Forum:Collection of Q&A's to & from Rafe de Crespigny

=2 May 2010=

Question One:

 * In 185 A.D. twelve eunuchs were enfeoffed as full marquises, however so far I can only find 11!; Zhang Rang, Bi Lan, Duan Gui, Guo Sheng, Li Song, Zhang Gong, Xia Yun, Sun Zhang, Song Dian, Gao Wang and Han Kui. I really want to know the twelfth, but can't find it :-( I've searched through an online version of HHS using the Chinese symbols of Zhang Rang and the searchfunction of my webbrowser and then translate it with Google Translator :P, but in HHS 78/68 I could only find 11 names. I was hoping you could give me the twelfth name? And these Twelve Attendants, were they an evil faction like the ten from Sanguo Yanyi? And all serving Zhang Rang?

Answer by Rafe de Crespigny:
 * In Hou Han shu 78/68, page 2534 of the Beijing punctuated edition, the twelve marquises are listed out: Zhang Rang, Zhao Chong, Xia Yun, Guo Sheng, Sun Zhang, Bi Lan, Li Song, Duan Gui, Gao Wang, Zhang Gong, Han Kui and Song Dian. The one that it missing in your list is Zhao Chong, who was a close associate of Zhang Rang.
 * The search is made more difficult because Zhang Rang and Zhao Chong are listed only by their given names, so the list doesn't show up if you are searching for the full name of Zhang Rang.
 * I think this was the first time that twelve eunuchs were named as Regular Attendants - the highest rank possible, and close to that of a minister. Before this the limit seems to have been ten. The marquisates seem to have been a bonus.
 * I suspect it was indeed something of a clique, with Zhang Rang and Zhao Chong in the leading roles - they appear as the two main protagonists in the account of the eunuchs relating to this period. But "serving" may be too strong a term. There is a general tendency in the history to lump all the eunuchs together [except the "good" eunuch Lv Qiang], but they were individuals, and probably had each their own agenda.

Question Two:

 * And my last question is about Zhang Jue, in my opinion a very interesting character, I always liked him because I thought he defeated Dong Zhuo, a talented fighter, but in your latest book you said Jue was ill at the time of Zhuo's attack and Zhang Liang fought him instead. What made you change your mind on this? And are there any details on this fight?

Answer by Rafe de Crespigny:
 * As to Zhang Jue: we cannot be sure how much he took personal command of his troops - he was primarily the spiritual leader and instigator of the rebellion. It appears, however, that the initial victories against Zhang Jue were won by Lu Zhi, but Lu Zhi was disgraced because of the eunuch's slander. Dong Zhuo then took his place, presumably in the early summer, and attempted to follow up Lu Zhi's success. He was not successful - very possibly because the rebels were now concrntrated in a stronghold rather than spreading out across the field; and also perhaps because the imperial troops had lost some morale after Lu Zhi had been so badly treated. Then in the eighth month Huangfu Song was given command - basically replacing Dong Zhuo - but also bringing more troops with him. By this time Zhang Jue had been taken ill, so Zhang Liang was in charge of the defence, and he gained some success even against Huangfu Song and the larger army. It was not until the tenth month that Huangfu Song succeeded in destroying the final resistance, and by that time Zhang Jue was dead and buried - they dug up his corpse to desecrate it. Great stuff!! [I particularly like the "Capital Observatory" story: making a pile of heads [capital] high enough to see the capital, Luoyang!!!]