Wei Zhongxian (魏忠賢) was a powerful eunuch during the late-Ming Dynasty. He led the eunuch faction that dominated the Ming court during the reign of the Tianqi Emperor.
Wei was born to a poor family. In his youth, he enjoyed drinking, being with prostitutes and gambling. He was illiterate, but a talented archer and horseman. He had a wife and daughter, but at age 21, he decided to castrate himself and enter the palace in order to escape from his gambling debts. Wei made friends with powerful people in the palace and eventually landed a job serving the household of the future Tianqi Emperor (known by his temple name 明熹宗). With his skill for flattery, Wei gained the favour of the future emperor. He also courted Madame Ke (客氏), who was Tianqi’s wet nurse. Tianqi revered Madame Ko and bestowed high honours on her when he became emperor. Madame Ke would become Wei’s lover and a key political ally.
The Tianqi Emperor ascended to the throne at the age of 15. He took little interest in political affairs and pursued his passion for carpentry instead. Wei seized on this opportunity. He often intentionally interrupted the emperor while he was enjoying himself to report on political matters. The emperor would respond by saying, “I am busy. You take care of it.” Eventually, Wei issued edicts without even consulting the emperor. He promoted his allies into high positions and terrorized anyone who dared to oppose him. Officials everywhere scrambled to send memorials praising Wei and build temples in his honour. People even greeted him as “Nine Thousand Years”, just a degree below the emperor, who was greeted with “Ten Thousand Years”.
The Donglin scholars on the court despised the power that Wei wielded and submitted a memorial to the emperor criticizing Wei, but the emperor ignored it. The incident turned Wei against the Donglin faction. He fabricated charges against a group of six scholars, including Zuo Guangdou, and had them tortured to death in prison. Later, he purged a second group of seven scholars. The influence of the Donglin faction was substantially weakened after these incidents.
The Tianqi Emperor died of illness and was succeeded by his brother, the Chongzhen Emperor (崇禎). Chongzhen moved quickly to get rid of Wei. He asked officials to submit a list of Wei’s crimes and sentenced Wei to exile. As Wei travelled to his place of exile, Chongzhen heard rumours that Wei would attempt a rebellion. He ordered Wei to be arrested and brought back to the capital. Knowing that he would not escape a death sentence, Wei committed suicide. His corpse was posthumously subjected to slow slicing and publicly displayed. After Wei's death, the Chongzhen Emperor purged the remaining members of the eunuch faction from the Ming court.
Despite the overwhelmingly negative portrayal of Wei, some historians give him credit for effectively managing the country. Compared to the Chongzhen era, the Tianqi years were relatively peaceful, with stability on the war front and no major uprisings. It can partly be attributed to Wei's recommendations of able generals, such as Yuan Chonghuan, and setting low tax rates for farmers.
Related:
A General - Yuan Chonghuan
A Scholar - Zuo Guangdou
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