Gengshi Emperor in the context of "Wang Mang"

Ruzi Ying (Chinese: 孺子嬰; pinyin: Rúzi Yīng; lit. 'Infant Ying'; 5 – February or March 25 CE), personal name Liu Ying (劉嬰), was a ruler of the Han dynasty of China and the last of the Western Han dynasty. He was the titular ruler of the Han Empire from 6 CE to 9 CE, even though he did not officially ascend to the throne and only assumed the title of crown prince. After Emperor Ai and Emperor Ping died without heirs, Wang Mang chose the youngest of the available successors in order to maintain his power in the government. The child Ying was soon deposed by Wang Mang who declared the Xin dynasty in place of the Han. During the Xin dynasty, Ying was under effective house arrest—so much so that as an adult, he did not even know the names of common animals. Before and after the Xin dynasty was overthrown in 23 CE, a number of ambitious individuals claimed to be restoring the Han dynasty. In 25 CE, a rebellion against the Gengshi Emperor used Liu Ying as a focus, and when the rebellion was defeated, Liu Ying was killed. He is often viewed as an innocent child who was the victim of tragic circumstances.

Lulin (Chinese: 绿林; pinyin: Lùlín, '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 collective strength eventually leading to the downfall of the Xin and a temporary reinstatement of the Han dynasty with Liu Xuan (Gengshi Emperor) as the emperor.

Many Lulin leaders became important members of the Gengshi Emperor's government, but infighting and incompetence (both of the emperor and his officials) in governing the empire led to the fall of the regime after only two years, paving the way for the eventual rise of Liu Xiu (Emperor Guangwu) of the Eastern Han. The name Lulin comes from the Lulin Mountains (in modern Yichang, Hubei), where the rebels had their stronghold for a while.

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.

Liu Penzi (Chinese: 劉盆子; 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 the Red Eyebrows as child soldiers. When the Red Eyebrows submitted to the new Gengshi Emperor, his older brother Liu Gong fled to support the new emperor. Later, the Red Eyebrows rose again in rebellion and chose Liu Penzi as emperor. When they took Chang'an, Liu Penzi was officially Emperor of China, but he never had actual powers. When Liu Xiu definitively defeated the Red Eyebrows, he spared the 17-year-old puppet emperor.