Liu Jin

Liu Jin (1451–1510) was a Chinese eunuch who held significant power in the government of the Zhengde Emperor of the Ming dynasty from 1506 to 1510. He was part of a group of eunuchs known as the "Eight Tigers" who had been in the service of the Zhengde Emperor since his childhood. Upon the Zhengde Emperor's ascension to the throne in 1505, the "Tigers" were promoted, and Liu Jin emerged as the dominant figure in the government. He implemented a series of reforms aimed at increasing state revenues, which also led to a rise in the influence of eunuchs at the expense of scholar-officials. These reforms sparked unrest and opposition throughout the empire. In 1510, Liu Jin was accused of treason by his former allies and subsequently executed.

Liu Jin
劉瑾
Born	Tan Jin (談瑾) 1451 Xingping, Shaanxi
Died	1510 (aged 58–59) Beijing
Occupation	Eunuch
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	劉瑾
Simplified Chinese	刘瑾
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Liú Jǐn

Origin and rise to power

Liu Jin, born in 1451, was from Xingping County in Shaanxi province.^[1][2] Originally surnamed Tan (談), he was castrated as a young boy and adopted by a eunuch surnamed Liu serving in the Forbidden City.^[1][2] Known for his intelligence and eloquence,^[1] Liu Jin was assigned to serve the young crown prince Zhu Houzhao, son of the Hongzhi Emperor. In 1505, the Hongzhi Emperor died, and Zhu Houzhao ascended to the throne as the Zhengde Emperor. Unlike his father, the Zhengde Emperor favored the eunuchs, particularly a group known as the "Eight Tigers", which included Liu Jin, over scholar-officials.^[3]

Portrait of the Zhengde Emperor. National Palace Museum, Taipei

After the Zhengde Emperor ascended to the throne, Liu Jin was appointed to oversee the Bells and Drums Office (鐘鼓司; Zhonggusi),^[2] a palace agency responsible for ceremonial music and performances.^[4] He also gained military authority as a commander of the Beijing garrison, where he managed firearms training and operations—first in the "Division of Five Thousand" (五千營; Wuqianying) and later in the elite "integrated division" (團營; tuanying).^[2] He convinced the emperor that the decline in revenues was due to the incompetence and corruption of the officials responsible for finance. He suggested that they be checked and punished if found to be corrupt.^[5] The eunuchs of the Eastern Depot (the Ming secret police) were uncompromising in their demand for officials to fulfill their duties. For example, in 1505, they discovered that only 25,000 skeins of silk had been collected for taxes in and around Suzhou, instead of the prescribed 300,000. As a result, they ordered the Ministry of Revenue to arrange for the delivery of 50,000 skeins of owed silk every 10 days. Officials who did not comply with this command would be sent to prison.^[6]

In 1506, a group of high officials, led by the Grand Secretaries Liu Jian (劉健) and Xie Qian (謝遷), formed an alliance with high-ranking eunuchs, including Wang Yue (王岳), the director of the East Wing. This alliance was formed due to the fear of the "Tigers" rising in power. They agreed on a petition to have Liu Jin executed, although some of the eunuchs involved only wanted him to be transferred to the south. However, on 27 October, Minister of Revenue Han Wen (韓文) presented a petition to the emperor, requesting the execution of all eight individuals involved. Although the emperor refused the execution, he agreed to some form of punishment. However, Minister of Personnel Jiao Fang (焦芳) informed Liu Jin of the action against him, and the Eight were able to reach the emperor at the last minute. They convinced him that their critics had conspired to gain unchecked power.^[7] This enraged the emperor, who immediately promoted the "Tigers" to positions of power. Liu Jin became head of the Directorate of Ceremonial,^[8] and the eunuch allies of the Liu–Xie group were transferred to Nanjing, where they were killed on the way south.^[7] At the morning audience on 28 October, it was announced that the emperor had already made a decision regarding the eight individuals. The grand secretaries, except for Li Dongyang, responded by resigning. Four days later, Jiao Fang was appointed Grand Secretary.^[7] Other allies of the Eight were also secured positions within the Grand Secretariat. From October 1506 to September 1510, the eunuch-official alliance, led by Liu Jin, dominated the court. However, Liu himself was not well-educated, so he relied on capable ministers, such as Minister of Personnel Zhang Chai (張綵), to manage the country's administration.^[8] Among his allies were Grand Secretary Liu Yu (劉宇), Minister of War Cao Yuanjin (曹元錦), and the commanders of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Yang Yu (楊玉) and Shi Wenyi (石文義).^[9]

Reforms

As head of the Directorate of Ceremonial, the most influential eunuch office,^[1] Liu Jin's focus was on increasing the emperor's income, and he did so by implementing various tactics. For example, his agents would impose additional silver levies on mines in Fujian and Sichuan. They also engaged in salt monopoly by selling beyond official quotas, which often resulted in their own imprisonment when caught by officials.^[10] Liu Jin's ultimate goal was for the profits from salt sales to become the second largest source of state revenue, following the land tax. To achieve this, he employed a secret police force led by eunuchs to track down and capture salt smugglers across the country.^[11] He also used fear and intimidation to ensure that officials responsible for finance and taxes met their quotas, threatening them with heavy fines if they failed to do so.^[12] This often left these officials in a state of financial hardship.^[12] Liu Jin enforced the obedience of scholar-officials through brutal terror, but also struggled with the aversion of the other seven "Tigers", themselves powerful figures in the government.^[13]

Liu Jin's attempt to increase state revenue by raising the quotas assessed on military households caused widespread discontent in the borderlands,^[12] leading to a rise in banditry in the northern metropolitan area in 1509 and an open rebellion in 1510 that spread from Beijing to the Yangtze River.^[14]

In March 1507, a decree was issued that placed eunuch intendants in the provinces on equal footing with leading provincial officials, giving them authority over administrative and legal matters.^[10] This increase in power for eunuchs sparked strong opposition from officials.^[15]

While Liu Jin managed state affairs, the emperor indulged in pleasure. During one of his entertainments, Liu Jin presented him with state documents to sign, but the emperor dismissed him, saying he was only employing him to avoid the tedious task of reading and signing decrees. After that, Liu Jin no longer bothered the emperor with state documents.^[16]

Downfall

In May 1510, Zhu Zhifan, Prince of Anhua, led a rebellion in Shaanxi, taking advantage of the opposition to Liu Jin's reforms. In response, the emperor sent one of the "Eight Tigers", Zhang Yong, to lead the army against the rebels. Additionally, Yang Yiqing, an official familiar with local affairs, was also sent to Shaanxi. However, the rebellion was crushed by local forces before they even arrived. During the march, Yang Yiqing convinced Zhang Yong that Zhang was in danger of being overthrown by Liu Jin in a palace coup.^[17]

After returning to Beijing, Zhang Yong joined forces with the other six "Tigers". On 13 September 1510, they accused Liu Jin of treason, claiming he planned to assassinate the emperor and place his own great-nephew on the throne during the funeral of Liu Jin's recently deceased brother, scheduled for 17 September. Despite the emperor's initial reluctance to believe in Liu Jin's betrayal, he was finally convinced. The next day, Liu Jin was transferred to Nanjing and his property was confiscated. When the emperor saw the weapons and vast treasures that Liu had accumulated, he ordered his execution,^[18] despite Liu's claims of innocence.^[15] On 16 September, Liu Jin was arrested, and his three-day execution by lingchi, or "slow slicing", began on 27 September.^[18]

Historians have varying accounts of the size of Liu Jin's treasure. For example, Goodrich reports that it consisted of 300,000 liang of gold, 50 million liang of silver, and 20 bushels of precious stones.^[19] Meanwhile, Barmé claims that the treasure included 2.5 million liang of gold and silver, two gold suits of armor, 25 pounds of precious stones, 3,000 gold rings and brooches, 500 gold plates, and over 4,000 jeweled belts.^[20] Eberhard's account differs even more, stating that the treasure contained 57,800 pieces of gold, 240,000 gold bars (each ten times heavier than a liang), 791,800 liang of silver, 5 million silver bars (each weighing five liang), 3 bushels of precious stones, two gold armors, and 3,000 gold rings, among other items.^[21] One liang was equivalent to 37.301 grams, meaning that 1 million liang would weigh approximately 37.3 tons.^[22]

Liu's allies were removed,^[23] and his reforms were reversed.^[18] The reform documents were also destroyed, resulting in the failure of the only substantial attempt to change the administrative structure of the Ming dynasty and expand the emperor's direct control through eunuch officials.^[15]

While classical historians harshly criticize Liu's group, they did attempt to streamline the administration of the empire and prevent the decline of central authority.^[8] Despite amassing enormous personal wealth, Liu claimed to aim to prevent officials from serving their personal interests, anticipating similar efforts by Zhang Juzheng about seventy years later. However, the fact that these reforms were initiated by eunuchs sufficed for their rejection by the conservative bureaucracy.^[16]