Red Eyebrows

Red Eyebrows
Chinese赤眉
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinChìméi
Wade–GilesCh'ih4-mei2
IPA[ʈʂʰɨ̂.měɪ]
Yue: Cantonese
JyutpingCek3-mei4
IPA[tsʰɛk̚˧.mej˩]
Painted ceramic statues of one Chinese cavalryman and ten infantrymen with armor, shields, and missing weapons in the foreground, and three more cavalrymen in the rear, from the tomb of Emperor Jing of Han (r. 157-141 BCE), now located at the Hainan Provincial Museum

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. It was so named because the rebels painted their eyebrows red.[1]

Map of peasant uprisings in Xin dynasty, including Lulin and Red Eyebrows rebellions

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.

  1. ^ Hinsch, Bret (16 August 2010). Women in Early Imperial China. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 102. ISBN 978-0-7425-6824-2.
  2. ^ Theobald, Ulrich (2000). "Chinese History - Han Dynasty 漢 (206 BC-8 AD, 25-220) emperors and rulers". Chinaknowledge. Retrieved 2007-11-03.
  3. ^ Theobald, Ulrich (2000). "Chinese History - Han Dynasty 漢 (206 BC-8 AD, 25-220) event history". Chinaknowledge. Retrieved 2007-11-03.
  4. ^ "Sinian Period". Oracle ThinkQuest Education Foundation. Archived from the original on 2007-07-16. Retrieved 2007-11-02.