Wei Zhongxian

Wei Zhongxian (zh-t|t=魏忠賢) (1568 – October 19,1627) is considered by most historians as the most powerful and notorious eunuch in Chinese history.cite web|url=http://www.answers.com/topic/wei-zhongxian|title=Wei Zhongxian Brief Biography|accessdate=2008-09-17] He was a hoodlum and gambler, initially named Li Jinzhong, who became a eunuch and entered palace service to escape from his debtors. After entering the palace, he got into the service of Madam Ke (客氏), the wet-nurse of the future Ming emperor. The couple began manipulating the Tianqi Emperor, who renamed him Wei Zhongxian. The emperor's favour later gave Wei absolute power over the court.

Wei persecuted anyone who opposed his decisions, resulting in the death and imprisonment of many officials. He later proclaimed himself to be "Nine-Thousand Years" (九千歲) which meant that he was symbolically the second most important person in the country, just after the emperor, who is called the "Ten-Thousand Years" (萬歲). cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/638872/Wei-Chung-hsien|title=Encyclopedia Britannica Wei Zhongxian Biography (subscription)|accessdate=2008-09-17] Wei also built many shrines (生祠) and erected god-like statues of himself in them. In 1627, his control of the court ended with the death of the Tianqi Emperor, whose brother and successor promptly eliminated him. He was forced to commit suicide (some sources say executed by strangulation) and his corpse was disembowelled.

Chongzhen memory

Satirize is that when Chongzhen Emperor began memory Wei and sad smile said："How wonderful that if Wei alive"Fact|date=September 2008 on 1 January 1644, but its too late. In fact, tradition Chinese historians‘s used Confucianism‎ opinion could not exact explanation Wei merit for Ming‘s economyFact|date=September 2008 , Wei real was a excellent economistFact|date=September 2008 in late Ming Dynasty and first promoted mercantilism‘s statesmanFact|date=September 2008 from Late Antiquity in China.

See also

*Temple of Azure Clouds
*Mao Wenlong (promoted by Wei)

References