This Week in China's History: Wang Mang Dismembered, Remembered

October 6, 23 CE

Broadly speaking, Chinese emperors — maybe most emperors — met their end in one of two ways. Most died peacefully of old age in a palace, surrounded by the splendor and privilege that accompanied being one of the most powerful men on earth. Others, beset by internal or external enemies, meet a violent end. Few, though, came to an end as horrifying as did Wang Mang. His armies defeated and his palace alight, Wang was killed by rebel soldiers — or perhaps his own people — who dismembered his body to prove they had played a role in his killing. He was beheaded so that his head could be hung from the city gate, but before it could get there, it became a soccer ball for bloodthirsty residents.

How did Wang Mang come to be so hated? In the official historiography, his name has become synonymous with “usurper”: a megalomaniac who plotted, extorted, and murdered his way to the throne of the Han dynasty, and then established his own regime. As emperor, he launched an unhinged quest to return China to a mythical past, seizing land, imposing heavy taxes, and targeting any family powerful enough to be a threat. Frivolous wars and gimmicky monetary policy drained the state treasury, compromising the regime’s ability to deliver disaster relief. Corruption, debauchery, and incompetence brought the pretend regime to a quick end; the dynasty’s only virtue was its brevity.

That’s the official version anyway.