A study of eunuch expansion of power in financial management in the late Tang dynasty of China

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K03140
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: History of Asia and Africa
• Research Institution: Sapporo University
• Principal Investigator: Takase Natsuko 札幌大学, 地域共創学群, 教授 (00382458)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 唐代宦官 / 唐代石刻史料 / 宦官家族 / 婚姻関係 / 埋葬地 / 内諸司使

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Collected and organized epitaphs of eunuch and their families, and organized previous studies. In the process of organizing, the role played by the eunuch's marriage was examined using the tombs of the younger sisters and adopted daughters of the influential eunuchs during the Hsiuan-tsung period, and the tombs of women of the middle and lower eunuch families. The research results could be published as a dissertation. Then, it was clarified that the burial place of the eunuch family changed depending on the time, and the result was announced at the symposium. Currently, we are preparing to write a dissertation, adding information on the place of residence and examining the background of the change in the burial place.
In addition, a table of eunuch who have been appointed to the finance-related palace commissionerships is being prepared, and the impact of the eunuch's jurisdiction over emperor's personal treasury is under consideration.

Free Research Field

中国唐後半期の政治史・社会経済史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

唐後半期において宦官が権力維持できた要因として、宦官が疑似的家族を作ることが挙げられるが、本研究では、婚姻関係による宦官勢力の成立には、妻や養女が欠かせないことを明らかにした。また、宦官の埋葬地について、本研究では、時期による分布状況の違いを明らかにした。この違いには宦官勢力内の対立と皇帝との関係が関わることから、唐後半期の皇帝権力の特色について新たな知見を提示できたと思われる。