Link to original. Translation and edits by me.
The warlords who are trying to divide the assets of the Tang dynasty blur the relationship between the central government and the powerful eunuch Tian Lingzi (田令孜); and more often, blur the relationship between the emperor and Tian Lingzi.
That is to say, when the policies of the central government eat at their interests, they would claim this was the will of Tian Lingzi.
Such rhetoric makes it easier for them to get supporting voices when opposing the central government: "I am not against the central government, and of course I am not against the emperor. I am merely opposing the powerful eunuch Tian Lingzi."
For similar reasons, when we read about Emperor Xizong of Tang[see infobox at bottom] in the history books, he is both an idiot and a genius. On recreational activities, Xizong is a master of many trades; on the proper work of the emperor, Xizong is an utter idiot.
This is what the history books say about him: The emperor loves riding and shooting, wielding swords and lances, divination, music and gambling, and he is an expert in all these; he also likes football and cockfighting, and when he bets on geese against the other princes, he bets 50,000 bronze coins per goose. He is also a polo expert, and once said to the performer Shi Yezhu: "If I were to take the imperial exam for polo, I should rank as the first".
Much later, the Chongzhen Emperor (reigned 1628-1644) would think the same, so when he became emperor, he made strident displays of power, and what was the result? He found himself denied again and again after a couple of rounds of conflict. Because when faced with powerful interest groups, the emperor usually finds himself in a tangled situation.
The emperor is emperor only because he sits where the powers of major interest groups come into conflict.
On one hand, the emperor is powerful because of his position as mediator, on the other hand, the emperor's hand is stayed by the powers of these interest groups.
Is it odd Xizong trusts a powerful eunuch. It isn't odd at all.
From the reign of Emperor Xuanzong (712-756), the emperor's primary assistant has always been a powerful eunuch. Gao Lishi(高力士) during the Xuanzong era absolutely is the emperor's primary assistant. Because powerful men like Li Linfu, Yang Guozhong and An Lushan[1] owe their position to Gao Lishi; the same goes for men of equal or lesser rank.
[1] Li Linfu was a powerful prime minister during the Xuanzong era; after his death of natural causes, Yang Guozhong took up the mantle of prime minister due to his experience in tax collection; An Lushan (or, if you insist, Roxane Bukhari (yes these two names mean the same thing in context)) was a powerful general of Turkic-Sogdian descent whose feat to name was launching the An Lushan Rebellion.
In the Suzong era (r. 756-762), the powerful eunuch Li Fuguo absolutely is the emperor's primary assistant.
In the Daizong era (r. 762-779), the power of the powerful eunuch Chen Yuanzhen was reportedly greater even than Li Fuguo.
Then came the powerful eunuch Yu Chao'en, who had greater power in the military than Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi[2].
[2] Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi were the leading generals who took part in putting down the An Lushan Rebellion. Yu Chao'en was their boss and boss of all the other generals.
Emperor Dezong (r. 779-805) suppressed the eunuchs for a time, but after realizing their importance when he was forced to flee the capital in a mutiny (the Tingyuan Mutiny in 783), he gave honors and powers to eunuchs that were never given before. From then on, eunuchs being in command of the imperial men-at-arms, and being in charge of the empire's military affair, became an institution.
As for the powerful eunuch Qiu Shiliang (in power 835-841) who couped an emperor, then killed his crown prince and installed an emperor he preferred, not much else needs to be said.
From these examples, we could see the trust the Tang emperors put in eunuchs was similar to the trust emperors of Western Han (202 BCE - 8 CE) put in their in-laws, that is an institutionalized result; it was also similar to the trust emperors during the 2 Jins [3] and North and South dynasties (266 CE - 589 CE) placed in their princes, also being an institutionalized result. These institutions have extremely obvious problems, but at their respective times, no emperor found a better solution.
[3] Western Jin and Eastern Jin, so called after the relative positions of their capitols
After the An Lushan Rebellion, Tang emperors trying to weaken the eunuchs usually had only one of two results.
One, the emperor fails. Such a result is natural, because the power accorded to eunuchs is an institutionalized result, so the eunuchs have surprising power. The emperor could not weaken them at will.
Two, the emperor succeeds in weakening the eunuchs but finds out the hard way he shouldn't have, such as getting chased out of his capital by armies who have lost their eunuch overseers. In the end the emperors have to return to relying on eunuchs as a whole, they simply change which individual eunuch is on top of the hierarchy.
Merely suppressing the eunuchs means nothing. We often speak of making the Tang great again as if it were a simple affair, because we believe the emperor merely needs to suppress the eunuchs.
The last emperor of the Ming dynasty, Chongzhen, considered real life politics along the lines children's tales, so he dealt a heavy blow to the "evil" eunuchs right after his ascension. However, the Emperor Chongzhen soon realized the eunuchs were still his most trustworthy men; even though eunuchs were a bunch of crooks, his bearded men were even more crooked, and more importantly, and emperor's power over bearded men rests upon the eternal conflict between eunuchs and bearded men. After being played for fools by his bearded men, at the end of his life the Emperor Chongzhen said "they all deserve to be executed".
Thus, whether we are discussing Xizong or Tang emperors who came before him, we cannot simply blame their trust of eunuchs on them being stupid imbeciles; but be able to see as the result of their specific political environment.
When Xizong returned to his capital - Chang'an - in 885 after the Huang Chao Rebellion, he was already 23 years old.
By this point, Xizong was already an adult, and after the turmoil he went through, he must have grown up. However, by this point, the Tang dynasty was in an even worse situation than after the An Lushan Rebellion.
After the An Lushan Rebellion, the Tang dynasty could still tax and appoint officials across most of China. By 885, they were now left with modern-day Shaanxi, Sichuan, Vietnam, Guangxi and Guangdong.
Now our question is, if you went back in time to the sunset era of the Tang dynasty, in Xizong's position, what would you be thinking? I think you would think about how to make the Tang great again. If you only think about feasting and drinking, other people on this forum would probably consider you to be a human with the brain of a pig. Because when normal people take the reins of empire, they would certainly think about how to make the Tang great again.
Naturally, now Xizong's greatest concern was also how to make the Tang great again.
The problem is, to stop the Tang from becoming great again, the various warlords would always say the emperor only cares about feasting and drinking, and true power of the empire had long since fallen to an evil powerful eunuch. So we are doing nothing wrong by refusing commands from the central government; and to take things further, we are doing nothing wrong by taking up arms against the central government.
In such a context, even if Xizong attempted to be up front and center in life, in death these efforts would be muddled. Because if the emperor is clearly the one calling the shots, the warlords would have a more difficult time growing their personal power.
Many people have a knee-jerk reaction to knowing Xizong has many hobbies - he clearly isn't doing his job! But if normal people could have hobbies, why couldn't an emperor?
For example, Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang (r. 923-926) had diverse hobbies. He was an expert songwriter and actor. The history books say: Zhuangzong likes singers and actors, and he understands music, capable of composing. To this day, people of the Fen and Jin regions could still sing his songs, calling them "composed by the emperor".
And most tragically, an emperor of such talents died so young[4], marking the last chance of the Later Tang empire becoming great slipped away.
[4] Note to people who have zero context: Li Cunxu, aka Zhuangzong of Later Tang, is the founding emperor of the dynasty. The author is using him as an example of an emperor who has historically-recorded hobbies and guessing at how he would have went down in history - if he wasn't killed in a mutiny at the age of 43.
The problem is, Zhuangzong lived for a few more years, so people watched him fly high, get his time in the sun, and come down in a burning crash. And so Zhuangzong became an example of an emperor who let his hobbies get in the way of being an emperor. To sum up, hobbies are fatal! So when people write about Zhuangzong's failure and death, they all mention that he loved music and song.
If we throw away the emotional, dramatic narrative, we could see that the last Tang emperors tried their best to suppress warlordism after the Huang Chao Rebellion, but for all their effort they failed completely; and the power of the warlords grew so much they ate away the emperor's remaining power entirely.
Overall, Xizong post-Huang Chao Rebellion is very different from Xiandi of Han. Xiandi's power had long since been lost, while even after the Huang Chao Rebellion, Xizong still had great military and political power. But this power had a huge weakness, being the eternal conflict between eunuchs and bearded men; and between the bureaucracy and the military. Moreover, warlords that are thought to be loyal had grown ambitious; so very soon after Xizong's return to the capital, his first attempt to suppress warlordism ended in him fleeing the capital again, and he nearly lost his throne.
Infobox: Li Xuan, Xizong of Tang
The warlords who are trying to divide the assets of the Tang dynasty blur the relationship between the central government and the powerful eunuch Tian Lingzi (田令孜); and more often, blur the relationship between the emperor and Tian Lingzi.
That is to say, when the policies of the central government eat at their interests, they would claim this was the will of Tian Lingzi.
Such rhetoric makes it easier for them to get supporting voices when opposing the central government: "I am not against the central government, and of course I am not against the emperor. I am merely opposing the powerful eunuch Tian Lingzi."
For similar reasons, when we read about Emperor Xizong of Tang[see infobox at bottom] in the history books, he is both an idiot and a genius. On recreational activities, Xizong is a master of many trades; on the proper work of the emperor, Xizong is an utter idiot.
This is what the history books say about him: The emperor loves riding and shooting, wielding swords and lances, divination, music and gambling, and he is an expert in all these; he also likes football and cockfighting, and when he bets on geese against the other princes, he bets 50,000 bronze coins per goose. He is also a polo expert, and once said to the performer Shi Yezhu: "If I were to take the imperial exam for polo, I should rank as the first".
Due to similar reasons, we who read history always would have a nagging thought: if we were the ones in Xizong's place, we could make the Tang dynasty great again. If we were empowered as the emperor, with our IQ & EQ, we could make the empire great again!Zizhi Tongjian First year of the Guangming era said:
Much later, the Chongzhen Emperor (reigned 1628-1644) would think the same, so when he became emperor, he made strident displays of power, and what was the result? He found himself denied again and again after a couple of rounds of conflict. Because when faced with powerful interest groups, the emperor usually finds himself in a tangled situation.
The emperor is emperor only because he sits where the powers of major interest groups come into conflict.
On one hand, the emperor is powerful because of his position as mediator, on the other hand, the emperor's hand is stayed by the powers of these interest groups.
Is it odd Xizong trusts a powerful eunuch. It isn't odd at all.
From the reign of Emperor Xuanzong (712-756), the emperor's primary assistant has always been a powerful eunuch. Gao Lishi(高力士) during the Xuanzong era absolutely is the emperor's primary assistant. Because powerful men like Li Linfu, Yang Guozhong and An Lushan[1] owe their position to Gao Lishi; the same goes for men of equal or lesser rank.
[1] Li Linfu was a powerful prime minister during the Xuanzong era; after his death of natural causes, Yang Guozhong took up the mantle of prime minister due to his experience in tax collection; An Lushan (or, if you insist, Roxane Bukhari (yes these two names mean the same thing in context)) was a powerful general of Turkic-Sogdian descent whose feat to name was launching the An Lushan Rebellion.
In the Suzong era (r. 756-762), the powerful eunuch Li Fuguo absolutely is the emperor's primary assistant.
In the Daizong era (r. 762-779), the power of the powerful eunuch Chen Yuanzhen was reportedly greater even than Li Fuguo.
Then came the powerful eunuch Yu Chao'en, who had greater power in the military than Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi[2].
[2] Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi were the leading generals who took part in putting down the An Lushan Rebellion. Yu Chao'en was their boss and boss of all the other generals.
Emperor Dezong (r. 779-805) suppressed the eunuchs for a time, but after realizing their importance when he was forced to flee the capital in a mutiny (the Tingyuan Mutiny in 783), he gave honors and powers to eunuchs that were never given before. From then on, eunuchs being in command of the imperial men-at-arms, and being in charge of the empire's military affair, became an institution.
As for the powerful eunuch Qiu Shiliang (in power 835-841) who couped an emperor, then killed his crown prince and installed an emperor he preferred, not much else needs to be said.
From these examples, we could see the trust the Tang emperors put in eunuchs was similar to the trust emperors of Western Han (202 BCE - 8 CE) put in their in-laws, that is an institutionalized result; it was also similar to the trust emperors during the 2 Jins [3] and North and South dynasties (266 CE - 589 CE) placed in their princes, also being an institutionalized result. These institutions have extremely obvious problems, but at their respective times, no emperor found a better solution.
[3] Western Jin and Eastern Jin, so called after the relative positions of their capitols
After the An Lushan Rebellion, Tang emperors trying to weaken the eunuchs usually had only one of two results.
One, the emperor fails. Such a result is natural, because the power accorded to eunuchs is an institutionalized result, so the eunuchs have surprising power. The emperor could not weaken them at will.
Two, the emperor succeeds in weakening the eunuchs but finds out the hard way he shouldn't have, such as getting chased out of his capital by armies who have lost their eunuch overseers. In the end the emperors have to return to relying on eunuchs as a whole, they simply change which individual eunuch is on top of the hierarchy.
Merely suppressing the eunuchs means nothing. We often speak of making the Tang great again as if it were a simple affair, because we believe the emperor merely needs to suppress the eunuchs.
The last emperor of the Ming dynasty, Chongzhen, considered real life politics along the lines children's tales, so he dealt a heavy blow to the "evil" eunuchs right after his ascension. However, the Emperor Chongzhen soon realized the eunuchs were still his most trustworthy men; even though eunuchs were a bunch of crooks, his bearded men were even more crooked, and more importantly, and emperor's power over bearded men rests upon the eternal conflict between eunuchs and bearded men. After being played for fools by his bearded men, at the end of his life the Emperor Chongzhen said "they all deserve to be executed".
Thus, whether we are discussing Xizong or Tang emperors who came before him, we cannot simply blame their trust of eunuchs on them being stupid imbeciles; but be able to see as the result of their specific political environment.
When Xizong returned to his capital - Chang'an - in 885 after the Huang Chao Rebellion, he was already 23 years old.
By this point, Xizong was already an adult, and after the turmoil he went through, he must have grown up. However, by this point, the Tang dynasty was in an even worse situation than after the An Lushan Rebellion.
After the An Lushan Rebellion, the Tang dynasty could still tax and appoint officials across most of China. By 885, they were now left with modern-day Shaanxi, Sichuan, Vietnam, Guangxi and Guangdong.
Now our question is, if you went back in time to the sunset era of the Tang dynasty, in Xizong's position, what would you be thinking? I think you would think about how to make the Tang great again. If you only think about feasting and drinking, other people on this forum would probably consider you to be a human with the brain of a pig. Because when normal people take the reins of empire, they would certainly think about how to make the Tang great again.
Naturally, now Xizong's greatest concern was also how to make the Tang great again.
The problem is, to stop the Tang from becoming great again, the various warlords would always say the emperor only cares about feasting and drinking, and true power of the empire had long since fallen to an evil powerful eunuch. So we are doing nothing wrong by refusing commands from the central government; and to take things further, we are doing nothing wrong by taking up arms against the central government.
In such a context, even if Xizong attempted to be up front and center in life, in death these efforts would be muddled. Because if the emperor is clearly the one calling the shots, the warlords would have a more difficult time growing their personal power.
Many people have a knee-jerk reaction to knowing Xizong has many hobbies - he clearly isn't doing his job! But if normal people could have hobbies, why couldn't an emperor?
For example, Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang (r. 923-926) had diverse hobbies. He was an expert songwriter and actor. The history books say: Zhuangzong likes singers and actors, and he understands music, capable of composing. To this day, people of the Fen and Jin regions could still sing his songs, calling them "composed by the emperor".
If Zhuangzong died at the apex of his power, with most of China unified under his belt, then when people speak of his hobbies, they would certainly use terms of exceeding praise. Lol and behold, this is a man of destiny, who is an expert in his diverse hobbies, yet never let it be an obstacle to the work an emperor should do.New History of the Five Dynasties Records of Actors said:
And most tragically, an emperor of such talents died so young[4], marking the last chance of the Later Tang empire becoming great slipped away.
[4] Note to people who have zero context: Li Cunxu, aka Zhuangzong of Later Tang, is the founding emperor of the dynasty. The author is using him as an example of an emperor who has historically-recorded hobbies and guessing at how he would have went down in history - if he wasn't killed in a mutiny at the age of 43.
The problem is, Zhuangzong lived for a few more years, so people watched him fly high, get his time in the sun, and come down in a burning crash. And so Zhuangzong became an example of an emperor who let his hobbies get in the way of being an emperor. To sum up, hobbies are fatal! So when people write about Zhuangzong's failure and death, they all mention that he loved music and song.
If we throw away the emotional, dramatic narrative, we could see that the last Tang emperors tried their best to suppress warlordism after the Huang Chao Rebellion, but for all their effort they failed completely; and the power of the warlords grew so much they ate away the emperor's remaining power entirely.
Overall, Xizong post-Huang Chao Rebellion is very different from Xiandi of Han. Xiandi's power had long since been lost, while even after the Huang Chao Rebellion, Xizong still had great military and political power. But this power had a huge weakness, being the eternal conflict between eunuchs and bearded men; and between the bureaucracy and the military. Moreover, warlords that are thought to be loyal had grown ambitious; so very soon after Xizong's return to the capital, his first attempt to suppress warlordism ended in him fleeing the capital again, and he nearly lost his throne.
Infobox: Li Xuan, Xizong of Tang
| Official name | 李儇 Lǐ Xuān |
| Birth name | 李俨 Lǐ Yǎn |
| Birth - Death | 862 Jun 8-888 Apr 20 CE, died at 27 years of age |
| Era Names Marks the years of an emperor's reign | 咸通(873-874, legacy era name from his father) 乾符(874-879) 广明(880-881) 中和(881-885) 光启(885-888) 文德(888) Overlaps in CE exist because the ancient Chinese used a different calendar system |
| Temple Name The name given to him as a dead emperor of the Tang dynasty - and thus, be worshipped in the dynastic family temple Temple Names are only granted posthumously, though some emperors decide on what name they should be granted before they die. | 僖宗 Xī Zōng "The ancestor at fault" |
| Notable Events | 873 Ascended to the throne at age 12 880 Flees the capital when faced with the Huang Chao Rebellion 885 Shortly after returning to the capital, flees the capital in face of rebel warlord attack 888 Returns to the capital and dies of severe illness, aged 27 |
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