An Dehai (, 1844 – 12 September 1869) was a palace

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 ...

at the imperial court of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

. In the 1860s, he became the confidant and favourite of

Empress Dowager Cixi Empress Dowager Cixi ( ; mnc, Tsysi taiheo; formerly romanised as Empress Dowager T'zu-hsi; 29 November 1835 – 15 November 1908), of the Manchu Yehe Nara clan, was a Chinese noblewoman, concubine and later regent who effectively controlled ...

and was subsequently executed as part of a power struggle between the empress dowager and Prince Chun. Before becoming a eunuch, An lived in

Wanping Fortress Wanping Fortress, also known as Wanping Castle (), is a Ming Dynasty fortress or "walled city" in Fengtai District, Beijing. It was erected in 1638–1640, with the purpose of defending Beijing against Li Zicheng and the peasant uprising. From ...

, near Beijing. Empress Dowager Cixi regarded An as her favourite eunuch, and referred to him as "Little An" (). Jung Chang writes in ''

'' (2013) that "Cixi feelings towards him went far beyond fondness for a devoted servant", and she was "clearly in love" with An. In 1869, Cixi sent An on a mission to the Imperial Textile Factory in

Nanjing 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. T ...

, to "supervise the procurement" of wedding gowns for Emperor Tongzhi wedding. On this trip, An travelled on the Grand Canal with a conspicuous display of imperial authority. This was an open violation of palace rules, which prohibited palace eunuchs from leaving the capital without authorisation on the penalty of death, so as to prevent eunuchs from gaining too much power. When An and his entourage reached Shandong Province, the governor Ding Baozhen reported his behaviour back to the Forbidden City. Led by Prince Chun, who disliked An, the Grand Council ordered the execution of the eunuch. Empress Dowager Ci'an seemed to have supported the decision whereas Empress Dowager Cixi, who favoured An, did not intervene on the eunuch's behalf. According to one explanation, Empress Dowager Cixi was attending a performance of Beijing opera at the time that the decision was taken and had requested not to be disturbed. As a result, An and six other eunuchs in his entourage were beheaded near the Ximizhi Spring in a Guandi Temple in Jinan. The other members of An's group, including his female relatives and a few musicians, were made slaves and banished to

Heilongjiang Heilongjiang () formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is the northernmost and easternmost province ...

in the far northeastern corner of the Qing Empire. After An's execution, a bereaved Cixi had all of his belongings collected, and entrusted them to one of her brothers. One of An's friends, a fellow eunuch, laid the blame for his death on Cixi, and was promptly strangled to death as punishment. It has been suggested by historians including Stephen Haw and Jung Chang that An's execution was part of, and exacerbated, a broader power struggle between Empress Dowager Cixi and Prince Chun. Ma Saihua (馬賽花, 马赛花), a 19 year old woman was married by An Dehai when he was 24.

References

{{reflist Qing dynasty eunuchs 1844 births 1869 deaths Qing dynasty politicians from Hebei Politicians from Cangzhou People executed by the Qing dynasty by decapitation Executed Qing dynasty people Executed people from Hebei