Eastern Depot or Eastern Bureau () was a

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...

spy and secret police agency run by

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 millenni ...

s. It was created by the Yongle Emperor.

History

After the Yongle Emperor usurped the throne in 1402 from his nephew, the

Jianwen Emperor The Jianwen Emperor (5 December 1377 – ?), personal name Zhu Yunwen (), was the second Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1398 to 1402. The era name of his reign, Jianwen, means "establishing civility" and represented a sharp chan ...

, he attempted to retain the officials who served in Jianwen's court, but some of them opposed him. In 1420, in order to suppress political opposition, Yongle decided to create the Eastern Depot (named as such because it was located east of the imperial palace), a spy and secret police agency run by eunuchs. They were responsible for spying on officials of any rank, including military officers, scholars, rebels and the general populace. The Eastern Depot would investigate and arrest suspects, and then hand them over to the Jinyiwei for interrogation. In the late Ming dynasty, the Eastern Depot had its own tactical forces and prisons, and became so powerful that even officials were ordered to

kowtow A kowtow is the act of deep respect shown by prostration, that is, kneeling and bowing so low as to have one's head touching the ground. In Sinospheric culture, the kowtow is the highest sign of reverence. It was widely used to show reverenc ...

to the Depot's leaders. The Eastern Depot lasted to 1644, the end of the Ming Dynasty. There was also a government department called the Western Depot (Xichang) established by the Chenghua Emperor in 1477, originally to search for witches, but became a rival to the Eastern Depot; it lasted, except for an interval from 1482 to 1506, until 1510. A third security apparatus, created to counter the two depots and the Jinyiwei, was called the Inner Branch Depot (Neixingchang) and lasted from about 1505, in the reign of the Zhengde Emperor, also until 1510. Shih-shan Henry Tsai (1996), p. 104 The Inner Branch Depot was briefly reestablished sometime during the long reign of the

Wanli Emperor The Wanli Emperor (; 4 September 1563 – 18 August 1620), personal name Zhu Yijun (), was the 14th Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1572 to 1620. "Wanli", the era name of his reign, literally means "ten thousand calendars". He was th ...

Famous chiefs of the Eastern Depot

* Wang Zhen *

Liu Jin Liu Jin (; 28 February 1451 – 25 August 1510) was a powerful Ming dynasty Chinese eunuch during the reign of the Zhengde Emperor. Liu was famous for being one of the most influential officials in Chinese history. For some time, Liu was the em ...

* * Wei Zhongxian

History

Famous chiefs of the Eastern Depot

References

See also