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Lei Yungong
Lei Yungong (died 23 July 1022) was a Song dynasty palace eunuch who rose to power after foiling fellow eunuch Zhou Huaizheng's coup. He dominated court politics following Emperor Zhenzong's death, by associating with the powerful grand councilor Ding Wei. However, just a few months later he was beaten to death for illegally moving Emperor Zhenzong's burial site to acquire treasures. During Emperor Zhenzong's reign Lei Yungong was a native of Kaifeng, the Song dynasty capital. Described as a clever and cunning eunuch, he quickly rose among the ranks of the Palace Domestic Service. The emperor Zhao Heng (posthumously known as Emperor Zhenzong) was a devout follower of Taoism in his later life. In May 1019, he sent Lei Yungong to the sacred Mount Mao in Jiangning Prefecture to cast his "jade tablet with a golden dragon". During the religious ceremony, seven cranes circled above the altar—or so reported Ding Wei, the prefect of Jiangning, to the emperor, who was very much ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eunuch
A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2nd millennium BCE. Over the millennia since, they have performed a wide variety of functions in many different cultures: courtiers or equivalent domestics, for espionage or clandestine operations, castrato singers, concubines, or sexual partners, religious specialists, soldiers, royal guards, government officials, and guardians of women or harem servants. Eunuchs would usually be servants or slaves who had been castrated to make them less threatening servants of a royal court where physical access to the ruler could wield great influence. Seemingly lowly domestic functions—such as making the ruler's bed, bathing him, cutting his hair, carrying him in his litter, or even relaying messages—could, in theory, give a eunuch "the ruler's ear" and impa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jiangning Prefecture
Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. The city has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a total recorded population of 9,314,685 . Situated in the Yangtze River Delta region, Nanjing has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having served as the capital of various Chinese dynasties, kingdoms and republican governments dating from the 3rd century to 1949, and has thus long been a major center of culture, education, research, politics, economy, transport networks and tourism, being the home to one of the world's largest inland ports. The city is also one of the fifteen sub-provincial cities in the People's Republic of China's administrative structure, enjoying jurisdictional and economic autonomy only slightly less than that of a province. Nanjing has bee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
