page_title: History of the Han dynasty
section_title: Downfall of the eunuchs
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Han dynasty / Decline of Eastern Han / Downfall of the eunuchs
caption_attribution_description: A Chinese Eastern Han Dynasty (25&#8211;220 AD) ceramic, grounded candelabra with animal figurines.
context_page_description: The Han dynasty, founded by the peasant rebel leader Liu Bang, was the second imperial dynasty of China. It followed the Qin dynasty, which had unified the Warring States of China by conquest. Interrupted briefly by the Xin dynasty of Wang Mang, the Han dynasty is divided into two periods: the Western Han and the Eastern Han. These appellations are derived from the locations of the capital cities Chang'an and Luoyang, respectively. The third and final capital of the dynasty was Xuchang, where the court moved in 196 CE during a period of political turmoil and civil war.
  The Han dynasty ruled in an era of Chinese cultural consolidation, political experimentation, relative economic prosperity and maturity, and great technological advances. There was unprecedented territorial expansion and exploration initiated by struggles with non-Chinese peoples, especially the nomadic Xiongnu of the Eurasian Steppe. The Han emperors were initially forced to acknowledge the rival Xiongnu Chanyus as their equals, yet in reality the Han was an inferior partner in a tributary and royal marriage alliance known as heqin.
context_section_description: He Jin (d. 189 CE), half-brother to Empress He (d. 189 CE), was given authority over the standing army and palace guards when appointed as General-in-Chief during the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Shortly after Empress He's son Liu Bian, known later as Emperor Shao of Han, was put on the throne, the eunuch Jian Shi plotted against He Jin, was discovered, and executed on May 27, 189 CE; He Jin thus took over Jian's Army of the Western Garden. Yuan Shao (d. 202 CE), then an officer in the Army of the Western Garden, plotted with He Jin to overthrow the eunuchs by secretly ordering several generals to march towards the capital and forcefully persuade the Empress Dowager He to hand over the eunuchs. Yuan had these generals send in petition after petition to the Empress Dowager calling for the eunuchs' dismissal; Mansvelt Beck states that this "psychological war" finally broke the Empress Dowager's will and she consented. However, the eunuchs discovered this and used Empress Dowager He's mother Lady Wuyang and her brother He Miao (何苗), both of whom were sympathetic to the eunuchs, to have the order rescinded. On September 22, the eunuchs learned that He Jin had a private conversation with the Empress Dowager about executing them. They sent message to He Jin that the Empress Dowager had more words to share with him; once he sat down in the hall to meet her, eunuchs rushed out of hiding and beheaded He Jin. When the eunuchs ordered the imperial secretaries to draft an edict dismissing Yuan Shao, the former asked for He Jin's permission, so the eunuchs showed them He Jin's severed head.
  However, the eunuchs became besieged when Yuan Shao attacked the Northern Palace and his brother Yuan Shu (d. 199 CE) attacked the Southern Palace, breaching the gate and forcing the eunuchs to flee to the Northern Palace by the covered passageway connecting both. Zhao Zhong was killed on the first day and the fighting lasted until September 25 when Yuan Shao finally broke into the Northern Palace and purportedly slaughtered two thousand eunuchs. However, Zhang Rang managed to flee with Emperor Shao and his brother Liu Xie to the Yellow River, where he was chased down by the Yuan family troops and committed suicide by jumping into the river and drowning.
caption: An Eastern-Han ceramic candle-holder with prancing animal figures
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