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= Eight Tigers = The Eight Tigers (Chinese: 八虎; pinyin: Bā Hǔ), sometimes referred to as the Gang of Eight (八党/八黨), were a powerful group of eunuchs that controlled the Chinese imperial court during the reign of the Ming Dynasty Zhengde Emperor (r. 1505-1521 CE).

Led by Liu Jin, the remaining members of the coterie were Ma Yongcheng (馬永成), Gao Feng (高鳳), Luo Xiang (羅祥), Wei Bin (魏彬), Qiu Ju (丘聚), Gu Dayong (谷大用) and Zhang Yong (張永).

Eunuchs in China
Eunuchs were often utilized in the imperial household as harem guards and attendants. The harems were considered necessary in order to help produce a male heir, and the eunuchs were trusted protectors[1].

Before the Ming Dynasty, eunuchs had long been a powerful political force in China. In the Tang Dynasty, from 821 until the dynasty's end, eunuchs were "the real power holders". They controlled the Imperial Guard and the Palace Secretariat, chose seven out of eight emperors, and possibly killed two emperors [2].

The first Ming emperor, Hongwu (1328-1398), was worried about the power of eunuchs. He erected a tablet that said "Eunuchs must have nothing to do with administration", and he worked to disempower them [2]. He warned, "Anyone using eunuchs as his eyes and ears will be blind and deaf". Despite these measures, many of emperors who followed Hongwu were more willing to leave ruling to the eunuchs, and the Ming Dynasty became the peak of eunuch influence [1].

In addition to close access to the emperor and his wives and concubines, they were often trusted with imperial sons. Oftentimes this trust extended to eunuchs being given command, as palace guards, military commanders, or imperial inspectors. They controlled the court's luxury workshops and managed the tributes from the provinces and foreign countries, and they were often made the heads of official missions abroad [1]. This power gave the eunuchs many chances to become rich through graft. They also eventually controlled the secret police, which meant they could control the nation through blackmail and corruption.

Emperor Zhengde ascended to the imperial throne in 1505, aged 14, after the death of his father.
From the early days of his rule it was clear that the young emperor distrusted government officials and was partial to eunuchs who took an active role in raising him.

The emperor’s inner circle consisted of 8 eunuchs who served him when he was still heir apparent and became his personal staff shortly after Zhengde began his reign.

One of the eunuchs, Liu Jin, who would emerge as the leader of the group, was put in charge of palace music in early 1506, putting him in position of control over the emperor’s entertainment. He excelled in this role, coming up with ideas for pastimes that proved to be much to the emperor’s liking.

Several groups within the imperial elites were alarmed with Liu Jin’s promotion and the group’s apparent influence over the young ruler and began plotting against the Eight Tigers.

Three grand secretaries, whom Emperor Zhengde inherited from his father, supported by the ministers demanded the group’s execution, while senior eunuchs insisted on banishment as a punishment that the Emperor would be more likely to consider. A joint plan was finally agreed upon and set in motion with a direct petition to the emperor, asking for Liu Jin’s execution and banishment of the other members of the group from the imperial court.

Liu Jin was notified of the plot by one of his agents and led seven other eunuchs to ask for mercy before Emperor Zhengde on October 27th, 1506.

The emperor heeded their plea and on the following day it was announced that he would decide upon their fate at his leisure. All but one grand secretaries resigned immediately upon hearing the news and a number of senior officials followed suit.

The plot was averted and most checks on the eunuchs’ power eliminated with it.

Liu Jin proceeded to retaliate against those who spoke out against him, leading to a string of dismissals, incidents of torture and imprisonments of a number of high government figures.

In February 1507 twenty-one officials who had protested the dismissal of the senior grand secretaries were beaten and reduced to the status of commoners.

By the end of 1507 very few in the palace were willing to challenge the reign of terror of Liu Jin and his fellow eunuchs.

Liu Jin 劉瑾 (1451-1510)
Born February 28, 1451 and died August 25, 1510. Liu was from the area of Xingping (County in Shaanxi). He was also the son from the Tan lineage. Liu Jin, along with seven other Eunuchs, became known as the “Eight Tigers” due to the way they terrorized the country. Liu Jin was named the leader of the Eight Tigers. His main objective was to Dominate Chinese government during the early rule of the Zhengde emperor. During the fall of his reign, officials were sent to execute him. During the house search, the officials found a total of 12,057,800 taels of gold and 259,583,600 taels of silver. Also, gems and a of false seals. Later on he was executed by death by a thousand cuts.

Zhang Yong 張永情 (1470-1532)
During Liu Jin’s reign, Zhang Yong was his right-hand in the battlefield and at home. Little did Liu Jin know, Yong planned to betray him and trick him into an assassination attempt against Emperor Zhengde. This is when Liu Jin’s reign was coming to an end and was assassinated thus placing Zhang Yong as the next leader of Eight Tigers. Yong had many evil attempts to set people up and cause mishaps himself. For example, the Great Rites Controversy. During his reign, in 1529, he was notified that an assassin Wang Yangming was spying on him. After hearing the news, he quickly went out on a hunt for this assassin. After defeating him with another member of the Eight Tigers, Qiu Ju, they returned to their land of reign. In 1532, Zhang Yong planned to let the Mongol Empire, along with Altan Khan, through the Great Wall of China. Little did he know, this is where he was going to be assassinated by Shao Jun.

Gao Feng 高鳳 (died 1526)
Not as influential as the other Tigers. But was given the opportunity of taking control of Gansu Province by the Jiajing Emperor. Later on gaining the Maijishan Grottoes. In 1526, Gao captured the last assassin left, Shao Jun, and threw her in one of his dungeons in Maijishan. Gao’s reason for this was to capture the Precursor Box that Shao has been holding on for the longest. After being disappointed at the fact that nothing was in the box, he left her to die in the cage. As soon as he left, Shao escaped. Soon after escaping, she spotted Gao Feng standing on a cliff overseeing his territory, without a doubt, she snuck up behind him and thrusted her sword through his heart from behind.

Ma Yongcheng 馬永成 (1468-1526)
Ma Yongcheng, aka. The Butcher was partnered up with Gao Feng in the capture of Shao Jun. When Gao captured her, he threatened her that Yongcheng was going to torture her to get answers out of her. Before it could get to that point, this is when Shao escaped her cell. During the assassination of Gao Feng, the mentor os Shao Jun, Wang Yangming hunted Ma Yongcheng and killed him.

Yu (Gu) Dayong 谷大用
Gu Dayong is known for working in charitable construction projects in Peking. In 1508, he donated a large bell to the Daoist Baiyunguan (White Cloud Temple), which had built a new hall. In 1510 and 1512, he restored the Southern Park's Lingtongmiao, the Yanfasi outside of the city's western gate, and the Huguosi (so that it could house Central Asian monks). He used donations from the emperor and the imperial family to carry out these projects, which seem to have been authorized and requested by the emperor. Gu Dayong also seems to have chosen at least one of his one projects, restoring an old temple in the far Western Hills, turning it into "a bright and glittering precinct" [3].

He was imprisoned after the death of Emperor Wuzong[3].

Qiu Ju 丘聚 (died 1530)
Gained the nickname “The Demon” during the Eight Tigers reign. Qiu Ju was most remarkable for his great fighting skills and cruelty. Sometime during the Eight Tiger reign, Ju killed off most of Shaanxi villages for payback the Prince of Anhaa uprising. After finding Dayong’s body, for revenge, Qiu Ju commanded that his men arrest the innocent people and engulfed the port of the city, Macau, in flame. Along Yongcheng, the two lured Empress Zhang into information. This caused a duel with Shao Jun and ended in the death of Qiu Ju.

Wei Bin 魏彬
Wei Bin is known for building the Hongshangshi. He used divination to find a suitable burial place in Peking's southern suburbs, and built Hongshangshi there in 1514. The land was officially endowed by the emperor, and the temple became known as Sir Wei's Temple. It was famous for its crab-apple orchards and other unusual trees [3].

Luo Yang (Xiang) 羅祥
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Resistance to the Eight Tigers
Li Mengyang's 1506 petition

Fall from Power
Liu Jin was betrayed by one of the Tigers, Zhang Yong, who convinced the emperor that the eunuch was plotting to overthrow him and install his own relative on the throne. After a subsequent search of Liu Jin’s estate evidence of large-scale corruption was found and he was arrested.

Liu Jin was tried in the emperor’s presence and sentenced to death through by a thousand cuts.

The execution of Liu Jin, which took place in 1510, greatly diminished the ability of the group to influence emperor’s decisions. The system built by Liu Jin which bestowed significant authority upon the eunuchs was swiftly dismantled by the government officials after his death.

After the death of Emperor Wuzong, many of the Eight Tigers were imprisoned.

Legacy
Confucian scholars viewed the eunuchs as usurpers, as they rose to power independent of the examination system [1].

Additionally, the imperial censors, who sometimes criticized powerful eunuchs directly to the emperor, viewed the defeat of Liu Jin as a victory for the strength of China's empire. In 1624, censor Yang Lien implored the emperor to impeach eunuch Wei Zhongxian in a letter which said that eunuchs must be kept from interfering in anything outside palace life. He mentioned Liu Jin: "Even such arrogant and lawless eunuchs as Wang Zhen and Liu Jin were promptly executed. Thus the dynasty lasted until today" [1].

Histories
In the histories, written by the Confucian scholars, eunuchs are portrayed negatively.

References in Popular Culture
Hang Kai, who was instrumental in Lin Jiu's removal from power, wrote many plays featuring Liu Jin, as they were both from Xinping.

However, the most famous play with Liu Jin, Famensi (Famen Temple), became popular during the Qing Dynasty, its earliest known record in 1845. This classic Peking Opera included the lines, "My last name is Liu, my first name is Jin… At age seven, I was castrated and entered the imperial palace two years later… I helped Emperor Zhengde ascend the throne". In the play, Liu Jin is a painted-face role (xiahualian), whose face is painted red to indicate Liu Jin's "rough characteristics and compelling power".

Famen Temple tells the story of a famous murder case. The murderers got away, and an innocent man was falsely accused, by Liu Jin ordered the court to be reviewed, which led to the punishment of the perpetrators. Throughout the play, he is decisive, but his decisions are backed up or checked by the Empress Dowager. The play thus portrays Liu Jin in a relatively positive light. Famen Temple is a famous classic opera, and was a favorite of Empress Dowager Cixi. It has a famous video recording from 1950 and a few popular audio recordings.[4]