Sun Deng () was briefly appointed

puppet emperor A puppet monarch is a majority figurehead who is installed or patronized by an imperial power to provide the appearance of local authority but to allow political and economic control to remain among the dominating nation. A figurehead monarch ...

by a coalition of ''

Chimei The Red Eyebrows () 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 ...

'' "Red Eyebrows" rebels in December of 26 CE, but later that month was killed by his general Yue Xuan when the rebels surrendered to the superior forces of

Emperor Guangwu of Han Emperor Guangwu of Han (; 15 January 5 BC – 29 March AD 57), born Liu Xiu (), courtesy name Wenshu (), was a Chinese monarch. He served as an emperor of the Han dynasty by restoring the dynasty in AD 25, thus founding the Eastern Han (Later ...

(r. 25–57). After the ''Chimei'' and ''

Lülin Lulin (, 'green forest') was one of two major agrarian rebellion movements against Wang Mang's short-lived Xin dynasty in the modern southern Henan and northern Hubei regions. These two regions banded together to pool their strengths, their coll ...

'' "Green Forest" agrarian rebellion movements collectively brought down

Wang Mang Wang Mang () (c. 45 – 6 October 23 CE), courtesy name Jujun (), was the founder and the only emperor of the short-lived Chinese Xin dynasty. He was originally an official and consort kin of the Han dynasty and later seized the thron ...

's short

Xin dynasty The Xin dynasty (; ), also known as Xin Mang () in Chinese historiography, was a short-lived Chinese imperial dynasty which lasted from 9 to 23 AD, established by the Han dynasty consort kin Wang Mang, who usurped the throne of the Emperor Pin ...

(9-23 CE), the Chimei forces allowed the Lülin leader Liu Xuan to become

Gengshi Emperor The Gengshi Emperor (; died AD 25), born Liu Xuan (), was an emperor of the Han dynasty restored after the fall of Wang Mang's Xin dynasty brought on by the Lülin. He was also known by his courtesy name Shenggong () and as the King or Prince of H ...

(r. 23–25) and restore the dynasty. The Chimei rebels subsequently destroyed Gengshi's army and assassinated him, in order to establish their own puppet emperor

Liu Penzi Liu Penzi (; 10 AD - after 27 AD) was a puppet emperor placed on the Han dynasty throne temporarily by the Red Eyebrows (Chimei) rebels after the collapse of the Xin dynasty, from 25 to 27 AD. Liu Penzi and his two brothers were forced into t ...

(r. 25–27) who was nominally enthroned in the capital

Chang'an Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin S ...

, until he surrendered after Emperor Guangwu's generals Deng Yu and Feng Yi defeated the remaining Chimei rebels. While both Sun Deng and Liu Penzi were Chimei-supported pretenders to the Han throne, "Emperor" Penzi is better known than Sun Deng. The (5th century) '' Hou Hanshu'' "Book of the Later Han", which covers

Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

history from 6 to 189 CE, is the primary historical source about Sun Deng. First, the "Annals of Emperor Guangwu" records that in December of 26, a confederation of Tongma "Bronze Horses", Qingdu "Green/Black Calves", Youlai , and other rebel groups in the Shang

Commandery In the Middle Ages, a commandery (rarely commandry) was the smallest administrative division of the European landed properties of a military order. It was also the name of the house where the knights of the commandery lived.Anthony Luttrell and G ...

(roughly modern

Sanmenxia Sanmenxia (; postal: Sanmenhsia) is a prefecture-level city in the west of Henan Province, China. The westernmost prefecture-level city in Henan, Sanmenxia borders Luoyang to the east, Nanyang to the southeast, Shaanxi Province to the west and S ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

) established Sun Deng as their puppet emperor. The Bronze Horses and Green Calves originated as followers of Mother Lü (d. 18), the first female leader of rebels in Chinese history.

The Bronze Horses, the Green Calves, the Yu-lai and the remaining bandits in the Shang Commandery together set up Sun Teng as the Son of Heaven. Sun Teng’s General, Yo Hsüan killed Sun Teng, and surrendered with his band of more than 50,000 men. 1st_century_in_China 26_deaths Xin_dynastyhtml" ;"title=".

References
{{Han emperors 1st century in China 26 deaths Xin dynasty>.

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{{Han emperors 1st century in China 26 deaths Xin dynasty/a>

On February 27, Emperor Guangwu's generals Deng Yu and Feng Yi defeated the remaining Chimei, who "surrendered with more than a hundred thousand men" at Yiyang (modern

Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the southeast, Nanyang ...

). Second, the ''Hou Hanshu'' biography of the scholar Di Pu mentions Sun Deng. When Di Pu was restoring lost books in the imperial library, he told his colleague Sun Yi about a book that said the rebel Sun Deng used his brilliance to harm Han court eunuchs 1st_century_in_China 26_deaths Xin_dynastyhtml" ;"title=".

References

{{Han emperors 1st century in China 26 deaths Xin dynasty>.

References

{{Han emperors 1st century in China 26 deaths Xin dynasty/a> The ''Hou Hanshu'' commentary identifies it as the apocryphal Confucian text ''Chunqiu baoqqian tu'' , which says, "The anti-Han rebel leader Sun Deng was a big, tall man who employed ingenious methods and many techniques, although without a classical education, he was a sage who said little" 1st_century_in_China 26_deaths Xin_dynastyhtml" ;"title=".

References

{{Han emperors 1st century in China 26 deaths Xin dynasty>.

References

{{Han emperors 1st century in China 26 deaths Xin dynasty/a>

References

{{Han emperors 1st century in China 26 deaths Xin dynasty