Disasters of Partisan Prohibitions

The Disasters of the Partisan Prohibitions (黨錮之禍) refers to two incidents in which a number of Confucian scholars who served as officials in the Han imperial government and opposed to powerful eunuchs, and the university students in the capital Luoyang who supported them (collectively referred to by the eunuchs as "partisans" (黨人, dangren), were imprisoned. Some were executed; some were released but lost their civil rights. The first incident (in 166) was largely bloodless, but the second incident (in 169), which came after the Confucian scholars Dou Wu (the father of Empress Dowager Dou) and Chen Fan were defeated by eunuchs in a physical confrontation, saw a large number of the partisans lose their lives. The restrictions on civil liberties imposed on the surviving partisans were not lifted until 184 when Emperor Ling was concerned that the partisans would join the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

The root of the first Disaster of the Partisan Prohibitions came perhaps in 159, when, with the support of five powerful eunuchs, Emperor Huan was able to overthrow the yoke of the domineering Liang Ji, the brother of both his former regent Empress Dowager Liang and his wife Empress Liang Nüying, in a coup d'état. He put the five eunuchs and their associates into powerful positions, and these eunuchs and their supporters became extremely corrupt. As a result, a number of Confucian officials who served in the imperial administration began a conscious effort to form a coalition to drive out the influence of the eunuchs. In the realm of public opinion, they were supported by university students in the capital, who admired them greatly and adored them as heroes against eunuch domination. For several years, there was somewhat of balance and counterbalance of power at court; at times the officials would successfully accuse the eunuchs of wrongdoing, and those accused eunuchs would lose power; at times the officials would be unsuccessful and instead be driven out of government by the eunuchs.

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