Wang Mang, the first emperor in history to dye his hair, dyed his hair to look young?

Everyone loves beauty. It is natural for women to love beauty, and it is natural for men to love beauty. Under the influence of natural laws, people's hair will turn gray when they reach a certain age. But who was the first emperor in history to dye his hair?

The first emperor to dye his hair.

Wang Mang, whose real name is Jujun, was originally from Yuancheng, Wei County, and later moved to Dongping, Jinan. Wang Mang lost his father in his early years. After his aunt Wang became the queen, all his uncles and grandfathers were banned. However, Wang Mang's father died young and there was no salary increase. Unfortunately, his family was poor, so Wang Mang was courteous and courteous since he was a child, and he made friends with many famous scholars, so he was highly respected. Later, on Wang Feng's recommendation, Wang Mang became Huang Menlang, and was soon promoted to Sheyin Colonel, in charge of the crossbowmen. In the first year of the Sui Dynasty, Wang Mang was granted the title of Fu. From then on, Wang Mang's political status continued to rise, from Prince Consort to Zai Heng, and finally became the "Censor Photographer" and has been in charge of national affairs. After living for three years, the ambitious Wang Mang stood up for himself on behalf of the Han Dynasty and established a short-lived new dynasty between the Han Dynasty and the Han Dynasty.

Wang Mang is very bookish. After he came to power, a series of reform plans aimed at "retro" were full of fantasy and absurdity. Instead of promoting social progress, they hinder social development. Taking an old Zhou ritual and blindly copying it mechanically regardless of the actual situation not only increases the burden on the working people, but also touches the interests of the bureaucrats, landlords, wealthy businessmen, and everyone. Both the people of Lin Limin and the tyrannical landlords were very disappointed and hated this new dynasty with a pedantic atmosphere. Therefore, uprisings in various places continued and surged. Overthrowing the new dynasty and overthrowing Wang Mang became the mainstream voice in society at that time. The powerful Green Forest Heroes and the Red Eyebrow Army attacked the city and conquered the territory, becoming invincible. From gnawing to swallowing, they soon approached Chang'an, the ruling center of the new dynasty. In the third year of the emperor's reign, Wang Mang's new dynasty had fallen apart.

In the first month of the fourth year of the Yellow Emperor's reign, the heroes named Liu Xuan as emperor with the theme of "starting over again". After this great change, Wang Mang was like a bolt from the blue, unable to sleep or eat well. The Han Dynasty called it "the more he listened, the more he became frightened." However, Wang Mang, who has always been conceited, was unwilling to fail. He had to make a last ditch effort, hoping against hope. For this reason, he must show his calmness to his minions, so as to reassure people's hearts, which is what the Han Dynasty refers to as "looking outside, everything is safe". After Wang Mang visited Ku Chang, he thought of a way to deceive people by holding a big wedding. Since the death of Queen Wang, the Queen's seat has been vacant. Holding a grand emperor's wedding ceremony and establishing a queen may have the effect of whitewashing peace. Out of this idea, Wang Mang issued a beauty pageant edict to the whole country amidst the clamor of peasant uprisings, and batches of beauties were sent to Beijing and Chang'an to work as teachers. After many rounds of screening, Wang Mang finally selected the daughter of Lingdu historian as his queen. This year, Wang Mang was sixty-eight years old and already an old man with white beard and white hair.

Wang Mang is a person who has read many poems and books. It is impossible for him not to know the natural laws of aging, and it is also impossible for him not to know that no matter how good the hair dye is, it cannot stop the baptism of time. However, on the wedding day in March, Wang Mang dyed his gray hair and beard black, dressing himself up as a handsome young man. How did Wang Mang dye his beard and hair black? There is no record in official history. The Romance of the Han Dynasty says, "A person who is sixty-eight years old, with white beard and hair, but paints it with coal and dyes it with ink, pretending to be mature." This is obviously a joke, a taunt.

Wang Mang is good at making a fuss about his hair. When his uncle Wang Feng was seriously ill, Wang Mang "took medicine when he was ill, and became confused and couldn't undress for several months." Just imagine, Wang Mang was filial and dedicated at that time. He couldn't spare any time to wash his face and comb his hair, but he deliberately did his hair well

Why did he dye his hair?

Among all the emperors, Wang Mang was the first emperor to dye his hair. So why did Wang Mang dye his hair and beard black? I think there are two main reasons. First, Wang Mang is a person who pays great attention to his own influence. He was nearly seventy years old when he married, while the Queen of History was still young. This huge age contrast will make some people think that Wang Mang has become dissolute in his old age and is suspected of eating young grass. Secondly, Wang Mang knew that the building was going to collapse, and everyone was rebelling against him, so he dyed his hair in order to create an illusion so that people could see that he was still young and tough, and that he still had enough energy to stabilize the political situation, turn the tide, and deal with the peasant rebels. However, all this is in vain. In October of the fourth year of the emperor's reign, seven months after the wedding, the rebel army broke through the city gate, and Xin Mang's regime, which had survived for fifteen years, suddenly collapsed like a building. Wang Mang, who originally wanted to reverse his defeat by getting married and dyeing his hair, died in the shadow of a sword.

After Wang Mang died, the rebel army "beheaded Mang's head, split his body, divided his branches and bones, and killed dozens of people." Wang Mang's head was delivered to Wang Xian for the first time, and was soon delivered to Emperor Liu Xuan's account. Liu Xuan ordered Wang Mang's head to be hung on the city gate of Nanyang. The people of Li Min, who hated Wang Mang deeply, "gathered to attack him." Lift and throw. In other words, people were pulling the hair and beard on Wang Mang's head. Some people even suffered a lot because Wang Mang told many lies during his lifetime, and even vented their anger by "cutting out their tongues." Wang Mang's noble head was finally destroyed, along with the black beard and hair on it. On the other hand, if this head can be properly preserved and handed down to this day, with today's advanced technology and equipment, it may be possible to detect what products Wang Mang used to dye his hair.