Eunuch Kingdom

Author: Arctic Wolf
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-01
Features: The Southern Han during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms was one of the world's most peculiar regimes. Its founding ruler was Liu Yan. This emperor implemented a fundamental policy: those who passed the imperial examinations had to be castrated before being appointed to official positions. Additionally, officials who had not taken the examinations but were favored by Liu Yan were also unlikely to escape the blade. Despite being a small regime, the Southern Han ended up with over 20,000 eunuchs, many of whom were well-educated scholars. To enforce this policy, the regime even created specialized positions for castration technicians. When the Southern Han was conquered, as many as 500 castration technicians were killed. The Tang Dynasty, corrupted and brutalized, gave birth to a series of weak and troubled small courts, which eventually met its own demise. In the south, a small court lingered on, known as the Southern Han. This book recounts the story of this regime. The emperor was always thinking about how to make his ministers loyal to him. The eunuchs suggested that all ministers should become eunuchs, so they would have nothing to worry about. The emperor found this idea good, and thus, "If heaven has feelings, it too would grow old." In just fifty-five short years, the ruler was no longer a ruler, the ministers were no longer ministers, sons killed fathers, and brothers killed brothers. Brave generals wasted their prime, and beautiful women's blood and tears were drowned in the chaos. The stage was always filled with noise—today one performs, tomorrow another takes the stage. The Southern Han, under its ruler Liu Yan of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, implemented a "castration" policy, and at the time of its fall, as many as 500 castration technicians were killed. The protagonist of this book is Prince Liu Chang, who later became the last ruler of the Southern Han. Following him, this brief and absurd era ised in countless blood and tears, reviving its former glory.