Red Eyebrows Rebellions

The Red Eyebrows or Chimei (Chinese: 赤眉; pinyin: Chìméi) was one of the two major agrarian 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.

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 (Emperor Gengshi), leader of the Lülin, to overthrow Wang and temporarily reestablish an incarnation of the Han dynasty. The Red Eyebrows later overthrew Emperor Gengshi and placed their own Han descendant puppet, teenage Emperor Liu Penzi, on the throne, who ruled briefly until the Chimei leaders' incompetence in ruling the territories under their control (which matched their brilliance on the battlefield) 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 AD, 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. The rebellions were numerous and fractured. Two key examples are discussed below.

The case of Mother Lü was a highly unusual one. Her son was a minor official at the Haiqu county (海曲, in modern Rizhao, Shandong) government, who was accused of a minor offence and executed by the county magistrate. Mother Lü, who was a substantial landowner, sold off her property and used the proceeds to befriend poor young men. When she gathered thousands, she stormed the county seat in the year 17 and killed the magistrate to avenge her son's death. She then led her men to the sea, but died soon afterwards.

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