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Whether Shaohao actually existed, or was a sovereign, is controversial. The Doubting Antiquity School of historians, represented by Gu Jiegang, posited that Shaohao was inserted into the orthodox legendary lineage of ancient rulers by Han Dynasty imperial librarian Liu Xin, as part of a wide-ranging campaign of editing ancient texts, in order to either justify the rule of the Han imperial house, or the brief Xin Dynasty that overthrew it. This theory posits that Liu Xin was keen to create a narrative of the succession of legendary kings and subsequent dynasties, which would satisfactorily reflect the "succession of five elements" theory of dynastic succession, as well as a rotation between different lineages, which would together legitimise the rule of the Han Dynasty and/or the succession by the Xin Dynasty.