Dong Xian Dong Xian ( 董賢 ) ( 23 BC ( ? ) – 1 BC ) was a Han Dynasty politician who quickly rose from obscurity as a minor official to being the most powerful official in the imperial administration of Emperor Ai within a span of a few years . Most scholars agree that Dong ' s quick career advancement came mostly because of his personal relationship with Emperor Ai , likely a homosexual one , rather than a demonstration of abilities . Both men were married , but Emperor Ai , at least , was childless . An idiomatic term for homosexuality in Chinese is " duanxiu zhi pi " ( 斷袖之癖 , literally , " passion of the cut sleeve " ) , derived from an episode involving Dong and Emperor Ai . They often slept together on the same bed , which in ancient China was not necessarily an indication of a sexual relationship . One afternoon , after Emperor Ai woke up from a nap , Dong was still sleeping , and Emperor Ai ' s sleeve was stuck under Dong ' s head . Rather than waking Dong up , Emperor Ai cut off his sleeve to allow Dong to continue to sleep without disturbance . Early career . It is unclear when Dong became a court official , but it is known that early in Emperor Ai ' s reign ( which lasted from 7 BC to 1 BC ) , Dong was a minor imperial secretary ( 郎 , " lang " ) , and he was a colleague of the later - posthumously famous Confucian scholar Yang Xiong . By 4 BC , at the age of 19 , he was an imperial attendant ( 侍中 , " shizhong " ) and the director of imperial equine operations ( 駙馬都尉 ) , " fuma duwei " . ( In later dynasties , this became a title for princesses ' husbands . That was not true during the Han Dynasty , and it is , in any case , clear that Dong did not marry a princess . ) His relationship with Emperor Ai would allow him to suddenly increase his power and prestige . Relationship with Emperor Ai and quick ascension to great power . Circa 4 BC , Dong had by this point become a favorite of Emperor Ai ' s . It was described that whenever Emperor Ai visited places outside the palace , Dong would accompany him , and once Emperor Ai returned to the palace , he would attend to the emperor . Emperor Ai rewarded him with large sums of money . Dong ' s wife was given unprecedented permission to enter and leave the palace as she wished , and she set up a residence with Dong inside the palace . Emperor Ai also created Dong ' s sister an imperial consort ( with the prestigious title " zhaoyi " ( 昭儀 ) ) , ranked just below his wife Empress Fu . The three members of the Dong family thereby spent day and night near the emperor . Dong ' s father Dong Gong ( 董恭 ) was made the minister of palace supplies and created an acting marquess ( 關內侯 ) . Emperor Ai further ordered the imperial architect to build a luxurious residence for Dong just outside the main imperial palace , Weiyang Palace . The residence was described to be so spacious that it was like an imperial palace . Emperor Ai also gave Dong the best weapons and the most precious jewels from the imperial treasury - so much so that what Dong used was even more precious than what Emperor Ai personally used . Further , imperial burial tools were pre - awarded to Dong in preparation for his eventual burial , and Dong ' s future tomb was built right next to Emperor Ai ' s own . In 3 BC , Emperor Ai became intent on creating Dong a marquess , but could find no good excuse to do it . At the suggestion of a member of his grandmother ' s clan , Fu Jia ( 傅嘉 ) , a plan was hatched . In 4 BC , informants Xifu Gong ( 息夫躬 ) and Sun Chong ( 孫寵 ) had , through the eunuch Song Hong ( 宋弘 ) , reported that Liu Yun ( 劉雲 ) , the Prince of Dongping , was using witchcraft ; as a result , Prince Yun was demoted to commoner status and committed suicide . Emperor Ai announced that the plot was reported through Dong , not Song , and then created Dong , Xifu , and Sun acting marquesses . Later that year , over Prime Minister Wang Jia ' s objection , Emperor Ai created the three of them marquesses . A good number of officials tried to curb Dong ' s power by begging Emperor Ai not to overly reward him , and they suffered for it . There is no evidence indicating that Dong was behind the punishment of those officials ; rather , it appears that Emperor Ai was personally offended that these officials attacked his lover and therefore punished them for it . The officials include : However , Wang Hong ( 王閎 ) , an imperial attendant and grandnephew of Grand Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun , the step - grandmother of Emperor Ai , who also made similar requests of Emperor Ai , was not punished ( because Emperor Ai was impressed by his bravery ) but was also not listened to . In late 2 BC , after Ding ' s successor Wei Shang ( 韋尚 ) died of an illness , Emperor Ai made Dong , at the age of 22 , the commander of the armed forces ( 大司馬 , " da sima " ) - one of the Three Excellencies , along with the prime minister ( 大司徒 , " da situ " ) and the prime examiner ( 大司空 , " da sikong " ) - and the security chief for the capital . The edict read : The edict ' s wording followed that of the alleged wording of the mystical Emperor Yao , when he passed his throne to Emperor Shun , and greatly surprised and shocked all who read it . Despite his ascension to such great post , Dong continued to accompany Emperor Ai at all times in the palace , not handling the important matters that his post should have required him to handle . At the same time , his father Dong Gong was promoted to an honorary post while his younger brother Dong Kuanxin ( 董寬信 ) was made the director of imperial equine operations , succeeding Dong Xian . Many members of the Dong clan were made imperial attendants or deputy ministers . Death . In summer 1 BC , Emperor Ai suddenly died without an heir . Dong Xian , as the commander of the armed forces , was the most powerful official at court , but he was paralyzed by this sudden event . Grand Empress Dowager Wang took decisive action ; she proceeded to Weiyang Palace and seized the imperial seal . She then summoned Dong , who was caught by surprise , and was unable to act . Grand Empress Dowager Wang summoned her nephew Wang Mang back to the palace as well and transferred the command of the imperial guard from Dong to Wang . Wang Mang then ordered the palace secretary to issue an article of impeachment against Dong , accusing Dong of failing to attend to Emperor Ai when he was ill . Dong was prohibited from entering the palace , and was relieved of his post the next day . That night , he and his wife committed suicide , and were buried quickly . Wang Mang disinterred him to make sure that he was in fact dead , and then had him reburied within a prison . The entire Dong clan was exiled to Hepu ( 合浦 , in modern Zhanjiang , Guangdong ) and their assets forfeited to the imperial treasury .