Ep. 269 | Eunuchs in Chinese History (Part 3)

The story continues. After wrecking the Han and Tang Dynasties, the eunuchs emerge again in the Ming as an evil force. In this episode, we’ll also look at the Song Dynasty eunuch general and politician Tong Guan. Then we’ll look at the life of the first of the so-called Four Eunuch Dictators, Wang Zhen.

His greed and avarice almost caused the Ming Dynasty to fall.

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Terms in Episode

Pinyin/Term	Chinese	English/Meaning
Bái Qǐ	白起	Another great general of the Warring States and Qin State periods. Lived 332-257 BCE
Chénghuà Emperor	成化帝	Ninth Ming Emperor who tried to do his best but he could not. By the end of his reign, eunuchs controlled palace affairs
Cài Jīng		1047-1126, Northern Song era politician and calligrapher. One of Huizong's main guys
Dàtóng	大同	City in Shanxi Province, not too far from Beijing
Dōng Chǎng	东厂	Eastern Depot, the eunuch run secret police and spy agency
Emperor Tàizǔ	宋太祖	See Zhao Kuangyin above
Emperor Āi	唐哀帝	Last emperor of the Tang Dynasty 904-907
Èrshísì Yámen	二十四衙门	The 24 (Palace) Offices, Twelve Directorates, four agencies and eight bureaus
Esen (Yěxiān) Tàishī	也先太师	Ruler of the Northern Yuan Mongol Dynasty, reigned 1454-1455.
Fāng Là	方腊	Died 1121, rebel leader and Water Margin character. Started a rebellion against the Song down in Zhejiang
Gānsù	甘肃	Province in China. Lanzhou is the capital
Huīzōng	宋徽宗	Northern Song emperor featured in CHP episodes 132 to 135
Hángzhōu	杭州	City west of Shanghai, capital of Zhejiang province, site of the Southern Song capital
Hèlì Jīqún	鹤立鸡群	A Crane Among Chickens....someone who stands out
Hòu Zhōu	后周	The Later Zhōu Dynasty of the Five Dynasties Ten Kingdoms period
Hóngwǔ	洪武帝	See Zhu Yuanzhang above
Jiànwén	建文帝	Second Ming Emperor but Yongle tried to erase him from the histories. reigned 1398-1402
Jiǎ Xiàn	贾宪	1010-1070, another palace eunuch mathgematician who described Pascal’s Triangle six hundred years before Blaise Pascal himself came up with it. Others too (in India and elsewhere, also achieved this)
Jǐngtài	景泰帝	Emperor who reigned after the Zhengtong Emperor was captured. Jingtai reigned 1449-1457
Jǐnyīwèi	锦衣卫	The Embroidered Uniform Guard
Kāifēng	开封	City along the Yellow River in Henan. Capital of the Northern Song Dynasty. Used to be called Bian, Bianjing, Bianliang
Liáo Dynasty	辽朝	Dynasty in the north of China that ran 916-1125. The Khitan people of Manchuria ran the Liao Dynasty
Liú Chéngguī	劉承珪	Palace Eunuch who lived 951 to 1016. Known for standardizing weights and measures and inventing the Děngzi 戥子….a small steelyard, a scale that’s used for weighing precious metals, gems, medicine
Língchí	凌迟	The dreaded death of a thousand cuts
Lǐ Màozhēn	李茂贞	856-924 another powerful Tang warlord who, after assisting Zhu Wen to destroy the dynasty, went on to found the Qi Kingdom
Méng Tián	蒙恬	Died in 210 BCE, great Qin Dynasty general, inventor and builder of the Great Wall
Nèigōng Jiān	内宫监	Directorate of Palace Eunuchs
Níngxià	宁夏	Province (actually Autonomous Region) in China
pái mǎpì	拍马屁	To flatter someone, literally to pat the horses rump
Pán Gǔ	盘古	God-type figure who formed heaven and earth and molded all the geographic features on earth
Qīnzōng	送亲宗	Son of Huizong, the final emperor of the Northern Song 1126-1127
Shénzōng	宋神宗	Song Emperor 1067-1085
Shānxī	山西	Province in China with capital at Taiyuan
Shǎnxī	陕西	Province in China. Xian is the capital
Southern Sòng Dynasty	南宋	The second half of the Song Dynasty after the Jurchens chased them out of the north. It ran from 1129-1279
Sòng Dynasty	宋朝	Dynasty that lasted 960-1127 in the north and 1129-1279 in the south
Sòng Shǐ	宋史	Official History of Song
Sīlí Jiān	司礼监	Directorate of Ceremonial - These guys ran the entire eunuch bureaucracy
Tiānjìn	天津	City one hour away from Beijing
Tiānshùn emperor	天顺低	See Zhengtong Emperor above. During his second time out as emperor, he was given this Era Name
Táng Dynasty	唐朝	Dynasty that ran 618-907 with a split in the middle for Wu Zetian's Zhou Dyansty 690-705
Tóng Guàn	童贯	1054-1126, Eunuch general, politician and adviser during the time of Emperor Huizong
Tǔmù Bǎo zhībiàn	土木堡之变	The Tǔmù Fortress Crisis of September 1, 1449 that saw Emperor Zhengtong captured by Oirat Mongols
Western Xià	蔡京	Empire that ran 1038-1227 and was situated mostly around Gansu and Ningxia
Wáng Zhèn	王振	First of the most notorious bad eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty. He engineered the whole Tumu Crisis
Wāng Zhí	汪直	We'll look at this second eunuch dictator next episode. He served during the Chenghua Emperor's reign.
Wǔdài Shíguó	五代十国	The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period that followed the Tang. Ran from 907 to 979
Xuāndé	宣德	Ming Emperor from 1425-1435, grandson of Yǒnglè
Yú Qiān	于谦	Minister of War who helped save the Ming Dynasty after the Tumu Crisis. Later killed because of this
Yēlǜ Ābāojī	耶律阿保机	Khitan Liao Dynasty founder, lionized in CHP episode 126
Yǒnglè	永乐帝	Also known as Emperor Chengzu, reigned 1402-1424
Zhào	赵	The surname of the family of Song Dynasty emperors
Zhào Kuāngyìn	赵匡胤	Founding emperor of the Song Dynasty. He reigned as Emperor Taizu from 960-976
Zhèjiāng	浙江	Coastal Province in China
Zhèngtǒng Emperor	正统	Also known as Emperor Yingzong of Ming, reigned as both the 6th and 8th Ming Emperor
Zhéng Hé	郑和	Eunuch Admiral who lived 1371 to 1433, famous for his seven voyages to the west
Zhāngjiākǒu	张家口	City not too far from Beijing also known by its Mongol name of Kalgan. Referred to sometimes as "Beijing's Northern Gateway"
Zhōu Gōng	周公	The revered Duke of Zhou from the Zhou Dynasty
Zhū Wēn	朱温	Also known as Zhū Quánzhōng 朱全忠, and Emperor Taizu of Later Liang. He helped finally destroy the eunuch's power but killed the Tang Dynasty along with the eunuchs
Zhū Yuánzhāng	朱元璋	A.K.A. the Hongwu Emperor, founder of the Ming Dynasty
Zhōu Gōng	周公	The Duke of Zhou, brother of Zhou King Wu and son of King Wen
Zhū Wēn	朱文	Also known as Zhū Quánzhōng 朱全忠, and Emperor Taizu of Later Liang. He helped finally destroy the eunuch's power but killed the Tang Dynasty along with the eunuchs

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