Yuan She (; 150 – 179) was a Chinese court eunuch and politician during the Eastern Han dynasty. He rose to power during the reign of

Emperor Huan of Han Emperor Huan of Han (; 132 – 25 January 168) was the 27th emperor of the Han dynasty after he was enthroned by the Empress Dowager and her brother Liang Ji on 1 August 146. He was a great-grandson of Emperor Zhang. He was the 11th emperor of ...

( 146–168), for his involvement in the downfall of the powerful

consort kin The consort kin or outer kins () were the kin or a group of people related to an empress dowager or a consort of a monarch or a warlord in the Sinosphere. The leading figure of the clan was either a (usually male) sibling, cousin, or parent o ...

Liang Ji Liang Ji (梁冀) (died 9 September 159), courtesy name Bozhuo (伯卓), was a Chinese military general and politician. As a powerful consort kin, he dominated government in the 150s together with his younger sister, Empress Liang Na. After hi ...

. He continued to wield influence during the reign of Emperor Huan's successor, Emperor Ling ( 168–189).

Background

According to ''

Book of the Later Han The ''Book of the Later Han'', also known as the ''History of the Later Han'' and by its Chinese name ''Hou Hanshu'' (), is one of the Twenty-Four Histories and covers the history of the Han dynasty from 6 to 189 CE, a period known as the Lat ...

'', Yuan She was a clansman of Yuan Wei, an uncle of

Yuan Shao Yuan Shao (, ; died 28 June 202), courtesy name Benchu (), was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty. He occupied the northern territories of China during the civil wars that occurred tow ...

and

Yuan Shu Yuan Shu () (155 – 199), courtesy name Gonglu, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty. He rose to prominence following the collapse of the Han central government in 189. He decla ...

, and held the position of ''zhong changshi'' (; "Central Regular Attendant"). Using his influence within the

imperial harem The Imperial Harem () of the Ottoman Empire was the Ottoman sultan's harem – composed of the concubines, wives, servants (both female slaves and eunuchs), female relatives and the sultan's concubines – occupying a secluded portion (serag ...

, Yuan She helped to support Yuan Wei and Yuan Feng (Shao's and Shu's father), who were then high-ranking officials in the Eastern Han court. In turn, Wei and Feng also used their influence to help Yuan She. Thus, the Yuan clan of Ru'nan grew powerful and influential; their power and influence were greater than other clans of the era.

Life

In August 159, Liang Ji's younger sister Empress

Liang Nüying Liang Nüying () (died 9 August 159), formally Empress Yixian (懿獻皇后, literally "the meek and wise empress") was an empress during the Eastern Han dynasty. She was Emperor Huan's first wife. Family background It is not known when Liang ...

died. Liang, in order to continue to control Emperor Huan, had adopted his wife's beautiful cousin (a stepdaughter of her uncle Liang Ji (梁紀—note different character despite same pronunciation)), Deng Mengnü, as his own daughter, changing her family name to Liang. He and his wife Sun Shou gave Liang Mengnü to Emperor Huan as an imperial consort, and, after Empress Liang's death, hoped to have her eventually created empress. To completely control her, Liang Ji planned to have her mother, Lady Xuan (), killed, and in fact sent assassins against her, but the assassination was foiled by Yuan She, who was a neighbor of Lady Xuan. Lady Xuan then reported the assassination attempt to Emperor Huan, who was greatly angered. He entered into a conspiracy with eunuchs Tang Heng, Zuo Guan, Shan Chao (單超), Xu Huang (徐璜), and Ju Yuan (具瑗) to overthrow Liang. Eventually, the plot was successful. In May 179, official Yang Qiu () submitted a formal petition against eunuchs Wang Fu and Cao Jie, and Grand Commandant Duan Jiong () who had aligned himself with Wang and Cao. Yuan She, fellow Attendant Chunyu Deng () and other eunuchs were also implicated. While Yuan She, Cao Jie and Chunyu Deng survived after a stint in prison, Wang Fu and Duan Jiong eventually died in prison.Yang Qiu's biography in vol.77 of ''Book of the Later Han'' had an expanded list of eunuchs who were implicated in the case. (光和二年，迁为司隶校尉。王甫休沐里舍，球诣阙谢恩，奏收甫及中常侍淳于登、袁赦、封𦐇、中黄门刘毅、小黄门庞训、朱禹、齐盛等，及子弟为守令者，奸猾纵恣，罪合灭族。太尉段颎谄附佞幸，宜并诛戮。于是悉收甫、颎等送洛阳狱，及甫子永乐少府萌、沛相吉。)

References

* Fan, Ye. ''

'' (''Houhanshu''), volume 45. * Sima, Guang. ''

Zizhi Tongjian The ''Zizhi Tongjian'' (1084) is a chronicle published during the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) that provides a record of Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynasties and spanning almost 1400 years. The main text is ...

''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Yuan, She Year of birth unknown 2nd-century births Year of death unknown Han dynasty eunuchs Han dynasty government officials