then only will [the prince] be able to carry
out [the duties] given him by Heaven and complete
the transforming influence of Earth, so that the
various living beings will flourish and be nurtured.
Does not the Book of History say, `The work is
Heaven's—let men take the place of [Heaven]'?[800]

"Because Emperor Hsiao-p'ing was young, We
temporarily took charge of the government of the
state. [We] hoped to put upon him the cap of maturity
and to entrust the government to him and
hand it over. But now his life has been cut short
and he is dead. Alas! How sad!

"[We] have already had the high officials summon
twenty-three great-great-grandsons of Emperor
Hsiao-hsüan, to choose an appropriate person to be
the heir and successor of Emperor Hsiao-p'ing. This
great-great-grandson is of the age when he is in
swaddling-clothes; if [We] are not able to secure [to
be his regent] a princely man who has reached the
very heart of virtue, who can give tranquillity to
[the empire]?

"The Duke Giving Tranquillity to the Han
Dynasty, [Wang] Mang, has assisted in the government
for three reigns, has repeatedly met with critical
times, has tranquillized and made brilliant the House
of Han, and has thereupon made [people] of customs
differing [from those of the Chinese become] like
[the Chinese even] in their institutions, [so that] he

has had the same presages as those had at a different
age by the Duke of Chou. Now the Displayer of
Splendor in the South, [Hsieh] Hsiao, and the Chief
of Wu-kung [prefecture, Meng] T'ung, have presented
[a memorial] speaking of a red stone portent.
We have thought profoundly that its meaning, which
said, `[Wang Mang] should become Emperor,' is
however that as Regent he should perform the duties
of the Emperor. Verily if there is a model, accomplishment
is easy; [but] if there is no sage, there is no
model.[805]

"Let it be ordered that the Duke Giving Tranquillity
to the Han Dynasty should occupy [the

post of] Regent and should [be permitted to] mount
the eastern [master's] steps [at the altar to Heaven],
as in the former case [was done by] the Duke of Chou.
Let the prefecture of Wu-kung become the territory
whose revenue is allocated to the Duke Giving Tranquillity
to the Han Dynasty, and let its name be the
town of Han-kuang (the Han [dynasty's] brilliance).
Let there be prepared a memorial concerning the
ceremonial [for the above]."

Thereupon the various courtiers memorialized,
saying, "The sage virtue of the [Grand] Empress

Dowager is brilliant. You have seen deeply into the
intentions of Heaven and have issued an imperial
order that the Duke Giving Tranquillity to the Han
Dynasty should act as Regent. Your subjects have
heard that when King Ch'eng of the Chou [dynasty]
was a minor and the practises of the Chou [dynasty]
had not yet been completed, so that King Ch'eng was
unable to perform his duties to Heaven and Earth
and to renew the illustrious services [performed by
Kings] Wen and Wu, the Duke of Chou temporarily
acted as Regent and the practises of the Chou [dynasty]
were therefore completed and its kingly house
was at peace. If he had not acted as Regent, then
it is to be feared that the Chou [dynasty] would have
lost the mandate of Heaven.

"The Book of History [quotes the Duke of Chou as]
saying [to Prince Shih, the Duke of Shao], `If the
son or grandson who becomes the heir to and serves
our [lord, King Wu], should be altogether incapable
of reverencing [the deities] above and below,
[Heaven, Earth, the ancestors, and gods], and lose
the glory of his predecessors, if we [were retired,
living] at home, we would remain ignorant of it.[812]

The Mandate [of Heaven] is not easy [to retain], and
the assistance of Heaven is not sure, so that His
mandate may be lost.'[815] The explanation says,
`The Duke of Chou wore the tasselled mortar-board
bonnet of the Son of Heaven, faced south and held
audience for the courtiers, and made proclamations
and gave ordinances, constantly calling them the
mandates of the King. The Duke of Shao was a
worthy person, [but] did not understand the intentions
of the sage, [the Duke of Chou], hence was not
pleased.'[817] The [Record of] Proprieties (Li[chi]), in
`Record of the Ming-t'ang,' says, `When the Duke of
Chou held court for the nobles in the Ming-t'ang,
[like] the Son of Heaven, he turned his back to the
axe-embroidered screen, faced south, and stood
up.'[819] It means that the Duke of Chou occupied
the throne of the Son of Heaven to the sixth year,
held court for the nobles, established the rites, and
composed the music, so that the empire submitted
widely. [But] the Duke of Shao was not pleased.
At that time, King Wu had [just] died and the coarse
mourning garments had not yet been put off. If we
consider it in this way, when the Duke of Chou first
became Regent, he then occupied the Son of Heaven's
throne and it was not [that he waited] until the sixth
year [before] he mounted the eastern steps.[821]

"The lost chapter of the Book of History, `Auspi-
cious Grain,'[824] says, `When the Duke of Chou offered
the herb-flavored millet liquor, he stood upon the
steps of the eastern staircase and was conducted to
mount them, and the presentation speech [at the
offering] said, "The Acting King is ruling over the
government and diligently harmonizing the world." '
The [foregoing] is how the Duke of Chou was entitled
by the person [who read] the presentation
speech when [the Duke of Chou] was regent in the
government.

"When King Ch'eng put on his cap of maturity,
the Duke of Chou thereupon presented the government
to him. The Book of History [quotes the Duke
of Chou] as saying, `We return [the government to
Our] nephew, the intelligent prince.'[825]
The Duke
of Chou constantly called [his orders] the mandates
of the King, and acted on his own authority without
reporting [matters to the King], hence he said, `I
return [the government] to my nephew, the intelligent
prince.'

"Your subjects beg that the Duke Giving Tranquillity
to the Han Dynasty should act as Regent,
mount the eastern steps,[826] wear the apron and tasselled
mortar-board hat of the Son of Heaven, turn
his back to the axe-embroidered screen[827] between
the door and window, and face south as he holds

court for the courtiers and attends to the business of
government. When he goes in or out [of the Palace]
in his chariot and robes, [the people] should be
warned and [the streets] cleared. The common people
and courtiers should call themselves his `subjects'
or `female servants.'[832] In all [these matters, he
should be treated] as in the regulations for the Son of
Heaven.

"When he makes the suburban sacrifices to Heaven
and to Earth, makes the sacrifice to the greatest exemplar
of the house in the Ming-t'ang, makes offerings
and sacrifices in the [imperial] ancestral temples, and
performs worship and makes sacrifices to the many
gods, in his presentation speech he should be called,
`the Acting Emperor.' The common people and
courtiers should speak of him as `the Regent-Emperor';
he should call himself `I'.[833] In judging and
deciding matters [when holding] court, he should
regularily employ the imperial edicts of the Emperor
and pronounce [that he issues imperial] decrees,[834]
thereby upholding and obeying the will of August
Heaven, assisting and protecting the House of Han,
and guarding and tranquillizing the young heir to
Emperor Hsiao-p'ing, [thus] carrying out the principle
of entrusting [a Regent with the rule] and exalting
the development of good government and
peace.

"When he pays court at an audience of either the
Grand Empress Dowager [nee Wang] or the Empress

Dowager [nee Wang], he should reassume the devotion
of a subject. He should in his own person [as a
noble] exercise the government and issue `instructions'
to his own palace, his family, his [marquis's]
estate, and his special territory [of Han-kuang], as in
his previous practise, [according to] the legal practises
of a noble. Your subjects, risking death, make
this request." The edict of the [Grand] Empress
Dowager said, "It is approved."

The next year, [Wang Mang] changed the year-period
and called it Chü-shê (the Regency).

In [the year-period] Chü-shê, the first year, the

first month, [Wang] Mang sacrificed to the Lords on
High at the Southern [Altar for] the suburban sacrifice,
welcomed the spring at the Eastern [Altar for]
the suburban sacrifice, performed the rites of the
great archery contest in the Ming-t'ang, and served
food to Thrice Venerable and Fivefold Experienced.
He completed the rites, then left.[841]

He established the Five Clerks At the Foot of the

Pillars, with their rank like that of the [Attendant]
Secretaries. When he attended to government business,
they attended at his side and recorded and made
detailed accounts of his words and acts.

In the third month, on [the day] chi-ch'ou, [Liu]

Ying1a, a great-great-grandson of Emperor Hsüan,
was set up as the Imperial Heir-apparent and was
given the title, Young Prince (Ju-tzu). Wang Shun4b
was made Grand Tutor Assisting on the Left, Chen
Feng was made Grand Support Aiding on the Right,
and Chen Han was made Grand Guardian Serving
at the Rear. There were also established four Junior
[Coadjutors] whose ranks were all two thousand
piculs.[847]

In the fourth month, the Marquis of An-chung,

Liu Ch'ung2c, plotted with his Chancellor, Chang
Shao, saying, "The Duke Giving Tranquillity to the
Han Dynasty, [Wang] Mang, acts on his own authority
in holding court and exercizing the government,
which will inevitably endanger the Liu clan. No
one of those in the empire who disapprove of it has
however dared to be the first to make a move. This
is a shame to the [imperial] house. I will give an
example to the [imperial] house and clan and be the
first [to attack. All] within [the four] seas will
certainly respond." [Chang] Shao and others, who
followed him, [to the number of] more than a hundred
persons, thereupon made an assault upon [the city of]
Yüan, [but] did not succeed in entering it and were
defeated.

[Chang] Shao was a cousin of Chang Sung.
[Chang] Sung, with [Liu] Ch'ung's father's cousin,
Liu Chia1s, went to [the palace] portals and surrendered
of their own accord, [so that Wang] Mang
pardoned them and did not condemn them. Thereupon
[Chang] Sung composed a memorial for [Liu]
Chia1s, which said,

"During [the year-periods] Chien-p'ing and Yüan-shou,
when the main line [of the Han Dynasty] was
in imminent danger of being cut short and the [imperial]
house was in imminent danger of being overthrown,
thanks to your Majesty [Wang Mang's] sage
virtue, you `crawled on your knees to rescue and
save it,'[857] you protected and defended, succored[858]
and guarded it, so that the [heavenly] mandate of
the [Han] state was again prolonged and the imperial
house opened its eyes [again].

"When you attended court, controlled the government,
put out proclamations, and put forth ordinances,

in your every act you made the imperial
house the first [and most important consideration]
and the promotion and employment of the nine [sets
of imperial] relatives as the primary matter. You
have had included with them and recorded [upon the
registers of the imperial house] cadet branches [of
that house] and have established kings and marquises
[from among these cadet branches], so that those
who face south [in holding court and call themselves
by the designation a noble uses for himself], ku,[862]
are numbered by the hundreds. You gathered in
and restored those members whose [registration in
the imperial house] had been broken off, you preserved
those [whose lines of descent as nobles] had
died out, and you continued [those lines whose heads]
had been dismissed [from their noble ranks], so that
they form a numerous company who are able to be
shoulder to shoulder and head to head [with the other
nobles] and have been restored in their persons. You
have thereby defended the Han [dynasty's] state
and supported the Han clan.

"You have established the Pi-yung and set up the
Ming-t'ang to propagate the law of Heaven and to
spread the influence of the sages. You have held
court for the various princes in order to render your
`culture and virtue'[863] manifest. You have added to
the lands and territory of all the nobles in the imperial
house, so that all under Heaven lift up their

heads, stick out their necks and sigh [with approval],
and the sound of their praises is `magnificent and ear'-filling,[867]
and enters [the sense of hearing]. The
reason that the state has gained this beauty, has
obtained this fame, has enjoyed these blessings, and
has received this glory—is it not [the result of the
fact that] the Grand Empress Dowager considers
[that she must be diligent until] `sundown'[870] and
that `in the evening' your Majesty is still `carefully'
contemplating [your duties]?[871] How [otherwise
could it be] explained?

"When there has been disorder, you have controlled
it; when there has been danger, you have
turned it to tranquillity; when there has been calamity,

you have led it to happiness; when [lines of
descent] have been cut off, you have continued their
succession, when [the Emperor] is young, you have
taken his place and borne his burdens. Day and
night, you have performed detailed labor; in cold and
in heat, you have been diligent, without any time for
relaxation, with unending unwearied effort. All was
for the sake of the empire and to favor the Liu clan.

"The courtiers, whether stupid or wise, and the
common people, whether male or female, have all
understood your high intentions. But the Marquis
of An-chung, [Liu] Ch'ung2c, alone entertained perverse
illusions in his heart and held rebellious
thoughts, so that he raised his troops and moved the
multitude, intending to endanger the imperial [ancestral]
temples. Of his wickedness one cannot endure
to hear and for his crime one cannot be patient
with [mere] execution. Verily, he was an enemy of
[loyal] subjects and [filial] sons,[873] a foe of the imperial

house, a rebel against the state, and an injury
to the country.

"For this reason, his clan and relatives by marriage
quaked, became distant to him and gave information
of his crimes; the common people dispersed,
rebelled against him, and threw away their
arms, so that in advancing he could not [take] a
step and when he retired he suffered the calamity
[visited upon] him [by Heaven]. His mother, who
was near the end of her life, and his smiling babes,
carried in [their nurses'] arms,[877] were beheaded at

the same time with him; their heads were hung on
the ends of poles with their pearl earrings [still] in
their ears and their hair ornaments still on [their
heads]. How can it not be perverse to make a plan
such as this?

"Your servant has heard that anciently, when [the
head of] a rebellious state had already been punished,
then[880] they made a pool out of his palace-buildings,
making them a stagnant pond, and put filth into it,
calling its name, `The baleful waste,' so that, although
it might grow vegetables, yet people would
not eat them.[881] They put four walls [around] its
mound to the gods of the soils, covered it above, and

put a mat [on it] below,[884] so that spirits of
the earth could not communicate [with those of
heaven.[886] The soil of] its mound was distributed
to the nobles' [altars for the gods of the soils], so that
when they went out of their gates and saw it, it would
be visible to them as a warning.

"Just now, when the empire heard that [Liu]
Ch'ung2c rebelled, all wanted to raise up [the skirts
of] their robes, [take] a two-edged sword in their
hand, and rail at him. Those who first reached him,
cut[887] his throat, struck his breast, pierced his
body,[888] and hacked his flesh. Those who came

later wanted to pull down his gates, break down his
walls, raze his houses, and burn his utensils. [As
rapidly as] an echo follows a sound, [their blood]
stained the earth, so immediately was a wound created
[in people's feelings]. [The members of] the im-
perial house moreover [felt it] especially keenly, so
that, when they spoke of him, they inevitably gnashed
their teeth. Why so? Because he had gone contrary
to and rebelled against your favor and beneficence
and did not recognize where the greatest
virtue lay.

"The [members of] the imperial house, for the
most part, live at places distant [from Yüan]; I, Chia,
have been fortunate to have been able to hear of
[his rebellion] first and have not [been able] to resist
my indignant desire. I wish to take the lead of the
imperial house, myself, [with] my sons and my elder
and younger brothers, to carry baskets on our shoulders
and to bear mattocks,[895] gallop to Nan-yang
[Commandery], and make a pond of [Liu] Ch'ung2c's
palace-buildings, in order to cause them to be according
to the ancient institutions. They, together with
the mound to the gods of the soils belonging to [Liu]
Ch'ung2c, should be like the mound to the gods of the
soils at Po5,[896] and should be used to grant to the
nobles, in order that it may be an eternal lesson and
warning. I wish that [this matter] may be referred
to the Four Coadjutors, the ministers, and the
grandees, for discussion, in order to make plain its
right and wrong and to show it [as an example] to the
four quarters [of the empire]."

[Wang] Mang was thereupon very much pleased.

The ministers all said,[898] "It would be proper [to do]
as [Liu] Chia1s says," [so Wang] Mang advised the
[Grand] Empress Dowager to issue an imperial edict,
which said, "Verily, although [Liu] Chia1s, a father
and his sons, his elder and younger brothers, are related
to [Liu] Ch'ung2c, they did not presume to show
partiality to him. Whenever they saw some sprouts
[of evil], they led each other in giving information
[about it]. Now that this calamity [of rebellion] has
come to pass, they unanimously and together [want
to] take vengeance upon him. [Their act is] a response
to ancient institutions, so that their loyalty
and filial devotion is apparent.

"Let [Liu] Chia1s be enfeoffed with a thousand
households of [the prefecture] of Tu-yen, as the
Marquis Leading[902] by the Rules of Proper Conduct,
and [let Liu] Chia1s's seven sons be all granted the
noble rank of Marquises of the Imperial Domain."

Later [Chang] Sung was also enfeoffed as the
Marquis of Pure Virtue. In Ch'ang-an there was a
saying about him, which said,

[Wang] Mang also enfeoffed more than a hundred
officials and common people of Nan-yang [Commandery]
who had distinguished themselves. He
made a stagnant pond of Liu Ch'ung2c's residence.

People who later plotted to rebel all had stagnant
ponds [made out of their residences].[905]

The various courtiers furthermore advised [the
Grand Empress Dowager] that Liu Ch'ung2c and the
others had plotted treason because [Wang] Mang's
power was too light, and that it would be proper to
honor and make him more powerful in order that he
might control [all] within [the four] seas.

In the fifth month, on [the day] chia-ch'en, the

[Grand] Empress Dowager issued an imperial edict
that when [Wang] Mang comes to a court audience
of the [Grand] Empress Dowager, he should be called
the Acting Emperor.

In the winter, the tenth month, on [the day] ping-

ch'en, the first day of the month, there was an eclipse
of the sun.[912]

In the twelfth month, various courtiers memorialized,

begging to increase the officials in the palace
and in the home of the Duke Giving Tranquillity to
the Han Dynasty, [Wang Mang], to establish a
Chief Leader of Conscripts, Chiefs and Assistants in
his Temple, Stable, and Kitchen, Palace Bodyguards,
[Gentlemen] As Rapid as Tigers, and those of lower
[rank, to the number of] more than a hundred persons,
and also establish Guards [for him to the
number of] three hundred persons. The rooms, [in
the imperial palace], of the Duke Giving Tranquillity
to the Han Dynasty should be [called] the Regent's
Apartments; his yamen should be [called the Regent's
Hall; and his residence should be [called] the Regent's
Palace.[916] The memorial was approved.

[Wang] Mang advised the [Grand] Empress Dowager
to issue an imperial edict which said, "Verily
when the late Grand Master, [K'ung] Kuang, died

previously, his achievements were already made
known. The Grand Guardian, [Wang] Shun4b, the
Grand Minister of Works, [Chen] Feng, the General
of Light Chariots, [Chen] Han, and the General of
Foot-soldiers, [Sun] Chien, all formed plans for inducing
the Shan-yü [to adopt Chinese customs].
They also had charge of the Spiritual Tower, the
Ming-t'ang, the Pi-yung, and the four [altars for]
the suburban sacrifices, and fixed their institutions
and regulations. They opened up the Tzu-wu Road,
were of the same mind with the Ruling Governor in
delighting in virtue, and were in accord with his ideas
and of mutual assistance to him, so that their achievements
and virtuous conduct are abundant and apparent.
[We] enfeoff the sons of [Wang] Shun:
[Wang] K'uang1a as the Marquis of the Same Mind
[with the Ruling Governor] and [Wang] Lin2 as the
Marquis Delighting in Virtue; [K'ung] Kuang's
grandson, [K'ung] Shou, as the Marquis of Accordance
of Ideas; [Chen] Feng's grandson, [Chen]
K'uang, as the Marquis of Mutual Assistance; and
add [to the enfeoffments of Chen] Han and of [Sun]
Chien, to each [the income of] three thousand households."

In this year, P'ang T'ien, Fu Fan, and others of
the Western Ch'iang, who had held a grudge [because
Wang] Mang had taken away their land and
made of it the commandery of Hsi-hai, rebelled and
attacked the Grand Administrator of Hsi-hai [Commandery],
Ch'eng Yung. [Ch'eng] Yung fled hastily,
[so Wang] Mang executed [Ch'eng] Yung and
sent the Colonel Commissioner for the Ch'iang, Tou
K'uang, to attack [the Ch'iang].

In the second year, in the spring, Tou K'uang and
others attacked and routed the Western Ch'iang.

In the fifth month, [Wang Mang] changed [the
coinage] and created as [objects of] exchange, [gold]
inlaid knife [coins] (ts'o-tao), one of which was worth
five thousand [cash], graving knife [coins] (ch'i-tao),
one of which was worth five hundred [cash], and
large cash (ta-ch'ien), one of which was worth fifty
[cash]. Together with the [previous] five-shu
cash,[930] [all of them were to] circulate together.
Many common people cast counterfeit [money].
Full marquises and those of lower [rank] were not
permitted to possess actual gold; they were to transport
it to the Imperial Wardrobe, to receive its value
[in money]. Yet in the end he did not give them
its value.

In the ninth month, the Grand Administrator of

Tung Commandery, Chai Yi, held his [annual]
general [military review and] examinations,[934] led
[out] his chariots and cavalry, and made use of this
occasion to mobilize emergency troops. He set up
the Marquis of Yen-hsiang, Liu Hsin4g, as the Son
of Heaven, and sent a call-to-arms to the commanderies
and kingdoms, saying, "[Wang] Mang murdered
Emperor P'ing by poison and, as Regent, [has taken
to himself] the throne of the Son of Heaven, intending
to cut short [the reign of] the House of Han.
Now we should respectfully[937] inflict the punishment of
Heaven and execute [Wang] Mang."

In the commanderies and kingdoms he caused a
crowd of more than a hundred thousand [persons] to
doubt and suspect [Wang Mang.[939] Wang] Mang
was frightened and afraid and could not eat. Day
and night he held the Young Prince, [Liu Ying], in
his arms. He gave information [to the gods] in
prayers at [the altars for] the suburban sacrifices and
at [the imperial ancestral] temples. He made a
document after the model of the "Great Announcement,"[941]
and sent the Grandee-remonstrant Huan
T'an and others to publish it in the empire and to
proclaim the idea that, since [Wang Mang] had [only]
the post of regent, he would be obliged to return the
government [in due time] to the Young Prince.
[Wang Mang] sent Wang Yi5, Sun Chien, and
others, eight generals [in all], to attack [Chai] Yi,
and distributed [others] to garrison the various
passes and guard the barriers in the defiles.

Some men of Huai-li, Chao Ming, Ho Hung, and
others, raised troops in response to Chai Yi, and
plotted with them, saying, "The generals and picked
troops have all gone to the east, so that the imperial
capital is empty [of troops] and it is possible to
attack Ch'ang-an." Their bands were quite large,
reaching almost a hundred thousand persons.
[Wang] Mang was afraid and sent the generals,
Wang Ch'i and Wang Chi6, leading troops, to resist
them. He made the Grand Guardian, Chen Han,
the General-in-chief. [Chen Han] received his axe
of authority in the Temple of [Emperor] Kao [and
was ordered] to lead the empire's troops. In his left
[hand] he held his credentials and in his right [hand]
he grasped his axe of authority. He encamped outside
the city walls. Wang Shun4b and Chen Feng
day and night patrolled in the [Palace] Halls.

In the twelfth month, Wang Yi5 and the others

routed Chai Yi at Yü3.

The Director of Majesty, Ch'en Ch'ung, who had

been sent to superintend to army, sent [to Wang
Mang] a letter, saying,

"Your Majesty has upheld the great plan[950] of

Heaven and in your heart you have accorded with
[the prognostications from] the precious tortoise.[952]
You have received the great mandate [of Heaven, so
that] you know beforehand [what will] succeed [and
what will] fail, and you were influenced by and responded
to the auguries by the tortoise-shell and the
lots. This means that you are the associate of
Heaven. When a lord who is the associate of
Heaven reflects, he changes the emanations; when he
speaks, he moves [the many] beings and things; when
he acts, he brings his transforming influence to success.

"Your subject Ch'ung humbly read of the date
when your written imperial edict was issued, and
your humble servant compared it with the time [of
the victory]. When your sage reflections were first
begun, the rebellious caitiffs were then routed; when
the words of your edict were first written, the rebellious
caitiffs were seriously defeated, and when your
written imperial decree was first issued, the rebellious
caitiffs were completely beheaded. Before the many

generals had time to array the sword points [of their
troops], and before I, your subject Ch'ung, had time to
complete my foolish thoughts, the matter had been
already settled." [Wang] Mang was greatly pleased.

In the third year, in the spring, there was an earthquake,
and a general amnesty [was granted] to the
empire.

Wang Yi5 and the others returned to the imperial
capital and went west to join with Wang Chi6 and
the others to attack [Chao] Ming and [Ho] Hung,

who were all routed and annihilated. A discussion is
in the "Memoir of Chai Yi."

[Wang] Mang held a great banquet in the White
Tiger Hall of the Wei-yang Palace to make grants to
the generals and leaders for their toil. In an imperial
edict, [he ordered] Ch'en Ch'ung to examine
and estimate the military achievements [of the
leaders] and rank them as high or low.

[Wang] Mang then sent [to the Grand Empress
Dowager] a memorial which said, "In an age of brilliant
sages, there are many capable persons in the
state, hence at the time of T'ang [Yao] and Yü
[Shun], in every house [someone] was capable of being
enfeoffed and when their meritorious services had
been performed and their work had been done, rewards
were given. At the time of the assembly
[called by] the Sovereign of the Hsia [dynasty, Yü,]
at T'u-shan, those who held jade and silk [at the
ceremonies, belonged to] ten thousand states.[963]
(The nobles held jade and their sub-vassals held silk.)
[In the time of] King Wu of the Chou [dynasty, at
the assembly] above the Meng Ford, there were still
eight hundred nobles. When the Duke of Chou occupied
[the post] of Regent, he performed the suburban
sacrifice to Prince Millet as the coadjutor of
Heaven and performed in the Ming-t'ang the ancestral
sacrifice to the greatest exemplar, to King Wen,
as the coadjutor of the Lord on High. For this
reason, when, within the four seas, each person came
to [assist in] the sacrifice in accordance with his duty,
there were indeed probably 1800 nobles. The Record
of Proprieties (Li-chi), [in the chapter,] `The Royal
Regulations,' [speaks of] more than seventeen hundred
states.[966] For this reason, when Confucius
composed the Classic of Filial Piety, he said, `[anciently,
the brilliant kings] did not presume to neglect
the ministers of [even] small states—then how much
more dukes, marquises, earls, viscounts, and barons!
Hence they brought it about that the myriad states
rejoiced in heart and therefore served [the King's]
deceased predecessors.'[968] The foregoing [was the
result of] the Son of Heaven's filial piety.

"The Ch'in [dynasty] acted contrary to the [right]
way, killing the nobles and exterminating their clans,
making [their territories] into commanderies and prefectures,
with the intention of arrogating to itself [all]
the benefits of the whole country. Hence [in the
reign of] the Second Emperor, it fell and Emperor
Kao received the mandate [of Heaven] to do away
with [the Ch'in dynasty's] oppression. He examined
[his subjects'] merits, distributed rewards, and established
several hundred [kings' and marquises']
states. Later they declined considerably [in number]
and the remainder have barely preserved [their noble

ranks].

"You, Grand Empress Dowager, have yourself controlled
the great fundamental [features of the government]
and have extensively enfeoffed meritorious and
virtuous [persons] in order to stimulate [people] to
goodness. You have revived destroyed [nobilities],
and continued [noble houses] that had been ended,

in order to perpetuate their lines. For this reason
your great transforming influence has spread abroad
and will be completely effective in a short time.

"It happened that, when the Ch'iang malefactors
injured Hsi-hai Commandery, when rebellious caitiffs

spread lying words in Tung Commandery, and when
treasonable robbers misled the crowd [even] in the
land west [of the imperial capital], no loyal subjects
or filial sons failed to become angry, so that those
against whom they made expeditions have been extirpated
and have all suffered[973] for their crimes, with
the result that the empire is altogether peaceful.

"I[974] have been instituting rites and composing
music, and have verified by investigation that there
is an explicit written statement [to the effect that]
the noble ranks of the Chou [period] were of five
grades and that their lands were of four grades,[975] and
that there is the saying but no written statement that
the noble ranks of the Yin [period] were of three
grades.[976] Confucius said, `The Chou [dynasty]

surveyed the two [preceding] dynasties. How replete
was its culture! I follow the Chou [dynasty].'[980]
Your subject begs that the various leaders who ought
to receive noble ranks and estates should [be granted]
noble ranks of five grades and lands of four grades."
The memorial was approved.

Thereupon the highest of those who were enfeoffed
were made marquises and earls; the next were made
viscounts and barons; those who would have been
granted the noble rank of Marquis of the Imperial
Domain [had their nobilities] changed and were entitled
Sub-vassals. Altogether there were several

hundreds [of people enfeoffed]. Those who had attacked
[the rebels in] Hsi-hai [Commandery] had [the
word] Ch'iang used in their titles, [those who had attacked
the rebels in] Huai-li had [the word] Wu (military)
used in their titles; [those who had attacked]
Chai Yi [had the word] caitiff (lu) used in their titles.

The courtiers again memorialized, saying, "Of the

persons whose merits the [Grand] Empress Dowager
has embellished and whose virtue she has recorded,
the greatest ones [will be remembered for] a thousand
years, and the lesser ones for the present generation.
Some were enfeoffed for civil [deeds] and some received
noble ranks for military [acts]. None,
[whether their merits were] deep or shallow, great
or small, have failed to be presented [for rewards].

"Now the Regent-Emperor, [Wang Mang], turns
his back to the screen and mounts the eastern steps,
so that it is proper that he should be [treated] differently
from at the time when he was [merely] the
chief minister of the state. Although his instituting
[of regulations] and composing [of music and dances]
has not yet been all completed, it is proper that the
noble ranks of his two sons should be advanced and
that both should be made dukes.

"[According to the principle of] the Spring and
Autumn [in the Kung-yang Commentary], that `treating
well the good should be extended to their sons
and grandsons and [treating well] the worthy to' their
descendants,[985] it is proper that [these persons]
should possess lands and territory. King Ch'eng

gave broad enfeoffments to the sons of the Duke of
Chou by concubines, so that all his six sons had soil
enveloped in quitch-grass [as a token of their enfeoffment].
So the relatives of the famous Chancellor
[of State] and of [the famous] General-in-chief of the
Han dynasty, Hsiao [Ho] and Ho [Kuang, respectively,]
were all [enfeoffed] together with their relatives
and connections. [Wang Mang's] elder brother's
son, [Wang] Kuang1, might first be enfeoffed as
a full marquis. When the institutions and regulations
are all completed, the Grand Minister over the
Masses and the Grand Minister of Works should
present the names of [Wang Mang's various grandsons]
to the throne in accordance with the previous
written imperial edict."

The [Grand] Empress Dowager's imperial edict
said, "[We] promote the sons of the Regent-Emperor:
the Marquis in Recompense to [the Marquis of]
Hsin-[tu], [Wang] An1a, to be the Duke Recommended

by [the Marquis of] Hsin-[tu]; and the
Marquis in Reward to [the Marquis of Hsin-] tu,
[Wang] Lin1a, to be the Duke in Recompense to [the
Marquis of] Hsin [-tu]; and enfeoff [Wang] Kuang1
as the Marquis of Vast Merit."

At this time, [Wang] Mang returned his state of
Hsin-tuc, so various courtiers again advised [the
Grand Empress Dowager] and she enfeoffed [Wang]
Mang's grandson, [Wang] Tsung, as the Marquis
of Hsin-tuc.

Since [Wang] Mang had annihilated Chai Yi, he

himself considered that his majesty and virtue was
increasing daily and that he had secured the assistance
of Heaven and of men, so he plotted to ascend
[the throne] as the actual [Emperor].

In the ninth month, [Wang] Mang's mother, the

Baronetess of Apparent Merits, died. [Wang
Mang's] mind was not upon mourning, so he had the
[Grand] Empress Dowager issue an imperial edict
[ordering] the discussion of [what] mourning garments
[should be worn]. The Junior Supporter, the
Hsi-and-Ho, Liu Hsin1a, with the Erudits and Confucians
[to the number of] 78 persons [altogether],
all said,

"The principle of acting as Regent is to direct the
performance of the duties established by Heaven,
to promote the reverencing of the way of [the ancient

Sage]-lords,[994] to bring to a successful issue the laws
and regulations, and to make tranquil and concordant
[all] within [the four] seas. Anciently, when
T'ang the Victorious of the Yin [dynasty] had died
and his Heir-apparent had died in his youth, his son
T'ai-chia was a minor and unintelligent, so Yi Yin
banished him to the T'ung Palace and acted as
Regent in order to promote the course of the Yin
[dynasty]. When King Wu of the Chou [dynasty]
had died, the ways of the Chou [dynasty] had not yet
been completed and `King Ch'eng was young' and a
minor, `so the Duke of Chou protected King
Ch'eng'[999] and acted as Regent in order to perfect the ways of the Chou [dynasty]. For this reason the
Yin [dynasty] had the development of being `orderly'[1001]
and the Chou [dynasty] had the merit of
establishing but not employing the mutilating punishments.[1002]

"Now the Grand Empress Dowager has frequently
`happened upon untoward circumstances in
the state,'[1003] and has commissioned the Duke Giving
Tranquillity to the Han Dynasty to rule and control
the various officials, and to govern[1004] the empire
justly. It has happened that since the Young Prince
is a minor and has not yet been able to be diligently
respectful[1005] to [the gods] above and below, August
Heaven has sent down auspicious presages and has
produced the portent of the red stone. For this
reason, the Grand Empress Dowager followed the
plain mandate of Heaven and issued an imperial edict
that the Duke Giving Tranquillity to the Han
Dynasty should act as Regent and mount the eastern
steps in order that he might perform the duties of
the sage Han [dynasty] and make it equally eminent
with that of T'ang [Yao], Yü [Shun], and the three
dynasties.

"The Regent-Emperor thereupon opened his pri-
vate yamen[1008] and met with various Confucians to
institute rites and compose [the proper] music, to
assist in fixing the [titles of] the many offices, and to
complete beautifully the work of Heaven. His sage
mind is in all respects complete, and eminent are his
individual insights. The Chou Rites (the Chou-li)
was discovered and secured,[1010] so that it was made
plain what should be `followed' and `surveyed'.[1011]
He took Heaven as his model and searched out ancient
ways, yet modified them. It was just as when
[K'ung Ch'iu] Chung-ni heard [the music] Shao,[1012]
and [just as] `the sun and moon' `cannot [be climbed
up to by any] stairs.'[1014] If [Wang Mang] had not
the utmost of sage wisdom, how could he have been
able to perform these [deeds]? The fundamental and
subordinate principles [of government] are all displayed
and completed [except for] one basketful.[1016]
These [matters] are the means by which he has devoted
himself to protecting and assisting the sage
Han [dynasty] and giving tranquillity to the great
multitude.

"Now the Baronetess of Apparent Merits has died.
The [Ceremonies and] Rites [Yi]-li [says], `The son of a
concubine who becomes the heir [of his father] wears
the three-month's szu mourning for his own mother,'
and the explanation says, `He is in the same position
as the most honorable person [in the family, i.e., his
father, and so] should not presume to wear [deep]
mourning for his own mother.'[1019] The Regent-Emperor
has, through his sage virtue, obtained the mandate
of August Heaven, received the imperial edict
of the [Grand] Empress Dowager that he should act
as Regent and mount the eastern steps,[1021] and support
the descendant of the great Han imperial family.
On the one hand, he has his weighty [duties] to
Heaven, Earth, and the gods of the soils and the
grains, and on the other hand, he has the care of the
great multitude and the multifarious matters [of the
government],[1022] so that he is not permitted to consider
his own relatives. Hence the Grand Empress
Dowager has established his eldest grandson [as a
noble], causing him to be the marquis at Hsin-tuc
and the successor to Marquis Ai, [Wang Wan], making
plain that the Regent-Emperor is in the same
position as the most honorable person, [the Emperor],
upholds the sacrifices at [imperial] ancestral temples,
is in charge of supplying the needs of the Grand
Empress Dowager, and is not permitted to wear
mourning for his own parents.

"The Chou Rites (Chou-li) says, `A king, . . . [in
wearing mourning] for his nobles, [wears] the hemp

mourning badge and cap,' to which there is added a
ring of `hemp banding.'[1025] If [the nobles] are of the
same surname [as the king], then [his mourning gar-
ments] are of hemp (Cannabis); if they are of a different
surname, then they are of ke hemp (Pueraria).
The Regent-Emperor ought to wear the hemp mourning
badge for the Baronetess of Apparent Merits and
a cap to which there has been added a hemp ring of
banding, like the mourning garments of the Son of
Heaven in condoling his nobles, in order to respond to
the institutions of the sages."

[Wang] Mang therefore acted [accordingly]. Altogether
he paid one mourning [visit] and a second
[time] assembled [the mourners] and ordered the
Marquis of Hsin-tuc, [Wang] Tsung, to be in charge
[of the ceremonies] and wear mourning to the
third year.

The Director of Majesty, Ch'en Ch'ung, memorialized

that the Marquis of Vast Merit, [Wang] Kuang1,
had secretly sent a message to the Bearer of the
Gilded Mace, Tou K'uang, and had ordered him to
kill a man,[1029] and that for this reason [Tou] K'uang
had arrested and bound [this person] and had applied
the law to him. [Wang] Mang was furious and
bitterly reproached [Wang] Kuang1. [Wang]
Kuang1's mother said [to her son], "Do you yourself
consider in what way [you are any different from
Wang Yü] Chang-sun or [Wang Huob] Chung-sun,
[Wang Mang's dead sons]?" Thereupon [both of
them], mother and son, committed suicide; together
with [Tou] K'uang they all died.

Previously, because [Wang] Mang had served his

mother, had nourished his elder brother's wife, and
had raised his elder brother's son, [Wang Kuang1],
he had made a name [for himself]. Then later, his
perversity and cruelty were again used to show [that
he was actuated by] public spirit and sense of duty.
He ordered [Wang] Kuang1's son, [Wang] Chia1b, to
inherit [his father's] noble rank and become the
Marquis [of Vast Merits].

[Wang] Mang issued a written message,[1034] which
said, "The principle of `stopping and hushing [instruments'

as a sign of mourning for the Emperor][1036] will
end with the last month of [this] winter. In the
first month [of the next year], at the suburban
sacrifices, the eight [kinds of] musical instruments
should be played. Altogether how many grades of
music [should be played by their own musicians]
for the kings, ministers, and gentlemen? For each
of the several ranks, what should be the number of
the five [kinds of] notes and the eight [kinds of]
musical instruments? Let [the proper officials] with
the Confucian Masters under their control each
employ their spirits and minds to the utmost and set
forth their ideas completely."

In this year, Liu Ching1a, the Marquis of Kuang-jao,

Hu Yün, a Millenary of the General of Chariots
and Cavalry, and Tsang Hung, a subordinate of the
Grand Guardian, memorialized mandates [from
Heaven through] portents. [Liu] Ching1a spoke of
the new well in Ch'i Commandery, [Hu] Yün spoke
of the stone ox in Pa Commandery and [Tsang] Hung
spoke of the stone at Yung in the [Yu]-fu-feng
[Commandery. Wang] Mang welcomed and accepted
all [of them],[1041] and in the eleventh month,
on [the day] chia-tzu, [Wang] Mang presented a
memorial to the [Grand] Empress Dowager, which
said,

"When your Majesty with your extreme sagacity

`happened upon untoward circumstances in the
state,'[1046] and met with the dangers [at the end of]
the twelve reigns of the Han [dynasty, at the end of]
the three [times] seven [decades of years],[1047] you
received a majestic mandate from Heaven, and
issued an imperial mandate that I, your servant
Mang, should act as Regent, should receive the care
of the Young Prince, and should be entrusted with
the charge of the empire. Your servant Mang was
careful and vigilant, fearing lest I would be unworthy.

"[A member of] the imperial house, the Marquis
of Kuang-jao, Liu Ching1a, has sent to the throne a
letter saying,

" `During the seventh month, Hsin Tang, the
Chief of the Ch'ang-hsing Commune in the county
of Lin-tzu in Ch'i Commandery, in one night had a
dream several times, which said,

" ` "I am a messenger from his excellency Heaven.
His excellency Heaven sent me to inform you, Chief
of the Commune, saying, `The Regent-Emperor is
due to be the actual [Emperor].' If you do not believe
me, in this commune there is due to be a
new well."

" `The Chief of the Commune arose at dawn and
looked, and in the Commune there actually was a
new well, which entered into the earth for almost a
hundred feet.'

"In the eleventh month, on [the day] jen-tzu,
[which was a day] for establishing,[1056] and was the
winter solstice, the stone ox from the Pa Commandery
[arrived] and, on [the day] mou-wu, the
inscription on the stone at Yung arrived at the Front
Hall of the Wei-yang Palace. When your servant,
with the Grand Guardian, the Marquis of An-yang,
[Wang] Shun4b, and others were looking at them, a
wind arose from Heaven and dust obscured things.
When the wind ceased, we obtained a copper portent
and a silk design from in front of the stone. Its
text reads,
A Chief Commandant of Cavalry, Ts'ui Fa, and
others looked at it and explained it.

"Moreover previously, in [the reign of] Emperor
Hsiao-ai, in [the year-period] Chien-p'ing, the second

year, the sixth month, on [the day] chia-tzu, [the
Emperor] issued a written imperial edict changing
[the year-period] and making it the first year of [the
period] T'ai-ch'u-yüan-chiang. When the source of
this [matter] is examined, [it is found to be] the
books of revelation by Kan Chung-k'o and Hsia
Ho-liang, which have been stored in the Orchid
Terrace. Your servant Mang considers that the
words, `the first year of [T'ai-ch'u]-yüan-chiang
(great general)' [mean that] when `the General
(Chiang)-in-chief acts as Regent, he will change the
year-period (yüan),' which is a testimony for the
present [time].

"The Book of History, [in the chapter], `The
Announcement to the King's Uncle of K'ang,' [says],
`[The Acting] King, [the Duke of Chou], speaks in
the following fashion, "The chief of the nobles, Our
younger brother, my little one, Feng, [the King's

Uncle of K'ang]." '[1066] The foregoing words [show
that] the Duke of Chou, when acting as Regent, was
entitled King. In the Spring and Autumn, it is not
said that Duke Yin ascended the throne, because he
was Regent.[1069] These two Classics were those fixed
by the Duke of Chou and Confucius, indeed to be a
model for later [generations]. Confucius said, `[The
superior man] fears the Mandate of Heaven, fears
the great, and fears the precepts of the Sages.'[1070]
[How can] your servant Mang presume not to obey?

"Your servant begs that in respectfully serving
the gods in heaven and earth, in the [imperial] ancestral

temples, and in memorializing the Grand
Empress Dowager and the Empress [nee Wang] of
[Emperor] Hsiao-p'ing, he may call himself `the
Acting Emperor,' [but that] when he gives proclamations
or ordinances to the empire or when [anyone in]
the empire memorializes him about matters, they
should not use [the words] `Regent' [i.e., should
merely say, `Emperor']; that the third year of [the
period] Chü-shê should become the first year of [the
period] Ch'u-shih,[1073] and that 120 gradations on the
clepsydra [in a day] should be the rule,[1074] which
should be used to respond to the Mandate of Heaven.

"Your servant Mang will day and night rear and
raise the Young Prince and bring it about that he will
be equal in virtue with King Ch'eng of the Chou
[dynasty] and [thus] spread abroad the majesty and
virtue of the Grand Empress Dowager to all quarters,
hoping to `enrich and then teach [the people].'[1077]
When the Young Prince is capped, I will `return [the
government] to the intelligent prince,'[1078] as in the
former circumstance the Duke of Chou did." The
memorial was approved.

The mass of commoners knew [what was Wang
Mang's] motive in receiving respectfully the mandate
[given through] the portents. The courtiers discussed
it extensively and memorialized separately in
order to indicate the gradual [steps] by which he
should take [the throne as] the actual [Emperor].

A Gentleman Attendant at the Gate,[1079] Chang

Ch'ung, and others, six persons [in all], plotted together
to abduct [Wang] Mang and set up the King
of Ch'u, [Liu Yü1a, as Emperor, but the plot] became
known and they were executed and died.

Ai Chang, a man of Tzu3a-t'ung, had been doing

elementary studying in Ch'ang-an. Heretofore he
had no distinction but loved to boast. When he saw
that [Wang] Mang was acting as Regent, he immediately
made a bronze casket with two envelop
covers.[1082] He wrote on one of them, "The design
in the metal casket [with] the Seal of the Lord of
Heaven's Act." On the other he wrote, "The written
metal charter [with] the Seal of the Red Lord's
Act,[1087] which a certain person transmits to the
Yellow Emperor, [Wang Mang." (Instead of]
"certain person" [there was written Pang], the
personal name of Emperor Kao). The writing said
that Wang Mang should be the actual Son of Heaven
and the [Grand] Empress Dowager [should act] according
to the mandate of Heaven. Both on the
design and the writing were written [the names of]
eight persons who were [Wang] Mang's high officials.
It also named two fine names, Wang Hsing (Wang
Rises) and Wang Sheng (Wang Prospers); [Ai]
Chang, taking advantage [of this opportunity, also]
inserted his own surname and personal name amongst
[them, so that] altogether there were eleven persons.
For all of them there were written official [titles] and
noble ranks as [Wang Mang's] coadjutors and assistants.

When [Ai] Chang heard that the matters of the
well in Ch'i [Commandery] and of the stone ox had

been referred [to the officials], on that very day, at
dusk, he put on yellow clothes, took the casket, went
to the Temple of [Emperor] Kao, and thereupon
delivered it to the Supervisor [of the Temple].[1091]
The Supervisor thereupon reported it.

On [the day] mou-ch'en,[1094] [Wang] Mang went to

the Temple of [Emperor] Kao, bowed, and received
the metal casket and the resignation [of the Han
dynasty, which] the gods had [commanded]. Wearing
the royal hat,[1097] he visited the [Grand] Empress
Dowager, returned, seated himself in the Front Hall
of the Wei-yang Palace, and issued a written message,
which said:

"I possess no virtue, [but] I rely upon [the fact

that] I am a descendant of my august deceased
original ancestor, the Yellow Lord, and a distant
descendant of my august deceased first ancestor,
the Lord of Yü, [Shun], and the least of the Grand
Empress Dowager's relatives. August Heaven and
the Lords on High have made abundantly apparent
their great assistance, so that the mandate [of
Heaven] has been completed and the succession [to
the imperial rule] has been set in order. By portents
and credentials, designs and writings, a metal casket
and a written charter, the gods have proclaimed
that they entrust me with the myriad common people
of the empire.

"The Red Lord is the genius of Emperor Kao of
the Han dynasty. He has received a mandate from
Heaven and has transmitted the state [to me by] a

writing on a metal charter. I have been extremely
reverent and awed—[how could I] presume not to
receive it respectfully? On [the day] mou-ch'en,
which is a day for founding,[1102] I wear the royal hat
and ascend the throne as the actual Son of Heaven. It is fixed that the title [of my dynasty] in possessing
the empire shall be Hsin.[1107]

"Let there be a change in the first day of the first
month, an alternation in the colors of the [court]
robes, a variation in the sacrifical victims, a difference
in the standards and pennons, and a diversity in the
utensils and institutions. Let the first day of the
twelfth month, [the day] kuei-yu, become the first
day of the first month in the first year of [the year-period
Shih]-chien-kuo,[1111] and let the crowing of the
cock be the hour.[1113] The colors of robes shall match
the virtue [of the ruling element, earth, so that]
yellow shall be esteemed. The sacrificial victims
shall correspond to the first month, and so shall be
white.[1115] The pennons and banners of commissioners'
credentials shall all be made pure yellow.
The writing on them shall be, `Credentials of the
Five Majestic [Principles] for Commissioners of the
Hsin [Dynasty],' to accord with the majestic mandate
of August Heaven and the Lords on High."

B. THE HISTORY OF THE [FORMER] HAN [DYNASTY]

B. [Chapter] XCIX
THE SIXTY-NINTH [MEMOIR]

B. The Memoir of Wang Mang

B. PART B

In [the year-period] Shih-chien-kuo, the first year,
the first month, on the first day of the month, [Wang]
Mang led the highest ministers, marquises, high
ministers, and gentlemen to offer the imperial seal
and [ceremonial] apron [1120] of an Empress Dowager
and present it to the Grand Empress Dowager [nee
Wang,[1121] in order to] obey the mandate [given
through] the portents and do away with her title
from the Han [dynasty].

Previously, [Wang] Mang had married a daughter
of the Marquis of Yi-ch'una, [Wang Hsien2a], who
was surnamed Wang.[1123] She was made the Empress.

She had originally given birth to four boys: Yü3,
HUOb, An1a, and Lin1a. Two sons had previously been
executed. [Wang] An1a's mind was almost completely
gone, so [Wang Mang] made [Wang] Lin1a the Imperial
Heir-apparent, and made [Wang] An1a the Admirable
Prince of the Hsin [House. Wang Mang] enfeoffed
the six sons of [Wang] Yü: [Wang] Ch'ien2 as Duke
of Prospering Merits, [Wang] Shou as Duke of Brilliant
Merits, [Wang] Chi5b as Duke of Perfected
Merits, [Wang] Tsung as Duke of Eminent Merits,
[Wang] Shih as Duke of Shining Merits, and [Wang]
Li4 as Duke of Marked Merits. A general amnesty
[was granted] to the empire.

[Wang] Mang thereupon gave a charter-mandate
to the Young Prince [Liu Ying1a], which said, " `O

thou'[1127] Ying! Anciently, August Heaven assisted
the Grand Founder of your [dynasty, Emperor Kao,
so that his descendants] succeeded [each other] for
twelve reigns and enjoyed the state for two hundred
ten years. `The [Heaven]-determined order of succession
rests upon my person.'[1130] Does not the Book

1b

of Odes say, `They became subject to the Chou
[dynasty, for] the mandate of Heaven is not constant'?[1132]
I enfeoff you as the Duke of Established
Tranquillity, foreover to be a guest of the Hsin House.
Alas! Reverence the beneficence of Heaven. Go
and take your position and do not neglect my
commands."

It also said, "Let a region a hundred li square, with
altogether ten thousand households in [the prefectures
of] P'ing-yüan, An-tê, T'a-yin, Ko, and
Chung-ch'iu become the state of the Duke of Established
Tranquillity, and let there be set up a temple
to his ancestors, [the Emperors] of the Han [dynasty],

at his state, just as [was done] for the de-
scendants of the Chou [dynasty].[1136] Let him carry
on the first day of the [Han] first month and the
colors of the robes of that [dynasty],[1137] from generation
to generation serving his ancestors, so that they
may eternally, because of their famous[1138] virtue and
abundant achievements, enjoy sacrifices for successive
generations. Let the Empress [nee Wang] of
[Emperor] Hsiao-p'ing become the Duchess Dowager
of Established Tranquillity."

When the reading of the charter was ended, [Wang]
Mang himself grasped the hand of the Young Prince,
dropped tears, and sighed, saying, "Anciently, when
the Duke of Chou had the position of regent, he was
finally able to `return [the government] to his intelligent

prince.'[1140] [But] now, only [because] I am
pressed by the majestic mandate of August Heaven,
am I unable to follow my intention [to return the
government to you]." He sorrowed and sighed for a
long time. A Palace Tutor took the Young Prince
down below the Hall, faced him north, and pronounced
him a subject [of the new dynasty]. None
of the many lower officials who acted as assistants to
those who had positions [in the court at this ceremony]
failed to be moved and influenced.

The coadjuting ministers were moreover all enfeoffed
and installed according to [the list in] the
metal casket. The Grand Tutor Assisting on the
Left and General of Agile Cavalry, the Marquis of
An-yang, Wang Shun4b, became the Grand Master
and was enfeoffed as the Duke Giving Tranquillity to
the Hsin [Dynasty]. The Grand Master over the
Masses, the Marquis Conforming to Virtue, P'ing
Yen, became the Grand Tutor and the Duke Con-
forming to the Hsin [Dynasty]. The Junior Supporter,
the Hsi-and-Ho and Governor of the Capital,
the Marquis of Hung-and-Hsiu, Liu Hsin1a, became
the State Master and the Duke Honoring the Hsin
[Dynasty].[1146] Ai Chang, from Tzu3a-t'ung in Kuang-han
[Commandery], became the State General and
the Duke Beautifying the Hsin [Dynasty]. The foregoing
were the Four Coadjutors. Their rank was
that of the highest rank of the highest [ministers].

The Grand Guardian Serving at the Rear, the
Marquis of Ch'eng-yang, Chen Han, became the
Commander-in-chief and the Duke Serving the Hsin
[Dynasty]. The Marquis Making Great Efforts,
Wang Hsün3, became the Grand Minister over the
Masses and the Duke Ornamenting the Hsin [Dynasty].
The General of Foot-soldiers, the Marquis
of Ch'eng-tub, Wang Yi5, became the Grand Minister
of Works and the Duke Prospering the Hsin [Dynasty].
The foregoing were the three highest
ministers.

The Grand Supporter Aiding on the Right, the
Grand Minister of Works and General of the Guard,
the Marquis of Kuang-yang, Chen Feng, became the
General of a New Beginning and the Duke Extending
the Hsin [Dynasty]. Wang Hsinga, from the imperial

capital, became the General of the Guard and
the Duke Upholding the Hsin [Dynasty]. The
General of Light Chariots, the Marquis of Ch'eng-wu,
Sun Chien, became the General Establishing the
State and the Duke Perfecting the Hsin [Dynasty].
Wang Sheng, from the imperial capital, became the
General of the Van and the Duke Exalting the Hsin
[Dynasty]. The foregoing were the Four Generals.
Altogether there were eleven highest ministers.

Wang Hsinga was a former clerk to a Prefect of a
City-gate,[1151] and Wang Sheng had been a seller of
cakes. In accordance with the mandate [given
through] the portent, [Wang] Mang sought out and
secured more than ten persons with these surnames
and given names. These two persons' features responded
to divination and physiognomization, so
they were elevated directly from [the condition of]
wearing plain clothes and were given [these high]
offices, in order to show that it was a supernatural
[matter]. The other persons [with these surnames
and given names] were all installed as Gentlemen.
On this day, altogether several hundred persons were
enfeoffed and installed in the offices of high ministers,
grandees, Palace Attendants, and Masters of Writing.
Those [members of] the Liu [clan] who had been
Commandery Administrators were all changed to be
Grandee-remonstrants.

[The name of] the Ming-kuang Palace was changed
to be the Lodge of Established Tranquillity, and the
Duchess Dowager of Established Tranquillity inhabited
it.

The yamen of the former[1155] Grand Herald was
made the residence of the Duke of Established Tranquillity,
[Liu Ying1a]. At both of these [residences]
there were established guards for the gates, and
commissioners inspected and directed them. It was
ordered that [Liu Ying1a's] nurses[1156] and wet-nurses
should not be permitted to talk with him. He was
constantly [kept] within the four walls [of his resi-
dence, so that] when he grew up, he could not name
the six [kinds of] domestic animals. Later [Wang]
Mang married him to his granddaughter (a child of
[Wang] Yü3).[1160]

[Wang] Mang's charters to his various high officials

said: "As [the planet] Jupiter presides over
`respectfulness,'[1162] so [the Chief of] the Eastern
[Sacred] Peak[1165] and Grand Master has charge of
bringing `timely rains.' As its cerulean splendor
enlarges tranquillity, so he investigates [the sun's]
shadow by the sundial."[1167]

"As [the planet] Mars presides over `wisdom',[1168]
so [the Chief of] the Southern [Sacred] Peak and
Grand Tutor is in charge of bringing `timely

warmth.'[1170] As its red spendor enlarges tranquillity,
so he investigates sounds by the musical tubes."[1171]

"As [the planet] Venus presides over `orderliness,'
so [the Chief of] the Western [Sacred] Peak and

State Master has charge of bringing `timely sun-
shine.'[1174] As its white splendor gives form to tranquillity,
so he investigates measures of capacity by
weighing instruments."[1176]

"As [the planet] Mercury presides over `deliberation,'
so [the Chief of] the Northern [Sacred] Peak
and State General has charge of bringing `timely

cold.'[1178] As its sombre brilliance harmonizes tranquillity,
so he investigates the planets by the clepsydra."[1179]

"As the Moon [has charge of] punishments, and is
the great limb[1180] [of the heavenly powers], so the
Commander-[in-chief] on the left has charge of
bringing about military responses [to evil deeds.

As we] investigate squareness[1183] by the standard of
the try-square, so he has charge of presiding over
astrological phenomena, `reverently in accordance
with [the observation] of the vast heavens, to deliver
the seasons respectfully to the common people,'[1185]
and to give stimulation and encouragement to agricultural
pursuits, in order [to bring about] an
abundant harvest of grain."

"As the Sun has charge of virtues[1186] and is the
great arm [of the heavenly powers, so] the [Grand]
Minister over the Masses on the right has charge of
bringing auspicious presages [concerning] civil [matters].
As a circle is investigated by testing it with
the compasses,[1187] so he has charge of presiding over
human ways. The `five [fundamental] teachings'

are to be supported by him. He is to lead the common
people, to receive [commands] from the throne,
to propagate and beautify the customs and usages,
and the five grades [of people will be well] instructed."[1189]

"[As the constellation of the Northern] Bushel
[has charge of] balancing [i.e., judging][1192] and is the
great heart [(or center) of heaven], so in the center
the [Grand] Minister of Works has charge of preparing
designs [i.e., planning] for (animate and inanimate)
things. As length is investigated by the
[carpenter's] line, so he has charge of presiding over
the principles of geographical arrangements, of balancing
and ruling the waters and the earth, and is in
charge of [the spirits of] the famous mountains and
streams, of multiplying birds and beasts, and of
making grass and trees luxurious and abundant."

[Wang Mang thus] gave a charter-mandate to
each one according to his duties, [using] words like
those in the "Canons" and the "Announcements."[1194]
He established a Director of Confidence in the Commander-in-chief,
a Director of Uprightness to the
Grand Minister over the Masses, and a Director of
Obedience to the Grand Minister of Works, whose
positions were those of senior high ministers.

He [had previously] changed the title of the Grand

Minister of Agriculture to be the Hsi-and-Ho,[1196]
and later changed it to be the Communicator. The
Grand Judge was called the Deciding Judge, the
Grand Minister of Ceremonies was called the Arranger
of the Ancestral Temples, the Grand Herald
was called the Director of Music, the Privy Treasurer
was called the Provider of Works, and the Chief
Commandant of Waters and Parks was called the My
Forester. [These six officials], with the [three
senior] high ministers who were directors to the three
highest ministers were together [ranked as] the nine
high ministers. They were divided and [each] made
subordinate to [some one of] the three highest ministers.
For each high minister there were established
three grandees, and for each grandee there were
established three First Officers, so that altogether
there were twenty-seven grandees and eighty-one
First Officers.[1200] They were separately put in charge
of the various duties in the offices of the imperial
capital.

He changed the title of the Superintendant of the
Imperial Household to be the Director of Palaces,
the Grand Coachman to be the Grand[1201] Charioteer,
the Commandant of the Palace Guard to be the
Grand[1202] Guard, the Bearer of the Gilded Mace to
be the Inciter to Military Deeds, and the [Colonel of]
the Capital [Encampments][1203] to be the Chief of

the Army. He also established the office of Grand
Keeper of the Robes, who had charge of the imperial
chariots of state, robes, and imperial articles. Later
[this officer] also had charge of troops. The ranks
and positions [of the foregoing six officials] were all
those of the highest [rank] of the high ministers; they
were entitled the Six Superintendants.

[The titles of] Grand Administrators of commanderies

were changed to be Grand Governors,
[commandery] Chief Commandants were called
Grand Commandants, Prefects and Chiefs of prefectures
were called Rulers, [Attending] Secretaries
were called Upholders of the Laws, the Majors in
Charge of Official Carriages were called [the Directors
of] the Four Gates to the Royal Apartments.

The Ch'ang1-lo Palace was called the Ch'ang2-lo
House, the Wei-yang (Never Completed) Palace was
called the Shou-ch'eng House (the House Where a
Long Life is Perfected), the Front Hall was called
the Hall with the Royal Apartments, and Ch'ang1-an
was called Ch'ang2-an.

The names of the [civil] ranks were changed: the
[occupants of positions ranking at] 100 piculs were
called Common Officers, the [occupants of positions
ranking at] 300 piculs were called Lower-ranking
Officers, the [occupants of positions ranking at] 400
piculs were called Middle-ranking Officers, the [occupants
of positions ranking at] 500 piculs were
called Mandated Officers, the [occupants of positions
ranking at] 600 piculs were called First Officers, the
[occupants of positions ranking at] 1000 piculs were
called Lower-ranking Grandees, the [occupants of
positions ranking at] equivalent to 2000 piculs were
called Middle-ranking Grandees, the [occupants of
positions ranking at] 2000 piculs were called Upper-ranking
Grandees, and the [occupants of positions
ranking at] fully 2000 piculs were called High Ministers.
The carriages, robes, aprons, and mortarboard
hats of each [differed according to] their
different degrees.

There were also established [the Grandee] in
Charge of Respectfulness, [the Grandee] in Charge of
Accordance [with the Way,[1209] the Grandee] in Charge

of Clearsightedness, [the Grandee] in Charge of
Attentiveness, and the Grandee in Charge of Perspicaciousness,[1213]
who, together with the Musician
Chanting the Odes and the Ruler for Removing the
Viands were to have charge of [the Emperor's] errors.
Their charters said,

"I have heard that the sages of the most [ancient

times] wished to make their virtues brilliant, so
never failed to cultivate their persons carefully, in
order that they might tranquillize [everyone, even
those] at a distance. For this purpose I have established
you to have charge of your `five activities.'[1216]
Do not hide my faults and do not assist me in vainglory.
`In your likes and dislikes make no errors'[1217]
and hold to the mean. O! Put forth all your
efforts!"

[Wang Mang] ordered that the [Directors of Four
Gates to] the Royal Apartments should establish
the banner for initiating improvements, the post for
speaking ill and criticizing,[1218] and the drum for those
who dare to admonish.[1219] Four Grandee-remonstrants
were regularily seated at the Gates to the

King's Apartments to receive those who would speak
of matters.

The members of the Wang clan who were related

[closely enough so that they would wear] the one-year's
mourning were enfeoffed as Marquises, [those
who would wear] the nine-months' mourning became
Earls, [those who would wear] the five-months'
mourning became Viscounts, and [those who would
wear] the three-months' mourning became Barons.
The females all became Baronesses. The males all
had Mu (concord) and the females had Lung (prosperous)
in their titles.[1224] All received seals and cords.

[Wang Mang] ordered that for the nobles there
should be appointed Ladies Dowager, Ladies, and
Heirs, who would also receive seals and cords.

[His message] also said, " `Heaven has not two
suns, nor has Earth two kings'[1228] —this is the unchangeable
way of all the kings. Some of the nobles
of the Han clan were entitled Kings, and even the
barbarians [beyond] the four [frontiers] followed
[this practise]. It is contrary to the ancient institutions
and absurd [in view of the principle that there
is only] one sovereign [in the world]. Let it be fixed
that the titles of vassal kings shall all be [changed to]
Duke, and that those of the barbarians [beyond] the
four [frontiers] who have usurped this title and called
themselves Kings shall all be changed and become
Marquises."

It also said: "According to the Way of the [ancient]
lords and kings, one followed [the ways of his
predecessor, so that [their principles] were transmitted
[from one to another]. As a recompense for
their abundant virtues for hundreds of generations
[after their death] they should enjoy sacrifices. I
reflect that the Yellow Lord, the Lord, Shao-hao, the
Lord, Chuan-hsü, the Lord, K'u, the Lord, Yao, the
Lord, Shun, the Lord, Yü of the Hsia [dynasty],
Kao-yao, and Yi Yin all possessed sage virtues and
ascended to August Heaven, [becoming gods]. Their
achievements were sublime and their brilliance was
spread[1232] to a distance. I esteem them highly and
have `instituted a search'[1233] for their descendants in
order to recompense them by [enfeoffing descendants
to] sacrifice to them. Verily, the Wang clan are
descendants of the Lord of Yü, [Shun], who was descended
from the Lord, K'u, and the Liu clan are
descendants of Yao, who was descended from Chuan-hsü."[1234]

Thereupon he enfeoffed Yao Hsün as the Marquis
of Original Concord to make offerings as the descendant
of the Yellow Lord and Liang Hu as the
Earl Renewing Distant [Sacrifices] to make offerings
as the descendant of Shao-hao. The Imperial Grandson,
the Duke of Prospering Merits, [Wang] Ch'ien2,
was to make offerings as the descendant of the Lord,
K'u. Liu Hsin1b became the Earl of Vast Glories
to make offerings as the descendant of Chuan-hsü.
[Liu] Tieh, the son to the State Master, Liu Hsin1a,
became the Marquis of Yi-and-Hsiu, to make offerings
as the descendant of Yao. Kuei Ch'ang became
the Marquis of the Beginning of Concord to make
offerings as the descendant of the Lord of Yü, [Shun].
Shan Tsun became the Viscount as a Recompense for
Counsel to make offerings as the descendant of
Kao-yao. Yi Hsüan became the Viscount in Recompense
to the [Supporting] Governor, to make offerings
as the descendant of Yi Yin. The position of
the descendant of the Han [dynasty], the Duke of
Established Tranquillity, Liu Ting1a, was made that
of a Guest. [The title of] the descendant of the
Chou [dynasty], the Duke of Weis,[1239] Chi Tang, was
changed, and he was enfeoffed as the Duke of Manifest
Peace and was also made a Guest. [The title of]
the descendant of the Yin [dynasty], the Duke of
Sung, K'ung Hung, whose rank was altered [because
of] the change in [the dynasty], was changed, and
he was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Manifest Brilliance
and his position was made that of a Respected
Guest.[1240] A descendant of the Hsia [dynasty], Szu
Feng, [a man] from Liao-hsi [Commandery], was
enfeoffed and made the Marquis of Manifest Merits
and was also made a Respected Guest. (To the most
ancient examplars of the four dynasties there were
made sacrifices to exemplars in the Ming-t'ang, and
they were made the coadjutors of the August First
Deceased Ancestor, the Lord of Yü, [Shun].)[1244] The
descendant of the Duke of Chou, the Viscount in
Recompense to [the Duke of] Lu, Chi Chiu, and the
descendant of Duke Hsüan-ni [in Recompense for
Perfection, Confucius], the Viscount in Recompense
for Perfection, K'ung Chün, had already been previously
appointed.

[Wang] Mang also said, "When previously I was
Regent, I founded a temple for the suburban sacrifices,
established a temple for the distant ancestors, and
set up [an altar for] the gods of the soils and grains.
The gods in heaven and earth responded by [granting]
favors. Sometimes `lights descended from above,
dissolving into a crow';[1248] sometimes there was a
yellow emanation which steamed up[1250] dazzlingly
clear, thereby making manifest my brilliant [inheritance
from] the Yellow [Lord] and Yü [Shun].

"From the Yellow Lord to King Po of Chi-nan,
[Wang Sui], there have indeed been five surnames in
the generations of the founders [of my clan].[1253] The
Yellow Lord had twenty-five sons, and granted them
twelve separate surnames. My ancestor who was
the Lord of Yü, [Shun], received the surname Yao;
in [the time of] T'ao-and-T'ang [Yao], [my ancestors]
were surnamed Kuei; in [the time of] the
Chou [dynasty], they were surnamed Ch'en; in [the
state of] Ch'i, they were surnamed T'ien; and in
Chi-nan [Commandery] they were surnamed Wang.

"I have humbly remembered my August Deceased
Original Ancestor, the Yellow Lord, and my August
Deceased First[1254] Ancestor, the Lord of Yü, [Shun],
and have hence performed to them the sacrifice to
an exemplar (tsung) in the Ming-t'ang. It is proper
that [these ancestors] should be [given the proper]
ranks among the founders and exemplars in my personal
ancestral temple. Let there be established five
shrines to founders [of my line] and four shrines to
immediate ancestors,[1255] and let the queens and ladies

[of these ancestors] all receive offerings with [their
husbands]. In the suburban sacrifice, let the Yellow
Lord be the coadjutor of Heaven, and let the Queen
of the Yellow [Lord] be made the coadjutrix of Earth.
Let the Eastern Residence of the Marquis of Hsin-tuc
become the great clan temple[1259] where [these ancestors]
shall be worshipped yearly and seasonally.
Those whom my family esteem shall be sacrificed to
for posterity thruout the empire.[1261]

"All [the members of] all the five clans [surnamed]
Yao, Kuei, Ch'en, T'ien, and Wang are distant descendants
of the Yellow [Lord] and of Yü [Shun],
and so are my fellowclansman. Does not the Book
of History say, `Effect a generous kindness and nice
observance of distinctions among the nine [classes of]

kindred'?[1263] Let it be ordered that in the empire
the names [of persons bearing] these five surnames
should be entered upon the register of the Arranger
of the Ancestral Temples; all are to be made [members
of] the imperial house. From generation to
generation, they shall be exempted and shall not
pay anything. Let [the members of] the Wang clan
from Yüan-ch'eng be ordered not to intermarry
[among themselves], in order to distinguish [this clan]
and to regulate relationships."[1266]

[Wang Mang] enfeoffed Ch'en Ch'ung as Marquis
of Ruling Concord to make offerings as the descendant
of King Hu [of Ch'en],[1267] and T'ien Feng as
Marquis of Hereditary Concord, to make offerings
as the descendant of King Ching.[1268]

[As to] all those [Provincial] Shepherds and [Commandery]
Administrators in the empire, who, because
of [the rebellion of] Chai Yi, Chao Ming, and others,
had led their provinces or commanderies [to attack
these rebels and thus] had cherished loyalty and
filial piety, the Shepherds were enfeoffed as Barons
and the Administrators as Sub-Vassals. [Wang
Mang] also enfeoffed as Barons the sons of all those
who had formerly shown him kindness, [the sons of]
Tai Ch'ung, Chin Shê, Chi Hung, Yang[1269] Ping and
others.

He sent the Chief Commandant of Cavalry, [Hsieh]

Hsiao, and others in separate parties to prepare
funerary parks and altars to the Yellow Lord at the
Ch'iao Sacred Place in Shang Commandery, [1271] to the
Lord of Yü, [Shun], at [Mt.] Chiu-yi in Ling-ling
[Commandery], to King Hu in [the former kingdom
of] Huai-yang, to King Ching of Ch'en at Lin-tzu in
Ch'i [Commandery], to King Min [of Ch'i] at Chü
in Ch'eng-yang [Commandery], to King Po, [Wang
Sui], at Tung-p'ing-ling in Chi-nan [Commandery],
and to King Ju, [Wang Ho4a], at Yüan-ch'eng in Wei
Commandery. At the four seasons, commissioners
were to bring sacrifices to them. Those whose
temples had to be built, because the empire had just
recently been tranquillized, were temporarily to have
[their tablets] gathered together and to be offered
sacrifice in the Grand [Ancestral] Temple of the
Ming-t'ang. [The temple of Emperor] Kao of the
Han [dynasty] was made the Temple of the Accomplished
Ancestor.[1276]

[Wang] Mang said [in a message], "My August
Deceased First Ancestor, the Lord of Yü, [Shun],
received [the throne] by the abdication of T'ang
[Yao]. In the age of the original ancestor of the Han
dynasty, the Lord of T'ang, [Yao], there was the
model for transmitting the state [to another dynasty].
I myself in turn received the metal charter
from the genius of Emperor Kao of the Han [dynasty].
When I ponder recompensing the generosity
of previous dynasties, how could there be a time when I
should forget [the Han dynasty]? There are seven
Founders or Exemplars[1278] in the Han dynasty. According
to the proprieties, there should be established
temples for them in the state of [the Duke of]
Established Tranquillity. Let their funerary parks,
funerary chambers, and temples at the imperial
capital be not abolished, and let sacrifices and oblations
[be made] as formerly. In the autumn, the
ninth month, I will myself in person enter the temples
of [Emperors] Kao, Yüan, Ch'eng, and P'ing of the
Han dynasty.

"The various [members of] the Liu [clan] will be

changed to be enregistered with the Grand Governor
of the imperial capital,[1282] and not be relieved from
their exemption [from taxes], but each one shall
[continue to be exempted] to the end of his life. The
Provincial Shepherds shall frequently visit and ask
after them, and shall bring it about that they should
not [undergo] any encroachments or injustices."

He also said, "When I previously was in [the position
of] the chief director [of the administration,[1284]
and became Regent and Acting [Emperor], I pondered

deeply the dangers [at the end of] the three
[times] seven [decades] of the Han dynasty,[1287] that
the emanation of virtue from the Red [Lord] was
exhausted, and I thought and sought, searching
widely for means whereby I might support the Liu
[house] and lengthen its period [on the throne].
There was nothing that I failed to do. For that
reason, I made the beneficial metal knife-[money],
hoping thereby to assist [the dynasty].[1288] Nevertheless
when Confucius wrote the Spring and Autumn
to make it a model for later kings, [he continued it]
until the fourteenth year of [Duke] Ai [of Lu], when
one age ended. Comparing it with present [times],
it was also fourteen years [after Emperor] Ai [ascended
the throne that the Han dynasty ended its
rule].[1293] Since the calculated [number of years
allotted] for the age of the Red [Lord] was exhausted,
I could not eventually have the power to save [that
dynasty]. August Heaven made plain its majesty,
so that the virtue of the Yellow [Lord] was due to
arise and to make [Heaven's] great mandate abundantly
apparent, entrusting me with the empire.
Now the people all say that August Heaven has dethroned
the Han [dynasty] and set up the Hsin
[dynasty], that he has dismissed the Liu [clan from the
throne] and caused the Wang [clan] to rise.

"Verily the word for Liu is made up of mao, metal,
and knife. [The wearing of] the first-month kang-mao
[amulets] and the convenience of the metal-knife-[money]

cannot now be permitted to occur.[1295]
[This matter] was widely debated by the ministers
and gentlemen, and they all said, `That Heaven and
men respond alike is brilliantly apparent. Let the
kang-mao [amulets] be done away with, and let no
one wear them at their girdles; let the knife-cash be
abrogated, and let them not be used as a convenience
[for exchange], in order to respond to and accord
with the will of Heaven and to rejoice the minds of
the people'."

Thereupon [the coinage] was changed and there

were made small cash, 6 fen in diameter, weighing
one shu. Their inscription said, "A diminutive cash,
worth one [cash]." Together with the preceding
large cash, [which were worth], fifty [of the smaller
cash], there were two denominations [of coins] circulating
at the same time.[1299] [Wang Mang] wanted to
prevent the common people from counterfeit casting
[of cash], so issued a prohibition that they were not
to be allowed to possess copper or charcoal.[1301]

In[1302] the fourth month, the Marquis of Hsü-hsiang,

Liu K'uai, formed a cabal of several thousand
persons and raised troops in his state. [Liu] K'uai's
elder brother, [Liu] Yin2a, had been the former King
of Chiao-tung under the Han [dynasty], and had at
this time been changed to be the Duke Supporting
and Rendering Homage [to the Hsin Dynasty. When
Liu] K'uai mobilized his troops and attacked Chi-mo,
[Liu] Yin2a closed the city gates and had himself
bound in prison. The officials and common people
resisted [Liu] K'uai, so that [Liu] K'uai was defeated
and fled to Ch'ang-kuang, where he died.

[Wang] Mang said [in a message], "When anciently
my ancestor, King Min [of Ch'i, who reigned
over territory which is the present] Chi-nan [Commandery],
was distressed by the robber [state of] Yen
and left Lin-tzu (in [the state of] Ch'i) to take refuge
at Chü, a man of his clan, T'ien Tan1, made extensive
and clever plans, captured and killed a general of Yen,
and re-established the state of Ch'i. Today the
gentlemen and grandees of Chi-mo have again been
of the same mind [with me] and have extirpated
rebellious caitiffs. I commend most highly those

who have been loyal and have compassion upon those
who are guiltless.

"Let [Liu] Yin2a and the others be pardoned.
Except for [Liu] K'uai's wife and children, his blood
relatives and relatives by marriage, who ought to be
sentenced, are not to be tried. In making consoling
inquiries about those who have died, the person in
charge of these inquiries shall grant to those who have
died fifty thousand [cash] per person for burial
money. [Liu] Yin2a understood the great mandate
[of Heaven] and deeply hated [Liu] K'uai, for which
reason [the latter] suffered immediately for his
crimes.[1310] Let the state of [Liu] Yin2a be made a
full ten thousand households, with a territory a
hundred li square."

[Wang Mang] also enfeoffed the more than ten
courtiers [who had been concerned with] the mandates
[from Heaven given by means of] portents.[1311]

[Wang] Mang said [in a message], "When the
ancients established the cottages of eight families on
the ching [system][1313] and one husband and one wife
had a hundred mou of cultivated land and paid one-tenth
in taxes, then the state had enough and the
common people were opulent and composed songs
of praise. The foregoing was the way of T'ang [Yao]
and of Yü [Shun], and that which the three dynasties
practised obediently.

"The [state of] Ch'in was inhuman and made the
taxes heavy, in order that [the ruler] might himself
have [a large] income. [The ruler] exhausted the
strength of the common people in order to satisfy
his desires to the utmost. He destroyed the institutions
of the sages and did away with the ching
[system of] cultivated fields. For this reason the
taking posession of and joining together [of fields
by the wealthy] arose and avarice and vileness was
born. The strong made designs to secure cultivated
fields by the thousands [of mou] and the weak [even]
lacked [enough of] a habitation in which to stand
up an awl.

"[That state] also established market-places for
male and female slaves, putting [human beings] in
like enclosures with those for cattle and horses. In
their rule over their common people and subjects,
[the Ch'in rulers] arbitrarily cut short their [very]
lives, and villainous and oppressive persons took
advantage of the opportunity to make profits, even
kidnapping and selling other peoples' wives and
children, going contrary to the will of Heaven and

disordering human relationships, which is contradictory
to the principle that `of all living things, [i.e.,
animals and plants, produced by] Heaven and Earth,
man is the noblest.'[1320] The Book of History says,
`[If you do not obey my commands], I will thereupon
enslave and dishonor you,'[1321] [according to which
passage] only those who did not obey [the king's]
commands should indeed suffer this punishment.[1322]
[of being enslaved].

"The[1323] Han dynasty reduced and lightened the
land tax, taking [only] one-thirtieth, [but in addition]
there were regularly [required] conscript service
and capitation-taxes, which [even] the sick and aged

were all required to pay,[1325] while powerful common
people encroached upon [the poor, letting their own]
fields [out on] shares, robbing [people] by the rentals
[required for their land, so that while] in name they
were taxed only one-thirtieth, in reality they are
taxed or pay as rent five-tenths of their produce.[1329]
Fathers and sons, husbands and wives plowed and
weeded for a whole year, [but] what they got was
insufficient to keep themselves alive. Hence the
horses and dogs of the rich had surplus beans and
grain and [the rich] were proud and did evil, while
the poor could not satiate themselves with brewer's
grains, became destitute, and acted wickedly. Both
[rich and poor] fell into crime, so that the punishments
had to be employed and could not be set aside.

"When previously I was the chief director [of the
administration], I first ordered that the empire's public
cultivated fields [should be organized on] the ching
[system according to the number] of persons, and
consequently at that time there were happy presages
of auspicious [large-eared] cereals. [But] there happened
to be rebellious caitiffs and treasonable rebels,
so that [the scheme] was temporarily stopped.

"Now I change the names of the cultivated fields
in the empire to be `the King's fields,'[1332] and of male
and female slaves to be `private adherents.' All are
not to be permitted to be bought or sold. Let it be
that those [rich families with] less than eight males,
who have more cultivated fields than those in one
ch'ing, shall divide the cultivated fields that are in
excess [of those in one ch'ing] and give them to their
nine [classes of] relatives or to [people in] their
neighborhood.[1335] Those who formerly had no cultivated
fields and who ought now to receive cultivated
fields [shall be treated] in accordance with the regulations.
If there are any who presume to speak evil
of the sage institution of the ching [system of] cultivated
fields, and mislead the crowd lawlessly, `they
shall be thrown out to the four frontiers [and be
made] to resist the elves and goblins,'[1337] as in the
former case my August Deceased First Ancestor, the
Lord of Yü, [Shun], did."

At this time, the people had considered the Han

[dynasty's] five-shu cash convenient, and, because
Wang Mang's cash coins had been put out in two
[denominations], large and small, and so were difficult
to tell [apart], and moreover had been changed and
altered several times, so that they were not to be
trusted, [therefore the people] all privately used the
five-shu cash at the market and in purchases, saying
falsely that the large cash are due to be abolished
and that no one is willing to keep them.

[Wang] Mang was troubled by it and again issued
a written message that all those who hoard five-shu
cash and say that the large cash are due to be
abolished are similar to those who criticize the ching
system of cultivated fields and should be "thrown out
to the four frontiers."[1339] Thereupon farmers and

merchants lost their occupations, food and goods
were both rendered useless, and the common people
even wept in the marketplaces and highways. Moreover
those who were tried for buying or selling fields
or residences, male or female slaves, or for casting
cash, from the nobles, high ministers, and grandees
down to ordinary common people, and who suffered
punishment, could not be counted.

In the autumn, [Wang Mang] sent twelve Generals
of the Five Majestic [Principles], Wang Ch'i
and others, [each with his five Lieutenant Generals],[1346]
to publish through the empire the Mandate
[of Heaven Given Through] Portents, in 42 fascicles.
There were five matters of "Happy Presages of
Virtues," twenty-five of "Mandates Through Portents,"
and twelve of "Responses of Heavenly
Favors," forty-two fascicles in all.

[The chapters on] "Happy Presages of Virtues"
said that in the reigns of [Emperors] Wen and
Hsüan, yellow dragons appeared at Ch'eng-chi and
Hsin-tub,[1347] that a catalpa pillar at the gate to the
grave of the Deceased Eminent Founder [of Wang
Mang's clan], King Po,[1348] [Wang Sui], had sprouted
a branch with leaves, and the like. [The chapters
on] "Mandates Through Portents" spoke of the well,
the stone, the metal casket, and the like.[1349] [The

chapters on] "Responses of Heavenly Favors" spoke
of a hen having been metamorphosed into a cock
and the like. The language [of the book] was like
the Classics,[1354] accorded with them and made use of
them in making its interpretations. Its final conclusion
was that [Wang] Mang was due to have
taken the place of the Han [emperors] and to possess
the empire.[1355]

In sum it said, "When lords or kings are to receive

the mandate [of Heaven], there inevitably are portents
and auspices concerning the presages of the
virtues [and powers through whose dominance they
rule], which assist and complete the mandate to the
five [powers],[1357] and make this circumstance known
by responses of heavenly favor. Then only can [a
dynasty] achieve sublime merit and transmit it to
its descendants, who will eternally enjoy boundless
prosperity. Hence, when the Hsin dynasty arose,
the happy presages of the virtue [of its power]
came forth after the three sevens [of decades] and the
nine generations [of emperors] of the Han [dynasty
had elapsed].[1358]

"The mandate [to the Hsin dynasty] commenced
when [Wang Mang was the Marquis of] Hsin-tuo
and received an auspicious presage from [the state

of] Huang-chih.[1361] His kingship began [with the
stone] at Wu-kung.[1363] The mandate was fixed
[upon him by the portent from the man of] Tzu3b-
t'ung.[1364]
The mandate was completed by [the happening]
at Tang-[ch'ü] in Pa [Commandery.[1365]
The gods] expressed their favor by twelve responses,
[so that] the method which Heaven has used to
[show that it] protects and blesses the Hsin dynasty
is indeed deep and indeed substantial.

"The red stone at Wu-kung appeared in the last

year of Emperor P'ing of the Han dynasty, when the
virtue of fire had been completely dissipated and the
virtue of earth was due to take the place [of the
virtue of fire]. August Heaven was solicitous [on
account of this circumstance] and so rejected the Han
[dynasty] and gave [His mandate] to the Hsin [dynasty],
using the red stone as its first mandate to the
Emperor. The Emperor, [Wang Mang, however]
humbly refused to accept [this title] and hence occupied
[the throne] as regent.

"[But that action] did not accord with the will of
Heaven, hence in that autumn, the seventh month,
Heaven again used the varicolored horse of[1374] [the
constellation] San-t'ai. The Emperor, [Wang Mang],
again humbly refused, and did not yet ascend the

throne, hence [there came] a third [mandate] by an
iron contract, a fourth [mandate] by a stone tortoise,
a fifth [mandate] by a portent from Yü [Shun], a
sixth [mandate] by an inscribed sceptre, a seventh
[mandate] by a black seal, an eighth [mandate] by a
stone message at Mou-ling, a ninth [mandate] by a
dark dragon stone, a tenth [mandate] by a supernatural
well,[1381] an eleventh [mandate] by a great
supernatural stone, and a twelfth [mandate] by a
copper portent and a design on silk.[1383] The happy
presages which expressed the mandate [of Heaven]
gradually became [more and more] outstanding until
they reached [the number of] twelve, in order to
announce plainly that the Emperor of the Hsin [dynasty
should ascend the throne].

"The Emperor pondered deeply that the majesty
of Heaven Above could not but be feared. Hence
he did away with the title of Regent, yet still called
himself the Acting [Emperor], and changed the year-period
to Ch'u-shih, intending thereby to stop the
mandate of Heaven and yet to carry out and satisfy
the will of the Lords on High. Yet that was not the
purpose for which August Heaven had so carefully[1385]
sent down his mandate through portents. Hence on
that [very] day Heaven again settled [his hesitancy]
by a tortoise letter.[1386] A Gentleman-in-attendance,

Wang Hsü, moreover saw a man clothed in a white
plain cloth thin garment with a square collar of
red ribbon, wearing on his head the small bonnet,

standing in front of the Hall With the Royal Apartments.
He said to [Wang] Hsü, `Today, in heaven
[everyone] is of the same mind to confide the people
of the world to [Wang Mang] as Emperor.'[1392]
While [Wang] Hsü was marvelling at it and walked
more than ten double-paces, the man was suddenly
not seen.

"On the evening of [the day] ping-yin, at the
Temple of [Emperor] Kao of the Han dynasty, there
was a metal casket with a design and a charter,
[stating that] Emperor Kao had received the mandate
of Heaven to transmit the state to the Emperor
of the Hsin [dynasty]. The next morning, the Elder
of the Imperial House, the Marquis of Loyalty and
Filial Piety, Liu Hung3b, reported it. Thereupon the
ministers were summoned to discuss it. When they
had not yet reached a decision, the great supernatural
stone man spoke, saying, `Hasten the Emperor
of the Hsin [dynasty] to the Temple of [Emperor]
Kao, [where he is] to receive the Mandate.
Do not delay.'

"Thereupon the Emperor of the Hsin [dynasty,

Wang Mang], at once mounted his chariot and went
to the Temple of [Emperor] Kao of the Han dynasty
and received the mandate. The day of receiving
the mandate was ting-mao.[1399] Ting is fire, which is
the virtue of the Han dynasty; mao is that whereby
the [Han dynasty's] surname, Liu, becomes this written

character.[1403] It makes plain that the virtue of
fire, [which was that of] the Han [dynasty] and of
the Liu [clan], is exhausted, and that [the state] has
been transmitted to the house of Hsin.

"Since the Emperor was perfect in `humility,'[1404]
he renounced firmly [the honors indicated by] the
twelve responses [from the gods] by portents, [but]
he was compelled by the plain mandate [of Heaven]
and could not refuse. He was startled and reverently
awed, and worried[1405] and sad that the ending of the
Han dynasty could not have been arrested. He was
indefatigable in assisting[1406] [the Han dynasty, but]

he could not carry out his purposes, and, because of
that, for three nights he did not go to his bed and
for three days he did not touch food. He invited and
questioned the highest ministers, marquises, high
ministers, and grandees, and all said, `It is proper
that you should receive [the rule] according to the
majestic mandate of Heaven Above.' Thereupon he
changed the year-period, fixed upon his title, and
[gave[1409] the opportunity for] a new beginning to [all]
within [the four] seas.

"When the House of Hsin had been fixed [upon the
throne], the gods in heaven and earth were glad and
rejoiced, and emphasized it by responses of [celestial]
favor. Their fortunate presages were continuous
and reiterated. The Book of Odes says,
which refers to the present case."

The Generals of the Five Majestic [Principles],

in respectful obedience to the mandate [given by] portents,

brought seals and cords and gave them to the
kings, the marquises, and those of lower [rank], down
to the lower officials whose official titles had been
changed, and, outside [the country], to the Huns, to
the Western Frontier Regions, and to the barbarians
outside the borders. From all [of these persons], immediately
that [the Generals] had given out the seals
and cords of the House of Hsin, they thereupon took
up the seals and cords of the former Han [dynasty].
There were granted, to the lower officials, two steps
in noble rank per person, to common people, one step
in noble rank per person, to the women of a hundred
households, a sheep and wine, and to the barbarians,
currency and silk, to each proportionately. A general
amnesty [was granted] to the empire.

The Generals of the Five Majestic [Principles] rode
in chariots [emblazoned] with the lines of [the hexagram]
Ch'ien, [representing Heaven], yoked to [the
hexagram] K'un [in the shape of] six mares.[1417] On
their backs they bore the feathers of the golden
pheasant,[1421] and their robes were decorated very
extraordinarily. For each General there were established
Lieutenants of the Left, of the Right, of the
Van, of the Rear, and of the Center, five Lieutenants
in all. Their clothes and hats, chariots and robes,
and the horses yoked [to their chariots] were severally
like the colors and numbers of their directions.[1423]
The Generals carried credentials with the title, "A
Messenger of the Supreme One" and the Lieutenants
bore banners with the title, "A Messenger of the Five
Lords [on High." Wang] Mang's charter-mandate
to them read, "In the whole world, go to its four
extremities and do not leave any place unvisited."

Those who went out eastwards reached Hsüan-t'u
[Commandery], Lo-lang [Commandery], the Kao-chü-li,
and the Fu-yü. Those who went out to the

south passed over [the border] beyond Yi Province,
where they degraded the King of Kou-t'ing and made
him a marquis. Those who went out to the west
reached the Western Frontier Regions and changed
all the kings there to be marquises.

Those who went out to the north reached the court

of the Huns and gave the Shan-yü a seal which
changed the words in the Han [dynasty's] seal, doing
away with the word "imperial seal" and reading
[instead], "official seal." When the Shan-yu desired
and asked for his former seal, Ch'en Jao had broken
it to pieces. A discussion is in the "Memoir on the
Huns."[1431] The Shan-yü became furious. Kou-t'ing
and the Western Frontier Regions moreover later
finally all revolted because of this [change of titles].
When [Ch'en] Jao returned, he was installed as
General-in-chief and was enfeoffed as Viscount of
Majestic Virtue.

In the winter it thundered and the t'ung trees
blossomed.

[Wang Mang] established [as regular officials] Directors
of Mandates from the Five Majestic [Principles,
Generals] of the Central City [of the Five
Majestic Principles], and four Generals of the [respective]
Passes [in the four directions for the Five
Majestic Principles]. The Directors of Mandates
were directors to the officials [ranking] in the highest
class of the highest ministers and to those [ranking]
lower. [The Generals of] the Central City [of the
Five Majestic Principles] were in charge of the twelve
city gates [of Ch'ang-an].

The charter-mandate to the Marquis of Ruling
Concord, Ch'en Ch'ung, read, "O thou Ch'ung![1433]
Verily, [1] disobedience to mandates is the source
of sedition. [2] Great wickedness and knavishness
is the origin of rebellion. [3] The casting of counterfeit
gold[1434] and cash is a means whereby obstacles
are put [in the circulation of] the valuable currency.
[4] Pride and extravagance overpassing the regulations
is the beginning of evil and disaster [to oneself].
[5] Divulging matters [discussed in] the Inner Apartments
and [matters] concerning the Masters of
Writing is [what is called], `When the delicate government
affairs are not kept secret, injury will result.'[1437]
[6] When those who are installed in noble ranks at
the court of a [true] king [nevertheless] give thanks
at the doors of private [persons] for the grace [shown
them, it is what is called] `blessings leave the public
halls'[1441] and the government goes to ruin. All these
six matters are fundamental principles of the state.
For this reason I establish you as Director of Commands
[of the Five Majestic Principles].[1442] The mandates of the Emperor are to be `followed
and observed,'[1445] and to control the concord in[1446]
the court."

His [charter-] mandate to the Marquis Delighting
in Portents, Ts'ui Fa, read, " `The double gates and
the beating of night watches are a preparation against
violent visitors.'[1447] You are to serve as General of
the Central City of the Five Majestic [Principles].
When the central virtue[1448] is perfected, all the world
will delight in [Heaven's] portents."

His [charter]-mandate to the Marquis Making the
Majestic [Principles] Brilliant, Wang Chi6, read,
"The fastnesses of the twists and overhangings[1452]
are at the south facing [the part of the ancient state],
Ch'u [in Yü's province of] Ching.[1453] You are to
serve as the General of the Southern Passes for the
Five Majestic [Principles]. Invigorate your military
[power] and make efforts in guarding [the capital],
making the majestic [principles] brilliant at my
front."[1454]

His [charter]-mandate to the Marquis the Commandant
of Concord, Wang Chia1c, read, "The narrow

places of [Mount] Yang-t'ou are at the north
facing [the former feudal states of] Yen and Chao.
You are to serve as the General of the Northern
Passes for the Five Majestic [Principles]. At the
Hu-k'ou [Pass], strike [the enemy] and occupy
[strategic positions], commanding concord at my
rear."

His [charter]-mandate to the Marquis Grasping[1460]
the Majestic [Principles], Wang Ch'i, read, "The
difficult places of [Mounts] Hsiao and Mien-[ch'ih]
are on the east, facing [the former states of] Cheng
and Weis. You are to serve as the General of the
Eastern Passes for the Five Majestic [Principles].
At the Han-ku [Pass], strike down dangers, grasping
the majestic [principles] at my left."

His [charter]-mandate to the Viscount Cherishing

the Ch'iang, Wang Fu5b, read, "The obstacles of the
Ch'ien1 [River and Mount] Lung are on the west,
facing the barbarians. You are to serve as the
General of the Western Passes for the Five Majestic
[Principles]. Make them secure, guard them vigilantly
and cherish the Ch'iang at my right."

[Wang Mang] also sent Grandee-remonstrants
[and others], fifty persons [in all], by divisions to
cast cash in the commanderies and kingdoms.

In this year, a mad woman of Ch'ang-an, Pi,

called out in the roads, saying, "Emperor Kao is
furious [and says], `Quickly return my state. If not,
in the ninth month I will inevitably kill you.' "
[Wang] Mang had her arrested and killed. The
Grandee in Charge of Brigands, Ch'en Ch'eng, who
had to punish her, resigned of his own accord and
left his office.

Liu Tu1b and others of [the former kingdom of]

Chen-ting plotted to raise troops. [The plot] was
discovered and all were executed, and in Chen-ting
and in Ch'ang-shan [Commandery] there was a great
rain of hail.

In the second year, the second month, an amnesty
[was granted] to the empire. The Generals of the
Five Majestic [Principles] and their Lieutenants, 72
persons [in all], returned and memorialized their
reports. The vassal kings of the Han [dynasty]
who had become Dukes had all given up their kingly
seals and cords, had become common people, and
none had disobeyed [Wang Mang's] commands.
[Wang Mang] enfeoffed the Generals as Viscounts
and the Lieutenants as Barons.

The ordinances for the six monopolies [lit., "controls"]
were first established. It was commanded
that the imperial government should [1] dispense
liquors, [2] sell salt and [3] iron implements, [4] cast
cash, and that all those who picked or took the
various things from [5] famous mountains or great
marshes were to be taxed.

It was also ordered [6] that the offices [in charge
of] the market-places should collect [things when
they are] cheap and sell them [when they are] dear,
and should lend on credit to the common people,
taking three [cash per] month as interest for a
hundred [cash].[1474] The Hsi-and-Ho, [Lu K'uang],
established one Officer for Liquor in each commandery,
with a riding quadriga, to oversee the
profit from the liquor.

A prohibition was made that the common people
were not allowed to possess crossbows or cuirasses.
[Those who violated this prohibition][1475] were to be
exiled to Hsi-hai [Commandery].

When the Hun Shan-yü's [envoy, who had come to
the imperial capital,] had asked for [the Shan-yü's]
former imperial seal, [Wang] Mang had not given it
to him, consequently [the Huns had] raided the
border commanderies, killing and kidnapping officials
and common people.[1479]

In the eleventh month, the General Establishing

the State, [Sun] Chien, memorialized, "A general in
the Western Frontier Regions, [Tan] Ch'in, has sent
[to the court a message] which says, `In the ninth
month, on [the day] hsin-szu, Ch'en Lang and Chung
Tai, officials of the Mou-and-Chi Colonel, joined
together, murdered their Colonel, Tiao Hu, and
coerced officials and soldiers, calling themselves
Generalissimos of the fallen Han [dynasty], and fled

to the Huns.'[1484]

"Moreover in the present month, on [the day]
kuei-ch'ou,[1485] a man of unknown provenance obstructed

the front of your servant Chien's chariot,
calling himself Liu Tzu-yü of the House of Han, a
son of Emperor Ch'eng by a low-[class] wife,[1488]
[saying that] the Liu clan is due to be restored and
that the palaces should quickly be emptied. I arrested
and bound the man,[1491] and he was [found to
be a man of] Ch'ang2-an, surnamed Wu, with the
courtesy name Chung.

"All of them have gone contrary to Heaven and

disobeyed[1494] His mandate, which is treason and inhumanity.
I beg that you will pass sentence upon
[Wu] Chung, together with [Ch'en] Liang and the
others, and upon their blood relatives and relatives
by marriage who are due to be sentenced with them."
The memorial was approved.

[He also memorialized],[1496] "Emperor Kao of the
Han dynasty frequently made known a warning
saying, `Dismiss the officials and soldiers [in the Han
Ancestral Temples] and make [the Han emperors]
guests at the sacrifice [in the temples of the present
dynasty],' sincerely desiring to accord with the will
of Heaven and to preserve his descendants. His ancestral
temple ought not to be inside the city-walls of
Ch'ang2-an, and, together with the [members of] the
Liu [clan] who are nobles, they should all have been
dismissed at the same time that the Han [dynasty
was overthrown]. Your Majesty is most benevolent
and for this long time has not settled [this matter].

"Previously, the former Marquis of An-chung, Liu
Ch'ung2c, the [former] Marquis of Hsü-hsiang, Liu
K'uai, the [former] Marquis of Ling-hsiang, Liu
Ts'engb, and the [former] Marquis of Fu-ên, Liu

Kueib, and others, one by one collected a crowd and
plotted to rebel. Now some perverse and treacherous
caitiffs have falsely called themselves generals of
the fallen Han [dynasty] and one person has called
himself [Liu] Tzu-yü, a son of Emperor Ch'eng, so
that they have committed [crimes punishable by]
being executed and their relatives being annihilated.
The reason that these continual [rebellions] have not
stopped is that your sage grace has not sooner cut
off the early growths [of such events].

"Your servant stupidly considers that Emperor
Kao of the Han [dynasty] should become a guest of
the House of Hsin and enjoy sacrifices in the Ming-t'ang.
Emperor Ch'eng was your cousin with a
different surname and Emperor P'ing was your son-in-law.
For all of them it is not proper that they
should again enter their temples. Emperor Yüan
became of one flesh with the Empress Dowager [nee
Wang], and the rites by which your sage grace has
exalted her are appropriate also for him.

"Your servant begs that the various temples of
the Han dynasty in the imperial capital should all be
abolished, that the various [members of] the Liu
[clan] who are nobles should be put into the hierarchy

of five degrees [of nobility] in accordance with
the number of households [in their estates], and that
those [members of the Liu clan] who are officials
should all be dismissed and await new appointments
at their homes. On the one hand, [this procedure]
will accord with the will of Heaven and agree with
the supernatural manifestations from Emperor Kao,
and [on the other hand],[1502] it will stop the beginnings
of perverseness and treachery."

[Wang] Mang said [in his message], "It may be
done. The Duke Honoring the Hsin [Dynasty], the
State Master, [Liu Hsin1a], who, because of the mandate

[given by] portents, has been made [one of] my
Four Coadjutors, the Marquis of Brilliant Virtues,
Liu Kung2, the Marquis Leading by the Rules of
Proper Conduct, Liu Chia1s" and others, "thirty-two
persons in all, all understood the mandate of Heaven;
they either presented portents from Heaven or offered
congratulatory sayings or arrested or informed upon
rebellious caitiffs, so that their merits are abundant.
The [members of] the Liu [clan] who are of the same
clan and have the same grandfathers as these thirty-two
persons are not to be dismissed and are to be
granted the [imperial] surname, Wang."

Only the State Teacher, [Liu Hsin1a], was not
granted this surname, because his daughter had been
married to [Wang] Mang's son. The title of the
Duchess Dowager of Established Tranquillity, [Wang
Mang's daughter], was changed, and she was called
the Princess of the Yellow Imperial House, in order
to cut her off from the [house of] Han.

In the winter, the twelfth month, it thundered.

The title of the Shan-yü of the Huns (Hsiung-nu)
was changed, and he was called the Submitted
Capture (Fu-yü) of the Surrendered Slaves
(Hsiang-nu).

[Wang] Mang said [in a message], "The Submitted
Capture of the Surrendered Slaves, [Lüan-ti] Chih,
has `despised and insulted the five powers,'[1509] has
turned his back upon and rebelled against the four
articles,[1510] has invaded and violated the Western
Frontier Regions, and has extended himself to and
reached the frontiers [of China], where he has made
himself injurious to the great multitude. His crimes
are such that he ought to be executed and his rela-
tives annihilated. I command and send the General
Establishing the State, Sun Chien," and others,
"twelve generals [in all], to go out simultaneously by
ten routes, and respectfully perform the majestic
punishment of August Heaven upon the person of
[Lüan-ti] Chih.

"But I ponder that the ancestor of [Lüan-ti] Chih,
the former Shan-yü Hu-han-hsieh, [Lüan-ti] Chi-hou-shan,
was loyal and filial during successive

reigns, protecting the barriers and guarding the
frontiers. I cannot bear, because of the crime of one
[Lüan-ti] Chih, to destroy the posterity of [Lüan-ti]
Chi-hou-shan. Now I divide the state, territory, and
people of the Huns and make of it fifteen [states],
setting up fifteen descendants of [Lüan-ti] Chi-hou-shan
as Shan-yü."

He sent a General of the Gentlemen-at-the-Palace,
Lin Pao, [with] Tai Chi, to gallop just outside the
barrier, summon, and install those who ought to become
Shan-yü. Those people of the Huns who ought
to be sentenced because of the law [against] the
caitiff [Lüan-ti] Chih were all [granted] amnesty and
set free.

[Wang Mang] sent the General of the Five Majestic
[Principles], Miao Hsin, and the General of
the as Rapid as Tigers, Wang K'uang4a, to go out of
Wu-yüan [Commandery], the General Repressing
Difficulties, Ch'en Ch'in, and the General Making
Barbarians Quake, Wang Hsün2, to go out of Yün-chung
[Commandery], the General Invigorating His
Military [Power], Wang Chia1c, and the General
Tranquillizing the Barbarians, Wang Meng2, to go
out of Tai Commandery, the General Assisting the
Majestic [Principles], Li Shen, and the General
Maintaining Order in Distant [Places], Li Weng, to
go out of Hsi-ho [Commandery], the General Executing
the Mo, Yang Chün, and the General Expelling
Filth, Chuang Yu, to go out of Yü-yang [Commandery],

the General Inciting to Military Deeds,
Wang Chün40, and the General Settling the Hu, Wang
Yen4, to go out of Chang-yi [Commandery], together
with their lieutenant-, major-[generals], and
subordinates, 180 persons [in all]. They enlisted the
convicts, freemen, and armed soldiers of the empire,
300,000 persons [in all], transporting the taxes from
many commanderies,[1520] —clothes and furs, military
implements, and provisions, escorted by the Chief
Officials [of the prefectures]. From the seacoast, the
Yang-tze, and the Huai [Rivers] to the northern
borders, commissioners, [riding in] galloping quadrigae,
supervised and urged them, and acted in
accordance with the law for levying an army. The
empire was disturbed. Those who arrived first encamped
in the border commanderies, waiting for
them all to arrive, and then go out at the same
time.[1522]

Because his cash and [other] currencies finally did
not circulate, [Wang] Mang again issued a written
message, which said, "The common people consider
their food as their life and their goods as their wealth.
For this reason among the eight [objects of] government,
food is given the first place.[1524] If the valuable
currency is all of large [denominations], when one
needs a small amount [of money], it is not available;
if it is all of small [denominations], then transporting
it is troublesome and expensive; if large and small
[denominations], big and little [coins], are each of
different kinds, then their use is convenient and the
common people rejoice." Therefore [Wang Mang]
created valuable currency of five kinds. A discus-
sion is in the "Treatise on Food and Goods."[1529]

The people did not accord, and only used merely

two denominations of cash, the large and the diminutive
[cash]. Since those who cast counterfeit cash
could not be stopped, [Wang Mang] made the penalties
[against counterfeiting] heavy. When one
family cast cash, the five [neighboring] families were
to be sentenced for it, [their property was to be]
confiscated, and they were to be enslaved.

When officials and common people went iin or out
[the barriers], they were to carry spade-money as an
adjunct to their passport credentials.[1532] For those

who did not carry [spade-money], the [post]-kitchens

and relay stations were not to house them, and at
the barriers and fords they were to be investigated
and detained.[1535] The ministers were all to hold
them when they entered the gates of the palaces and
halls. The intention was to make them valuable
and circulate.

At this time, [many persons] strove to make mandates

[from Heaven by means of] portents in order
to be enfeoffed as marquises. Those who did not
make them, made sport, saying, "Were we alone
without letters of appointment from the Lord of
Heaven?" A Director of Mandates [from the Five
Majestic Principles], Ch'en Ch'ung, advised [Wang]
Mang of it, saying, "This [matter] is opening the
way for wicked `subjects to confer [kingly] favors
[upon themselves],'[1539] and to bring confusion upon
the mandate of Heaven. It would be proper to cut
away its source." [Wang] Mang also had had his
fill of it, and thereupon had a Grandee Master of
Writing, Chao Ping, investigate and try [such offenders].
Those who [made known portents] which were
not those published by the Generals and Lieutenants
of the Five Majestic [Principles] were all sent to
prison.

Previously, Chen Feng, Liu Hsin1a, and Wang
Shun4b had been [Wang] Mang's intimate advisors
and had led those who were in office in making known
[Wang Mang's] achievements and virtuous conduct
for rewards.[1543] His titles of [Duke] Giving Tranquillity
to the Han [Dynasty] and Ruling Governor,
together with the enfeoffment of [Wang] Mang's
mother and his two sons and a nephew,[1544] were all
planned by [Chen] Feng together with the others.
[Chen] Feng, [Wang] Shun4b, and [Liu] Hsin1a had
moreover received grants from him and had all become
indeed wealthy and honorable.

They did not in addition want to bring it about
that [Wang] Mang should become Regent. The
first beginnings of his becoming the Regent came
from the Marquis of Ch'üan-ling, Liu Ch'ing4i, the
Displayer of Splendor in the South, Hsieh Hsiao, and
the Prefect of Ch'ang-an, T'ien Chung-shu.

When [Wang] Mang's wings had grown and he
desired to be entitled Regent, [Chen] Feng and the
others accepted and agreed with his intentions.
[Wang] Mang immediately enfeoffed in addition the
two sons of [Wang] Shun4b and of [Liu] Hsin1a, together
with [Chen] Feng's grandson.

When the noble rank and official position of [Chen]
Feng and the others had been received, their ambitions
were satisfied. They moreover really feared
the Han imperial house and the prominent persons in
the empire. But those who had been distant from
[Wang Mang] and wanted to advance, simultaneously
made mandates [from Heaven given through]
portents. When [Wang] Mang thereupon employed
them in order to ascend [the throne as] the actual
[Emperor, Wang] Shun4b and [Liu] Hsin1a merely
became inwardly fearful.

[Chen] Feng was ordinarily resolute, [so Wang]
Mang became conscious that [Chen Feng] was not
pleased. Hence [Wang Mang] removed him from
being Grand Support Aiding on the Right and Grand
Minister of Works,[1548] and, taking advantage of a
writing on a mandate by a portent, he made him the
General of a New Beginning, ranking him the same
as the seller of cakes, Wang Sheng. [Chen] Feng and
his son kept silent [but were dissatisfied].[1549]

At this time, [Chen Feng's] son, [Chen] Hsün, was

a Palace Attendant, Grand Governor of the Capital,
and Marquis of Abundant Virtues. He now made a
mandate [from Heaven by means of a] portent,
saying that the House of Hsin ought to divide [its
territory at] Shan and set up two Chiefs [to govern
that territory], making [Chen] Feng the Western
Chief and the Grand Tutor, and P'ing Yen, the
Eastern Chief, as in the former circumstances [was
done for the Dukes of] Chou and of Shao.[1555]

[Wang] Mang thereupon followed this [mandate]
and installed [Chen] Feng as the Western Chief.
[Chen Feng] was to "report on his duties"[1556] and go
out to the west, but had not yet gone, when [Chen]
Hsün again made a mandate [from Heaven by means

of] a portent, which said that the Empress [nee
Wang] of the former Emperor P'ing of the Han clan,
the Princess of the Yellow Imperial House, was [to
be] the wife of [Chen] Hsün.

[Wang] Mang had been set [on the throne] by
fraud, so he suspected in his heart that his great

officials would hate and malign him. He wanted to
terrify them in order to make his inferiors fear him.
Because of these [feelings], he burst out in anger and
said, "The Princess of the Yellow Imperial House is
a mother of the empire. What means this [statement]
[about her becoming the wife of Chen Hsün]?"
He [ordered Chen] Hsün arrested. [Chen] Hsün fled
and [Chen] Feng committed suicide.

[Chen] Hsün followed a gentleman versed in the
magical arts and entered [the solitudes of] Mt. Hua.
After more than a year he was siezed. His confession
implicated [1] the Palace Attendant, Supernaturally
[Influencing] General [Whose Influence]
Penetrates Eastwards, Grandee in Charge of the Five
Behaviors, and Marquis Prospering the Majestic
[Principles], Liu Fen, the son of the State Master
and Duke, [Liu] Hsin1a, [2] Liu Fen's younger
brother, the Senior Department Head, Colonel of the
Ch'ang River [Encampments], and Marquis Attacking
Caitiffs, [Liu] Yung4, [3] the General of the

Eastern Passes[1560] [for the Five Majestic Principles]
and Marquis Grasping[1562] the Majestic Principles,
[Wang] Ch'i, the younger brother of the Grand
Minister of Works, [Wang] Yi5, together with [4] a
disciple of Liu Hsin1a, the Palace Attendant and
Chief Commandant of Cavalry, Ting Lung, and
others. They involved ministers, their cabals, and
their relatives. The full marquises and those [ranking]
lower who died were numbered by the hundreds.

In the lines of [Chen] Hsün's hands there were the
words, "Son of Heaven." [Wang] Mang had his
arms untied, had him enter [the palace], and looked
at [his hands]. He said, "These [words] are `one
big fellow.' "[1563] Some one said, "[It is] `one lu
fellow.' `Lu' is to put to death.[1564] It makes plain
that [Chen Feng and Chen] Hsün, father and son,
must be put to death and die." Thereupon [Wang
Mang] executed and banished [Liu] Fen to Yu Province,
executed and expelled [(Wang) Ch'i to Mt.
Ch'ung, executed and drove away Chen] Hsün to
[Mt.] San-wei, and executed and killed [Ting] Lung

on Mt. Yü.[1566] The corpses of all were transported in
post-chariots to their destinations.

As a man, [Wang] Mang had a large mouth and a
receding chin, bulging eyes with brilliant[1571] pupils,

and a loud voice which was hoarse. He was seven
feet five inches tall,[1573] loved thick-[soled] shoes and
tall bonnets, and used clothes padded with felt.[1574]
He stuck out his chest and made himself look tall,
[so that he could] look down on those who were
around him.[1575]

At this time, there was a person skilled in medical
and allied arts who was an Expectant Appointee at
the Yellow Gate. Someone asked him about [Wang]
Mang's figure and countenance, and the Expectant
Appointee replied, "[Wang] Mang is a person who
may be said to have owl's eyes, tiger's jaws, and a
wolf's voice. Hence he is able to eat people and is
also due to be eaten by people." The person who
questioned him gave information about [his reply,
and Wang] Mang exterminated the Expectant Appointee

[and his relatives] and enfeoffed the informer.
Afterwards [Wang Mang] regularily screened himself
with a mica fan, so that, except for his intimates,
no one was permitted to have an audience with him.

In this year, the Marquis of Original Concord,
Yao Hsün, was made the General of a Peaceful
Beginning.

In the third year, [Wang] Mang said, "The many

offices have been changed and altered and their
duties have been redistributed, but the code, ordinances,
ceremonies, and laws have not yet been all
determined upon, [hence] temporarily the Han [dynasty's]
code, ordinances, ceremonies, and laws
should be followed and applied in [government]
business."

He ordered that the ministers, grandees, nobles,
[and officials ranking at] 2000 piculs might recommend
one official or commoner each who showed an
upright character, who was experienced in administrative
matters, who was gifted in speech, and who
was intelligent in literary studies.[1582] [Such] persons
were to go to the [Directors of] the Four Gates
to the Royal Apartments.

[Wang Mang] sent the Grandee Master of Writing,

Chao Ping, to bring encouragement to the northern
borders. He returned and said that in Po-chia of
Wu-yüan [Commandery the soil] is fertile and produces
grain, and that at other times offices for cultivated
fields had regularily been established there. Thereupon [Wang Mang] made [Chao] Ping the
General of Cultivated Fields and Grain to send
frontier troops to garrison farms in Po-chia, in order
to assist the army with provisions.

At that time, while the various generals who were
at the border were waiting for the large bands [of
soldiers] to be collected, their officers and soldiers

did as they pleased, while the inner commanderies
were troubled with levying [troops] and collecting
[materials]. The common people left the cities and
suburbs and became vagrants, becoming thieves and
robbers. In Ping Province[1589] they were especially
numerous. [Wang] Mang ordered that the seven
highest ministers and the six high ministers[1590] should
all be concurrently entitled Generals, and sent the
General Outstanding in Military Affairs, Lu Ping,
and others to control the famous cities, together with
55 Generals of the Gentlemen-at-the-Palace and 55
Upholders of the Laws Clad in Embroidered Garments
separately to control the large commanderies
along the border, to correct the greatly cunning
villains who were taking it upon themselves to make
dupes of the troops. They all found it convenient to
do evil in [the regions] outside [the capital], and
caused confusion in the provinces and commanderies,
making a business of bribes, taking advantage of the
people for their own profit.

[Wang] Mang issued a written message, saying,
"The caitiff [Lüan-ti] Chih's crimes are such that he
is due to be annihilated [with his relatives]. Hence
I sent my fierce generals, with separate [commands
as] twelve divisional generals, to set out simultaneously
and destroy him utterly at one stroke. Within
[the capital], I established Directors of Mandates
[from the Five Majestic Principles] and Chiefs of
Armies; outside [the capital] I set up Superintendants
of Armies, twelve persons [in all] verily intending
that they should have charge over those who do
not uphold my mandate and should cause the soldiers
all to be upright.

"But now they are not so. Each uses his power

and influence to intimidate good people, illegally
putting seals upon common peoples' necks. When
[these officials] secure [a bribe of] cash, they take
[the seal] off.[1596] Poisonous and venomous stings are
simultaneously performed [at various places], so that
the peasants have left [their homes and have become]
scattered. If the Directors and Superintendants are
as the foregoing, can they be said to be suitable [for
their offices]? From this time and henceforth, those
who presume to offend in this [manner] will be immediately
arrested and held [in prison] and their
names shall be reported to me." [The officials] however
did as they liked just as before.

When Lin Pao and Tai Chi reached [the region]
just outside the Barrier, they summoned and allured
[Lüan-ti] Hsien, the younger brother of the Shan-yü,
[Lüan-ti Chih], and [Lüan-ti] Hsien's son, [Lüan-ti]
Teng, to enter through the Barrier. By force they
installed [Lüan-ti] Hsien as the Shan-yü Hsiao, granting
him a thousand catties of actual gold, and very
much brocade and embroidery. They sent him away
and brought [Lüan-ti] Teng to Ch'ang-an, [where
he was] installed as the Shan-yü Shun and retained
in the [Hun] princes' quarters.[1602]

From the time that [Wang] Mang usurped the
throne, the Grand Master, Wang Shun4b, had been
ill with [asthma and][1604] palpitation of the heart,
which gradually became worse, so that he died.
[Wang] Mang said [in a message], "Anciently the
[Foreseen] Grand Duke of Ch'i, [Lü Shang], became
the Grand Master of the Chou dynasty because of his
purity and virtue during successive reigns—verily
this is what I have perceived [in Wang Shun]. Let
[Wang] Shun4b's son, [Wang] Yen2, succeed to his
father's noble rank and become the Duke Giving
Tranquillity to the Hsin [Dynasty]; let [Wang]
Yen2's younger brother, the Marquis As Recompense
to [the House of] Hsin, [Wang] K'uang1a, become
the Grand Master and General; and [let his house]
forever be Coadjutors to the Hsin dynasty."[1605]

For the Heir-apparent, there were established four
Masters and four Companions, who were ranked as
Grandees. The former Grand Minister over the
Masses, Ma Kung, became the Master of Doubts;
the former Privy Treasurer, Tsung-po Feng, became
the Assistant Tutor; the Erudit Yüan Sheng became
the Supporting Coadjutor; the Governor of the
Capital, Wang Chia1c, became the Aiding Guardian.
The foregoing were the Four Masters.

The former Prefect of the Masters of Writing,
T'ang Lin, became the Attacher of the Indifferent,
the Erudit Li Ch'ung1 became the Hastener to Submission,
the Grandee-remonstrant Chao Hsiang became

the Guide, the General of the Gentlemen-at-the-Palace,
Lien Tan, became the Defender. The
foregoing were the four Companions.

There was also established one Libationer for the
Masters and Companions, together with one [Libationer]

for the Palace Attendants, one [Libationer
for] the Remonstrants and Consultants, and one
Libationer [to expound] each of the six Classics, nine
Libationers altogether. They were ranked [the same
as] the highest ranking of the high ministers. Tso
Hsien, from Lang-ya [Commandery], became the
[Libationer] Expounding the Spring and Autumn; Man
Ch'ang, from Ying-ch'uan [Commandery], became
the [Libationer] Expounding the Book of Odes; Kuo
Yu, from Ch'ang-an, became the [Libationer] Expounding
the Book of Changes; T'ang Ch'ang, from
P'ing-yang, became the [Libationer] Expounding the
Book of History; Ch'en Hsien, from P'ei Commandery,
became the [Libationer] Expounding the
Book of Rites; and Ts'ui Fa became the Libationer
Expounding the Book of Music. [Wang Mang] sent
an Internuncio, bringing a comfortable chariot, seal,
and cord, to go to [the home of] and install Kung
Sheng, of the [former] kingdom of Ch'u, as the
Libationer for the Masters and Companions of the
Heir-apparent. [Kung] Sheng would not respond to
the summons, refused to eat, and died.[1615]

The General of a Peaceful Beginning, Yao Hsün,
was dismissed and the Palace Attendant, the Marquis
of Eminent Blessings, K'ung Yung, became the
General of a Peaceful Beginning.

In this year, in the prefecture of Ch'ih-yang, there
were shadows of dwarfs, a foot and more tall. Some
rode in quadrigae with horses, some walked on foot,
holding[1617] all sorts of things. The size [of these
shadows in each group] were all proportionate to
each other. On the third day, it stopped.

In the commanderies on the banks of the [Yellow]
River, locusts sprang up, and the [Yellow] River
broke its banks in Wei Commandery, overflowing
several commanderies from Ch'ing-ho [Commandery]
eastwards. Previous to this [time, Wang] Mang
had feared that the [Yellow] River would break its
banks and injure the tumuli and graves [of his great-grandfather,
Wang Ho, and his descendants], at
Yüan-ch'eng, [but] when it broke its banks, it went
eastwards and Yüan-ch'eng was not troubled by the

water. Hence he therefore did not dike it.

In the fourth year, the second month, an amnesty
[was granted to] the empire.

In the summer, a red emanation came out in the
southeast, reaching to heaven.

The General Repressing Difficulties, Ch'en
Ch'in,[1624] said that he had captured some caitiff
[Huns] alive, and that [they had told] that violations
of the border by the caitiffs had all been done by
[Lüan-ti] Chio, the son of Shan-yü Hsiao, [Lüan-ti]
Hsien. [Wang] Mang became angry and decapitated
[Lüan-ti Hsien's] son, [Lüan-ti] Teng, at Ch'ang-an,
in order to make him an example to the barbarians.

The Commander-in-chief, Chen Han, died, and the
General of a Peaceful Beginning, K'ung Yung, became
the Commander-in-chief. The Palace Attendant
and Grand Keeper of the Robes, Hou Fu,
became the General of a Peaceful Beginning.

Every time that [Wang] Mang had to go out [of
the palace], immediately preceding there was a
search in the city, which was called a "general
search." In this month there was a general search
for five days.[1628]

When [Wang] Mang reached the Ming-t'ang and

gave the nobles their clods [enveloped in] quitch-grass[1630]
[as a sign of enfeoffment], he issued a written
message which said, "Although I am not virtuous,
because I have inherited [the merits accumulated
by] my sage ancestors, I have become the lord of the
ten-thousand states. Now the tranquillizing of the
great multitude consists in establishing a nobility,
dividing up [the country into][1631] provinces and correcting
their frontiers, in order to beautify [peoples']
customs, and so I have sought out and surveyed the
fundamental and subordinate principles of the earlier
dynasties.

"Verily, in the `Canon of Yao' [it speaks of] twelve
provinces and [concerning] defences [it speaks of]
five domains;[1632] the Book of Odes [speaks of] fifteen

states, distributed among nine provinces;[1635] the
`Sacrificial Odes of Yin' have the saying, `[T'ang the
Victorious] grandly possessed his nine possessions';[1638]
and the `Tribute of Yü' [speaks of] nine provinces,
not having a Ping or Yu [Province],[1639] while the
Chou Offices, [sub] the Commander-[in-chief], has however
no Hsü or Liang [Province].[1640] The lords and
kings changed [the arrangements] of their [predecessors].
Each one [distinguished himself] by his words
or actions, some making their deeds brilliant and some
enlarging their foundations, [but] their purposes were
outstanding and their intentions were the same.

"Anciently, two sovereigns of the Chou [dynasty]
received the mandate [of Heaven], hence [the dynasty]
had dwelling-places at the Eastern Capital,

[Lo], and at the Western Capital, [Feng]. Since I
have received the mandate [of Heaven], I should
verily also be like them. Let Lo-yang become the
Eastern Capital of the House of Hsin and let Ch'ang2-
an become the Western Capital of the House of Hsin,
[two] royal domains with the appropriate organizations,
each [royal domain] including territory for the
estates of high bureaucrats and baronesses. The
provinces shall accord with those in the `Tribute of
Yü and shall be nine [in number].

"The noble ranks shall follow those of the Chou

dynasty and shall be five [in number]. The number
of the nobles shall be [limited to] 1800, and the
number of the Sub-Vassals shall in addition be the
same [as that of the nobles, which positions] shall
await those who distinguish themselves. The various
dukes shall [each] have the territory of one
t'ung,[1645] the multitude in ten thousand households, a
territory a hundred li square. The marquises and
earls shall [each] have one kuo, the multitude in five
thousand households, a territory seventy li square.
The viscounts and barons shall [each] have one tsê,[1646]
the multitude in 2500 households, a territory fifty li
square. Great Vassals shall have as their estates nine
ch'eng,[1647] the multitude in 900 households, a territory
30 li square. From nine [ch'eng] on down, [the
estates of Vassals] shall decrease [by stages of] two
[ch'eng], down to one ch'eng. When [the position of
these] five degrees [of Sub-Vassals] are all filled, [their
territories] will together be equal to one tsê.[1652]

"Those who have now already received their clods

[enveloped in] quitch-grass are: fourteen dukes,[1654] 93
marquises, 21 earls, 171 viscounts, and 497 barons,
altogether 796 persons. [There are also] 1511 Sub-Vassals
and 83 women among the nine [classes of
royal] relatives who have become Baronesses. Moreover
the female descendants of the Han dynasty, the
Baronetess Serving the Rules of Proper Conduct, the
Baronetess Obedient to Virtue, and the Baronetess
Cultivating Moral Principles, in [the former kingdom
of] Chung-shan, have been changed and made Baronesses.
For the eleven highest ministers, the nine
high ministers, the twelve grandees, and the twenty-four
First Officers, their states, estates, or the places
from which they draw their revenues have been fixed.

"I have caused the Palace Attendant and Grandee
Expounding the Book of Rites, K'ung Ping, and
others, with [the people] in the provincial divisions
and the many commanderies who understand and
know the principles of geographical arrangements,
maps, and tax registers, together to examine them
carefully and study them in the Vermillion Bird Hall
of the Shou-ch'eng [House] and determine upon [the
division of the empire into nine divisions]. I and
the various highest ministers, Libationers, and high
ministers of the highest rank have several times in
person considered [this matter], so that I have already
comprehended it all.

"Verily, the recompensing of virtuous conduct and
the rewarding of achievements are the means of

making illustrious men of virtue and stability.
Harmony among one's nine [classes of] relatives is
their way of making a return for one's love of one's
relatives. Since for a long time I have pondered unremittingly
and have thought and investigated [the
deeds of] persons in previous [generations], I shall
make brilliant the demotions and promotions, so as to
make plain the good and evil [of officials] and tranquillize
the great multitude."

Because the maps and tax registers [for the new
division of the country] had not yet been completed,
[Wang Mang] had not yet given [these appointees]
any states or estates and temporarily ordered that
they should receive several thousand cash per month
as salary from the [income of] the capital and inner
[commanderies]. The nobles were all miserably
poor, and there were even some who hired themselves
out.

A Gentleman-of-the-Household, Ou Po, admonished
[Wang] Mang, saying, "Although the ching

[system of] cultivated fields was a law of the sage-kings,
it has already been abolished for a long time.
When the practises of the Chou [dynasty] had de-
cayed, so that the common people did not follow
them, the Ch'in [dynasty] knew how to accommodate
itself to the common peoples' minds so as to be
able to make great profits. Hence [this dynasty] did
away with the cottages of the ching [system] and
established [salable] subdivisions [of cultivated
fields], and therefore came to rule over all China.

"Down to the present, [all] within [the four] seas
have not yet had their fill of the perversity of the
[Ch'in dynasty in removing the ching system]. If
now you wish to go contrary to the desires of the
common people and restore the lost practises of a
thousand years ago, even though Yao and Shun
should arise again, [yet] without a hundred years of
gradual [training], they would be unable to put [these
ancient practises] into effect. The empire has recently
been tranquillized and the many common
people have newly attached themselves [to you, so
that the ching system] cannot yet be really put into

practise."

[Wang] Mang knew that the common people hated
[his arrangements],[1665] so he issued a written message,
which said, "Those who own or enjoy the income from

the King's Fields are all permitted to sell them and
are not to be restricted by the law.[1667] Those who
violate [the law against] private buying and selling
of ordinary people [as slaves] will moreover temporarily
not be punished."

When previously the Generals and Lieutenants of

the Five Majestic Principles had gone out, they had
changed [the title of] the King of Kou-t'ing to be
that of Marquis. The King, [Wu] Han, was resentful
and angry and would not be subordinate [to
Chinese nobles, so Wang] Mang hinted to the Grand
Governor of Tsang-k'o [Commandery], Chou Hsin,
to kill [Wu] Han by a ruse. [After this had been
done, Wu] Han's younger brother, [Wu] Ch'eng,
raised troops, attacked, and killed [Chou] Hsin.

Previous to this [time, Wang] Mang [ordered] the

troops of Kao-chü-li to be put into the field and they
then would have made an expedition against the
northern barbarians (Hu), [but] they did not wish
to go. When the commandery [authorities tried to]
compel and force them [to move], they all fled, went
out of the barrier, and thereupon violated the laws
and engaged in robbery. When the Grand Governor
of Liao-hsi [Commandery], T'ien T'an, pursued and
attacked them, he was killed by them. The provincial
and commandery [authorities] put the blame
upon a marquis of the Kao-chü-li, Tsou.

Chuang Yu memorialized, saying, "The violations
of the law by the Mo people did not arise from Tsou.
Even if [Tsou] had evil intentions, it would be proper
to order the provincial and commandery [authorities]
temporarily to soothe him. If now he is suddenly[1674]

adjudged [guilty of] a serious crime, it is to be feared
that he will thereupon rebel. Some of the Fu-yü and
their like would certainly respond to him. Since the
Huns have not yet been conquered, if the Fu-yü and
the Wei-mo arise again, there would be serious
trouble."

[Wang] Mang did not [direct the officials] to console
and calm [Tsou], and the Wei-mo accordingly
revolted. By an imperial edict, [Wang Mang] ordered

[Chuang] Yu to attack them. [Chuang] Yu
lured Tsou, the marquis of the Kao-chü-li, to come,
and beheaded him.

When his head had been transmitted to Ch'ang-an,
[Wang] Mang was greatly pleased, and issued a
written message which said, "Recently, I have commanded
and sent my fierce generals to perform respectfully[1679]
the punishment [directed by] Heaven,
to execute and annihilate the caitiff [Lüan-ti] Chih.
They are divided into twelve regiments.[1680] Some
are to cut off his right arm, some to cut thru his
left arm-pit, some to break thru his chest and abdomen,
and some to pull out his ribs. In this year

punishments are in the eastern quarter,[1682] so the
regiments who were to punish the Mo set out first,
arrested and beheaded the caitiff Tsou, and tranquillized
and made secure the eastern frontiers. The
destruction and annihilation of the caitiff [Lüan-ti]
Chih will come in a moment.

"This [success] was a blessing through the aid and
assistance of Heaven, Earth, the many gods, the gods
of the soils and grains, and the [royal] ancestral
temples, and through the power [coming from] the
Ministers, Grandees, Officers, and common people
being of the same mind and from the generals and
lieutenants being [like] roaring tigers. I approve
most heartily of them. Let the name of the Kao
(high)-chü-li be changed to be Hsia(low)-chü-li, and
let it be published to all the world in order that
everyone shall know of it." Thereupon the Mo
people violated the borders all the more and the
northeastern together with the southwestern barbarians
were both in rebellion.

[Wang] Mang's intentions were then grand, and
he did not consider the barbarians of the four
[quarters] worth destroying, but concentrated his
mind on searching out ancient ways. He again

issued a written message, which said, "I humbly
think that my August Deceased First Ancestor, the

Lord of Yü, [Shun], `received [Yao's] retirement
[from the royal duties in the temple of] the
Accomplished Ancestor,' and that he `examined the
Fine Jade [Turning] Mechanism and the Jade Balance,
in order that he might bring into accord the
seven Governors.' Thereupon `he performed the
sacrifice lei to the Lords on High, performed the
sacrifice yin to his six exemplars, performed the sacrifice
from a distance (wang) and arranged in order the
mountains and streams, made a universal sacrifice
(pien) to the many gods,' `made tours of inspection
to' the five sacred peaks, and `held four courts for the
various princes, at which they set forth and presented
[matters] by word of mouth and were clearly
tested by their deeds.'[1688]

"[From the time that] I received the mandate [of
Heaven] and ascended [the throne as] the actual
[Emperor], down to the fifth year of [the period
Shih]-chien-kuo, will be already five years. Since
the distresses of the nine dry years will have already
been crossed and the [untoward] occurrences in 106
[years] will have already been passed,[1694] [the planet]
Jupiter will be in Shou-hsing, [the planet] Saturn
will be in the [heavenly] Ming-t'ang, the Azure
Dragon will be at kuei-yu, the [ruling] virtue will be
in the Central Palace,[1695] [the hexagrams] Kuan and
Chin will control the year,[1698] and [divination by] the
tortoise-shell and the milfoil have given information
that they approve, let there be prepared a levy and
collection of taxes for the rites and ceremonies of a
tour of inspection eastwards for that year, in the
second month, at the conjuction inaugurating the
second astronomical month."[1703]

The various highest ministers memorialized begging
that there should be solicited from the officials
and common people, men, horses, linen cloth, silk
cloth,[1705] and brocade. It was also begged that the
twelve inner commanderies and kingdoms should buy
horses and dispatch 450,000 rolls of silk, transporting
them to Ch'ang2-an. Those which were to be sent
earlier and later were not to wait for each other.
When [only] more than half arrived, [Wang] Mang
issued a written message which said, "Since the
person of the Empress Dowager the Mother of Culture
[nee Wang] is not in good health, let [the transportation]
be temporarily stopped and await a future
[order]."

In this year, [Wang Mang] changed the titles of

the eleven highest ministers, [altering] hsin1 to be
hsin2. Later he again changed hsin2 to be hsin4.[1709]

In the fifth year, the second month, the Empress

Dowager the Mother of Culture [nee Wang] died.
She was buried in the Wei Tomb with [her husband],
Emperor Yüan, but separated from him by a ditch.[1714]
A temple for her was established at Ch'ang-an, at
which the House of Hsin was from generation to
generation to offer sacrifices, which Emperor Yüan
was [also] to partake as her spouse, seated below her
couch. [Wang] Mang wore mourning for the Empress
Dowager [nee Wang] to the third year.

The Commander-in-chief, K'ung Yung, begged to
retire, and he was granted a comfortable chariot with
a quadriga of horses, and as [a person who ranked as]
Specially Advanced, he took his place at court. The
Marquis Unifying the Customs, Lu Ping, was made
the Commander-in-chief.

At this time, the common people of Ch'ang-an

heard that [Wang] Mang wanted to make his capital
at Lo-yang, so they were unwilling to repair their residences,
and some [people] destroyed their [houses]
considerably. [Wang] Mang said [in a message],
"The inscription on the dark dragon stone said,
`Fix the virtue of the emperor [as that of earth and
locate] the capital at Lo-yang.'[1721] The mandate
[of Heaven by means of] portents is manifest and
clear. Could I presume not to uphold it reverently?
Because in the eighth year of [the period] Shih-chien-kuo
[the planet] Jupiter will move to [the
contellations of] Hsing-chi, [which is equated] with
the capital at Lo-yang, let the capital at Ch'ang2-an
be carefully put in repair, and let it not be spoilt.
Those who presume to violate [this order] shall immediately
have their names reported and [the
officials] shall beg [the throne to ratify appropriate
punishment for] the crimes [of those people]."

In this year, the Greater and Lesser K'un-mi of
the Wu-sun sent envoys to offer tribute. The
Greater K'un-mi, [Yi-chih-mi], was a grandson of
the Chinese [House of Han] on the distaff side.[1725]
His son by a wife who was a northwestern barbarian
(Hu) had become the Lesser K'un-mi, to whom the
Wu-sun had turned and adhered. [Wang] Mang
saw that the Huns were simultaneously invading the
various borders, so, with the intention of seeking to
obtain the affection of the Wu-sun, he sent a commissioner
to lead the envoy from the Lesser K'un-mi
and place him [in the court at a station] above that
of the envoy of the Greater K'un-mi.

The Libationer for the Masters and Companions
[of the Heir-apparent] Guarantor of His Perfection,
Man Ch'ang, memorialized, impeaching [Wang
Mang's] commissioner, saying, "The barbarians
consider that China has [a knowledge of] what is
right and proper, hence they submit and are obedient
to [China]. The Greater K'un-mi is the prince [and
the Lesser K'un-mi is his subject]. Now to rank the

envoy of a subject above the envoy of his prince is
not the way to hold [the affection of] the barbarians.
The commissioner was seriously disrespectful."
[Wang] Mang became angry and dismissed [Man]
Ch'ang from his office.

The various states of the Western [Frontier] Regions
considered that [Wang] Mang had repeatedly
broken [the ties of] grace and faithfulness [binding
them to China. The state of] Karashahr (Yen-ch'i)
revolted first, murdering the Protector-General [of

the Western Frontier], Tan Ch'in.

In the eleventh month, a broom-star appeared.

In twenty-odd days it disappeared.[1730]

In this year, because those who violated [the law
against] possessing copper and charcoal were too
many, this law done away with.

For the next year, [Wang Mang] changed the year-period,
calling it T'ien-feng.[1732]

In [the year-period] T'ien-feng, the first year, the

first month, an amnesty [was granted] to the empire,
and [Wang] Mang said [in a message], "In the second
month, at the conjunction inaugurating the second
astronomical month, I will perform the rites of a tour
of inspection. The Grand Provisioner [will take care

of] the dry provisions for traveling and the dried
meat and the [Prefect of] the Flunkies[1740] [will take
care of] the traveling curtains for my sitting and
sleeping-[places, so that the localities] by which I
pass will not be permitted to furnish anything.

"When I tour eastwards, I must in person carry a
plow,[1745] and every county shall thereupon plow, in
order to encourage `the beginning [of the work of
ploughing] at the eastern [season, spring].'[1746] When
I tour southwards, I must in person carry a hoe, and
every county shall thereupon weed, thereby encouraging
`the development[1747] in the southern [season,
summer].[1748] When I tour westwards, I must
in person carry a sickle, and every county shall thereupon
reap, thereby encouraging `harvesting in the
western [season, autumn].'[1749] When I tour northwards,
I must in person carry a flail, and every
county shall thereupon garner [their grain],[1750]
thereby encouraging covering up and storing [the
harvest]. When I have completed the rites of the tour
of inspection northwards, I will thereupon go to the
center of the earth and dwell in the capital at Lo-yang.
If any [people] presume to run and make a
noise, violating the law, they will immediately be
dealt with according to military law."[1751]

The various highest ministers memorialized, saying,
"You, Emperor, are most filial. In the last year,
when the sage person of the [Empress Dowager]
the Mother of Culture [nee Wang] was not in good
health, you yourself in person supplied her needs,
rarely taking off your clothes or bonnet. When
thereupon it happened that she left her subjects, you
became melancholy. The color of your features has
not yet returned, and you have eaten and drunk too
little.

"Now for you to make four tours in one year, [to
travel] a road ten thousand li [in length]—your age
is honorable, so that you cannot endure [living on]
dry provisions and dried meat. For the time being,
do not make [these] tours of inspection. You need
to end your deep mourning in order to rest your sage
person. Your subjects will use all their power to

care for and shepherd the myriad common people and
will support and accord with your brilliant edicts."

[Wang] Mang replied, "If the highest ministers, the
[Provincial] Shepherds, the high officials, the nobles,
and `the heads of offices'[1756] are willing to use all their
power, leading each other in caring for and shepherding
the myriad common people, and wish thereby to
assist me and in this way to obey respectfully,[1757] let
them make [all possible] efforts in this [direction], and
not swallow their words. I will change [my plans]
and in the seventh year of [the period] T'ien-feng,

when [the planet] Jupiter will be in Ta-liang and the
Azure Dragon will be at keng-ch'en, I will perform the
rites of a tour of inspection. The next year Jupiter
will be in Shih-ch'en and the Azure Dragon at hsin-szu,
when I will go to the center of the earth at the
capital in Lo-yang."

[Wang Mang] thereupon sent the Grand Tutor,
P'ing Yen, and the Grand Minister of Works, Wang

Yi5, to Lo-yang to plan and perform divination for
[making] a map of the pomeria for [future] graves, and
to build the [imperial] ancestral temple, the altars to
the gods of the soils and grains, and the pomeria for
[the altars for] suburban sacrifices.

In the third month, on [the day] jen-shen, the
last day of the month, there was an eclipse of the
sun, and a general amnesty [was granted] to the
empire. The document to the Commander-in-chief,
Lu Ping, said, "The sun has been eclipsed so that it
had no light, since the shields and spears had not been
gathered in. Let the Commander-in-chief transmit
to the emperor his seal and [ceremonial] apron [in
token of his dismissal] and take the position of a
marquis of a noble clan in the court. The Grand
Tutor, P'ing Yen, shall not be Intendant of Affairs
of the Masters of Writing. Let the Palace Attendants
and Department Heads who concurrently hold
other positions be dispensed with. Let Miao Hsin,
an advantageous male,[1766] become the Commander-in-chief."

When Wang Mang had taken the throne as
actual [Emperor], he took special precautions against
his great officials and restrained and took away the
power of his subordinates. If a court official said
anything about the faults of [the high officials, Wang
Mang] each time promoted [the speaker]. Because
K'ung Jen, Chao Po, Fei Hsing, and others dared to
attack the great officials, [these daring critics] were
trusted, were selected for outstanding positions,
and held [such positions].

When the ministers entered the palaces, there was
a regular number of officials [for their suite]. When
the officials accompanying the Grand Tutor, P'ing
Yen, were greater [in number] than the regulation
[allowed], a Supervisor at a side-gate minutely
questioned [P'ing Yen about it] without showing any

deference to him. A Mou Department Head and
Officer [in his train] arrested and bound the Supervisor.
[Wang] Mang was furious and sent an Upholder
of the Laws to send out several hundred chariots
and horsemen, surround the yamen of the Grand
Tutor, and arrest the Officer, who thereupon died.

An Officer of the Grand Minister of Works passed

at night by a commune [under the control of] the
Master of Ceremonies. When the Chief of the Commune
was severe with [the Officer and the latter]
made known the name of his office, the Chief of the
Commune said drunkenly, "Surely you have passport
credentials?" The Officer beat the Chief of the
Commune with his horsewhip, and the Chief of the
Commune beheaded the Officer and fled. The commandery
and prefectural [authorities] pursued him,
and his household sent to the Emperor a letter [explaining
the matter. Wang] Mang said, "The Chief
of the Commune was upholding the public [good].
Do not pursue him," and the Grand Minister of
Works, [Wang] Yi5, had his Officer's [body] mutilated[1773]
in order to excuse himself.

Since the State General, Ai Chang, was considerably

lacking in purity, [Wang] Mang selected and estab-
lished for him a Third Brother Ho. His [imperial]
command said, "Do not only protect the doors of the
State General's female apartments; it is necessary to
protect his blood relatives and relatives by marriage
in the western provinces."[1776] The various highest
ministers were all light-[weight] and of little worth,
[Ai] Chang especially so.

In the fourth month, there was a fall of frost which
killed the vegetation, especially at the sea-shore.
In the sixth month, a yellow fog [filled up everything
within] the four quarters. In the seventh month, a
great wind uprooted trees and blew off the roof-tiles
on [the buildings at] the Northern Portal [of the
Palace] and at the Chih-ch'eng gate [of Ch'ang-an]
and hail fell, killing cattle and sheep.

In accordance with the text of the Chou-li and the
"Royal Regulations," [Wang] Mang established Directors
of Confederations, Leaders of Combinations,
and Grand Governors, whose duties were to be the
same as those of [the former] Grand Administrators,
and [established] Prefects of Associations and Chiefs
of Associations with duties the same as those of [the
former] Chief Commandants. He established
[nine] Provincial Shepherds who were to be received
in audience with [the same] formalities as
those [shown] to the three highest ministers, and
twenty-five Superintendents of Regional Divisions,[1785]
who were to rank as Upper-ranking Grandees. Each
one was to have charge of five commanderies. Dukes
with noble clans occupied [the positions of] Shep-
herds, marquises with noble clans [occupied the positions
of] Rulers of Confederations, earls with noble
clans [occupied the positions of] Leaders of Combinations,
viscounts with noble clans [occupied the positions
of] Prefects of Associations, and barons with
noble clans [occupied the positions of] Chiefs of
Associations. All those offices were made hereditary.
Those who did not have any noble ranks were made
[Grand] Governors.

The neighborhood of the city of Ch'ang-an was
divided into six districts, and one Leader was established
for each [district]. The capital commanderies
were divided and made into six commandants' commanderies.[1793]
[The commanderies of] Ho-tung, Ho-nei,

Hung-nung, Jung-yang,[1796] Ying-ch'uan, and
Nan-yang became the six Neighboring Commanderies,
and Grandees were established [for them] with
duties like those of the [former] Grand Administrators,
and Directors of Associations with duties like
those of the [former] Chief Commandants. The
title of the Grand Governor of Ho-nan [Commandery]
was changed to be the High Minister Protecting and
devoted to the Hsin4 [Dynasty]. The counties subordinate
to Ho-nan [Commandery] were increased to
be a full thirty, and six suburbs were established with
a Chief of a Department for each [suburb], each
[Chief of a Department] having charge of five
counties.

Moreover the names of the other offices were all

changed. The large commanderies were divided into
even as many as five [commanderies],[1803] and three
hundred sixty commanderies and counties were given
the names of communes, in order to accord with the
words of the mandates [of Heaven as transmitted by]
portents. At the borders there were also established
Commandants of the Frontiers. Barons were
given [these offices. The numbers of] reserved fields
within nobles' estates were increased or decreased in
order to promote or demote [these nobles].[1805]

[Wang] Mang issued a written message, which
said, "At the Western Capital, Ch'ang2-an, [the
capital commanderies] shall be called the Six Districts
and the various counties shall be called those
of the six Commandants; at the Eastern Capital,
Yi4-yangb, [the capital commanderies] shall be called
the Six Departments,[1806] and the various counties
shall be called [those of] the six Neighboring [Commanderies].
Within [the area which] `contributes
grain in the husk and cleaned grain,' [the commanderies]
are to be called the Contributing Commanderies.[1807]
Outside of them, [the commanderies]

are to be called the Attached Commanderies. Those
[commanderies] which contain barriers or palisades
are to be called Border Commanderies. Altogether
there are one hundred and twenty-five commanderies
in nine provinces with two thousand two hundred
and three counties.

"Those who do public service in the imperial
domain are those `constituting fortified walls.' Those
in the Domain of the Nobles are those `securing
repose.' Those in the territories allotted to high
bureaucrats, baronesses, and the patrols are those
`constituting buttresses.'[1811] Those in the Domain of

Submission[1813] are those `constituting screens.'
Those in [the regions where they] `cultivate the lessons
of learning and moral duties [and where they]
show the energies of war and defence'[1815] are those
`constituting [unfortified] walls.' Those outside the
nine provinces are those `constituting fences.'[1816]
Each one is to be styled in accordance with the region
[in which his fief is located]; altogether they constitute
the myriad states."

In subsequent years, [Wang Mang] again changed

[names], even changing the name of a single commandery
five times, returning and restoring its former
[name], so that the officials and common people
could not keep records of [these names], and whenever
a written imperial edict was issued, the former
names [of places mentioned therein] were each time
attached.

[For example], he said, "An imperial edict of
decree to the Grand Governor and Grand Commandant
of Ch'en-liu [Commandery]. Let [the
territory] from Yi-sui and southwards be transferred
to Hsin-p'ing [commandery]. (Hsin-p'ing
[commandery] is the former Huai-yang [Commandery].)
From Yung-ch'iu and eastwards [the territory]
is to be transferred to Ch'en-ting [Commandery].
(Ch'en-ting [Commandery] is the former
Liang Commandery.) From Feng-ch'iu and eastwards
[the territory] is to be transferred to the Chih
Commune [Commandery]. (The Chih Commune
[Commandery] is the former Tung Commandery.)
From [the city of] Ch'en-liu and westwards, [the
territory] is to be transferred to the Imperial Domain
Neighboring [Commandery]. (The Imperial
Domain Neighboring [Commandery] is the former
Jung-yang [Commandery].) Ch'en-liu is now not
any more to be a commandery. Its Grand Governor
and Grand Commandant are both to go to the place
where the [Emperor] is." The changes and alterations
in [Wang Mang's] ordinances regarding names
were all of the foregoing sort.

[Wang Mang] ordered that in the primary schools
of the empire [the day] mou-tzu should take the place
of [the day] chia-tzu as the first day of the sixty-[day]
cycle.[1825] In capping [boys at maturity], mou-tzu
should be considered as the best day. For marriages,
the decade [beginning with the day] mou-yin[1826]
should be considered as days to be avoided. [But]
most of the people did not obey [this order].

When the Hun Shan-yü, [Lüan-ti] Chih, had died,

and his younger brother, [Lüan-ti] Hsien, had been
set up as Shan-yü, he asked for peace and alliance
by marriage [with the Chinese imperial house.
Wang] Mang sent an envoy to give him rich presents
and to promise falsely to return his son, [Lüan-ti]
Teng, who had been an Attendant [at the Chinese
court]. Thereupon [Wang Mang] offered rewards
for Ch'en Liang, Chung Tai, and the others [of their
group] and the Shan-yü immediately siezed [Ch'en]
Liang and the others, and delivered them to the
envoys. In carts with cages they went to Ch'ang-an,
where [Wang] Mang had [Ch'en] Liang and the
others burnt [to death] at the north of the city, and
ordered the officials and common people to gather in
order to see it.[1832]

At the borders there was a great famine, so that

people ate each other. The Grandee-remonstrant,
Ju P'u, [was sent to] inspect the border troops and
returned, saying, "The soldiers have encamped at
the barriers for a long time and have suffered [because]
the border commanderies have no means of
furnishing supplies for them. Now that the Shan-yü
has newly made peace, it would therefore be proper
to dismiss the troops."

Colonel Han Wei came forward and said, "For the
majesty of the Hsin House to swallow the northern

barbarian (Hu) caitiffs is no harder than [to swallow
such small things as] fleas or lice in one's mouth.
Your servant wishes to take five thousand brave
and daring gentlemen, and, without taking along a bushel of food, in hunger to eat the flesh of the
caitiffs and in thirst to drink their blood, so that I
shall be able to traverse [their territory freely."
Wang] Mang admired his words and made him the
Majestically Acting General.

But he adopted [Ju] P'u's words and summoned
the various generals who were at the border to return,

dismissing Ch'en Ch'in and others, eighteen
persons [in all]. He also abolished the various garrisons
of soldiers [belonging to] the Chief Commandants
posted at the four passes [to the imperial
capital].[1839]

[But] it happened that when the Hun envoy returned,
the Shan-yü came to know that his son,
[Lüan-ti] Teng, who had been an Attendant, had
previously been executed, so he mobilized his troops
and raided the borders, [hence Wang] Mang had
again to mobilize the military garrisons. Thereupon
the people of the border wandered into the inner
commanderies and became slaves and slave-women
of those people. Then a prohibition was made, that
if officials or common people should presume to
possess people from the borders, they should be
publicly executed.

The barbarians in Yi-chou [Commandery] killed
their Grand Governor, Ch'eng Lung, so that the
whole of the three borders [to the province] were in
rebellion. [Wang Mang] sent the General Tranquillizing
the Southern Barbarians, Feng[1841] Mou, leading
troops, to attack them.

The General of a Peaceful Beginning, Hou Fu, was
dismissed, and the Libation Officer Expounding the
Book of Changes, Tai Ts'an, was made the General
of a Peaceful Beginning.

In the second year, the second month, a banquet

was held in the Hall with the Royal Apartments, and
all the ministers and grandees were present at the
feast. A general amnesty [was granted] to the
empire.

At this time a star was visible at noon,[1847] and the

Commander-in-chief, Miao Hsin, was transferred to a
lower position to be Director of Mandates. The
Marquis Extending Virtue, Ch'en Mou, was made
the Commander-in-chief.

[Some common people][1854] falsely said that a yellow

dragon had fallen down and died in the Huang-shan
Palace, and [many] people hastily ran there. Those
who went to see it numbered by the ten-thousands.
[Wang] Mang hated it, and arrested and bound [some
of those people], in order to ask whence this saying
arose. He was not [however] able to trace [its
source.][1860]

Since the Shan-yü, [Lüan-ti] Hsien, had made peace
and an alliance by marriage [with the Chinese imperial
house], he asked for the corpse of his son,
[Lüan-ti] Teng. [Wang] Mang wanted to send envoys
to bring it to him, [but] he feared that because
of his grudge [Lüan-ti] Hsien would kill the envoys.
So he arrested the former General [Repressing Difficulties],
Ch'en Ch'in, who had previously said that
[Wang Mang] ought to execute [Lüan-ti Teng,] the
son [of the Shan-yü], in attendance [upon the
Chinese Emperor], and had him bound in prison for
another crime.[1863] [Ch'en] Ch'in said, "This [act is
because Wang Mang] wants to use me to excuse
[himself] to the Huns," and thereupon committed
suicide.

Wang Mang selected [as envoys] Confucian
masters who were "able to answer [questions] unassisted."[1867]
Wang Hsien2c from Chi-nan [Commandery]
was made the Chief Envoy and the General
of the Five Majestic [Principles]; Fu5 Yen, [a
man of] Lang-yeh Commandery], and others, were
made Lieutenant Envoys to accompany the corpse of
[Lüan-ti] Teng. [Wang Mang] ordained that they
were to dig up the tomb of the Shan-yü [Lüan-ti]
Chih, and to whip his corpse with thorns. He also
ordered the Huns to withdraw their frontiers north
of the [Gobi] Desert, and imposed as an indemnity
upon the Shan-yü ten thousand head of horses, thirty
thousand head of cattle, and a hundred thousand
head of sheep. Moreover of the few people and
livestock from the borders who had been kidnapped,
insofar as they were still alive, [the Shan-yü] should
return them all. [Wang] Mang loved to talk grandly,
as in the foregoing [order].[1870]

When [Wang] Hsien2c reached the court of the
Shan-yü, he set forth [Wang] Mang's majestic virtue
and reprimanded the Shan-yü for his crimes of rebellion.
In his replies, [Wang Hsien2c] responded to
his opponents in every way, so that the Shan-yü
was not able to argue him down. Thereupon [Wang
Hsien2c] carried out [Wang Mang's] mandate and
brought back these [people and livestock].[1871] When
he entered through the barrier, [Wang] Hsien2c had

been ill and died. [Wang Mang] enfeoffed his son
as an earl. Fu5 Yen and the others were all made
viscounts.

[Wang] Mang's notion was that if institutions were

fixed, the empire would naturally become tranquil.
Hence he thought in detail concerning geographical
arrangements, the institution of rites, and the composition
of music. In discussing the harmonization
and matching of the explanations to the six Classics,
the ministers entered [his presence] at dawn and left
at dusk. He discussed[1877] for successive years without
coming to [final] decisions, so that he did not
have leisure to examine law-cases, decide complaints
of injustices, or to settle the urgent business of the
common people, and when there were vacancies
among the rulers of the counties, [Wang Mang left]
for several years [officials as] acting [magistrates or as
magistrates] concurrently [holding other positions,
with the result that] the covetousness and injuriousness
of all [his officials] alike daily became greater.

The[1882] Generals of the Gentlemen-at-the-Palace
and Administrators of the Laws Clad in Embroidered
Garments who were in the commanderies and states
all took advantage of their authority and opportunities,
and in turn[1883] recommended each other in memorials.
Moreover when the Officers of the eleven
highest ministers were dispersed to encourage agriculture
and sericulture, to proclaim the ordinances
for the [various] seasons, and to examine into various
documentary matters, the [official] bonnets and
[chariot] coverings of one [set of officials] could [almost]
be seen by the succeeding [set],[1884] and they
jostled one another on the roads. They would summon
meetings of the officials and common people and
arrest eye-witnesses. When the commanderies and
counties [gathered] capitation-taxes, [these officials]
exchanged bribes and presents, so that [even] white
and black were confused and those who watched at
the [palace] portals [to intercept] accusations were
many.

[Wang] Mang himself knew that he had previously
usurped the [imperial] power, and had thereby obtained
the government from the Han [dynasty], hence
he took care to control the multitude of [government]
affairs himself and when the high officials received
[orders directing] the detailed disposition [of cases],
they merely did enough to avoid [punishment]. The
various offices [in charge of] the valuable objects, the
famous treasuries, and the taxes were all in charge
of eunuchs. When officials or common people presented
to the Emperor matters in sealed letters, the
eunuchs serving in the palace offices or [members of
the imperial] entourage broke the seals, so that the
Masters of Writing did not get to know about
them.[1888] Such were [Wang Mang's] fear of and precautions
against his courtiers and subordinates.

He also loved to change and alter the institutions

and regulations, so that the government ordinances
were numerous, and those which needed to be put
into practise[1891] had each time to be asked about,
before anything could be done. When earlier and
later [documents] succeeded each other, they became
unclear, confused, and could not be cleared up.[1892] [Wang] Mang constantly employed the light of a
lamp until daylight, but nevertheless he was not
able to accomplish his work. Taking advantage of
this [circumstance], the Masters of Writing did evil
and laid matters aside, so that those who had sent
letters to the throne and awaited replies [at the
Palace Portals] did not get to leave for successive
years. Those who had been arrested and bound [in
prison] in the commanderies or counties could only
get out when it happened that there was an amnesty,
and the soldiers of the [palace] guard were not
changed even in the third year.[1896]

Grain was constantly expensive. More than two
hundred thousand border troops depended for their
clothes and food upon the imperial government.
They were discontented and bitter. Wu-yüan and
Ta Commanderies suffered especially from them,
[so that people in these commanderies] arose and
became thieves and robbers, several thousand persons
becoming a troop, turning around and entering the
neighboring commanderies. [Wang] Mang sent the
General Siezing Robbers, K'ung Jen, with troops,
to join with the commandery and county [authorities]
to attack [the robbers]. Only after more than
a year were [the robbers] put down. The border
commanderies were moreover almost on the point of
being emptied [of people].

North of Han-tan there was a great rain and fog,
and the waters rose. The deepest [places] were
several tens of feet [deep]. It carried away and
killed several thousands of persons.

The General Establishing the State, Sun Chien,
died, and the Director of Mandates [from the Five

Majestic Principles], Chao Hung, became the General
Establishing the State. The General of a Peaceful
Beginning, Tai Ts'an, was returned to his former
office [of Libation Officer Expounding the Book of
Changes], and the General of the Southern City Wall
[of Ch'ang-an], Lien Tan, became the General of a
Peaceful Beginning.

In the third year, the second month, on [the day]

yi-yu, there was an earthquake and a great fall of
snow, which was especially severe east of the [Han-ku]
Pass. The deepest [places] were ten feet [deep].
The bamboos and arbor vitae trees all[1905] withered.

The Grand Minister of Works, Wang Yi5, presented

a letter, saying, "I have overseen my affairs
to the eighth year, and my efforts have not been
successful. In my duties as [Grand] Minister of
Works, I have [moreover] been more especially useless,
so that recently there has even been the grievous
vicissitude of an earthquake. I wish to beg to
retire."

[Wang] Mang replied, "Verily, Earth has movements
and has quakes. The quakes cause injury,
[but] the movements do not cause injury. The

Spring and Autumn records earthquakes and the
Book of Changes, in the "Great Appendix," [says]
that [the hexagram] k'un, [representing Earth], moves. When [Earth] moves it opens, and when it
rests, it closes, and [in this way] all things are
brought to birth.[1908] Each grievous vicissitude of
visitation or prodigy has its message and action, so
Heaven and Earth move majestically in order to
warn me. What crime have you, Duke, committed
that you beg to retire? [This] is not the way to
assist me. I send the Inspector of Officials, Cavalryman
Without Specified Appointment, Director of
Emoluments, and Grand Guard, the Baron Culti-
vating Tranquillity, Tsun2, to inform you of my
will."

In the fifth month, [Wang] Mang issued regulations
for the salaries of officials, saying, "I have met
with the distresses of the nine dry years and the
[untoward] occurrences in the 106 [years.[1914] The
revenues for] the expenses of the state have been
insufficient, so that the common people are in disturbance.
For the ministers and those of lower
[ranks], the emolument for one month has been two
rolls of 800-thread linen cloth[1916] or one roll of silk.
Every time I think of it, I never fail to be sad.

"Now that the distresses and [untoward] occurrences
have already been overpassed, although the
government treasuries have not yet been able to be
filled, [yet] something can be taken out to supply
[what is needed]. On the first day of the sixth

month, [the day] keng-yin, let all the salaries of
officials be for the first time distributed all according
to the regulations. The four coadjutors, the ministers,
the grandees, the officers, and on down to the
lower officials [constitute] altogether fifteen grades.
The salary of the lower officials for one year shall be
66 hu. [This amount] shall be gradually increased
by steps up to [the rank of] the four Coadjutors, [for
whom] it shall be made 10,000 hu."

Wang Mang also said,

Verily [the King] `is nourished by all under
Heaven.'[1921] The Chou-li [says that] in the imperial
cuisine, `one hundred and twenty kinds of meat dishes
[are furnished].'[1923]

"The nobles shall now each receive the income of

their t'ung, kuo, or t'sê;[1925] princesses, baronesses, and
vassals shall receive the income of their estates;
ministers, grandees, and first officers shall receive the
income of the territory allocated to them. There are
regulations for all the differences in the amount of
their [revenues]. When the harvests are abundant,
the rites [regarding the amounts given them] shall be
fully carried out; when there are visitations or disasters
[to the crops, their revenues] shall be decreased,
so that they shall suffer and rejoice along with the
people. Let it be that at the time when the [yearly]
accounts [from the commanderies] are presented,
[there shall be made] a general account for the
empire. If there happily have been no visitations or
disasters, the Grand Provisioner [shall provide] the
complete number of imperial dishes. [But] if there
have been visitations or disasters, the amount shall
be calculated in percentages, and the dishes [at the
imperial table] shall be reduced [proportionately].[1926]

"[The Chief of] the Eastern [Sacred] Peak and
Grand Master and the General Establishing the
State shall act as guarantors for twenty-five commanderies
of three provinces and one regional division
in the eastern quarter; [the Chief of] Southern
Sacred Peak and Grand Tutor and the General of
the Van shall act as guarantors for twenty-five commanderies
of two provinces and one regional division
in the southern quarter; [the Chief of] the Western
[Sacred] Peak and State Master and the General of
a Peaceful Beginning shall act as guarantors for
twenty-five commanderies of one province and two
regional divisions in the western quarter; [the Chief
of] the Northern [Sacred] Peak and State General and
the General of the Guard shall act as guarantors for
twenty-five commanderies of two provinces and one
regional division in the northern quarter. The Commander-in-chief
shall act a guarantor for ten commanderies
in the eastern and southern [parts of] the
central regional divisions [subject to] the Communicator
and high minister, the Deciding Judge and high
minister, the Capital Commandant [Grandee], the
Sustainer Commandant [Grandee], the Metropole
Neighboring Commandery, and the Western Neighboring
Commandery.[1933] The Grand Minister over
the Masses shall act as guarantor for five commanderies
in the central regional divisions and western regional
division [subject to] the Director of Music and
high minister, the Arranger of the Ancestral Temples
and high minister,[1934] the Supporter Commandant
[Grandee], the Commandant of Splendor [Grandee],
the Eastern Neighboring Commandery, and the
Southern Neighboring Commandery. The Grand
Minister of Works shall act as guarantor for ten commanderies
in the central regional divisions and northwards
[subject to] the My Forester and high minister,
the Provider of Works and high minister,[1937] the
Master Commandant [Grandee], the Commandant
of Magnificence [Grandee], the Imperial Domain
Neighboring Commandery, and the Northern Neighboring
Commandery. The directors and high ministers[1938]
shall all join with the highest ministers to
whom they are subordinate in acting as guarantors
against visitations and disasters [in the regions for
which] their [superiors act as guarantors].

"If there have been calamities or injuries to the

crops in the regions for which they act as guarantors],
the amount shall also be calculated in percentages,
and their salaries shall be reduced [proportionately].
Gentlemen, the Imperial Retinue, and officials of the
imperial capital offices, who receive their salaries
from the receipts within the [imperial] capitals, shall
take the amount of the imperial dishes [provided by]
the Grand Provisioner as the measure [for their
salaries]. Nobles, princesses, baronesses, vassals,
and minor officials shall also each act as guarantors
against visitations and disasters [in] their [districts].
I hope that [thus] superiors and inferiors will be of
the same mind and will encourage the advancement
of agriculture and tranquillize the great multitude."
[Wang] Mang's regulations were as complicated and
detailed as the foregoing.

The calculations of the taxes could not be made
out, so that the officials did not eventually obtain any
salaries. Each one took advantage of the duties of
his office to do evil, receiving and exacting bribes and
presents in order to support himself.

In this month, on [the day] mou-ch'en, the western
bank of the Ch'ang-p'ing Lodge collapsed, blocking
up the Ching River, so that it could not run, was
cut off, and flowed northwards.[1948] [Wang Mang]
sent the Grand Minister of Works, Wang Yi5, to
inspect it. When he returned and memorialized a
description [of the occurrence], the courtiers offered
congratulations, considering that it was what the
Diagrams From the River had said, that earth pressing
upon water is a happy auspice of the Huns being destroyed.
[Wang Mang] thereupon sent the Shepherd
of the Ping Province, Sung Hung, the Scouting and
Attacking Chief Commandant, Jen Meng,[1951] and
others, leading troops, to attack the Huns. They
went to the border, and stopped to garrison it.

In the seventh month, on [the day] hsin-yu, there

was a visitation [of fire] to the Pa City-gate, which
among the common people is called the Cerulean
Gate, and on [the day] mou-tzu, the last day of the
month, there was an eclipse of the sun. A general
amnesty [was granted] to the empire, and [Wang
Mang] again ordered the ministers, grandees, nobles,
and [officials ranking at] 2000 piculs each to recommend
one person with the four [types of virtuous]
conduct.[1954] The Commander-in-chief, Ch'en Mou,
was dismissed because of the eclipse of the sun, and
the Earl Establishing Military Power, Chuang Yu,
was made the Commander-in-chief.

In the tenth month, on [the day] mou-hsü,[1956] the

Vermillion Bird Gate to the Royal Apartments cried
out for a day and night without ceasing. Ts'ui Fa
and others said, "The Lord of Yü, [Shun], `opened
the gates to the four [quarters] to hear with the ears
in the four [quarters].'[1959] The crying out of the gate
makes plain that you ought to cultivate the rites of
the ancient sages in order to attract gentlemen from
the four quarters." Thereupon [Wang Mang] ordered
that the courtiers should all felicitate him.
Those who were recommended for the four [types of
virtuous] conduct entered by way of the Vermillion
Bird Gate in order to take the examinations.

The General Tranquillizing the Southern Barbarians,
Feng Mou, had attacked Kou-t'ing, and six

or seven-tenths of his soldiers had died from pestilence.
As a levy for military purposes upon the common
people's wealth he had taken five-tenths, so that
the Yi Province was empty and waste, yet [the rebellious
barbarians] were not vanquished. [Wang
Mang] summoned him to return and sent him to
prison, where he died.

In his place, [Wang Mang] sent the General of a
Peaceful Beginning, Lien Tan, together with the
[Provincial] Shepherd of Yung Regional Division,
Shih Hsiung, to attack Kou-t'ing.[1964] When they
had cut off a considerable [number of] heads and had
had a victory, [Wang] Mang summoned [Lien] Tan
and [Shih] Hsiung [to come to the capital. Lien]
Tan and [Shih] Hsiung wanted [instead] to increase
the taxes, [whereupon] they would be certain to conquer.

Thereupon they returned and again made a great
levy for military purposes. The Grand Governor of
Chiu-tu [Commandery], Feng Ying, was not willing
to furnish [anything], and sent [a memorial] to the
throne, saying, "From the time that Chou Niu of
Sui-chiu [county] and Hsieh-tou of T'ung Commune
and the like in Yüeh-sui [Commandery] revolted, it
has been almost the tenth year, in which [time] the
commanderies and counties have been resisting the
attacks of [the barbarians] without cessation. When,
in succession to [Ch'eng Lung], Feng Mou was employed,

he temerariously put into practise a temporary
policy, which was that, altho south of P'o-tao
the mountains are high and defiles are deep, [Feng]
Mou many times expelled their bands from distant
places, so that the expense has been counted by the
hundred-thousands [of cash] and officers and soldiers
have suffered from poisonous emanations,[1968] seven-tenths
of them dying.

"Now [Lien] Tan and [Shih] Hsiung are afraid
that they themselves would be reprimanded [for not

having completed their task] in the appointed time,
and [seek to] levy and mobilize the troops and grain
of the commandery, to re-appraise [the property of]
the common people and take four-tenths of it. They
have impoverished and ruined Liang Province, but
their efforts will not eventually meet with success.
It would be proper to dismiss the troops and garrison
farms and openly offer rewards [for the rebels]."

[Wang] Mang became angry and dismissed [Feng]
Ying from his office. [But] later he awakened considerably
to [the truth] and said, "[Feng] Ying
should not however be severely condemned," and
rewarded [Feng] Ying by making him the Leader of
the Combination in Ch'ang-sha [Commandery].

Wang-sun Ch'ing, [who belonged to] the faction of

Chai Yi, was arrested and secured, and [Wang] Mang
sent the Grand Physician and the Master of Recipes,
with a skilled butcher, all together to dissect and flay
[Wang-sun Ch'ing], to measure and examine his five
viscera, and to use fine bamboos to trace out his
arteries, so as to find out their beginnings and ends,
saying that [thereby] they would know how to cure
illness.[1972]

In this year, [Wang Mang] sent as the Chief

Envoy, the General of the Five Majestic Principles,
Wang Chün4c, with the Protector General of the
Western Frontier Regions, Li Ch'ung2, leading the
Mou-and-Chi Colonel, [Kou Ch'in], to go out to the
Western Frontier Regions. All the various states
welcomed [the envoys] at their suburbs and offered
tribute.

The state of Karshahr (Yen-ch'i)[1977] had previously
murdered the Protector General Tan Ch'in, so
[Wang] Chün4c wanted to make a surprise attack
upon it. He ordered his Associate Lieutenant, Ho
Feng, and the Mou-and-Chi Colonel, Kuo Ch'inb, to
separate their commands [from his]. Karshahr
(Yen-Ch'i) made a pretense of surrendering, and
and ambushed troops, who attacked [Wang] Chün4c
and the others, so that all [his company] died.
[Kuo] Ch'inb and [Ho] Feng reached [Karshahr
shortly] after [Wang Chün4c had been killed, before
the troops had returned], and made a surprise attack
upon its aged and weak [people, massacring
them]. They returned by way of Turfan (Chü-shih)
and entered the [Chinese] barrier. [Wang] Mang
installed [Kuo] Ch'inb as the General Maintaining
Order in Foreign Parts, and enfeoffed him as the
Viscount Exterminating Northwestern Barbarians.
Ho Feng was made the Baron Quieting the Northwestern
Barbarians. From this time on, the Western
Frontier Regions were cut off [from China].

C. THE HISTORY OF THE [FORMER] HAN [DYNASTY]

C. [Chapter] XCIX
THE SIXTY-NINTH [MEMOIR]

C. The Memoir of Wang Mang

C. PART C

In [the period T'ien-feng], the fourth year, in the

fifth month, [Wang] Mang said [in a message], "The
Libationer for the Masters and Companions [to the
Heir-apparent] Guarantor of His Perfection, T'ang
Lin, and the former Libationer for the Remonstrants
and Consultants, Chi Ch'ün, ([a man] from Lang-yeh
[Commandery), have shown] filial devotion, brotherly
respectfulness, loyalty, and reciprocity; they
have been respectful to their superiors and have loved
their inferiors; they have been extensively learned in
ancient traditions; their upright characters have
been excellent and perfect; and even to old age they
have not committed any errors. Let [T'ang] Lin be
enfeoffed as the Marquis Established Through Virtue
and [let Chi] Ch'ün [be enfeoffed as] the Marquis
Enfeoffed Through Virtue; the rank of both shall be a
Specially Advanced and they shall be received in
audience with rites like those of the three highest
ministers. They are [each] to be granted one residence,[1982]
three million cash, and are to be given
stools and canes."

In the sixth month, when [Wang Mang] changed

[the rites, removing to] the Ming-t'ang the bestowal
of earth [enveloped in] quitch grass to nobles [as a
token of enfeoffment], he said [in a message], "I
have instituted the geographical arrangements and
have established and enfeoffed [nobles] in five grades.
I have examined them by the canonical books and
harmonized them with the written traditions [concerning
the classics] and the records, and pervaded
them by the principles of right relationships.

"I have discussed them and pondered over them
again and again, from the beginning of the first [year]

in [the period] Shih-chien-kuo down to the present,
[which is] the ninth year. Now they have however
been indeed fixed upon. I have myself established
the [inclined] plane of ornamented stones,[1989] I have
arranged the three-ribbed quitch-grass and the four-colored
earth,[1994] and have respectfully given information
[of the enfeoffments] to Mount T'ai,[1996] to the
Grand [Imperial] Mound Altar to the Gods of the
Soils, to Sovereign Earth, to my deceased male and
female ancestors, in order to publish and transmit
[these classical practises. Let] each [noble] go to
his state to care for and shepherd his common people
in order to accomplish meritorious achievements.
For those whose [estates] are on the borders or in
Chiang-nan, except for those who are summoned by
an imperial edict to be sent to wait upon [the Emperor]
in the imperial capital, the Grandee in Charge
of Goods [subordinate to] the Communicator shall
temporarily collect the old [style] cash from the
capital treasuries [in order to] pay them their allowances:
to dukes, 800,000 [cash] per year; to marquises
and earls, 400,000 [cash per year]; to viscounts and
barons, 200,000 [cash per year]."[1998]

Yet even then they could not receive the full
amount. [Wang] Mang loved bombastic speeches
and admired ancient practises. He enfeoffed very
many people as nobles, [but] in his nature he was in
reality niggardly. He took as a pretext that the
geographical arrangements had not yet been determined
upon, hence temporarily in advance distributed
clods with quitch-grass [in token of enfeoffment], using
them to console and delight those whom he enfeoffed.

In this year, [Wang Mang] again published ordinances

for the six controls.[2001] For each control he
established regulations to restrain violators [of the
monopoly]; the penalties were as great as capital
[punishment. Yet] the officials and common people
who suffered for crime became increasingly[2004]
numerous.

He moreover temporarily made a levy [even] upon
the highest class of the highest ministers [and those
ranking] lower, that whoever possessed male or female
slaves should pay a tax of 3600 cash per [slave], so
that the empire became even more discontented and
thieves and robbers arose.[2007]

When the Communicator, Feng Ch'ang, remonstrated
against the six controls, [Wang] Mang became
furious and dismissed [Feng] Ch'ang from office.

[Wang Mang] established Administrators of the
Laws at [the Emperor's] Right and Left for the
Extirpation of Wickedness, and selected for employment
[in this office] capable officials, Hou Pa and
others, dispersing them to supervise the six Commandants'
[Commanderies] and the six Neighboring
Commanderies, like the Inspectors of the Han [dynasty],
with one Officer of the three highest ministers
for a commandery as an Attendant official [to the
Administrator of the Laws for the Extirpation of
Wickedness].

Kua-t'ien Yi of Lin-huai [Commandery] and
others became thieves and robbers, relying upon [the
fastnesses in] Ch'ang-chou of K'uai-chi [Commandery].
Mother Lü, a woman of Lang-yeh [Commandery],
also arose. Previously, Mother Lü's son had
been an official of the county and had been killed on
a false charge by its Ruler. His mother dispersed the
wealth of her household on [the pretext] of dealing
in liquor, by purchasing arms and crossbows, and
privately treating poor youths liberally. When she
had obtained more than a hundred men, she thereupon
attacked the county-seat of Hai-ch'ü and killed
its Ruler. She used [his corpse] as a sacrifice at the
grave of her son. She led her troops into the sea.
These bands gradually became greater. Later both
[bandit bands] were numbered by the ten-thou-sands.[2014]

[Wang] Mang sent commissioners to go to and
pardon the thieves and robbers. When [the commissioners]
returned, they said, "Whenever the
thieves and robbers disperse, they immediately
reunite." When he asked them the reason for this

[action], they all said, "They are grieved at the laws
and prohibitions, which are vexatious and tyrannous,
so that they can do nothing, and what they obtain by
hard work is insufficient to pay the taxes, while if
they close their doors in order to guard themselves,
they are moreover sentenced because their group of
five neighboring [families] might be casting cash or
possessing copper. Wicked officials take advantage
of that to afflict[2016] these common people. When
common people are improverished, they all arise and
become thieves or robbers." [Wang] Mang [became]
furious and dismissed them.

Some of them fell in with his ideas and said that
the common people were perverse and crafty and
ought to be executed and also said that the revolution
of the seasons was opportune and [the robbers] would

before long be annihilated, [whereupon Wang] Mang
was pleased and immediately promoted them.

In this year, in the eighth month, [Wang] Mang in
person went to the place for the suburban sacrifice
at the south [of the Capital] to have the majestic tou
[measures] cast.[2021] For making the majestic tou
[measures], five [colors of] minerals were used with
bronze.[2024] They were like the Northern Bushel [in
shape], two feet five inches long. [Wang Mang] intended
to use them to repress various military forces
by incantations. When they were completed, he ordered
the Directors of Mandates [from the Five
Majestic Principles] to carry them on their shoulders.
When [Wang] Mang went out, they went before
him; when he had entered [the palace], they waited
upon him at his sides.[2029] On the day that these tou
[measures] were cast, there was a severe cold [spell],
so that some men and horses of the various offices
froze to death.

In the fifth year, the first month, on the first day
of the month, there was a visitation [of fire] to the
southern gate of the Northern Army [Encampment].

Fei Hsing, the Director of Confidence in the Commander-in-chief,
was made the Shepherd of Ching
Province. When he was asked at an audience what
would be his plans of action when he reached his
regional division, [Fei] Hsing replied, "The common
people of Ching and Yang[2036] [Provinces] generally
take advantage of their mountains and marshes in
making fishing and the picking [of wild fruits] their
occupations. Recently the state has set up the six
controls, which tax [the products of] the mountains
and marshes and have interfered with and taken away
the profits of the common people. For a long time
in successive years there have been droughts, so that
the people are hungry and impoverished. Hence
they have become thieves or robbers.

"When I, Hsing, reach my regional division, I intend
to order and to make it clearly known and
inform the thieves and robbers that they should return
to their homes and I will lend them oxen for
plowing, seed, and food, and exempt them from the
land and capitation-taxes. I hope that thereby I
may be able to disperse and tranquillize them."

[Wang] Mang became incensed [at this proposal] and
dismissed [Fei] Hsing from his office.

Because the officials of the [whole] empire did not

receive their salaries, they all did evil for profit.
The personal property of [Grand] Governors of commanderies
and Rulers of counties [amounted to] a
thousand [catties of] gold. [Hence Wang] Mang
issued an imperial edict which said, "Investigate
carefully [the deeds of] the military officials and the
officials of the borders, from the grandees and upwards,
beginning with the second year of [the period]
Shih-chien-kuo, when the northern barbarian (Hu)
caitiffs troubled China.[2041] If any, have done evil
for profit, so that they have increased their property
and have become rich, [let] four-fifths of the property
in their families be taken and used to aid the
distress of the borders." Officers from the highest
ministers' yamens [rode] galloping quadrigae [all
over] the empire, examining and investigating avaricious
[persons]. They persuaded officials to inform
on their generals, and male and female slaves to
inform on their masters, hoping thereby to stop the
evil, [but] the evil became very much more serious.

An Imperial Grandson, the Duke of Eminent

Merits, [Wang] Tsung, was sentenced for having had
a picture of himself painted, wearing the robes and
bonnet of the Son of Heaven, and having had three
seals engraved. One read, "Because of celestial
blessings, my official hat is prepared and ready. In
the summer [I] dwell in the Southern Mountains,
where there is stored up thin ice."[2045] The second
read, "Revering the Sages and holding precious the
heritage."[2049] The third said, "[To be] enfeoffed because
of virtue and made glorious by the [imperial]
documents."[2050]

The household of [Wang] Tsung's maternal uncle
Lü K'uan, which had previously been exiled to Ho-p'u

[Commandery], had moreover privately communi-
cated with [Wang] Tsung. When [this matter] became
known, an examination was made and [Wang]
Tsung committed suicide.

[Wang] Mang said, "[According to] his relationship,
[Wang] Tsung was an Imperial Grandson;
[according to] his noble rank, he was [among] the
highest of the dukes. He knew that [Lü] K'uan and
the others belonged to rebellious clan, but communicated
with them. He had three bronze seals
engraved whose inscriptions and intentions were extremely
pernicious. He did not know how to be
contented, and was watching for and desiring what
he should not have hoped for.

"[According to] the principle in [the Kung-yang
Commentary on] the Spring and Autumn, `A relative
of the prince should not have had such an intention,
[but] since he had that intention, he should have been
executed,'[2053] [Wang Tsung] was deluded and went
astray, so that he brought this punishment upon
himself. Alas! It is sad!"

[Wang] Tsung's personal name was originally
Hui-tsung; according to the [imperial] institutions, he
had done away with there being two words in his
personal name [and used only Tsung as his name].[2054]
He was now again named Hui-tsung, and his noble

rank was degraded and his title was changed. He
was granted the posthumous name of the Erring Earl
of Eminent Merits, and was buried with the rites of
an earl in his former t'ung in Ku-ch'eng Commandery.

[Wang] Tsung's elder sister, [Wang] Fang, who
was the Lady (wife) of the General of the Guard,

Wang Hsinga, had made [magical] imprecations
against her mother-in-law and had killed a slave-woman
in order to stop up her mouth. The matter
became known and [Wang] Mang sent the Regular
Palace Attendant Tai Yün to interrogate [Wang]
Fang under torture and also to flog [Wang] Hsinga.
Both committed suicide.

The matter also involved the wife of the Director
of Mandates [from the Five Majestic Principles],
K'ung Jen. She also committed suicide. [When
K'ung] Jen had audience with [Wang] Mang, and
doffed his bonnet in acknowledging [his fault, Wang]
Mang had a Master of Writing impeach [K'ung] Jen
[saying that the fact of his] "having ridden in a
heavenly chariot [drawn by] earthly mares, `having
on his left the Azure Dragon [Standard], on his right
the White Tiger [Standard], in front the Vermillion
Bird[2059] [Standard], and in his rear the Dark Warrior
[Standard],' in his right hand grasping the majestic
credentials and on his left [shoulder] bearing the
majestic tou [measure], and being called the Red

Planet, was not in order to make [K'ung] Jen proud,
but to honor the majestic mandate of the Hsin house,
[and yet K'ung] Jen has presumed to doff his astrological
bonnet, which constitutes [the capital crime]
of being extremely disrespectful." [Then] there was
an imperial edict [ordering that K'ung Jen] should
not be impeached and exchanging his bonnet for a
new one. [Wang Mang's] love for marvels was like
the foregoing.

The Marquis of the Straight Path, Wang Shê, was
made the General of the Guard. [Wang] Shê was
the son of the Marquis of Ch'ü-yang, [Wang] Ken.
In the reign of Emperor Ch'eng, [Wang] Ken had

been Commander-in-chief, and, [when he had been
about to retire], he had recommended [Wang] Mang to take his place [as Commander-in-chief,[2065] so that
Wang] Mang was grateful to him. [The latter] had
considered that Ch'ü-yang (crooked phallus) was not
a good designation, so had posthumously [granted
Wang] Ken the posthumous name, Duke Jang
(Ceding) of the Straight Path. [Wang] Shê had
inherited this noble title.

In this year, Li Tzu-tu, Fan Ch'ung, and others of

the Red Eyebrows gathered together because of the
famine and arose in Lang-yeh [Commandery]. They
moved about and robbed. Their bands all numbered
in the ten-thousands. [Wang Mang] sent commissioners
to mobilize the troops of the commanderies
and kingdoms to attack them, [but these troops]
were unable to vanquish [the robber bands].

In this sixth year, in the spring, [Wang] Mang saw

that the thieves and robbers were so many, hence
ordered the Grand Astrologers to calculate a calendar
for thirty-six thousand years, with one change of the
year-period [every] six years, and to publish it to
the empire.

[Wang Mang] issued a message, saying, "The
Tzu-ko T'u[2071] says, `The Supreme One and the Yellow
Lord both [became] immortals and [then][2072] ascended
to heaven, [where they] made music on top of the
K'un-lun and Ch'ien Mountains.[2073] A sage lord who

is of their later generations and is to secure auspicious
presages is due [similarly] to have music made upon
the top of the Chung-nan Mountains in [the state of]
Ch'in.'

"Because of my lack of penetration, my performance
of [Heaven's] commands has not been intelligent,
yet now I have been informed [of the correct
procedure]. I restore [a former title, changing] the
General of a Peaceful Beginning to be the General of a
New Beginning, in order to conform to the Mandate
[of Heaven given through] portents. Does not the
Book of Changes say, `The daily renewing [of nature]
is what is called the flourishing of its virtue; its production
of what is produced is what is called its
change.'[2078] May I receive [Heaven's protection]."
He wished thereby to deceive and dazzle the people
and to scatter and disperse the thieves and robbers,
[but] the vulgar all laughed at him.

Previously when the music of the Hsin [House]had
been offered in the Grand [Ancestral] Temple of the
Ming-t'ang, when the courtiers had first worn the
female unicorn-skin caps,[2080] someone who heard the
sound of this music said, "It is limpid and inspiring,
but plaintive,[2081] not the music that will make a state
flourish."

At this time, east of [Han-ku] Pass there had been

a famine and drought for several years, so that the
partizan bands of Li Tzu-tu and the others became
gradually larger. When the General of a New Beginning,
Lien Tan, had attacked [the rebels] in Yi
Province, he had not been able to vanquish them,
hence he was summoned to return in order that someone
might be sent in his place. He was [however]
restored to his [former] position [as General of a New
Beginning]. Afterwards when Kuo Hsing, [the
Commissioner Over] the Army [subordinate to] the
Commander-in-chief, and the Shepherd of the Yung
Regional Division, Li Yeh, [were sent to] attack the
barbarian Jo Tou and others, and the Third Brother
Hsi, Sun Hsi, a higher subordinate official of the
Grand Tutor, [was sent to] purify the Yangtze valley[2085]
from thieves and robbers, and when moreover
the Huns raided the borders very seriously, [Wang]
Mang made a great solicitation of the empire's freemen
together with those imprisoned for capital crimes
and the slaves of the officials and common people.
[Those who responded] were called "Boar braves who
are porcupines rushing out,"[2087] and were considered
as ardent troops.

[Wang Mang] temporarily taxed the officials and

common people of the empire, taking one-thirtieth of
their property. Their close-woven waterproof and
other silks were all transported to Ch'ang-an. It was
ordered that the ministers and those of lower [rank
down] to the [officials] in the commanderies and
counties who wore yellow seal-cords[2092] should all
guarantee[2094] the rearing of horses for the army, the
number of which [horses] should be proportionate to
each [official's] rank.

[Wang Mang] also made a wide solicitation for
those who possessed extraordinary skills that could
be used to attack the Huns, [saying that] they would
be treated [extraordinarily by being given a high]
ranking [at once and] not be [promoted only] by
degrees. Those who said that [their arts] would be
advantageous were numbered by the ten-thousands.
One said that he was able to cross streams without
using boats or oars; that by joining horses and connecting
their riders he could cause an army of a
million to ford [rivers]. One said that without carrying
a measure of grain and by taking drugs, the three
[divisions of] an army would not become hungry.

One said that he was able to fly a thousand li in a
day and so could spy out the Huns. [Wang] Mang
immediately had him try out [his invention]. He
took the quills of a large bird to make his two wings;
on both his head and his body he stuck feathers. He
connected them by pivots.[2096] He flew several hundred
double-paces [and then he] fell.

[Wang] Mang knew that these [people] could not
be useful, [but] he merely wished to make use of
their fame, so he installed them all as Directors of

the Army and granted them chariots and horses
while they waited [until the army should] set out.

Previously, the Hun Ku-tu Marquis of the West,

Hsü-pu Tang, whose wife, [Lüan-ti Yün], was the
daughter of Wang [Ch'iang] Chao-chün, had been
attached to [the Chinese. Wang] Mang sent the
Marquis of Peace and Alliance By Marriage, Wang
Hsi6, the son of [Wang Ch'iang] Chao-chün's elder
brother, to allure and summon [Hsü-pu] Tang[2100] to
the foot of the barrier and by force made him go to
Ch'ang-an, where he was compelled to be set up as
the Shan4-yü Hsü-pu and the Duke of Future Peace.[2102]

[When Wang Mang] first wanted to allure and
receive [Hsü-pu] Tang, the Commander-in-chief,

Chuang Yu, had remonstrated, saying, "[Hsü-pu]
Tang is in the western section of the Huns where his
troops do not invade [the Chinese] borders. Whenever
the Shan-yü moves or remains quiet, he immediately
[sends] word [of it] to China. [Thus] he
is of the greatest assistance in this quarter. If now
you receive [Hsü-pu] Tang and establish him on
Kao Street[2104] in Ch'ang-an, he will be merely an
individual northern foreigner (Hu) and would not be
as helpful as if he were among the Huns." [But
Wang] Mang did not listen [to him.

When Wang Mang] had secured [Hsü-pu] Tang,
he wanted to send [Chuang] Yu with Lien Tan to
attack the Huns. He granted both of them the surname

Cheng (to make a military expedition), entitling
them the Two Generals Making a Military
Expedition. They were required to execute the
Shan-yu [Lüan-ti] Yü, and set up [Hsü-pu] Tang to
take his place. They were to start out[2108] from the
Kuang Stables at the west of the city.

Before they started out, [since Chuang] Yu had
usually had wise plans and had opposed [Wang]
Mang's [project of] attacking the barbarians in the
four [quarters],[2110] and had remonstrated several
times, but [his advice] had not been followed, he
composed [a work] in altogether three fascicles,
[dealing with] the conception that ancient famous
generals, [such as] Yo Yi and Po Ch'i, were [eventually]
not employed [by their lords] and also discussing
matters [concerning the Chinese] borders,
and memorialized [the book] in order to remonstrate
with [Wang] Mang. When they were due to start
out, in a conference at court, [Chuang] Yu said
firmly that the Huns could be temporarily considered
as secondary and that the most important concern
[of the ruler] should be the thieves and robbers east
of the mountains [of Kuang-chung].[2112]

[Wang] Mang became furious and [wrote] a dismissal
notice for [Chuang] Yu, which said, "You have
overseen affairs to the fourth year, [but when] `the
barbarians became troublesome to the Chinese,' you
have not been able to stop or destroy them; when
`robbers and brigands have caused disorder outside
and inside [the government]',[2113] you have not been

able to extirpate them; you have not been awed by
the majestic [mandate] of Heaven and have not carried
out my mandates in imperial edicts. Your
visage has been harsh, [yet] you have approved of
yourself. You insist that what you think is right and
never change. In your bosom you have cherished
inclinations toward rebellion, so that you have condemned
and ruined [my plans] in the deliberations on
military [matters]. I cannot bear to apply the law
to you. You shall deliver up your seals and aprons
of the Commander-in-chief and of the Earl Establishing
Military Power and return to your former
commandery. [Let] the Earl Making Portents Descend,
Tung Chung1b, become the Commander-in-chief."

T'ien K'uang, the Leader of a Combination at

Yi-p'ing [Commandery], memorialized that the commanderies
and counties had not appraised the common
people's [property] according to the facts, so
[Wang] Mang again taxed [their property at the rate
of] one-thirtieth. Because of [T'ien] K'uang's faithful
words and his solicitude for the state, he was
advanced in noble rank, made an earl, and granted
two million cash. The mass of commoners all reviled
him.[2118]

In Ch'ing and Hsü [Provinces], many of the common
people left their native villages and became
vagrants. The aged and weak died on the roads,
and the vigorous entered the robber [bands].

The Leader of a Combination at Su-yeh [Commandery],
Han Po, sent a message to the emperor,

saying, "There is a marvellous gentleman, ten feet
tall and ten spans [in circumference], who came to
your subject's yamen and said, `I am desirous with
all my energy to attack the caitiff northern foreigners
(Hu).' He calls himself Chü-wu Pa and comes from
the shore of the Chao-ju Sea northwest of the five
cities southeast of P'eng-lai. A small chariot is not
able to bear him, and three horses are not able to
transport him, so, on the same day, in a large quadriga
with four horses, on which is erected a tiger flag,
bearing [Chü-wu] Pa, [I have sent him] to go to the
[palace] Portal. When [Chü-wu] Pa lies down, he
pillows [his head] upon a drum.[2124] He eats with iron
chopsticks.

"This [man has been sent] by August Heaven as a
means of assisting the House of Hsin. I wish that
your Majesty would have a large cuirass made, with
a high chariot and garments for a [Meng] Pen or a
[Hsia] Yü, and send a generalissimo and a hundred
of the [Gentlemen] As Rapid As Tigers to meet him
on the road. The gates and doors in the imperial
capital which will not admit him should be enlarged
and made taller and larger, in order to show him to
the barbarians and settle down the world."

[Han] Po's intention was that he wanted thereby
to offer a hint to [Wang] Mang,[2125] [but when Wang]
Mang was informed of it, he disliked it and detained

[Chü-wu] Pa at the place where he was in Hsin-feng.
He changed his surname to be Mr. Chü-mu (Chü's
Mother), saying, "Because of the Empress Dowager
the Mother of Culture there has been this portent
[that Wang (Mang) Chü-(chün) should be] a lord
protector (pa) and a [true] king."[2127]
[Wang Mang]
summoned [Han] Po [to court], sent him to prison,
and had him publicly executed, because he had said
things that were not proper.

In the next year, the year-period was to be changed
to Ti-huang, which was a title taken from the calendar
for thirty-six thousand years.[2130]

In [the period] Ti-huang, the first year, in the first

month, on [the day] yi-wei, an amnesty [was granted]
to the empire. [Wang Mang] issued a message,
saying, "At the time when the army is being sent out
and the troops are being put into motion, those who
presume to run and shout, violating the law, should
immediately be judged and beheaded. It is not
necessary [to wait for] the season [for executions,
winter]. When the year is up, [this order] shall
cease." Thereupon during the spring and summer
people were beheaded in the market-places of the
capitals; the people were terrified and afraid and `on
the highroads and paths, they indicated their hatred
[of Wang Mang] in their eyes.'[2136]

In the third[2137] month, on [the day] jen-shen, in the

center of the sun there was a blackness.[2139] [Wang]
Mang disliked it, and issued a message which said,
"Recently, `in the sun an obscurity has appeared.'[2143]
The Yin [principle] is pressing upon the Yang [principle,
and has produced] the grievous vicissitude of a
black emanation. None of the people have failed to
be startled by the marvel. The Generalissimo of the
Northern City-wall [of Ch'ang-an],[2144] Wang K'uang1d,
has sent an official to examine and question those who
have presented [to the ruler] matters [concerning]
grievous vicissitudes, [to examine] whether they intend
to blind the throne's intelligence. For this
reason, a reprobation has appeared in Heaven, in
order that I might correct [matters by right] principlies,
and stop these great prodigies."

When Wang] Mang saw that the thieves and

robbers in the four quarters were many, he again
wanted to repress them, and so again sent out a message,
saying, "When my August Deceased Original
Ancestor, the Yellow Lord, tranquillized the world, he
led his troops as a First [Ranking] General and established
the flowery baldachin and set up the Bushel
Bowl [Standard].[2150] Within [the imperial court] I[2151]
establish a General-in-[chief]; outside [the court I
also] establish five Commanders-in-chief, 25 Generalissimos,
125 Lieutenant Generals, 1250 Major
Generals, 12,500 Colonels, 37,500 Majors, 112,500
Captains,[2154] 225,000 Centurions, 450,000 Petty Officers,
and 13,500,000 soldiers, in order to respond to
and accord with [the saying in] the Book of Changes,
`[This gave] the benefit of bows and arrows, whereby
they might [awe] the world by their majesty.'[2157] I
have obtained the writings of the mandate [of
Heaven given through] portents and have examined
[my enactments by the deeds] of earlier persons,
since I desire that [my enactments] may be complete
in detail."

Thereupon there were established the positions of
Commander-in-chief at the Van, at the Rear, at the
Left, at the Right, and at the Center. [Wang Mang]
granted to the various Provincial Shepherds the title
of Generalissimo; Directors of Confederations,[2158]
Leaders of Combinations, and Grand Governors of
commanderies became Lieutenant Generals; Prefects
and Chiefs of Associations [became] Major Generals;
and Rulers of counties became Colonels. Almost
ten [groups of] commissioners in riding quadrigae
daily passed through the commanderies and kingdoms.

The granaries had no grain ready for supplying
[their needs] and the chariots and horses in the
post-stations could not be sufficient [for these many
messengers, so the officials] levied and seized chariots
and horses on the roads and requisitioned supplies
from the common people.

In the seventh month, a great wind damaged the
Hall With the Royal Apartments, [so Wang Mang]
again issued a message, saying, "Recently, on [the
day] jen-wu, at the time for eating the afternoon meal,
there was the grievous vicissitude of a strong wind,
with thunder and rain, which unroofed houses and
broke down trees. I was greatly excited. I was in-
spired with great fear. I was greatly terrified. I
humbly reflected and after ten days the riddle was
then solved.[2166]

"Previously, the words of a mandate [granted by]

portents [said, `Wang] An1a should be set up as the
Hsin-hsien[2168] King [(the King, the Immortal of the
Hsin House); Wang] Lin1a should have Lo-yang as
his state and should be the T'ung-yi-yang King [the
King Controlling-the-line in which Right-principles
Shine].[2169] At that time, I was occupying [the post of]
Regent and Acting [Emperor], so deferred and did
not presume to [accept these titles], but made [my
sons] Dukes. After that, there arrived the writing
in the golden coffer. Those who discussed [these
matters] all said, `[Wang] Lin1a's state should be Lo-yang;
to be t'ung means to occupy the center of the
Earth,[2170] to be [the continuer of] the dynastic line
(t'ung) of the Hsin [House, (i.e., T'ung-yi-yang means
to live in the center of the Earth and continue the
dynastic line by which the right principles of the
Hsin House shine)]. It is proper that he should be
the Imperial Heir-apparent.'

"After this [time, Wang] Lin1a was ill for a long
time, and, altho he recovered, he was not entirely

well, so that when he appeared at court, he traveled
borne suspended on a mattress.[2172] When he came
to an audience in the Hall With the Royal Apart-
ments, he set up his bed in the Western Lateral
Apartments together with the Central [Room] for
Changing Garments in the Rear Pavilion.[2177] Because
moreover the Empress was ill, [Wang] Lin1a
temporarily left his original [rooms] and went to her
dwelling. His Crown Princess and concubines were
in the Eastern Long Lane.

"[On the day] jen-wu, a strong wind did violence
to the Western Lateral Apartments of [the Hall]
With the Royal Apartments and the Central Room
for Changing Garments in the Rear Pavilion; an elm
tree, ten spans [or fathoms] in circumference, southeast
of the pool at the Hall of Brilliant Peace, fell
eastwards, striking the Eastern Pavilion. This Pavilion
is the western wall of the Eastern Long Lane.
All [these places] were destroyed. Tiles were broken,
the roofs were taken off, and trees were uprooted.
I was very much frightened.

"The Office for Watching [the Heavens] moreover
memorialized that the Moon has invaded the front
stars of [the constellation] Hsin, which has an interpretation.[2180]
I was very much worried by it.

"I humbly considered the writing in the Tzu-ko-t'u,
`The Supreme One and the Yellow Lord both obtained

auspicious presages and thereby became im-
mortals, and among their later generations a magnificent
lord [Wang Mang] is due to ascend the
Chung-nan [lit., he comes to his end to the south]
Mountains.' What is meant by the Hsin-hsien King
is that he is a descendant of the Supreme One and of
the Immortal of the Hsin [House] (Hsin-hsien).
[What is meant by] the T'ung-yi-yang King is that
he is a descendant of [the one] who uses the five
dynastic principles (t'ung)[2184] and by means of the
rules of proper conduct (li) and moral principles (yi)
mounts up to the sunny side (yang [the south]) and
becomes an immortal.

"[Wang] Lin1a has an elder brother, but is called
the Heir-apparent, so that his title is not correct.
Duke Hsüan-ni [As Recompense for Perfection (of
Pao-ch'eng), Confucius,] said, `If titles are not correct,
then speech will not be in accordance with
[reality,' and so on], even to `punishments will not be
appropriate' and `the common people will not know
how to move their hands or feet.'[2185]

"Verily, since I have ascended the throne, the Yin
and Yang [principles] have not been harmonious, so
that the wind and rain have not been timely, and [the
country] has several times met withering drought,

locusts and caterpillars, which became [calamitous]
visitations. The harvests of grain have been sparse
or lacking, so that the people have suffered from
famine. `The barbarians have troubled the Chinese
and robbers and brigands have caused disorder outside
and inside [the government,'[2187] so that] the
common people are fearful and disturbed[2188] and `do
not know how to move a hand or foot.'

"I have pondered deeply that the blame for this
[lies] in titles not being correct. Let [Wang] An1a
be set up as the Hsin-hsien King and [Wang] Lin1a
be the T'ung-yi-yang King. I hope that thereby I
may protect and preserve my two sons, that my
descendants [may be numbered] by the thousands
and millions, and that, without [the country], the
barbarians of the four [quarters] may be driven away
and within [the country] the Central States may be
pacified."

In this month, the imperial tiger-striped [grave]clothes
[of Emperor Hsüan] in the Side Hall at the
Tu Tomb, which had been set aside and stored in the
coffers of the [inner] chamber, went out and planted
themselves upright outside [the inner chamber] in
the Hall above.[2194] After a quite long time they however
fell to the ground. The officers and soldiers
who had seen them therefore reported it [to the
throne. Wang] Mang disliked it and so issued a
message which said, "For the precious [throne] there
is yellow and for the servitors there is red.[2195] Let it
be ordered that the Gentlemen and the Imperial
Retinue shall all wear carmine."

Many of those who watched the [cloudy] emanations
and made divinations said that there were
phenomena of some signal achievements [to be done

by the virtue] of the Earth. [Wang] Mang more-
over saw that the thieves and robbers in the four
quarters were many and wanted to make it appear
that he himself was tranquil and was able to be the
founder [of a dynasty enduring for] ten thousand
generations, so issued a message which said, "I have
received the Mandate [of Heaven] and am meeting
with the distresses of the nine dry years and the untoward
occurrences in the 106 [years],[2199] when the
government treasuries are empty and the people are
exhausted. The [imperial] ancestral temples have
not yet been prepared, [hence] I have temporarily
made common ancestral sacrifices in the Grand [Ancestral]
Temple of the Ming-t'ang. Day and night I
have reflected long and have not presumed to rest.
I pondered deeply that no blessing or prosperity is
better than that to be had in the present year. I
then divined by the tortoise-shell [concerning the
region] north of the Po River and south of the Lang
Pool, and it was [divined as fit to produce] imperial
sustenance. I also divined by the tortoise-shell
[concerning the region] south of the Chin River and
west of the Ming-t'ang, and it was also [divined as
fit to produce] imperial sustenance.[2202] I will now in
person[2205] [begin to] build." Thereupon he accord-
ingly made plans [for buildings] south of the city of
Ch'ang-an with a total acreage[2207] of a hundred ch'ing.

In the ninth month, on [the day] chia-shen, stand-
ing in a chariot, [Wang] Mang went to inspect [the
work], and in person began it by pounding three
times [on the earth in the forms for walls]. The
Minister Over the Masses, Wang Hsün3, and the
Grand Minister of Works, Wang Yi5, bearing credentials,
together with the Palace Attendant, Regular
[Palace][2211] Attendant, and Upholder of the Laws, Tu
Lin, and others, several tens of persons [in all],
were to oversee the work.

Ts'ui Fa and Chang2 Han spoke to [Wang] Mang,
saying, "For those upon whom the virtue [of Heaven
is bestowed] abundantly the ritual practises are
elaborate. It would be proper to make the arrangements
[of these temples] magnificent and to make
[that fact] plainly known [to all] within [the four]
seas, so as to bring it about that [even] after ten
thousand generations, nothing in them should be
changed around or despised."[2212] Thereupon [Wang]
Mang summoned widely the artisans of the empire,
and plans were calculated by means of geometry.[2213]

The officials and people who voluntarily paid cash or
grain [into the government treasury] to assist the
work, moreover came and went on the roads and
highways without interruption.[2216]

[Wang Mang] tore down Chien-chang [Palace],
Ch'eng-kuang [Palace], Pao-yang [Palace], Ch'üan-t'ai

[Palace],[2218] Ch'u-yüan Palace, together with
P'ing-lo [Lodge], Tang-lu [Lodge], and Yang-lu Lodge
in [Shang-lin] Park west of the city [of Ch'ang-an],
in all more than ten places, and took their materials
and tiles to build the Nine [Ancestral] Temples. (In
these months there was a great rain for more than
sixty days.) It was ordered that common people
who paid six hundred hu of grain might become
Gentlemen, and that those who were Gentlemen or
officials might be increased in rank or given a noble
rank, [as high] as that of Sub-Vassal.

The first of the Nine [Ancestral] Temples was
called the Temple to the Aboriginal Founder [of the
Hsin Dynasty], the Yellow Lord; the second was
called the Temple Facing South to the First Founder
[of the Hsin Dynasty], the Lord, Yü [Shun]; the
third was called the Temple Facing North to the
Dynastic Founder [of the Hsin Dynasty], King Hu
of Ch'en, [Kuei Man]; the fourth was called the
Temple Facing South to the Epochal Founder [of
the Hsin Dynasty], King Ching of Ch'i, [Ch'en
Ching-chung]; the fifth was called the Temple Facing

North to the Kingly Founder [of the Hsin Dynasty],
King Min of Chi-po, [T'ien An]; (all [the foregoing]
five temples were not to be discontinued [as succeeding
generations of emperors included their immediate
ancestors among the nine ancestors who are given
separate fanes]); the sixth was called the Temple
Facing South to the Honored Ancestor [of the Hsin
Dynasty], King Po of Chi-nan, [Wang Sui]; the seventh
was called, the Temple Facing North to the Honored
Ancestor [of the Hsin Dynasty], King Ju of
Yüan-ch'eng, [Wang Ho4a]; the eighth was called, the
Temple Facing South to the Close Ancestor [of the
reigning Hsin Emperor], King Ch'ing of Yang-p'ing,
[Wang Chin]; and the ninth was called, the Temple
Facing North to the Close Ancestor [of the Reigning
Hsin Emperor], King Hsien of Hsin-tuc, [Wang
Wan].

The [main] halls [of these temples] were all many-storeyed
buildings;[2222] that in the Temple to the
Aboriginal Founder, [the Yellow Lord], from east
to west and from south to north, in each [direction]
was four hundred feet [long] and one hundred
seventy feet high. The other Temples were half
[that size]. They had bronze brackets,[2223] and were
adorned with gold, silver, and carved tracery, which
reached the limit of the workmen's skill. Because
they sat[2224] upon a high [place, the earth] around

them was raised. The expense of the work was
several ten thousand millions [of cash] and the conscripts
and criminals who died [on this work] were
numbered by the ten-thousands.

A man of Chü-lu [Commandery], Ma-shih Ch'iu,
and others plotted to raise the troops of [the region
comprised in the ancient feudal states of] Yen and
Chao in order to execute [Wang] Mang. Wang
Tana, an Officer to the Grand Minister of Works,
discovered and reported it. [Wang] Mang sent some
Grandees to the three highest ministers to apprehend
and punish the cabal. Several thousand prominent
persons in the commanderies and kingdoms were
involved. All were executed. [Wang] Tana was
enfeoffed as the Marquis Supporting the State.

From the time that [Wang] Mang acted out of
accord with the ordinances for the seasons,[2231] the
people hated him, [yet Wang] Mang [acted] as if he
was undisturbed by that [hatred. So] he again
issued a message, saying, "Verily, ever since these
temporary laws have been established, in the capital,
Ch'ang2-an, with its six districts and great city, the
warning drums have rarely sounded and robbers and
bandits have decreased and become few. The people
are satisfied with their habitations and yearly there
have been [good] harvests. The foregoing [circumstances
have been due to] the strength [coming from]
the establishment of my authority.

"[But] now the caitiff northern foreigners (Hu)
have not yet been annihilated and executed, the
southern and southwestern barbarians have not yet
stopped burning [with rebellion], the Yangtze valley
and the marshes of the sea-[coast] are boiling [with
disturbance],[2232] and the thieves and robbers have

not yet been completely routed and exterminated.
I have moreover taken in hand the great work of
upholding the [imperial] ancestral temples and the
altars to the gods of the soils and grains, so that the
multitude of common people have been agitated.
Now I again temporarily put these ordinances in
effect, [but this practise] will stop with the end of
the second year [of the period Ti-huang], in order
that I may preserve the great multitude and save the
ignorant and wicked."

In this year, the large and small cash were discontinued

and in their place there were put into
circulation currency spade money, which was two
inches five fen in length, one inch broad, and was
worth 25 currency cash. The currency cash were
one inch in diameter, five shu in weight, each of
which was worth one [cash].[2237] The two kinds [of
money] were to circulate together. When anyone
presumed to cast cash illicitly or only partly accepted
the spade money as currency, [if any person] in a
group of five [neighboring families] knew of it but
did not discover and report it [to the authorities],
all [of the five neighboring families were to have their
property] confiscated[2238] and to become government
slaves or slave-women.

The Grand Tutor, P'ing Yen, died, and the My

Forester, T'ang Tsunb, was made the Grand Tutor.
[T'ang] Tsunb said, "The state [treasury] is empty
and the people are impoverished, the reason [for
which is] prodigal extravagance." Consequently, he
personally [wore] short clothes with small sleeves,
rode on a chariot with stakes [and drawn by]
mares,[2244] slept upon a couch [made of] straw, [and
ate from] tile dishes. He also used earthen dishes[2245]
to send [food] to the ministers. When he went out,
if he met any men and women who did not travel
separately on the roads, [T'ang] Tsunb himself would
get down from his chariot and, in accordance with
[the principle of inflicting] punishments by altering
the clothing, he would defile and dye their garments,
[using] an ochre-red cloth.[2246] [When Wang] Mang
heard of it, he was delighted with him, so issued an
imperial edict instructing the ministers "to think of
making themselves equal" with him,[2247] and enfeoffed
[T'ang] Tsunb as the Marquis Equalizing Culture.

At this time, Chang Pac from Nan Commandery,
Yang Mu and Wang K'uang1b from Chiang-hsia
[Commandery], and others arose in the Lu-lin
[Mountains] of Yün-tu [County] and called
themselves Troops from the Lower Yangtze [Region].
Their bands were all of more than ten
thousand men.

In the Chung-shui District of Wu-kung [County[2252] ]

three houses of the common people fell [in a subsidence
of the earth and] became a pool.

In the second year, the first month, because the

Provincial Shepherds had been given the rank of the
three highest ministers,[2256] and so had become remiss
in inspecting and recommending [concerning matters

in their provinces], Shepherds' Superintendents and
Associate [Shepherds] were established in addition
[to the Shepherds], with the rank of First Officers,
who were to wear the Bonnet of the Law and whose
duties were to be like those of the Han [dynasty's]
Inspectors.

In this month, [Wang] Mang's wife died. Her

posthumous name was the Filial and Harmonius
Empress. She was buried west of the Ch'ang-shou
Park at the Wei Tomb. It was ordered that she
should forever attend upon the [Empress Dowager]
the Mother of Culture [nee Wang]. The name of her
tomb was called Yi-nien (a hundred thousand years).

Previously, because [Wang] Mang had more than
once killed her sons, [Wang] Mang's wife had wept

until she lost her sight, [so Wang] Mang had ordered
his Heir-apparent, [Wang] Lin1a, to live at the palace
and care for her. An attendant to [Wang] Mang's
wife was [named] Yüan-pi. [Wang] Mang had
favored her and later [Wang] Lin1a also had relations
with her. They were afraid that the matter would
leak out, so plotted that they would together kill
[Wang] Mang.

[Wang] Lin1a's wife, [Liu] Yin3, was the daughter
of the State Master and Duke [Honoring the Hsin

Dynasty, Liu Hsin1a]. She knew how to interpret
the stars.[2265] She told [Wang] Lin1a that soon there
would be a meeting of [people wearing] plain clothes
in the palace.[2266] [Wang] Lin1a rejoiced, thinking
that what he had planned would soon be achieved.
Later he was degraded to be the T'ung-yi-yang King
and went out [of the palace] to his residence outside.
He was [then] all the more apprehensive.

It happened that when [Wang] Mang's wife became
seriously ill, [Wang] Lin1a sent her a letter which
said, "The Emperor has been extremely severe with
his descendants. Previously when his sons, [Wang
Yü] Chang-sun and [Wang Huob] Chung-sun, were
each in their thirtieth [year], they were [put to]
death. Now your servant Lin1a has in turn come
upon his thirtieth [year, and so I] truly fear that if
some morning I am no [longer] protected by you, the
Empress,[2268] I shall not know whether I shall die

or live."

[When Wang] Mang was waiting upon his wife in
her illness, he saw this letter and became greatly
incensed, suspecting that [Wang] Lin1a had some
evil purpose. [Consequently Wang Mang] did not
permit [Wang Lin1a] to join in the mourning ceremonies.
After [Wang Mang's wife] had been buried,
[Wang Mang] had Yüan-pi and others arrested.
They were examined and questioned, and they
confessed everything about the adultery and the
plans for [Wang Mang's] murder. [Wang] Mang
wanted to have it kept secret, so sent to kill the
commissioner [who had charge of] the case, who was
an Attendant Officer of a Director of Mandates [from
the Five Majestic Principles], and had him buried in
the jail, so that his family did not know where he was.

[Wang Mang] granted poison to [Wang] Lin1a, but
[Wang] Lin1a was unwilling to drink it, so he stabbed
himself and died.

[Wang Mang] had the Palace Attendant, the
General of Agile Cavalry and the Marquis of Like
Delight, [Wang] Lin2, grant the ghost garments and
the Kingly seal and apron [for the deceased].[2272]

[Wang Mang's] funeral eulogy[2274] [for Wang Lin1a]
said, "[According to] the writing in the mandate
[of Heaven given through] portents, [Wang] Lin1a
should have been set up as the T'ung-yi-yang King.
This [phrase] means that 36,000 years after the
House of Hsin had taken the throne, one who is a
descendant of [Wang] Lin1a is then due to rise up
as the dragon sun.[2277]

"Previously, when I erroneously listened to those
who discussed [this matter] and made [Wang] Lin1a
my Heir-apparent, there was the grievous vicissitude
of a violent wind, so I immediately obeyed the mandate
[from Heaven given by] portents and set him
up as the T'ung-yi-yang King. Previous to this

[time] and after this [time], he did not act [in accordance
with] sincerity and obedience and so did
not receive any assistance from this [title], and at an
untimely age his life was destroyed. Alas! How
sad! [According to] his deeds and acts, I grant him
a posthumous name; his posthumous name shall be
King Miu (erring)."

There was also an imperial edict to the State
Master and Duke, [Liu Hsin1a, to the effect that
Wang] Lin1a did not originally understand the stars;
the matter arose from [Liu] Yin3, [so Liu] Yin3 also
committed suicide.

In this month, the Hsin-hsien King, [Wang] An1a,
died of an illness.

Previously, [when Wang] Mang had been [a mere]
marquis and had gone to his state, he had favored

[some] attendants, Tseng-chih, Huai-neng, and K'ai-ming.
Huai-neng had given birth to a boy, [Wang]
Hsingb; Tseng-chih had given birth to a boy, [Wang]
K'uang1c, and a girl, [Wang] Yeh6; and K'ai-ming
had given birth to a girl, [Wang] Chieh6. All had
been detained at [Wang Mang's] state at Hsin-tuc,
for the reason that he did not want to make it
known [that he had had relations with any women
besides his wife].

When moreover [Wang] An1a had become seriously
ill, [Wang] Mang was himself pained that he

would have no sons [remaining, so] he wrote a memorial
for [Wang] An1a and had him send it to the
throne. It said, "Although the mothers of [Wang]
Hsingb and the others are humble in status, yet in
their relationship [to you, my father, these young
people] are still your Imperial Sons and Daughters,
and so should not be discarded." The document was
shown to the various highest ministers and they all
said that [Wang] An1a was "fraternally loving to his
[half]-brothers and sisters,"[2286] so that it would be
proper, when the spring or summer arrived, to give
them enfeoffments and noble titles. Thereupon
kingly chariots were sent with commissioners to go
and bring [Wang] Hsingb and the others [to the
court. Wang] Hsingb was enfeoffed as the Duke of
Cultivated Merits, [Wang] K'uanglc as Duke of
Established Merits, [Wang] Yeh6 as Baroness of
Cultivated Concord, and [Wang] Chieh6 as Baroness
of Attained Concord.

[Wang Mang's] grandson, the Duke of Brilliant
Merits,[2291] [Wang] Shou, became ill and died, so that
within a full month [Wang Mang] had four funerals.[2292]
[Wang] Mang destroyed the Temples of
[Emperors] Hsiao-wu and Hsiao-chao of the Han
[dynasty] and buried his sons and grandsons separately
among these [temples].

Li Yen, the Grand Governor of Wei-ch'eng [Commandery],
had plotted with a diviner, Wang
K'uang4b. [Wang] K'uang4b had said to [Li] Yen,
"Since the time that the House of Hsin took the
throne, the cultivated fields and slaves of the common
people were not allowed to be bought or sold, the
cash and currencies have been changed several times,
there have been numerous levies [of troops] and
collections [of supplies], the armies have caused
disturbances, the barbarians of the four [quarters]
have simultaneously invaded, the people have cherished
hatred [for Wang Mang], and thieves and
robbers have simultaneously arisen [in various localities,
so that] the Han dynasty is due to be restored.
Your surname, sir, is Li. Li [rimes with] chih and
[the note] chih is [equated with] fire.[2295] You are
due to become a coadjutor to the Han [Dynasty]."

Hence [Wang K'uang4b] composed a book of revela-
tions for [Li] Yen. It said, "Emperor Wen has
become indignant and is dwelling on the earth below
where he is urging on armies: To the north, he has
instructed the Huns and, to the south, he has instructed
the people of Yüeh [to attack]. In the
center of the Yangtze [region], Liu Hsin4g will sieze
his enemy, [Wang Mang], revenge [the Han dynasty],
and restore and continue the ancient [line;
in] the fourth year he is due to set his army in motion.
Among the rivers and lakes there will be a robber
who will call himself a tributary king [of the Han
dynasty], his family name will be Liu. Ten thousand
men will form ranks and will not accept an ordinance
of amnesty, [because they] intend to disturb [the
region comprising the former feudal state of] Ch'in
and [the region of] Lo-yang. By the eleventh year,
they are due to attack. When Venus scatters its
light and Jupiter enters [the constellation] Tung-ching,
[Liu Hsin4g's] commands are due to be
obeyed." He also told of the good and evil fortunes
of [Wang] Mang's great ministers, that each had his
fated date. Altogether [the writing comprised]
more than a hundred thousand words.

[Li] Yen ordered a minor official to write out this
book, [but] the official fled and gave information
of it, [so Wang] Mang sent a commissioner immediately
to arrest [Li] Yen [and his confederates], imprison
them, and punish them. They all died.

Robbers and bandits made trouble and arose in
the three capital commanderies,[2299] [so Wang Mang]

established the office of the Chief Commandant
Siezing Robbers and ordered the Upholders of the
Laws and the Internuncios to pursue and attack
[the robbers] within Ch'ang-an. He established the
banner for "beating the drum and attacking"
thieves,[2302] with a commissioner following after it.

He sent Ching Shang, the Second Brother Hsi to
the Grand Master, and Wang Tang, the Commissioner
Over the Army to the General of a New
Beginning, with troops, to attack [the rebels] in
Ch'ing and Hsü [Provinces, sent] Ts'ao Fang, the
Second Brother Ho to the State Master, to assist
Kuo Hsing in attacking Kou-t'ing, and had the

empire's grain and currency transported to Hsi-ho,
Wu-yüan, So-fang, and Yü-yang commanderies, to
each by the millions [of cash worth], with the intention
of attacking the Huns.

In the autumn, a fall of frost killed the beans.
There was a great famine and [a plague of] locusts
east of [Han-ku] Pass.

When the common people violated [the law
against] casting cash, the people of five neighboring
families were sentenced together, [their property] was
confiscated by [the government], and they were
made government slaves and slave-women, their men
[went with] carts having cages and the children
and women [went] on foot. They had iron locks
and chains on [the rings about] their necks.[2307] [Such
persons] were transported to the Office for Coinage
by the hundred thousands. When they arrived,
their husbands or wives were changed, and six or
seven-tenths of them died of grief and suffering.

When Sun Hsi,[2311] Ching Shang, Ts'ao Fang, and

the others attacked the robbers, they could not
vanquish them. Their armies were allowed to do
as they pleased, so that the people were doubly distressed.
Since Wang K'uang4b's revelation had said
that [the Han dynasty] is due to revive [in the region
of the former state of] Ch'u in [Yü's province of]
Ching, and that a Mr. Li would be the coadjutor
[who brought about this revival,[2313] Wang] Mang
wanted to repress [this belief], so installed the Palace
Attendant and Grandee in Charge of Pasturing [Sacrificial
Animals], Li Shen, as Generalissimo and Shepherd
of Yang Province, granted him the given name
Sheng (sage), and sent him, leading troops, to attack
[the bandits] with all his energy.

Ch'u Hsia, [a man] of Shang-ku [Commandery],
in person begged [Wang Mang] that he wanted to
persuade Kua-t'ien Yi [to surrender, so Wang] Mang
made him a Gentleman-of-the-Household, and sent
him to get [Kua-t'ien] Yi to leave [his banditry.
Kua-t'ien] Yi wrote that he surrendered, but before
he left [his banditry], he died. [Wang] Mang asked
for his corpse, buried it, and built for him a grave-mound
and a sacrificial temple, with the posthumous
name, Baron Shang of Kua-ning. He hoped thereby

to induce the other [bandits] to come [and surrender].
But none were willing to surrender.[2315]

In the intercalary month, on [the day] ping-ch'en,

a general amnesty [was granted] to the empire.
The heavy mouring of the empire [for Wang Mang's
wife was done away with] and those common people
who had been mourning for their own [relatives]
previous to this written imperial edict were also
freed [from their mourning].

A Gentleman, Yang-ch'eng Hsiu, presented a mandate
[from Heaven by] a portent saying, "In succession
to [Wang Mang's wife] a mother should be set
up for the people, [i.e., an Empress]." He also said,
"Because the Yellow Lord had 120 women, he became
a supernatural immortal." [Wang] Mang
hence sent Palace Grandees Without Specified Appointments
and Internuncios, forty-five of each, by
divisions, to inspect the empire and select widely
from [families] that were esteemed highly in their
native villages, who had "virtuous young ladies,"[2322]
and send up their names [to the throne].

[Wang] Mang dreamed that five of the bronze
[statues of] men in the Ch'ang-lo Palace arose and
stood up. [Wang] Mang hated it, and reflected that
in the inscription on the bronze [statues of] men,
there were the words, "The August Emperor has first
taken possession of the whole world." [Wang Mang]
immediately sent workmen from the Master of
Recipes to chisel out and destroy the writing on the
breasts of the bronze [statues of] the men, about
whom he had dreamt.[2324]

He was also excited against the supernatural spirits
in the Han [dynasty's] Temple to [Emperor] Kao,[2325]

and sent [Gentlemen] As Rapid as Tigers and Men of
War to enter the Temple of [Emperor] Kao, draw
their swords, throw and strike in all directions, destroy
its doors and windows with axes, whip the walls
of the building with ochre-red whips[2328] and sprinkle
them with peach-water. He ordered a Chief Commandant
of Light Chariots to dwell in its midst and
also ordered the [Colonel of] the Northern Encampment
of the Capital Army[2330] to dwell in the funerary
chamber of [Emperor] Kao.

Someone said, "At the time of the Yellow Lord,

he established the flowery baldachin in order that he
might mount up [to become] an immortal." So
[Wang] Mang had made a flowery baldachin in nine
layers, eighty-one feet tall, with a golden claw-tip
and feather covering, and had it borne by a carriage
with a hidden mechanism and four wheels[2333] yoked
to six horses and three hundred strong men with
yellow clothes and [red] turbans.[2335] On the carriage
there was a man beating a drum. Those who pulled
it all called out, "He will mount up to be an immortal."
When [Wang] Mang went out, he ordered
[this carriage] to go before him. The many officials
[however] said secretly, "This is like a funeral cart,
not a thing for an immortal."[2338]

In this year, the band of Ch'in Feng in Nan Commandery
[numbered] almost ten thousand persons.
Ch'ih Chao-p'ing, a woman of P'ing-yüan [Commandery],
was capable at explaining the Classic on
the Playing Blocks,[2340] using eight [blocks] to a throw.
She also collected several thousand men in the difficult
places of the [lower reaches of the Yellow] River.
[Wang] Mang summoned and questioned his various
courtiers about stratagems for capturing the bandits,
and [the courtiers] all said, "These [people] are
Heaven's [condemned] criminals and walking corpses.
Their lives will [last] only an instant."

The former General of the Left, Kung-sun Lu, was

summoned to come and participate in the deliberations.
[Kung-sun] Lu said, "The Chief Grand
Astrologer, Tsung Hsüan, has had charge of prognostications
by the heavenly bodies, and of interpreting
the mutations in the emanations [and
weather]. He has called the baneful fortunate, has
in a disorderly fashion [reported] the astrological
[phenomena], and has misled the court. The Grand
Tutor, the Marquis Equilizing Culture, [T'ang
Tsunb], has covered [his faults] by false pretenses,
so that he has been able to treat lightly [the duties of]
his title and his position and `has done ill turns to
other men's sons.'[2345] The State Master, the Duke
Honoring the Hsin [Dynasty, Liu Hsin1a,] has overturned
the five Classics, has done away with the
traditions [about the classics handed down from
generation to generation] by his teachers, and has
caused his students to doubt and be misled.[2347] The
Baron of Brilliant Scholarship, Chang2 Han, and the
Marquis of Geographical Arrangements, Sun Yang,
have instituted the ching [system] of cultivated
fields, [thus] causing the common people to neglect
their occupation [in cultivating] the earth. The
Hsi-and-Ho, Lu K'uang, has set up the six monopo-
lies and has thereby impoverished the artisans and
merchants. The Marquis Delighting in Portents,
Ts'ui Fa, has truckled and flattered in order to curry
your favor and has brought it about that the feelings
of inferiors have not been communicated to the
throne. It would be proper to execute these several
persons in order to calm the empire."

He also said, "The Huns should not be attacked,
but peace and an alliance by marriage ought to be
made with them. Your subject fears that the
[proper] cause for the House of Hsin's anxiety does
not lie with the Huns, but lies within the borders."
[Wang] Mang became incensed and had a [Gentleman]
As Rapid as Tigers assist [Kung-sun] Lu to
leave.

Nevertheless [Wang Mang] adopted his ideas to a
certain [extent]. He demoted Lu K'uang to be the
Director of a Confederation at Wu-yüan [Commandery],
because the people hated and maligned

him. [Although] the six monopolies had not been
set up by [Lu] K'uang alone, [yet Wang] Mang
[wanted to] satisfy the ideas of the crowd, so sent
[Lu K'uang] out [of the court].

Previously, because the four quarters [of the
country] had all [suffered from] famine and cold,
[the people] were impoverished and troubled, and so
had arisen and become thieves and robbers, until
gradually crowds gathered. They constantly thought
that if the harvest would be good,[2353] they would be
able to return to their native villages. Although
their bands were numbered by the ten-thousands,
[their leaders] only called themselves attendants upon
great persons, Thrice Venerables, or Libationers.
They did not presume to take or to possess cities
or towns and went about foraging and seeking for
merely what food they would use up daily. When
various Chief Officials, Shepherds and Administrators
all themselves fought with them in a disorderly
manner, were wounded by weapons, and
died, it was not because the bandits presumed to
intend to kill them.[2356] But [Wang] Mang to the end
did not understand the purposes of these [bandits].

In this year, an Officer of the Commander-in-chief

was in Yü Province, examining [into what had been
reported in] a document, and was captured by the
bandits, [whereupon] the bandits escorted and sent
him to the county-seat. When the Officer returned
and memorialized [his report], he wrote out the whole
circumstance. Wang] Mang became greatly incensed,
and sent him to prison because he considered
[that the man] was falsifying [the situation] to deceive
[his superiors].

Thereupon he issued a message reproving the seven
highest ministers, which said, "Verily, to be an
official [means] to bring about order.[2358] To diffuse
virtue and make favors manifest in order to shepherd
the common people is the principle of benevolence.
To repress the strong, control the wicked, and arrest
and execute thieves and robbers are components
of justice.

"Now however [the situation] has been otherwise.

When thieves appeared, they were not immediately
apprehended, so they were able to form cliques and
intercept and kidnap Ruling Officers from [government]
riding quadrigae. An Officer who succeeded
in getting free from them moreover himself said
senselessly, `I questioned and reprimanded the robbers,
[saying], "Why do you do this [robbing]?" and
the robbers replied, "Merely because we are impoverished
and in need." [Then] the robbers protected
and sent me away. At present, vulgar people
who discuss [banditry say that the bandits] for the
most part are like these [ones].'

"I reflect [that, when people], out of distress from
famine or cold violate the laws and do evil, the
greater ones become groups of thieves and the lesser
ones steal [by making] holes [in people's walls].
There are no more than these two kinds. But now
they have conspired together and joined to form
gangs of thousands and hundreds. This is the greatest
disobedience and rebellion; how could it be spoken
of as [due to] famine or cold?

"Let the seven highest ministers strictly order the
High Ministers, Grandees, Directors of Confederations,
Leaders of Combinations, and `the heads of
offices'[2362] carefully to shepherd the good common
people and hurriedly arrest and exterminate the
thieves and robbers. If there are any who do not,
with one mind and with mutual assistance, hate and
drive out the bandits, and, if they say unreasonably
that [the bandits] have been caused by hunger or
cold, they shall immediately be arrested and held in
prison, and [the officials] shall beg [me to pass sentence
upon] their crime."

Thereupon the numerous subordinates [of the
ruler] feared all the more and none presumed to speak
of the bandits' circumstances. They also were not
permitted to mobilize troops unauthorizedly. Because
of this, the bandits were not restrained.

Only the Leader of a Combination at Yi-p'ing
[Commandery], T'ien K'uang, had for some time

past dared to mobilize the common people who were
in their eighteenth year and above, [to the number
of] more than forty thousand persons, had furnished
them arms from the arsenals, and had given them
engraved stones as [signs of their] convenant. The
Red Eyebrows had heard of it and had not presumed
to enter his borders. [T'ien] K'uang impeached
himself in a memorial, and [Wang] Mang reprimanded
[T'ien] K'uang: "You have not been granted
a tiger credential,[2368] yet have unauthorizedly mobilized
troops. This is playing with weapons. This
crime is that of negligence in raising [troops].[2369]
Because you, K'uang, have reproved yourself [and
have said that you would] certainly capture and
destroy the robbers, you are [however] temporarily
not to be punished."

Later [T'ien] K'uang himself begged to go out of
the boundaries [of his commandery] and attack the
robbers, [saying that] those against whom he turned
would all be routed. [Wang] Mang used a message
[stamped] with the imperial seal to order [T'ien]
K'uang to be put in charge of the affairs of the
Shepherds in the two provinces of Ch'ing and Hsü.

[T'ien] K'uang [memorialized] the throne, saying,
"Although when thieves and robbers first start out,
in the beginning they are very unimportant, yet they
cannot be captured by the divisional officers and
[the organization of] people in groups of five.[2371]
The fault lies [in the fact that] the Chief Officials
[of counties] do not give it a thought. The counties
deceive the commanderies, and the commanderies
deceive the [imperial] court. When in reality there
are a hundred [robbers], they say ten; and when in
reality there are a thousand, they say a hundred.

Then the court is negligent and does not immediately
supervise and punish[2374]
[the bandits], so that they
even spread over adjoining provinces.

"When moreover generals and lieutenants are sent,
and many commissioners are sent out continuously
to supervise and urge each other on, [the officials of]
the commanderies and counties serve their superior

officials energetically, in answering and excusing
themselves, in replying to questions, in offering wine
and food, and in furnishing necessaries, in order to
save themselves from being sentenced and beheaded,
and so do not have [the time] again to think of the
thieves or robbers or to perform their official business.
The generals and lieutenants moreover are not able
in person to lead their officers and soldiers, and so,
when a battle [is fought, their troops] are routed by
the bandits, their officers gradually [become] dispirited,
and [the expedition] is merely an expense
upon the people.

"When previously [the bandits] fortunately received
an order of amnesty and the bandits wanted
to disband and scatter, some [of them] on the contrary
were prevented [from returning home] and
were attacked, so from fear they entered the mountains
and valleys, and in turn told the others [about

it]. Hence the bandits in the commanderies and
counties who had surrendered all changed [their
attitudes] and became terrified, fearing that they
would be destroyed by trickery. Because of the
famine, they were easily moved, and within ten days
there were again more than a hundred thousand men
[in the bandit troops]. The foregoing is the reason
that the thieves and robbers are so numerous.

"At present, east of Lo-yang, grain is two thousand

[cash per] picul. Your humble servant has seen a
written imperial edict that it is intended to send the
Grand Master, [Wang K'uang1a], and the General
of a New Beginning, [Lien Tan, to attack the bandits].
They are important courtiers who are your
military assistants. If their crowds of followers are
multiplied, [these followers] will become exhausted
[from lack of food] on the way; whereas if [their
followers are] reduced [in number, these ministers]
will have no way of overawing the distant quarters
[of the empire].

"It would be proper to select promptly Shepherds
and Governors or those [ranking] below them, make
plain the rewards and punishments that they [can
deal out], and [have them] collect together those
people from scattered villages and small states [of
nobles] that have no city walls, transport their old
and weak [persons], putting them inside the large
cities, [then] collect and store foodstuffs and mutually

assist in firmly guarding [these centers]. When the
bandits come to attack the cities, they will then be
unable to take them and [the places] by which they
pass will have no food, so that their circumstances
will not permit them to collect in bands. Under such
[a situation], when they are summoned, they will
certainly surrender, and when they are attacked, they
will be annihilated.

"If now generals and lieutenants are vainly sent
out in numbers, the commanderies and counties will
suffer from them more severely than from the bandits.
It would be proper to summon back all the commissioners
in riding quadrigae in order to give rest to
the commanderies and counties, and entrust to your
servant K'uang the thieves and robbers of [these]
two provinces, for I will certainly tranquillize them."

[Wang] Mang feared and dreaded [T'ien] K'uang,
so secretly sent a substitute for him, and [also] sent a

commissioner to grant [T'ien] K'uang a message with
the imperial seal. When the commissioner arrived
and had audience with [T'ien] K'uang, he thereupon
ordered the substitute to superintend [T'ien
K'uang's] troops. [T'ien] K'uang followed the commissioner
westwards. When he reached [the court],
he was installed as the Metropolis Commandant
Grandee. When [T'ien] K'uang had left, the region
of [the former feudal state of] Ch'i was thereupon
lost [to the bandits].

In the third year, the first month, the roofing of
the Nine [Ancestral] Temples was completed and the
spirit tablets were installed. [When Wang] Mang
[went] to be presented [to the divinities there, he
rode] in the grand carriage of state,[2386] to which were
yoked six horses, [on which] were robes with dragon
stripes made of vari-colored feathers, to which were
affixed three-foot long horns. The carriage with a
flowery baldachin and "ten large war chariots"[2387]
went before him. Thereupon he granted to the
Minister Over the Masses, [Wang Hsün3], and the
Grand Minister of Works, [Wang Yi5], who had
built the temples, to each ten million [cash]. The
Palace Attendants, Regular Palace Attendants, and
those of lower [rank] were all enfeoffed. He enfeoffed
the Chief Workman, Ch'iu Yen, as the Sub-Vassal
of Han-tan Hamlet.

In the third month,[2391] there was a visitation [of
fire] at the Pa [River] Bridge. Several thousand
people sprinkled water to save it, [but the fire was]
not [thereby] extinguished. [Wang] Mang hated it,
so issued a message which said, "Verily, the three
August Ones typify spring, the Five Lords typify
summer, the three [dynasties of] Kings typify
autumn, and the five Lords Protector typify winter.
The virtues of the August Ones and the Kings followed
[one another] in a cycle. The Lords Protector
[including the Ch'in dynasty] succeeded [to
the rule of the world in] the vacancy and continued
in the gap [between the periods ruled by the elements
wood and fire][2395] in order to complete the
[full] number in a cycle; hence their ways were
disorderly.

"Verily, in Ch'ang2-an most of the imperial highways
have taken their names from recent [events].[2396]
Recently in the third month,[2397] in the night of [the
day] kuei-szu and on the morning of [the day]

chia-wu, fire burnt the Pa [River] Bridge from the
eastern side going westwards. By the evening of
[the day] chia-wu, the Bridge was completely destroyed
by the fire. When the Grand Minister of
Works, [Wang Yi5], went to inspect it, he examined
and questioned [persons], and someone said that
shivering people dwelt below the bridge, and he suspected
that they warmed themselves by a fire, which
became this visitation [of fire].

"The next day was [the day] yi-wei, which was the

day of the vernal equinox.[2402] [From the time that]
I received the mandate [of Heaven] through the line
of succession transmitted from the gods my sage
ancestors, the Yellow [Lord] and Yü [Shun], down
to the fourth year of [the period] Ti-huang, it will be
the fifteenth year. Exactly at the end of winter in
the third year [of the period Ti-huang], the bridge
which is [named] Pa (`tyrannical' or `Lords Protector')
and [therefore] disorderly has been broken
and destroyed. [Heaven] thereby intends to prosper
and perfect the way the House of Hsin is to be unified
in control [of the country] and preserved for a
long [time].

"This is also a warning [from Heaven in that the
breaking of] this bridge has placed a gap in the highway
to the eastern quarter [of the empire]. Now in
the eastern quarter the harvest has been lacking, the
common people are starving, and the highways and
roads are impassible [because of bandits. The Chief
of] the Eastern Sacred Peak and Grand Master,
[Wang K'uang1a], shall promptly [make] regulations

for opening the various granaries in the eastern
quarter and giving or lending to the distressed
[people, in order] to apply the principle of benevolence.[2408]
Let the name of the Pa Lodge be changed
to be the Ch'ang-ts'un (Long-preserved) Lodge, and
let the Pa [River] Bridge become the Ch'ang-ts'un
Bridge."

In this month, the Red Eyebrows killed Ching
Shang, the Second Brother Hsi to the Grand Master.
East of the [Han-ku] Pass, people ate each other.

In the fourth month, [Wang Mang] sent the Grand
Master, Wang K'uang1a, and the General of a New
Beginning, Lien Tan, eastwards. When, outside the
Capital Gate, they were sacrificing to the gods of the
roads, Heaven [sent] a great rain which dampened
their clothes,[2413] and the elders sighed and said, "This
is because [Heaven] weeps for the army."[2414]

[Wang] Mang said, "Verily, the distresses of the
nine dry years conjoined with disastrous emanations
have come to a climax in the past years, when
withering droughts, frosts, locusts, and famines came
as previously, so that the people are miserably poor,
and wander scattered along the roads. In this spring,
[the calamity] is especially pitiable. I have been
very much saddened by it.

"Now I am sending [the Chief of] the Eastern
[Sacred] Peak and Grand Master, [Wang K'uang1a],
who is a Specially Advanced and the Marquis as
Recompense to [the House of] Hsin, to open the
various granaries in the eastern quarter and give or

lend to those in distress. On those highways along
which the Grand Master and Highest Minister does
not pass, he shall separately send a Grandee or
Internuncio to open the granaries simultaneously, in
other to preserve the great multitude.

"The Grand Master and Highest Minister, [Wang
K'uang1a], shall thereupon, with the Chief Envoy and
Director of Mandates from the Five Majestic [Principles],

ranking as Commander-in-chief of the Right,
the General of a New Beginning and Marquis of
Equalization and Standards, Lien Tan,[2418] go to Yen
Province, to pacify [the region] of which he, [the
Grand Master], is in charge. Moreover those who
formerly have been lawless and the bandits in Ch'ing
and Hsü [Provinces] who have not yet completely
dispersed or have later again assembled shall all be
purified. I hope that thereby the myriad people may
be pacified."

The Grand Master, [Wang K'uang1a, and the
General] of a New Beginning, [Lien Tan], together
led more than a hundred thousand ardent soldiers,
and wherever they went they did as they liked, so
that the eastern quarter said about them,

[Thus] it was eventually as T'ien K'uang had said.

[Wang] Mang also sent out many Grandees and
Internuncios by divisions to teach the common
people to boil grasses and [parts of] trees to make a
vegetable juice,[2422] [but] the vegetable juice could
not be eaten, and [the sending merely] made much
trouble and expense.

[Wang] Mang issued a message which said, "Verily,
the common people are miserably poor, so that although
the granaries have been universally opened to
give relief to them, I fear that nevertheless it will
not be sufficient. Let the interdiction on the mountains
and marshes of the empire be temporarily lifted,
and let those who are able to take things from the
mountains or marshes and [who do so] in accordance
with the ordinances for [the various] months [of the
year] be freely allowed to do so, and let them not be
ordered to pay any taxes [for doing so]. In the
thirtieth year [of the period] Ti-huang, [the restrictions
shall be reapplied] as formerly. This [year] will
be the sixth year of [the period] Wang-kuang-shang-mou.[2432]

"If powerful and unruly officials or common people
have committed crime and monopolized the [mountains
and marshes, so that] the uninfluential common
people have not received [any advantages], this has
not been my intention. Does not the Book of
Changes say,

The Book of History says that when speech is not
practical, this means that there will not be order [in
the state].[2437] Alas, that you, various highest ministers,
should fail to be solicitous [concerning these
matters]!"

At that time the Troops From the Lower Yangtze
[Region] were powerful, and Chu Wei, [a man from]
Hsin-shih, Ch'en Mu, [a man from] P'ing-lin, and
others had all again collected bands and were attacking
villages,[2439] so [Wang] Mang sent the Director of
Mandates [from the Five Majestic Principles] and
Generalissimo, K'ung Jen, [to be in charge of] the
division, Yü Province, and the Communicator and
Generalissimo, Chuang Yu, and the Arranger of the
Ancestral Temples and Generalissimo, Ch'en Mou,
to attack [the rebels] in Ching Province. Each one
was followed by more than a hundred officers and
soldiers. They rode in boats down the Wei [River]
into the [Yellow] River to Hua-yin, then left [the
boats and took] riding quadrigae.

When they reached their divisions, they solicited
soldiers. [Chuang] Yu said to [Ch'en] Mou, "To
send a general and not to give him the credentials
[for levying] troops, so that he must first beg [the
emperor] and then only can he make a move, is like
tying up a Hanh black hunting-dog[2442] and yet demanding
it to catch [game]."

In the summer, there was [a plague of] locusts
which came from the eastern quarter. In flying they
covered the sky. They came to Ch'ang-an, entered
the Wei-yang Palace, and crawled in its Halls and
Pavilions. [Wang] Mang sent out officials and common
people and established bounties for those who
seized and killed them.

Because the empire's grain was expensive, [Wang]

Mang wanted to depress [its price].[2448] For the
Great Granary he established a guard with joined
lances and named them Supporters of the Smaller
Gates to the Beginning of Public Authority.[2449] The
vagrant people who had entered the passes [of Kuan-chung
numbered] several hundred thousand persons,
so [Wang Mang] established an Office for Maintenance
and Relief, to feed them. [But] the commissioners
who supervised and had charge of [the matter],
together with the minor officials, together stole
their grain allowances, so that seven- or eighth-tenths
of them died of hunger.

Previous to this [time, Wang] Mang had sent a

Palace Attendant Within the Yellow Gate, Wang
Yeh5b, to have charge of buying at the Ch'ang-an
markets, and he took things at a low price from the
common people, so that the common people suffered
severely from it. [Because Wang] Yeh5b had
achieved the merit of having economized expenses,
he had been granted the noble rank of Sub-Vassal.
[When Wang] Mang heard that in the city there was
a famine, he asked [Wang] Yeh5b about it, and [Wang]
Yeh5b replied, "These all are vagrants." Then he
brought some millet mush with meat and thick meat
and vegetable soup which were being sold at the
market, and showed them to [Wang] Mang, saying,
"The food of all the resident commoners is like this,"
[and Wang] Mang believed him.

In the winter, So-lu Hui of Wu-yen and others
raised troops and siezed their city.[2456] Lien Tan and
Wang K'uang1a attacked and took it by storm, cutting
off more than ten thousand heads, [so Wang] Mang
sent a General of the Gentlemen-at-the-Household,
bearing a message with an imperial seal, to congratulate
[Lien] Tan and [Wang] K'uang1a. Their noble
ranks were advanced and they became Dukes. More
than ten of their officers and soldiers who had distinguished
themselves were enfeoffed.

A detached Colonel of the Red Eyebrows, Tung
Hsien4a, and others, with a band of several ten-thousand
men, were in Liang Commandery. Wang
K'uang1a wanted to advance and attack them, [but]
Lien Tan considered that [their own troops] had but
newly taken a city by storm, so were utterly weary,
and their men ought temporarily to be rested, in
order to increase their prestige. [Wang] K'uang1a
would not listen, so alone led his troops to advance,
and [Lien] Tan followed after him. Battle was
joined at Ch'eng-ch'ang. [The imperial] troops were
defeated and [Wang] K'uang1a fled. [Lien] Tan sent
an official bearing his seals, apron, and tally credentials,
to give them to [Wang] K'uang1a and say, "You,
boy, may flee, but I cannot." Thereupon he stayed
and died fighting.[2461] When his Colonels, Ju Yün,
Wang Lung, and others, more than twenty persons
[in all], who were fighting separately, heard of it,
they all said, "Duke Lien is already dead. For
whom should we live?" So they galloped rapidly at
the bandits and all died fighting.

[Wang] Mang was afflicted by it, so issued a written

message which said, "Verily, you, Duke, [Lien
Tan], controlled many select gentlemen and picked
troops. From all the fine horses, the grain in the
storehouses, and the stores in the treasuries of the
many commanderies, you might have made your
own selection, but you cared not for documentary
imperial edicts and separated yourself from the majestic
credentials [of power]. Mounting a horse you
shouted and [your followers] yelled and were killed
by wild swords. Alas! How sad! I grant him the posthumous name of Duke Kuo (Intrepid)."

The State General, Ai Chang, spoke to [Wang]
Mang, saying, "In the time of your August Deceased
Original Ancestor, the Yellow Lord, when Chung-huang
Chih was his General, he routed and killed
Ch'ih-yu. Now your servant is occupying the post
of Chung-huang Chih, and wishes to tranquillize
[the region] east of the mountains." [Wang] Mang
[accordingly] sent [Ai] Chang to gallop eastwards
and join his forces with the Grand Master, [Wang]
K'uang1a. He also sent Generalissimo Yang Chün to

guard the Ao Granary. The Minister Over the
Masses, Wang Hsün3, leading more than a hundred
thousand [men], encamped at Lo-yang, where he
garrisoned the Southern Palace. The Commander-in-chief,
Tung Chung1b, instructed soldiers and practiced
archery in the Northern Encampment of the
Capital Army.[2467] The Grand Minister of Works,
Wang Yi5, [was given] concurrently the duties of
[all] the three highest ministers.

When the [Grand] Minister Over the Masses,
[Wang] Hsün3, first started out from Ch'ang-an and
spent the night at the Pa-ch'ang Stables, he lost his
yellow battle-axe. [Wang] Hsün3's Officer, Fang
Yang, was ordinarily impetuously outspoken, but he
wept and said, "This is what the Classic means [when
it says], `He has lost his sharp axe.' "[2472] He accused
himself [of the loss] and left [the army. Wang]
Mang had [Fang] Yang killed with a battle-axe.

The thieves and robbers in the four quarters,
[whose bands] frequently [numbered] several ten-thousands
of men, attacked cities and towns, killing
[officials ranking at] two thousand piculs and under.
The Grand Master, Wang K'uang1a, and others
fought several battles, but unsuccessfully.

[Wang] Mang knew that the empire had got out

of his control and rebelled, that matters were at a
last extremity and some expedient was urgent, so he
discussed sending the Grandee In Charge of Customs
and Morals, Szu-kuo Hsien, and others, by divisions,
to inspect the empire and to do away with the prohibitions
against the ching [system of] cultivated
fields, [private] slaves and slave-women, [free use of]
mountains and marshes, and the [other] six monopolies,
and that all the imperial edicts and ordinances
since [Wang Mang] had ascended the throne, which
were inconvenient to the common people, should be
recalled.

[While the messengers] awaited an audience, and
had not yet been sent out, it happened that the
[future] Epochal Founder, [Emperor Kuang-wu, Liu
Hsiu4α]; with his elder brother, [Liu Yin4α] Po-sheng,
[later] King Wu of Ch'i; Li T'ung, a man from Yüan;
and others led several thousand followers from
Ch'ung-ling and induced Chu Wei and Ch'en Mu
from Hsin-shih and P'ing-lin, and others to come.
Together they attacked and took Chi5-yang by
storm. At this time Chuang Yu and Ch'en Mou
routed the Troops from the Lower Yangtze [Region,
under] Ch'eng Tan, Wang Ch'ang2, and others, [to
the number of] several thousand men, and they
separately fled into the borders of Nan-yang [Commandery].

In the eleventh month, a comet appeared in [the

constellation] Chang. It traveled southeastwards
for five days and disappeared.[2480] [Wang] Mang
several times summoned and questioned his Chief
Grand Astrologer, Tsung Hsüan, and various diviners.
They all answered falsely, saying, "The astrological
phenomena are peaceful and good, so that the
many bandits will soon be destroyed." Thereupon
[Wang] Mang [felt] a little more tranquil.

In the fourth year, the first month, the Han troops

secured [the Troops from] the Lower Yangtze [under]
Wang Ch'ang and others, and made them auxiliary
troops. They [together] attacked the Southern
Neighboring Commandery Grandee, Chen Fou, and
his Director of an Association, Liang-ch'iu Tz'u, and
beheaded them both, killing several ten-thousands
of their forces.[2491]

Previously, the imperial capital had heard that the
bands of bandits from Ch'ing and Hsü [Provinces]
numbered several hundred-thousands of men, and
yet that they had absolutely no written orders, banners,
or marks of identification. [The people of the
capital] all considered it a portentious prodigy and
those who loved [strange] things[2493] said furtively,
"Are not they like the three ancient August Ones,
who had no written messages or titles?"

[Wang] Mang also [considered] in his heart that it
was wonderful and asked his various courtiers about
it. None of the various courtiers answered, only
Chuang Yu said, "This [circumstance] is not sufficient
[to be considered] wonderful. From the time
that the Yellow Lord, T'ang [the Successful] and
[King] Wu led their armies, [armies] have always
been provided with regiments, companies,[2495] banners,
and orders. These [people] who now do not
have them are merely a crowd of thieves [produced
by] hunger and cold, [like] dogs or sheep that have
gathered together, who merely do not know how to
formulate [such institutions." Wang] Mang was
greatly pleased and the various courtiers acquiesced
completely.

However later, when the Han troops [under] Liu
[Yin4α] Po-sheng arose, [their leaders] all called
[themselves] Generals. They attacked cities and

overran territory. When they had killed Chen Fou,
they sent letters about, giving an account of [Wang
Mang's crimes.[2499] When Wang] Mang heard of it,
he was worried and fearful.

The Han troops took advantage of their victories
and thereupon besieged the city of Yüan.

Formerly, [Liu Hsüan2α] Sheng-kung, a second
cousin of the Epochal Founder, [Emperor Kuang-wu],
had previously been among the P'ing-lin Troops,

and, in the third month, on [the day] hsin-szu, the
first day of the month,[2502] the P'ing-lin and Hsin-shih
[Troops] and the Troops from the Lower Yangtze
[Region], led by Wang Ch'ang2, Chu Wei, and
others, together set up [Liu Hsüan2α] Sheng-kung as
the Emperor. He changed the year-[period] to be
the first year of [the period] Keng-shih and installed
and established a bureaucracy.

When [Wang] Mang heard of it, he was all the

more afraid. He wanted to show to the world that
he himself was calm, so he dyed his beard and hair[2505]
and promoted the "virtuous young ladies"[2506] whom
he had summoned from the empire, setting up[2507] a
daughter of the Shih clan at Tu-ling as his Empress.
He sent her [family] as betrothal presents 30,000
catties of actual gold, [together with] chariots and
horses, slaves and slave-women, variegated silks, and
precious things, which were valued by the hundred
millions [of cash.[2509] Wang] Mang in person wel-
comed her between the two stairs to the Front Hall
and completed the ceremonies of the common [marriage]
meal above in the Western Hall.[2511]

[The prescribed number of] Harmonious Ladies,
Spouses, Beauties, and Attendants were all complete.
The Harmonious Ladies were three [in number]; their

rank was equal to that of the highest ministers. The
Spouses were nine [in number; their rank] was equal
to that of the high ministers. The Beauties were
twenty-seven [in number; their rank] was equal to
that of Grandees. The Attendants were eighty-one
[in number; their rank] was equal to that of First
Officers. Altogether there were a hundred twenty
women. All wore seals with aprons at their girdles,
and held bowcases.[2514]

[Wang Mang] enfeoffed [Shih] Shen, the father of
the Empress, as Marquis of Harmony and Peace,
and installed him as General of a Peaceful Beginning.
[Shih] Shen's two sons were both [made] Palace
Attendants.

On that day, a great wind blew [off] roofs and
broke trees. When the many courtiers offered congratulations,
they said, "Verily, on [the day] keng-tzu,

rainwater sprinkled the highways, and on [the
day] hsin-ch'ou, they were clean and pure, without
any dust. That evening, the life-giving valley
wind[2518] blew swiftly and promptly from the north-
east. Hsin-ch'ou is the day of [the musical note]
kung belonging to [the hexagram] sun.[2521] Sun [indicates]
wind and [indicates] obedience. [Thus] the
principles of an Empress are made plain and the way
of motherhood is secured. [The whole is due to] the
influence of your geniality and kindness. The Book
of Changes says, `He will receive this great blessing
from his [Queen], the Royal Mother [of the
country].'[2522] The [Yi-li] says, `May you receive
Heaven's blessing and myriad happinesses without
bounds.'[2523] Those who intend to attach themselves
to the abolished Han [dynasty], the Liu [clan, which
depends upon the virtue of] fire, shall all be flooded,
disappear like melting snow, and extirpated, without
any remaining fragments. All the grains shall be
bountiful and plants shall grow abundantly. The
great multitude will be glad and rejoice and the
myriad common people will have the blessings that
come from being good,[2525] so that the world will be
greatly favored [because of you]."

[Wang] Mang was daily in the harem with persons
versed in the magical arts, Chao-chün, from Cho
Commandery, and others, testing magical and technical

arts and giving himself up to lustful pleasures.

A general amnesty [was granted] to the empire.
[Wang Mang] however said [in a message], "The
descendants of the Marquises of Ch'ung-ling [under]
the former Han dynasty, Liu [Yin4α] Po-sheng, with
the members of his clan, his relatives by marriage,
and his cabal, have falsely spread groundless rumors
to delude the crowd into a treasonable rebellion
against Heaven's mandate. They have by their own
hands killed the General of a New Beginning, Lien
Tan, the Southern Neighboring Commandery Grandee,
Chen Fou, and his Director of an Association,
Liang-ch'iu Tz'u. [To them], together with the
northern barbarian caitiff,[2530] the rebel [Lüan-ti] Yü,
and the southwestern barbarian caitiffs Jo Tou and
Meng Ch'ien, this message [of amnesty] shall not
apply. Whoever are able to sieze these persons [Liu
Yin4α Po-sheng, etc.], will all be enfeoffed among the
highest ranking of the dukes, will be given the income
of an estate of ten thousand households, and will be
granted fifty million [cash] of the valuable currency."

There was also an imperial edict [saying], "The
Grand Master, Wang K'uang1a, the State General, Ai
Chang, the Director of Mandates [from the Five
Majestic Principles], K'ung Jen, the Shepherd of
Yen Province and Director of the Confederation at
Shou-liang, Wang Hung, and the Shepherd of Yang
Province, Li Sheng, shall quickly send forward the
troops of the provinces and commanderies in the
regional divisions which are their charge; altogether
a force of three hundred thousand [men], in order to
pursue and arrest the thieves and robbers in Ch'ing
and Hsü [Provinces]. The Communicator and General,
Chuang Yu, the Arranger of the Ancestral
Temples and General, Ch'en Mou, the General of
Chariots and Cavalry, Wang Hsün2, and the Eastern
Neighboring Commandery Grandee, Wang Wu2, shall
quickly send forward the troops of the provinces and
commanderies in the divisions which are in their
charge, a force of altogether a hundred thousand men,
to pursue and arrest the band of caitiffs in the
Southern Neighboring Commandery, [Liu Yin4α, Liu
Hsiu4α, etc.]. Inform them clearly with trustworthiness
[like that of a painting done in] cinnabar
and azurite,[2536] that [if they surrender, they shall]
live, [but] if they are again deluded and do not disperse,
[these leaders] will all join forces, attack
unitedly, and extirpate them.

"Previously, when the Grand Minister of Works,
the Duke Prospering the Hsin [Dynasty, Wang Yi5],
a relative and member of the imperial clan, as the
Tiger Teeth General, went east and pointed [at
them], rebellious caitiffs were routed and ruined;
when he went west and attacked, seditious bandits

were ground to powder. He is thus a majestic and
precious minister of the Hsin House. If the crafty
bandits do not disperse, I will send the Grand Minister
of Works, leading an army of a million [men],
to make a punitive military expedition [against them
and] exterminate them."

[Wang Mang] sent Wei Ao, an Executive Officer
of one of the Seven Highest Ministers, [Liu Hsin1a],
and others, seventy-two persons [in all], by divisions,
to issue the ordinance of amnesty and plainly instruct
[the people. When Wei] Ao and the others had left
[the court], availing [themselves of this opportunity],
they escaped.

In the fourth month, the Epochal Founder, [Liu
Hsiu4α], with Wang Ch'ang2 and others, separately
attacked Ying-ch'uan [Commandery] and caused
K'un-yang, Yen, and Ting-ling to surrender. When
[Wang] Mang head of it, he was all the more fearful,
and sent the Grand Minister of Works, Wang Yi5,
riding a galloping quadriga, to go to Lo-yang, with
the [Grand] Minister Over the Masses, Wang Hsün3,
to mobilize the troops of numerous commanderies,
[to the number of] a million [men], calling them the
Tiger Teeth [Troops and] the Troops of the Five
Majestic [Principles], in order to tranquillize [the
region] east of the [Kuan-chung] mountains. [Wang
Yi5] was permitted on his own authority to raise
[persons] to the nobility. [The power of] making final
decisions concerning government [business was also
given] to [Wang] Yi5. [Wang Mang] appointed to
office the [various] persons skilled in methods of the
sixty-three schools of military arts whom he had
summoned.[2545] Each one bore his charts and writings,
received military implements and armor, and
acted as a military officer. [Wang Mang] emptied
the government storehouses in order to send out
[Wang] Yi5 provided abundantly with precious things
and wild beasts, with the purpose of showing the
exceeding wealth [of the imperial forces,] in order to
frighten [the region] east of the [Kuan-chung]
mountains.

When [Wang] Yi5 reached Lo-yang, the provinces
and commanderies each selected their picked troops,
led by their Shepherds and Administrators in person.
Those for whom a rendezvous had been appointed
[numbered] more than four hundred twenty thousand
men and [marched] on the highways in a continuous
[stream]. From the [most] ancient [times] that
armies had set forth, [such] magnificence in chariots,
armor, men, and horses had never before been [seen].

In the sixth month, [Wang] Yi5 and the [Grand]

Minister Over the Masses, [Wang] Hsün3, started
from Lo-yang, intending to go to Yüan. Their road
went out of Ying-ch'uan [Commandery] past K'un-yang.
At that time, K'un-yang had already surrendered
to the Han [troops], and the Han troops
were defending it. Chuang Yu and Ch'en Mou had
joined [their troops] with [those of] the two highest
ministers. When the two highest ministers [were
about to] launch their troops to besiege K'un-yang,
Chuang Yu said, "[The rebel] who has been called
by the imperial title, [Liu Hsüan2α Sheng-kung], is
below [the walls of] Yüan, [besieging it]. It would
be proper to hasten and advance [to that place]. If
he is routed, the various [other] cities will of their
own accord be tranquillized." [Wang] Yi5 replied,
"Wherever an army of a million passes, it is due to
annihilate [the enemy]. We will now massacre [the
defenders of] this city, trample in blood,[2552] and then
advance [to Yüan]. The van will sing and the rear
will dance; would not that be enjoyable?"[2555] Thereupon
they surrounded the city several tens [of
men] deep.

[The defenders] in the city begged [for permission]
to surrender [on terms], but [permission] was refused.
Chuang Yu also said, " `When an army
[wishes] to return [home], do not stop it; in besieging

a city, [leave] an opening for them.'[2557] In accordance
with the Military Methods you might cause them
to be permitted to escape and leave [the city], and
thereby frighten [the attackers of] Yüan."[2558] Again
[Wang] Yi5 would not listen.

It happened that when the Epochal Founder, [Liu
Hsiu4α], mobilized all the troops in Yen and Ting-ling,
to the number of several thousand men, and came to
rescue [the defenders of] K'un-yang, [Wang] Hsün3
and [Wang] Yi5 made light of it. They themselves
led more than ten thousand men and reviewed their
battle-array. They ordered that the various encampments
should all to be retained and that the
regiments [therein] should not to be permitted to
move. [Then Wang Hsün3 and Wang Yi5] by themselves
[went to] meet the Han troops. When they
were not successful in battle, their great army did

not presume on its own authority to rescue them.[2560]
The Han troops took advantage of their victory and
killed [Wang] Hsün3. Simultaneously the [Han]
troops inside K'un-yang came out and fought.
[Wang] Yi5 fled and the army was in confusion. A
great[2562] wind blew away tiles, and the rain was as if
water were being poured down, so that the great band
[of soldiers] collapsed in ruin. The shouting [made
even] the tigers and leopards tremble with fear in
their haunches. [Wang Mang's] soldiers fled hastily,
each returning to his own commandery. [Wang] Yi5,
with only the several thousand brave and daring men
from Ch'ang-an whom he commanded, returned to
Lo-yang. When [the people] in Kuan-chung heard
of it, they quaked with fear and thieves and robbers
arose simultaneously.

Since it was moreover reported that the Han troops
said that [Wang] Mang had murdered Emperor

Hsiao-p'ing by poison, [Wang] Mang thereupon assembled,
in the Hall With the Royal Apartments,
the ministers and those [ranking] below and opened
the metal-bound document in which he had begged
[to substitute his own] life for that of Emperor
P'ing.[2566] He wept silently as he showed it to his
various courtiers.

He commanded the Baron of Brilliant Scholarship,
Chang2 Han, to state and explain the virtue [of the

power, earth, which brought] him, [Wang Mang, to
the throne], together with the mandates [given him
through] portents. Thereupon [Chang2 Han] said,
"The Book of Changes says,
Mang is the personal name of the Emperor; sheng
means Liu [Yin4α] Po-sheng; kao-ling means Chai Yi,
the son of the Marquis of Kao-lingb, [Chai Fang-chin].
It means that Liu [Yin4α Po]-sheng and Chai
Yi will have troops with "hidden weapons in" [the
reign of Wang "Mang"],[2572] the Emperor of the Hsin
[House], but yet will be extirpated and "will not
prosper."[2573] The courtiers all called out, "Long
life!"

[Wang Mang] also ordered carriages with cages to
transport several men from the eastern quarter [of
the empire], saying that [these men] were Liu [Yin4α]
Po-sheng and the others. All of them underwent the
grand exposure [of their corpses. But] the common
people[2575] knew that it was false.

Previous to this, the General of the Guard, Wang
Shê, had kept a gentleman versed in the ways of
magic,[2577] Hsi-men Chün-hui. [Hsi-men] Chün-hui
loved astrology and prophetic accounts. He said to
[Wang] Shê, "A comet has swept in the [Heavenly]
Palace,[2578] [hence] the Liu clan is due to be restored.
[The next emperor] will have the surname and given
name of the State Master and Highest Minister."[2582]
[Wang] Shê believed his words, and spoke of them
to the Commander-in-chief, Tung Chung1b, who urged
that they both go to the private apartments of the
State Master, [Liu Hsin1a], in the [Palace] Hall and
talk to him about the zodiacal constellation. [But]
the State Master did not respond.

Later [Wang] Shê went alone to him. He wept
silently before [Liu] Hsin1a and said, "I really wish
with you, Duke, to bring peace to our clans. Alas,

why will you not believe me, [Wang] Shê?" Thereupon
[Liu] Hsin1a said to him that, [according to] the
astrological phenomena and human affairs, [the insurgents]
in the eastern quarter, were bound to
succeed.

[Wang] Shê said, "Marquis Ai of Hsin-tuc, [Wang
Wan, Wang Mang's father], suffered from illness
when he was young, and the Baronetess of Apparent
Merits, [Wang Mang's mother], habitually loved
wine. I suspect that the Emperor was not in his
origin a child of my clan.[2585] His excellency Tung
[Chung1b] has charge of the picked troops in the
Palace Encampments. I, [Wang] Shê, command the
Palace Guard; the Marquis of Yi-and-Hsiu, [Liu
Tieh], is in charge inside the [Palace] Hall. If we
unitedly cooperate in the plot, together sieze the
Emperor by force, and surrender to the Son of

Heaven in Nan-yang [Commandery] to the east,
[Liu Hsüan2α Sheng-kung, we] will be able to preserve
our clans. If not, we will all be executed and
our clans annihilated."

The Marquis of Yi-and-Hsiu, [Liu Tieh], was [Liu]
Hsin1a's eldest son. He was a Palace Attendant and
General of the Fifth Rank Gentlemen-at-the Palace.
[Wang] Mang habitually loved him, [but Liu] Hsin1a
held a grudge [because Wang] Mang had killed three
of his children,[2590] and also feared that the great calamity
[of execution] would come upon him. Consequently
he plotted with [Wang] Shê and [Tung]
Chung.

When they wanted to act, [Liu] Hsin1a said, "We
must wait until [the planet] Venus appears,[2591] and
then only may we [act]." Because the Director of

the Palace and Grand Keeper of the Robes, the
Marquis Raising Military Power, Sun Chi, also controlled
troops, [Tung] Chung1b also plotted with
[Sun] Chi. When [Sun] Chi returned to his home,
the color of his face had changed and he could not eat.
When his wife marvelled and asked him about it, he
told her the circumstances. His wife told it to her
younger brother, Ch'en Han, a man from Yün-yang,
and [Ch'en] Han wanted to give information about
it. In the seventh month, [Sun] Chi and [Ch'en]
Han together gave information [about the plot.
Wang] Mang sent commissioners separately to summon
[Tung] Chung1b and the others.

[Tung] Chung1b was just at that time teaching
military [methods] at a grand review [of his troops].
His Commissioner Over the Army, Wang Hsien2d,
said to [Tung] Chung1b, "Your plot has been made
for some time but no action has been taken, so that
I fear it has been divulged. It would be better immediately
to behead the commissioner, take command
of your troops, and enter [the Palace to carry
out the plot." But Tung] Chung1b did not listen
[to him], and consequently joined [Liu] Hsin1a and
[Wang] Shê outside the gate of the inner [Palace]
apartments.

[Wang] Mang ordered Tai Yün to interrogate
them under torture, and all confessed. Palace Attendants
Within the Yellow Gate, all with swords
drawn, conducted [Tung] Chung1b and the others to
an antechamber. [Tung] Chung1b drew his sword
with the intention of cutting his own throat. A
Palace Attendant, Wang Wang, reported that the
Commander-in-chief, [Tung Chung1b], had rebelled.
[The Palace Attendants Within] the Yellow Gate had
drawn their swords, and jointly fought with and
killed [Tung Chung1b. The people in] the inner [palace]
apartments frightened one another by the report
that troops under a command would arrive. [The Gentlemen] in the Gentlemen's quarters all drew
their swords and cocked their crossbows. The General
of a New Beginning,[2601] Shih Shen, visited the
various quarters and informed the Gentlemen and
officials, saying, "The Commander-in-chief, [Tung
Chung1b], had [a spell] of insanity come upon him;
he has already been executed. All are ordered to
unbend their weapons." [Wang] Mang wanted to
repress any baneful influence, so had the [Gentlemen]
As Rapid As Tigers use a sword for beheading
horses[2603] to cut off [Tung] Chung1b's [head], put it
in a bamboo vessel, and sent it about [the empire,
with a label] saying, "A rebellious caitiff who has
left [his office]."

[Wang Mang] issued a message of amnesty to the
officers and soldiers belonging to the office of the
Commander-in-chief, who had been led into error
by [Tung] Chung1b, had plotted to rebel, and had not
yet been discovered. He had the clan and relatives
of Tung Chung1b arrested, and buried them together
in one pit with strong vinegar, poisonous drugs, foot[long]
naked two-edged blades,[2606] and a thicket of
thorns.[2607]

Liu Hsin1a and Wang Shê both committed suicide.

[Wang] Mang considered that [one] of these two
persons was [of the same] flesh and blood [as himself
and the other was] a minister [who had been in
office] for a long [time, so,] because [Wang Mang]
disliked [it to be known] that these [persons] within
[the court] had been infected [with evil], he kept
their execution secret. Because moreover the Marquis
of Yi-and-Hsiu, [Liu] Tieh, had constantly been
circumspect and [Liu] Hsin1a had finally not informed
[Liu Tieh of the plot], he was merely dismissed [from
his posts as] Palace Attendant and General of the
Gentlemen-at-the-Palace, and was changed to be a
Palace Grandee Without Specified Appointment.

A day later, in the [Palace] Hall, beside the palm
[of the hand] of the immortal on the hill of earth
[in the park under the charge of] the Intendant of
the Imperial Palace Parks,[2613] there was a white-headed
old man in cerulean clothes. The Gentlemen
and officials who saw it said privately that it was the
State Master and Highest Minister, [Liu Hsin1a].

The Marquis of Vast Merit, [Wang] Hsi3a, was
usually good with the hexagrams, [so Wang] Mang
had him to interpret its divination. He said, "One
should be careful about weapons and fire."[2615]

[Wang] Mang replied, "How did you, boy, get this
erroneous explanation? This is indeed my august
ancestor's younger uncle, [Wang] Tzu-ch'iao, who
has wanted to come and invite me [to become an
immortal]."

When, outside [the court, Wang] Mang's armies

had been routed and, inside [the court], his greatest
ministers had rebelled, so that none of those about
him could be trusted, he could no longer deliberate
[with them] about matters at a distance in the commanderies
and kingdoms. When he wanted to summon
[Wang] Yi5 and make plans with him, Ts'ui Fa
said, "[Wang] Yi5 is habitually cautious. Now that
he has lost a large force, if he is summoned, I fear
that he will grasp his credentials and commit suicide.
It would be proper that you should in some great
manner console his feelings." Thereupon [Wang]
Mang sent [Ts'ui] Fa in a galloping quadriga with
verbal instructions for [Wang] Yi5, [saying], "I am
aged and have no[2622] son by my legitimate wives. I
wish to transmit the empire to you, Yi. It is ordered
that you shall not need to beg pardon [for your
defeat] and when I receive you in audience you shall
not again speak [of the past]."

[When Wang] Yi5 arrived, he was made the Commander-in-chief.
The Grand Prolonger of Autumn,
Chang2 Han, became the Grand Minister Over the
Masses. Ts'ui Fa became the Grand Minister of
Works. The Director of the Palaces and Shelterer

of Long Life, Miao Hsin, became the State Master.
The Marquis of Like Delight, [Wang] Lin2, became
the General of the Guard.

[Wang] Mang was so distressed and worried that
he could not eat. He only drank wine, ate shellfish,[2624]
and read books on military matters. When
he was tired, he would rest [his head] upon his stool
and sleep without again seeking his pillow.

By nature, [Wang Mang] loved the numerology
of lucky times and days.[2626] When moreover matters
became urgent, he merely repressed them by incanta-
tions. He sent a commissioner to destroy the screening
walls at the gates to the parks of the Wei Tomb
and the Yen Tomb, saying, "Do not cause the common
people to think of the Han [Dynasty] again."[2630]
He also used black to defile the color of their surrounding
walls.[2631] He entitled his generals,[2632] "The
general for whom [the planet] Jupiter rests in [the
cyclical sign] shen and [the element] water is an
assistant,"[2633] "the Colonel who honors [the cyclical
sign] keng and injures [the element] wood,"[2634] and
"the Chief Commandant who sets [the cyclical sign]
ping in front and glorifies [the element] metal."[2635]
He also [gave titles] reading, "[The military leader]
holding a great axe to chop down withered wood,"
[and, "The military leader] causing great waters to
run, extinguishing any fire that has arisen."[2636] The
things of this sort [that he did and said are too many]
to be recorded completely.

In the autumn, Venus moved into [the constel-
lation] T'ai-wei, and lighted the earth like the light
of the moon.[2640]

Wei Ts'ui and his elder brother, [Wei Yi, men
from] Ch'eng-chi, together kidnapped the Grand
Governor [of T'ien-shui Commandery], Li Yü5α.
They made their elder brother's son, Wei Ao, their
General-in-chief, and attacked and killed the Shepherd
of Yung Province, Ch'en Ch'ing, and the Director
of a Confederation at An-ting [Commandery],
Wang Hsün1,[2644] and joined his force [with their own].
They sent a letter to the commanderies and counties
enumerating [Wang] Mang's crimes and wickednesses,
[saying that they were] ten thousand [times
the number of those committed by] Chieh and
Chou.[2645]

In this month, Teng Yeh and Yü K'uang, men
from [the prefecture of] Hsi5, raised troops at Nan-hsiang
[to the number of] more than a hundred men.
At that time, the Ruler of Hsi5 led several thousand
troops and garrisoned the Ch'iao Commune to defend
the Wu Pass. [Teng] Yeh and [Yü] K'uang said to
the Ruler, "An Emperor of the Liu [clan] has already
been set up. Why do you, sir, not recognize the
mandate [of Heaven]?" The Ruler [thereupon]
begged [permission] to surrender, [and so Teng Yen
and Yü K'uang] secured all of his band.

[Teng] Yeh called himself the General of the Left
Supporting the Han [Dynasty] and [Yü] K'uang
[called himself] the General of the Right [Supporting
the Han Dynasty]. They took Hsi5 and Tan-shui
by storm. When they attacked the Wu Pass, the
Chief Commandant [of the Pass], Chu Meng, surrendered.

They advanced and attacked the Western
Neighboring Commandery Grandee, Sung Kang,
and killed him. Then they went west and took Hu2
by storm.

[When Wang] Mang was all the more worried and
did not know what to do, Ts'ui Fa said, "[According
to] the Chou Offices and Mr. Tso's [Commentary on]
the Spring and Autumn, whenever a state has a great
visitation, [the ruler] should weep, in order to repress
[the evil].[2650] Hence the Book of Changes says, `He
at first wails and cries out, but later laughs.'[2651] It

would be proper to cry out and sigh, in giving information
to Heaven, in order to seek for rescue."

[Wang] Mang himself knew that he would be defeated,
but he led his courtiers to the Southern Place

for the Suburban Sacrifice [to Heaven], set out his
mandates [by means of] portents from first to last,
looked up to Heaven, and said, "Since thou, August
Heaven, hast given thy mandate to thy subject,
Mang, why doest thou not immediately order extirpated
the bands [of troops] and the robbers? But
if thy servant Mang has done wrong, I wish that
thou wouldst send down thy thunderbolt to execute
thy servant Mang." Thereupon he struck his heart
with his palm and wept loudly. When his breath
was exhausted, he prostrated himself and knocked
his head [upon the ground].

He also composed a document giving information
to Heaven, setting out his own important achievements,
in more than a thousand words. The various
Masters and uninfluential common people met in the
mornings and evenings to weep, and for them he
established repasts of congee. Those who were
[really] melancholy, together with those who were
able to recite the words of his document, were made
Gentlemen.[2657] [They numbered] more than five
thousand persons. Tai Yün led them.

[Wang] Mang installed nine persons as Generals,
all of whom had "tiger" as their title. They were
called the Nine Tiger [Generals]. They led several
ten-thousand picked soldiers from the Northern Army
and went eastwards. Their wives and children were
taken into the palaces, to serve as hostages.

At this time, in the inner apartments [of the Wei-yang
Palace], ten thousand catties of actual gold
were put into one chest and there still remained sixty
chests.[2659] In each of [the offices] of the Yellow
Gate and of the Intendant of Palace Parks in the
storehouses, and [in the workshop of] the Empress's
Master of Recipes, there were [also] several chests.
In the Imperial Wardrobe at the Ch'ang-lo [Palace],
the Empress's Wardrobe and the storehouses of the
[Bureau of] Equalization and Standards in the capital[2663]
there was [in addition] very much cash, silk,
pearls, jade, and valuables. [Wang] Mang became
[even] more parsimonious with them, and granted
[only] four thousand cash to each of the soldiers of
the Nine Tiger [Generals].[2664] Their troops were
greatly discontented, so that they had no intention
of fighting.

The Nine Tiger [Generals] reached the Hui Gorge

at Hua-yin and blocked the defiles to the north along
the [Yellow] River and south to the mountains.
Yü K'uang, with several thousand crossbow [men],
mounted the [Feng-ling] mound to provoke a battle.
Teng Yeh, leading more than twenty thousand men,
went south from Wen-hsiang Highroad and came out
of the Tsao-[hsiang] Highroad and the Tso-ku [River
valley], routed one division [of soldiers], went north,
came out behind the Nine Tiger [Generals], and
attacked them. Six Tiger [Generals] were defeated
and fled. [Of these six], Shih Hsiung and Wang
K'uang4a came to the [Palace] portal [and asked for
pardon and permission] to return home to die.[2667]
[Wang] Mang sent a messenger to reproach [them,
saying], "How is it that those who should be dead
are [still] alive?" so they both committed suicide.
Four [defeated] Tiger [Generals] fled. Three Tiger
[Generals], Kuo Ch'inb, Ch'en Hui, and Ch'eng
Chung, collected the scattered troops and took refuge
in the Capital Granary.

Teng Yeh opened the Wu Pass and invited in Li
Sung, the Han [dynasty's] Director of Service to the
Lieutenant Chancellor. He led more than two thousand
men and came to Hu2. With [Teng] Yeh and
the others, they together attacked the Capital
Granary.

When it did not surrender, [Teng] Yeh made a
Division Head of Hung-nung [Commandery], Wang
Hsien4, his Colonel. [The latter] led several hundred
men north, crossed the Wei [River], and entered the
territory of Tso-p'ing-yi [Commandery], making
cities surrender and overrunning territory. Li Sung
sent a Lieutenant General, Han Ch'en, and others,
to go across westwards to Hsin-feng, where [Han

Ch'en] fought a battle with [Wang] Mang's General
of the Po River, [Tou Jung. The General of] the
Po River fled.[2673]

Han Ch'en and the others pursued the fleeing
[troops], and so they came to Ch'ang-men.[2674] Wang
Hsien4 went north to P'in-yang, and wherever he
passed, [the people came out] to welcome him and

surrender. [People] of the powerful clans, Shen
Tang of Yüeh-yang and Wang Ta of Hsia-kuei, both
led their bands to follow [Wang] Hsien4. From
counties in [the capital commanderies], Chuang
Ch'un from T'ai, Tung Hsi from Mou-ling, Wang
Meng4b from Lan-t'ien, Ju Ch'en from Huai-li, Wang
Fu2b from Chou-chih, Chuang Pen from Yang-ling,
T'u-men Shao from Tu-ling, and the like, whose
bands all [numbered] several thousand men, took
titles and called themselves Generals of the Han
[dynasty].

At this time, Li Sung and Teng Yeh considered
that although the Capital Granary was a very small
[place], if they had not yet been able to make it
surrender, how much more [this would be the case
with] the city of Ch'ang-an, so that it would be necessary
for them to wait until the great army of the
Keng-shih Emperor arrived [before attacking Ch'ang-an].
When they thereupon led their armies to Hua-yin

to prepare implements for attacking [Ch'ang-an],
troops from [places] neighboring Ch'ang-an however
assembled from all quarters below the [Ch'ang-an]
city walls. It was reported that the troops of the
Wei clan from T'ien-shui [Commandery][2681] would
presently arrive, so they all rivaled [one another],
wanting to be the first to enter the city, for they were
covetous of the profit [they would gain by] achieving
the great glory [of executing Wang Mang] and from
kidnapping and plundering [in the palaces].

[Wang] Mang sent commissioners separately to
amnesty the convicts in the various prisons within
the city and gave them all arms. [The commissioners

had] some swine killed, and had [the former
convicts] drink the blood [of the swine, thereby]
making an oath with them, saying, "If there is
anyone who is not for the House of Hsin, may the
gods of the soils and the spirits remember it." The
General of a New Beginning, Shih Shen, led them.
They crossed the Wei [River] Bridge and all scattered
and ran, [so that Shih] Shen returned empty[handed].

The bands of troops dug up the tomb-mounds of
[Wang] Mang's wife, sons, father, and grandfather,
and burnt their coffins and grave-vaults, together
with his Nine [Ancestral] Temples, the Ming-t'ang,
and the Pi-yung. The fire shone into the city.

Someone said to [Wang] Mang, "The soldiers at
the city gates are people from the east, so that they
cannot be trusted." [Wang] Mang [accordingly]
changed them and mobilized men from the Picked
Cavalry to be the guards [for the city gates], establishing
one Colonel at each Gate with six hundred
men.

In the tenth month, on [the day] mou-shen, the
first day of the month, the troops entered by way of
the Hsüan-p'ing City Gate, which among the common
people is called the Capital Gate. Chang2 Han
was inspecting the city gates, happened upon the
troops, and was killed. Wang Yi5, Wang Lin2, Wang
Hsün2, Tai Yün, and others separately led troops to
resist the attack outside the Northern Portal [of the
Palace]. The Han troops were ambitious for enfeoffment
[in reward for killing Wang] Mang and
more than seven hundred of them fought strenuously.
When it happened that the sun went down,
[the people in] the government yamens, the lodges
[for the commanderies and kingdoms], and the residences
[adjoining the Palace] had all run away
and fled.

On the second day [of the month, the day] chi-yu,
some young people from within the city [of Ch'ang-an],
Chu Ti, Chang Yü2, and others, who had feared
that they would be kidnapped or robbed, and had
shouted vehemently in response to [the invaders],
set fire to the Artisans' Chamber Gate [an inner gate
in the northwestern part of the Wei-yang Palace],
and hacked open a side door of the [Hall] of Reverence
for the Law, calling out,

The fire reached to the Ch'eng-ming [Hall] in the
Lateral Courts, where the Princess of the Yellow Imperial
House dwelt. [Wang] Mang fled from the fire
to the Hsüan Room, and the fire in the Front Hall
immediately followed him. The Palace Maids and
women wailed, saying, "What must we do?"

At that time [Wang] Mang had on uniformly

purple garments,[2698] was girded with his imperial seals
and apron and held the Lord of Yü, [Shun's], dagger
with a spoon on the end of its hilt; an Astrological
Gentleman held a diviner's board before him,[2699] and
for the day and hour he added [the appropriate] layout
[on the board. Wang] Mang had turned about
his mat and sat according to [the position] of the
handle to the [Heavenly] Bushel, saying, "Heaven
begat the virtue that is in me. The Han troops—
what can they do to me?"[2702]

For some time, [Wang] Mang had not eaten, which
had lessened his energy, so that he had become exhausted.
On the morning of the third day [of the
month, the day] keng-hsü, when it was light, a group
of courtiers supported [Wang] Mang from the Front
Hall southwards down the Zanthoxylum Stairs, and
westwards out of the White Tiger Gate. The Duke
of Peace to [the House of] Hsin, Wang Yi6, had
charge of the chariot and drove it outside the [Palace]
Gate. [Wang] Mang went in the chariot to the
Tower Bathed [by Water], intending to rely upon
the water of the pond [as a magical defence],[2707]
and planning to hold in his arms the mandates [given
through] portents and majestic tou-[measures]. The
ministers, Grandees, Palace Attendants, [Attendants
of] the Yellow Gate, Gentlemen, and Royal Retinue,
who were still more than a thousand persons, followed
him.

Wang Yi5 had been fighting day and night and was
extremely fatigued; when his men had almost all been
killed or wounded, they galloped into the Palace and,
by a difficult and roundabout route, reached the

Tower Bathed [By Water. When Wang Yi5] saw his
son, the Palace Attendant, [Wang] Mu, taking off
his robes and bonnet, with the intention of escaping,
[Wang] Yi5 scolded him, ordering him to return, [so
that the two], father and son, together defended
[Wang] Mang.

When the men of the army entered the [Palace]
Halls, they called out, "Where is the rebellious caitiff,
Wang Mang?" and a Beauty came out of a room and
said, "He is in the Tower Bathed [By Water]." The
bands of soldiers pursued after him, and surrounded
it several hundred deep. Those on the Tower also
exchanged shots with them, using bows and crossbows,
but gradually dropped out and left [off shooting].
When their arrows were exhausted, so that
they had no way of returning shots, they met [the
attackers] with their short weapons. Wang Yi5 and
his son,[2711] [Wang Mu], Tai Yün, and Wang Hsün2,

died fighting, [whereupon Wang] Mang entered the
room [on top of the Tower]. In the very late afternoon,[2713]
the bands of soldiers went up the tower.
Wang Yi6, Chao Po, Miao Hsin, T'ang Tsunb, Wang
Sheng, the Regular Palace Attendant Wang Ts'an,
and others all died on top of the Tower. Tu Wu,[2714]
a man from [the prefecture of] Shang, killed [Wang]
Mang and took his [seals][2716] and cords. A Colonel
from Tunghai [Commandery], Kung-pin Chiu, who
had formerly been a [Gentleman] Dealing With the
Rites, [a subordinate of] the Grand Messenger, saw
[Tu] Wu and asked him where the owner of the seal-cords
was. He replied, "In the room, in the northeast
corner." [Kung-pin] Chiu recognized [Wang]
Mang and cut off his head.[2719] The men of the army
cut [Wang] Mang's body to pieces. His members
and his flesh and bones were sliced and divided.[2721]
"Those who killed each other in the struggle [to
secure parts of Wang Mang's body numbered] several
tens of persons."[2722] Kung-pin Chiu bore [Wang]
Mang's head to Wang Hsien4.

[Wang] Hsien4 called himself a Han Generalissimo
and the troops in the city, [numbering] several hundred

thousand [men], were all subordinate to him.
He dwelt in the Eastern Palace, treated [the women
in Wang] Mang's harem as his wives, rode in [Wang
Mang's] carriages [and wore Wang Mang's] robes.

On the sixth day [of the month, the day] kuei-ch'ou,
Li Sung and Teng Yeh entered Ch'ang-an.
Generals Chao Meng and Shen-t'u Chien also arrived.
Because Wang Hsien4 had received the imperial
seals and cords and had not immediately sent
them [to the Keng-shih Emperor], had taken many
of the women in the palace, and had set up the drums
and flags of the Son of Heaven, he was arrested and
beheaded [for aspiring to the throne. Wang] Mang's
head was transmitted to the Keng-shih Emperorand
was hung up in the market-place at Yüan. The
people all together picked up [things] and threw them
at it. Some cut out and ate his tongue.

The troops of [Wang] Mang's Shepherd of Yang[2729]

Province, Li Sheng, and of the Director of Mandates
[from the Five Majestic Principles], K'ung Jen, were
defeated east of [the Kuan-chung] mountains. [Li]
Sheng fought and was killed. [K'ung] Jen led his
band and surrendered. Afterwards, he sighed and
said, "I have heard that he who eats another's food
must die in his service," so he drew his sword, stabbed
himself, and died. The Department Head and
Superintendant of a Division, Tu P'u, the Grand
Governor of Ch'en-ting [Commandery], Shen Yi,
and the Leader of a Combination at Chiu-chiang
[Commandery], Chia Meng, all moreover defended
their commanderies, did not surrender, and were executed
by the Han troops. When the Grand Governor
of Shang-tu [Commandery], Wang Ch'in, and
Kuo Ch'inb, who were defending the Capital Granary,
heard that [Wang] Mang was dead, they surrendered.
The Keng-shih [Emperor] [considered them] as
righteous, and enfeoffed them both as marquises.
The Grand Master, Wang K'uang1a, and the State
General, Ai Chang, surrendered at Lo-yang. They
were transported to Yüan, where they were beheaded.

After Chuang Yu and Ch'en Mou had been defeated
below [the walls of] K'un-yang, they fled to
Ch'iao in P'ei Commandery. They called themselves
Han Generals and summoned and assembled
officials and common people. [Chuang] Yu gave
them an account, saying that Wang Mang had

usurped the throne, that he would die at the time
[allotted to him by] Heaven, and that the sage Han
[dynasty] would revive again; [meanwhile Ch'en]
Mou prostrated himself and wept. When they heard
that the former Marquis of Chung-wub [under] the
Han [dynasty], Liu Sheng5e, had collected a band in
Ju-nan [Commandery] and was [going to be] entitled
by the imperial title, [Chuang] Yu and [Ch'en] Mou
surrendered to him. He made [Chuang] Yu his
Commander-in-chief and [Ch'en] Mou his Lieutenant
Chancellor. [After] more than ten days, he
was defeated [by the Keng-shih Emperor's Generalissimo,
Liu Hsin4α, and Chuang] Yu and [Ch'en] Mou
both died.

The commanderies and counties all offered their
cities [to the Keng-shih Emperor] and surrendered,
so that the whole empire returned to the Han
[dynasty].

Previously, Shen-t'u Chien had once served Ts'ui
Fa [as a disciple, studying] the Book of Odes. When
[Shen-t'u] Chien arrived, [Ts'ui] Fa surrendered to
him, [but] later he again gave an [apologetic] account
[of Wang Mang,[2744] so Shen-t'u] Chien directed the
Lieutenant Chancellor [of the Keng-shih Emperor],
Liu Tz'u4α, to behead [Ts'ui] Fa in order that he
might accompany [his master, Wang Mang], in
death. Shih Shen, Wang Yen2, Wang Lin2, Wang
Wu2, and Chao Hung also surrendered but nevertheless
were killed.

Previously those soldiers who had taken titles every
one hoped to be enfeoffed as a marquis, [but] because
Shen-t'u Chien had beheaded Wang Hsien4 and also
spread about [a report] that treacherous [persons
from] the three capital commanderies had together

killed their lord, [Wang Mang], the officials and com-
mon people [of Ch'ang-an] became afraid and the
counties subordinate [to Ch'ang-an] assembled
[troops, hence Shen-t'u] Chien and the others were
unable to make them surrender. He galloped and
advised [the Keng-shih Emperor of the situation].

In [the period] Keng-shih, the second year, the

second month, the Keng-shih [Emperor, Liu Hsüan2α
Sheng-kung], reached Ch'ang-an. He issued an imperial
edict [granting] a general amnesty, [stating
that], except for the sons of Wang Mang, all others'
crimes were expunged. Hence the [former imperial]
Wang clan was able to be preserved and the three
capital commanderies all became calm.

The Keng-shih [Emperor] made Ch'ang-an his
capital and lived in Ch'ang-lo Palace. The government

repositories were all intact. Only the Wei-yang
Palace had been burnt. After [Wang] Mang [had
been attacked] for three days and he had died, [the
people of the capital commanderies] had lived peacefully
in their homes and [everything] was as
previously.[2753]

After the Keng-shih [Emperor] had arrived for a

year and more, his governmental instructions were no
[longer] obeyed. In the next year, in the summer,[2756]
after the Red Eyebrows,[2758] [led by] Fan Ch'ung and
others, a band of several hundred thousand men, had
entered through the passes, [Fan Ch'ung and others]
set up Liu P'en-tzu, giving him the imperial title,
and attacked the Keng-shih [Emperor]. The Keng-shih
[Emperor] surrendered to them.

The Red Eyebrows thereupon burnt the palace-buildings,
market-places, and wards in Ch'ang-an, and
killed the Keng-shih [Emperor]. The common
people starved and [even] ate others, so that the
dead [numbered] several hundred thousand, Ch'ang-an
became a waste, and inside the city walls there
were no people going about.[2763] The [imperial ancestral]

temples, funerary parks, and tomb mounds
were all dug up; only the Pa Tomb and the Tu Tomb
were preserved intact.

In the sixth month, the Epochal Exemplar, [Emperor
Kuang-wu], had ascended the throne, and thereafter
the [imperial] ancestral temples and the mounds
to the gods of the soils and grains were re-established
[at Lo-yang], the empire was well governed and at
peace.

In eulogy we say: Wang Mang first arose [because
he was one of] the maternal relatives [of Emperor
Ch'eng].[2770] He humbled himself and acted energetically,
in order to seek for fame and reputation, so
that his clan praised him as filial and his teachers
and associates attributed benevolence to him.[2771]

When he occupied [a high] position and acted as
[chief] assistant in the government, [during] the time
in [the reigns of Emperors] Ch'eng and Ai, he toiled

diligently for the state and "pursued a straightforward
course,"[2773] [so that whenever he] acted, [his
deeds] were reported in detail. Was he not [the sort
of person] referred to [in the sayings, "Such a man]
will certainly be heard of in his clan; he will certainly
be heard of in his state," and "He assumes the appearance
of benevolence, but his actions are contrary
to it?"[2774]

Since [Wang] Mang did not [possess] benevolence,

but had a talent for flattery and evil and also took
advantage of the power his four uncles, [Wang Feng,
Wang Yin, Wang Shang1b, and Wang Ken, had exercised
for] successive generations,[2776] and [because]
it happened that the Han [dynasty] became weak in
the midst [of its period] and the dynastic succession
was thrice broken, so that in her old age the Empress
Dowager [nee Wang] became the mistress of the
[imperial] clan, hence [Wang Mang] was able to give
free rein to his viciousness and thereby to bring to
pass the calamity of his usurpation [of the throne].
If we speak of [the situation by] investigating it from
this [aspect], it was[2778] a time [set by] Heaven and
not brought about by human effort.

When he had stolen the throne and faced south,

so that he occupied [a position which] he should not
have seized, the influences[2780] which would overthrow
[such a person] were more dangerous [in his case than
in the cases of] Chieh and Chou, yet [Wang] Mang
was tranquil and considered himself a second appearance
of the Yellow [Lord] and Yü [Shun]. Then for
the first time he gave rein to his desires[2781] and displayed
his tyrannousness and deceitfulness, being
scornfully [hypocritical] towards Heaven[2782] and
oppressive towards the common people, exhausting
[the possibilities of] banefulness, and [attaining] the
limit of evil. His poison diffused itself among all
Chinese and [his power of causing] disorder [even]
extended to the southern and northern barbarians,
but this did not yet satisfy his desires.

For this reason, [all] within the four seas[2784] murmured
sadly and lost their joy in life. Within and
outside [the country, people] were filled with resentment,
[braves] far and near [the capital] all mobilized,
his city-wall and moat was not defended, so
that his members were cut to pieces. Thereupon he
caused the cities and towns of the empire to become
wastes, [while peoples'] grave mounds were [moreover]
dug into, so that he injured all living people, and

his crimes reached [even] to rotten bones.

Of the rebellious ministers and evil sons and of the
unprincipled men who are recorded in books and
records, if we investigate the calamities [they produced]
and the ruin [they wrought], there have not
been any as severe as [those produced by Wang]

Mang. Anciently [the First Emperor of] the Ch'in
[dynasty] burnt the Books of Odes and of History in
order to establish his private proposals, while [Wang]
Mang chanted the six canons in order to gloss over
his wicked words. "They came to the same result
but by different paths;"[2787] both thereby [came to]
destruction.[2788] They were both "dragons [who had
flown] too high"[2789] and whose breath was cut off,
which was not the destiny [originally bestowed upon
them by Heaven's] decree. They were [like] a
purple color[2790] or a croaking sound,[2791] or the leftover
minutes [that are given] the place of an inter-
calation,[2794]
which are driven out by a sage-king.[2795]