Tong Guan
Tong Guan | |
---|---|
Hanyu Pinyin | Tóng Guàn |
Wade–Giles | Tung Kuan |
Tong Guan (1054–1126),
Life and career
Tong Guan began his military career under the mentorship of a leading eunuch general of the 1080s and became one of the few eunuch generals of the Song dynasty.[1] Despite being a eunuch, it was written by many that Tong Guan had strong personal character and was in peak physical condition, with a long beard that was considered unusual for eunuchs.[1] After Tong Guan gained his first victory in battle in 1104, Emperor Huizong granted him a valuable document of his own calligraphy written in his unique "slender gold" style.[1] After Tong Guan gained a greater reputation by commanding a series of victorious battles in the northwest against the Tanguts, he became the favourite general and advisor of Emperor Huizong.[1] In 1111, he went on a diplomatic mission to the Khitan-led Liao dynasty to the northeast, and after this his career steadily advanced. The following year, he was promoted to the top of the military command structure and by 1116 he was the first eunuch in the Song dynasty to gain entry into the top echelons of central administration as one of the chief policy-makers.[1] Tong Guan was involved in all of the elite social gatherings of the time, as his name appeared as a guest on numerous lists for organised parties and banquets hosted by Emperor Huizong.[1] He was also one of only ten palace eunuchs who had their biographies as painters compiled and written for the court.[1]
In the year 1118, Tong Guan suggested to Emperor Huizong that a military alliance with the
Although he was earlier forced to retire, in 1124, Tong Guan was called back into military service by Emperor Huizong, who trusted no other general more than Tong Guan to head the mission across the northern border.[1] During this northern expedition, Tong Guan and his troops removed the long-established defensive forest on the Song-Liao border, exposing the vulnerable flat terrain in the North China Plain to future attacks from the north.[3] However, in the last month of 1125, Tong Guan fled across the border back to Kaifeng to deliver the ill-fated news that the Jurchens had begun an invasion of the Song dynasty. Tong Guan was made the leader of Emperor Huizong's personal bodyguard after the emperor abdicated the throne and fled from Kaifeng.
Tong Guan was later blamed for much of the disaster that befell the Song dynasty when the Jurchens conquered northern China. Emperor Huizong's successor,
References
- ISBN 9781559213035.
- Ebrey, Patricia Buckley; Walthall, Anne; Palais, James B. (2006). East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 0-618-13384-4.
- ISBN 978-4122020559.
- Keffer, David. "Outlaws of the Marsh: A Somewhat Less Than Critical Commentary". Poison Pie Publishing House. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
- Li, Mengxia (1992). 108 Heroes from the Water Margin (in Chinese). EPB Publishers. ISBN 9971-0-0252-3.
- Miyamoto, Yoko (2011). "Water Margin: Chinese Robin Hood and His Bandits". Demystifying Confucianism. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
- Shibusawa, Kou (1989), Bandit Kings of Ancient China, Koei
- Zhang, Lin Ching (2009). Biographies of Characters in Water Margin. Writers Publishing House. ISBN 978-7506344784.