The failure of Wang Mang leads Chien Mu to lament the disappearance thereafter of the political theory of "reform and abdication," and its gradual replacement by the idea of an eternal and unified monarchy.
針對紀元開始的第一個中國皇帝王莽的失敗，錢穆先生則感嘆：變法禪讓的政治理論從此消失，漸變為帝王萬世統一的思想。