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. 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 (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, 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.