The eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty gradually became political heavyweights after Zhu Di overthrew Jianwen Emperor. Not only did they provided services for emperors and concubines, but they also acted as watchdogs monitoring the officials.
It seemed that eunuchs had a tough job, but they’re crazy about it due to the expansion of the eunuch’s power. So that became a eunuch more and more difficult in the Ming Dynasty.
In fact, the founder of the Ming, Zhu Yuanzhang, once legislated that eunuchs couldn’t interfere in politics. Regrettably, after Yongle snatched the throne from his nephew, he didn’t comply with his father’s rules.
Since then, the Ming Dynasty had gradually become a eunuch empire in politics. Especially in the middle and late periods of the Ming Dynasty, the eunuch’s power had been unprecedentedly expanded.
What’s worse was that under the emperor’s indulgence, they did many bad things and even led to the emperor being captured, such as the Tumu Crisis.
In general, the eunuch’s interference in politics was one of the reasons for the disintegration of the Ming Dynasty. In Chinese history, although the eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty always had a horrible reputation, it was fortunate that not all eunuchs were worthy of contempt. Some of them still had a good reputation.
Which eunuchs had a good reputation in the Ming Dynasty History?
1、Zheng He（郑和), 1371-1433
Zheng He was born into a Muslim family and was brought into the palace to be castrated as a eunuch at an early age. From 1405 to 1433, Zheng He commanded his fleet to Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia, and East Asia following Yongle’s orders.
Although his voyage had a specific political purpose of finding the whereabouts of the Jianwen Emperor, he got a lot of foreign exchange income for the Ming Dynasty. He promoted economic and cultural exchanges between the Ming Dynasty and other dynasties.
Therefore, there was no doubt that Zheng He had a good reputation because of his voyages. What’s more, Zheng He was not only a eunuch but also an explorer, diplomat, and the hero of the Ming Dynasty.
In the official historical evaluation of China, eunuch Zheng He had a perfect and positive assessment. If you ask a pedestrian in China, which eunuch of the Ming Dynasty was the most famous, the answer is usually Zheng He.
2、Feng Bao(冯保), 1543-1583
Eunuch Feng Bao was a controversial figure in the Ming Dynasty History. Some people despised him because of his sinister and vicious. But others praised him for his full support of Zhang Juzheng’s reforms. In fact, according to Chinese historical sources, although Feng Bao hurt many people for his power, later generations’ evaluation of him is positive.
In 1573, Zhu Yijun became the 13th emperor of the Ming Dynasty at the age of 10. His father carefully selected four assistants for him, including Feng Bao. The power struggle forced Feng Bao to close to officials, and his ally was Zhang Juzheng in the palace.
The new emperor had just taken office, and the power structure of the dynasty had not been formed formally yet. After a period of power struggle, Feng Bao and Zhang Juzheng jointly defeated the Gao Gong, contributing Zhang Juzheng to be the political heavyweight. At the same time, Feng Bao supported Zhang Juzheng’s reforms fully.
With the help of Feng Bao, the effect of the reforms was like a dose of cardiotonic, which made the Ming Dynasty’s economy recover. Therefore, Feng Bao contributed to the Ming Dynasty. In a way, he was also a hero.
3、Chen Ju(陈矩), 1539-1607
Chen Ju born in Hebei, China, and he was castrated at the age of nine. He lived in the late Ming Dynasty, during which the eunuch intervention was the political character of the Ming Dynasty. But he was different and an upright eunuch.
Chen Ju didn’t like beauty and money. He was an honest eunuch. While he was in charge of Dongchang, he strictly forbade eunuchs to blackmail the people and seize private property, which made the people of the Ming Dynasty live a happy and safe life. Besides, Chen Ju’s outstanding personal abilities helped the Wanli emperor correctly solve many problems and was loved by the emperor.
4、Huai En(怀恩), unknown-1488
Huai En’s personality was similar to Chen Ju’s. They were both very upright and understood how to control their desire for power and money. Huai En, who was born in Gaomi, Shandong, China, was involved in a criminal case by a family member who broke the law. As a result, he was castrated at an early age and sent to the palace to be a eunuch.
When Zhu Jianshen became the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, someone wanted to take his throne in the palace. Thanks to the protection of Huai En, otherwise, the emperor would be eliminated, and his throne will no longer exist. Therefore, in order to show his gratitude to the eunuch Huai En, Zhu Jianshen ordered people to set up a shrine for him to remember him after Huai En’s death.
In conclusion
In a word, the eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty always gave people a terrible impression, because they were often keen on a power struggle, greedy for money, leading to the decline of the dynasty.
But if you study carefully about the details of the Ming Dynasty History, you would find that there were also some eunuchs with a good reputation.
