Emperor Ai of Han, Liu Xin, was the adopted son of Emperor Cheng. He ascended the throne at age twenty and set his reign title as Jianping. After becoming emperor, Ai frequently fell ill. In the second year of Jianping, in the sixth month, his mother, Empress Dowager Ding, fell ill and passed away. Xia Heliang, an advisor serving as a "Gentleman in Attendance at the Yellow Gate," submitted a memorial to Emperor Ai, saying:
The Han dynasty's calendar had already declined, and it was time to receive a new mandate from Heaven. Emperor Cheng failed to follow Heaven's will, which is why he had no biological sons. Now, Your Majesty has been ill for a long time, and the realm has witnessed numerous strange portents—these are all warnings from Heaven. Only by immediately changing the reign title can you prolong your life, father a prince, and quell these disasters. If you understand this truth yet do not act, every calamity will befall us, and the people will suffer.
Emperor Ai of Han, desperate for good health, heeded Xia Heliang's advice. On the jiazi day of the sixth month in the second year of the Jianping era—just four days after Empress Dowager Ding's death—he issued an edict granting a general amnesty, renaming the era as "Taichu First Year" and styling himself "Chen Sheng Liu Taiping Emperor." He even ordered the water clock's markings changed from one hundred to one hundred and twenty increments, hoping to bend time itself to his will.
After changing the reign title, Emperor Ai still fell ill as before. Xia Heliang and his associates sought to meddle in state affairs but faced opposition from court ministers. Since Xia Heliang's predictions proved false, the emperor ordered an investigation into their actions, discovering they were actually a group of frauds. In the eighth month, he issued another imperial decree, stating:
Imperial attendants and court scholars like Xia Heliang proposed changing the reign title and imperial designation, claiming that increasing the water clock's markings would ensure eternal peace for the state. "I mistakenly heeded their words, hoping to bring stability to the realm, but their promises proved false," the emperor declared. "Xia Heliang and his followers have acted against the classics and ancient teachings, utterly out of step with the times. The edict issued on the jiazi day of the sixth month is hereby revoked in its entirety, except for the general amnesty."
This reign change lasted less than two months before Xia Heliang and his associates were executed for spreading false prophecies.
Later, the idiom "out of step with the times" came to describe something that does not meet the needs of the era or align with the prevailing circumstances.
Source: *Book of Han*, Chapter "Annals of Emperor Ai"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "不合时宜" came to describe how something does not meet the needs of the era or align with the prevailing circumstances.