The Destroyer of the Liu'Throne is Gong:A New Exploration on the Eunuch Politics in the Southern Han Dynasty
Born into a rich and powerful local family of Lingnan,Liu Qian and Liu Yin,given theirweak literacy,actively coop-erated with the literati and adhered to the intellectual bureaucrat politics.During Liu Yan's reign,the legitimacy of his ascending into the power had always been challenged and questioned,making him in a culturally disadvantageous position compared to that of the literati.As a result,he resented against the latter and questioned the intellectual bureaucrat politics by entrusting eunuchs with more political power,as a way to counterbalance the latter's political clout.This decision eventually led to,in his late years,the trend of eunuch politics replacing intellectual bureaucrat governance.Eunuchs not only played an important role in the process of Liu Sheng's overcoming of the many internal and external troubles,but also made his accession to the throne legiti-mate,marking the real rise of eunuchs and the formation of eunuch politics in the Southern Han Dynasty.The roles and political power of the literati in the administrative structure of the Dynasty were greatly marginalized,forming a strong political centrifugal tendency,which laid ground for the downfall of the Southern Han regime.
Southern Han DynastyLiu Yanliteratiintellectual bureaucrat politicseunucheunuch politics
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