310 Chapter 7 Chapter 7 Emperor Huan and the Eunuchs (159–168)* Chronology Imperial Favourites Problems of Finance Gentlemen and Eunuchs Imperial Consorts and the Worship of Huang-Lao The First Faction Incident Invitation to Genocide Chronology 159 aided by palace eunuchs, Emperor Huan destroys Liang Ji and takes over the government; Deng Mengnü is appointed empress; five eunuchs are enfeoffed Grand Commandant Huang Qiong invites worthy men to office, but many refuse 159–166 Zhang Huan and Huangfu Gui maintain a degree of security in the north 160 execution of Li Yun and Du Zhong; death of the leading eunuch Shan Chao 161 reduction of salaries and stipends, sale of some fiefs and offices 163 the Excellencies Yang Bing and Zhou Jing report on excesses by eunuch associates in the provinces, some are punished 164 death of the eunuch favourites Xu Huang and Tang Heng 165 special levy on farmland Yang Bing impeaches Hou Can, brother of the eunuch Hou Lan, for extortion; Hou Can kills himself and Hou Lan is dismissed; disgrace of the eunuchs Zuo Guan and Ju Yuan, last of Emperor Huan’s former allies against Liang Ji 166 arrest and execution of the anti-eunuch officials Liu Zhi and Cheng Jin, dismissal of their supporter the Excellency Chen Fan * The history of the period from 157 to 168, being the period of the personal rule of Emperor Huan, is related by ZZTJ 54 to 56, translated in deC, Huan and Ling, 1–87, with annotations at 265–397. © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2017 | doi 10.1163/9789004325203_011 Emperor Huan and the Eunuchs (159–168) 311 167 Duan Jiong commences his campaign against the Qiang of Liang province [25 Jan 168] death of Emperor Huan; the Dowager Dou takes regency power with authority to choose his successor Imperial Favourites On 14 September 159, five days after the destruction of Liang Ji, the Lady Mengnü was named Empress, and her mother Xuan was given title as Lady of Chang’an. On instructions from the emperor, Mengnü and her family renounced the surname Liang and adopted that of Bo: it is probable this was a reference to the Dowager Bo, concubine of Emperor Gao of Former Han and natural mother of Emperor Wen. In contrast to the Empress Lü, Dowager of Emperor Gao, the Lady Bo was celebrated for her modesty and the restraint which she showed on behalf of her family. Her example could serve as a model for the new consort of Emperor Huan, and as a warning to her relatives that they should not seek too much from their kinswoman’s elevation.1 Two years later in 161, the senior ministers memorialised that since the empress was in fact the daughter of Deng Xiang, her original surname should be restored. No doubt believing that he had made his point, Emperor Huan approved. While the new empress’ relatives held no power comparable to that of the Liang family before them, following the recognition of 161 they did acquire hon- ours and property. The Lady Xuan and her grandson Kang were both awarded larger fiefs, and when Xuan died soon afterwards she was succeeded by another grandson Deng Tong. The empress’s father Deng Xiang was given posthumous appointment as General of Chariots and Cavalry, also with enfeoffment, and his marquisate then transferred to a cousin, Deng Hui, who was appointed a colonel in the Northern Army. In further complication, another cousin of the 1 HHS 10B:444 has the surname as 蒲; HHJ 21:250 and HHS 104/14:3295 have 亳. The two charac- ters were homonyms at that time, and Karlgren, GSR 771p and 773a, says that they could be interchanged. The Dowager Bo of Former Han has biographies in SJ 49:1970–72; Chavannes, MH VI, 32–38, and HS 97A:3941–42; also Loewe, Biographical Dictionary, 14–15. Bielenstein, Lo-yang, 95, says that the name of the whole Liang clan was changed to Bo 蒲, with the significance of “mean = of low quality.” It is possible to interpret the text of HHS 10B in this way, but there is no reference to such a change in the biography of Liang Ji at HHS 34/24:1187. More probably, it affected only the empress and perhaps her immediate family..