Red Eyebrows
The Red Eyebrows (Chinese: 赤眉; pinyin: Chìméi) was one of the two major peasant rebellion movements against Wang Mang's short-lived Xin dynasty, the other being Lülin.
[1] The rebellion, initially active in the modern Shandong and northern Jiangsu regions, eventually led to Wang Mang's downfall by draining his resources, allowing Liu Xuan (the Gengshi Emperor), leader of the Lülin, to overthrow Wang and temporarily reestablish an incarnation of the Han dynasty.
The Red Eyebrows later overthrew the Gengshi Emperor and placed their own Han descendant puppet, teenage emperor Liu Penzi,[2][3][4] on the throne, who ruled briefly until the Red Eyebrows leaders' incompetence in ruling the territories under their control caused the people to rebel against them, forcing them to retreat and attempt to return home.
When their path was blocked by the army of Liu Xiu's (Emperor Guangwu) newly established Eastern Han regime, they surrendered to him.
Circa 17 CE, due to Wang Mang's incompetence in ruling—particularly in his implementation of his land reform policy—and a major Yellow River flood affecting the modern Shandong and northern Jiangsu regions, the people who could no longer subsist on farming were forced into rebellion to try to survive.
Fan Chong (樊崇, who would eventually become the leader of the Red Eyebrows, albeit in a collective leadership) started his own rebellion in 18 CE, in the Ju and Langya counties (near modern Rizhao region).
When she gathered thousands, she stormed the county seat in the year 17 CE and killed the magistrate to avenge her son's death.
Mother Lü's success inspired numerous people all over the country to rebel against Wang Mang's rule, and her own force grew rapidly to tens of thousands of soldiers, but she soon died of an illness in 18 CE.
In 19 CE, at the behest of his key official Tian Kuang (田況), Wang Mang reacted inappropriately to the agrarian rebellions by raising taxes.
Tian, who had earlier aggravated the rebellions, however, had some success against them, and he advocated a policy where the villagers would be evacuated to the cities to force the rebels into attacking fortifications.
By this point, Fan and the other rebel leaders still lacked any real political ambition, even as they were showing genuine military abilities.
Fan and the other rebel leaders, concerned that during battles it would become impossible to tell friend or foe, ordered that their men colour their eyebrows red.
This led to a famous lament by the people victimized by their forces: In winter 22 CE, Wang and Lian had some successes against the Chimei leader Suolu Hui (索盧恢), capturing the city of Wuyan (無鹽, in modern Tai'an, Shandong).
At the battle of Chengchang (成昌, in modern Tai'an, Shandong), the tired Xin forces were defeated by the Chimei and collapsed.
In spring 25 CE, the two armies combined at Hongnong (弘農, in modern Sanmenxia, Henan) and defeated a major general of Gengshi Emperor's, Su Mao (蘇茂).
About this time, after being urged to do so by priests of the late Liu Zhang (Prince Jing of Chengyang whose principality many Chimei men came from and who was worshipped as a god after his death in 177 BCE) the Chimei leaders seriously considered the idea of finding one of Liu Zhang's descendants and making him emperor to inherit the Han throne.
Initially, the people of the Guanzhong (modern central Shaanxi) region submitted and offered tributes, but were surprised when the Chimei soldiers continuously robbed them on the way to Chang'an.
In spring 27 CE, the Chimei won a great victory against both Deng and Feng at Hu (湖縣, in modern Sanmenxia, Henan).
