32. The Red Eyebrows Who Roiled Ancient China
The Yellow River is the cradle of China’s civilization, but it was and remains a pretty unstable cradle, given to catastrophic course change and flooding. One such episode occurred between 2 and 11 AD, when the Yellow River underwent disastrous course changes that led to severe flooding. The result was a series of widespread famines, plus widespread dislocation and hardship.
Because misery loves company, the turmoil was made worse by a civil war, plus a massive peasant uprising known as the Red Eyebrows Rebellion. Fighting first erupted in 8 AD, when an imperial government official named Wang Mang overthrew the Early Han Dynasty which had reigned over China for two centuries. In its place, Wang Mang declared himself emperor and founded the short-lived Xin Dynasty.