Wang Zhen ( zh, c= 王振, p=Wáng Zhèn) was the first

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

eunuch A eunuch ( , ) is a male who has been castration, 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 2 ...

with power in the court.

Mingshi The ''History of Ming'' is the final official Chinese history included in the ''Twenty-Four Histories''. It consists of 332 volumes and covers the history of the Ming dynasty from 1368 to 1644. It was written by a number of officials commission ...

He served Zhu Qizhen who promoted him to become 'one of the most powerful eunuch "dictators" in Ming history'.

Career

The Zhihua Temple in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

was built in 1443 at his order. He was tutor to Zhu Qizhen. He was killed in 1449 during the

Tumu Crisis The Crisis of the Tumu Fortress, also known as the Tumu Crisis, or the Jisi Incident, was a border conflict between the Oirat Mongols and the Ming dynasty. In July 1449, Esen Taishi, leader of the Oirat Mongols, launched a large-scale, three-pro ...

campaign against the

Northern Yuan The Northern Yuan was a dynastic state ruled by the Mongol Borjigin clan based in the Mongolian Plateau. It existed as a rump state after the collapse of the Yuan dynasty in 1368 and lasted until its conquest by the Jurchen people, Jurchen-led ...

, during which the Ming emperor Zhu Qizhen was captured by

Oirat Mongols Oirats (; ) or Oirds ( ; ), formerly known as Eluts and Eleuths ( or ; zh, 厄魯特, ''Èlǔtè'') are the westernmost group of Mongols, whose ancestral home is in the Altai region of Siberia, Xinjiang and western Mongolia. The first docume ...

References

Year of birth missing 1449 deaths Ming dynasty eunuchs Place of birth missing Politicians from Zhangjiakou People from Yu County, Hebei Directorate of Ceremonial {{China-bio-stub