The Death Of Eunuch Li Guang And The Politics Of Hongzhi Dynasty

Eunuch system in Ming Dynasty is an important part of the national political system.Compared with previous generations,the political influence of eunuch groups has become more prominent.In the Hongwu period,although the eunuch organization took shape initially,it was still in the position of close servant.With the evolution of the political system in the Ming Dynasty,since Hongxi and Xuande period,the drafting of the cabinet and the criticism of the director of ceremonies have gradually become the formal system to maintain the operation of the state institutions in the Ming Dynasty,and the formal system has become a factor restricting the imperial power.During the period of Chenghua and Hongzhi,the operation of imperial power gradually retreated behind the scenes,showing increasingly ritualized forms and being restricted by various forces within the political system.During this period,the political role of eunuchs has undergone subtle changes.Behind the rise of Li Guang,the eunuchs who carried out the imperial power,it just reflects the strong response of the imperial power to the political system.In fact,the rise of Li Guang was due to the favour of the monarch,not to the arrangement of the system.The increase of the missionaries in the Hongzhi Dynasty reflected the imperial power's attempt to break through the existing system,and the process was not interrupted by Li Guang's death.Throughout the life of eunuch Li Guang,his political influence was the most active in the Hongzhi period,during which there were abundant deeds and historical materials left behind.He was not only an important confidant of Ming Xiaozong,but also a good friend of Tu Yong,Wang Yue,Qiu Jun and other top officials in the civil service group.He invested in politics in the government,assisted eunuchs such as Liang Fang,Wang Zhi and Liu Jin,and actively participated in the court political struggle,forming a political community with Xiaokang empress,Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling.In his early years,he was the heart of Ming Ying Zong and learned Taoists to practiceFangshu.He gained the favor of Xiaozong in the Ming Dynasty and became the spokesman of the ministers of Hongzhi Dynasty.As a eunuch and a sorcerer,Li Guang participated in many important events of the Hongzhi Dynasty and played different roles in them,which was controversial in later generations.Through Li Guang's life,we can understand the relationship between Li Guang and the inner government,the outer Dynasty and the different political images in different periods,so as to better understand the real political ecology of Hongzhi Dynasty.The full text is divided into four parts.The first is the introduction,which mainly discusses the reasons for choosing the topic,the significance of the research,the research methods and the summary of the research.The first part combs the evolution of the eunuch power in Ming Dynasty and the general situation of the political situation and eunuch power in Hongzhi Dynasty.It focuses on the background of eunuch power since Chenghua and makes a judgment on the real status of the eunuch power in Hongzhi Dynasty.It also analyses the historical motivation of the political situation in the early years of Hongzhi,and tries to make a judgment on the misunderstanding of "Hongzhi's initial government" in the past.In the second part,starting from the political activities of Li Guang,the eunuch of Hongzhi Dynasty,the author firstly makes a textual research on the life of Li Guang,the eunuch,and analyses the reasons why Li Guang rose under the background of the times and the construction of Li Guang's relationship network,so as to understand the power interaction between Li Guang and imperial power and civil service groups before his death.The third part focuses on the "Li Guang case" caused by Li Guang's death,introduces the origin and process of the "Li Guang case",and analyses the events from the perspectives of imperial power,ministers and other officials,trying to explore the contradiction between the Confucian spirit of etiquette and law and the court's demand for balances in the spirit of the national political system of the Ming Dynasty.The fourth part links the death of Li Guang with the political situation of Hongzhi Dynasty,further analyses the political impact of Li Guang's death,including the death of Wang Yue caused by Li Guang,the retirement of five Shangshu,and the change of the strategy of ruling the country by Xiaozong in Ming Dynasty,and gives an objective evaluation.