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嗚呼，自古宦、女之禍深矣！ 明者未形而知懼，暗者患及而猶安焉，至於亂亡而不可悔也。 雖然，不可以不戒。 作《宦者傳》。 ○張承業
Alas! Since antiquity the harm done by eunuchs and by women has cut deep. The wise dread disaster before it shows its face; the foolish stay complacent even as ruin approaches—until the state falls and regret comes too late. Even so, the lesson must not be ignored. Hence this “Biographies of Eunuchs.” ○ Zhang Chengye
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張承業，字繼元，唐僖宗時宦者也。 本姓康，幼閹，為內常侍張泰養子。 晉王兵擊王行瑜，承業數往來兵間，晉王喜其為人。 及昭宗為李茂貞所迫，將出奔太原，乃先遣承業使晉以道意，因以為河東監軍。 其後崔胤誅宦官，宦官在外者，悉詔所在殺之。 晉王憐承業，不忍殺，匿之斛律寺。 昭宗崩，乃出承業，復為監軍。
Zhang Chengye, courtesy name Jiyuan, served as a palace eunuch under Tang Xizong. Born Kang, he was castrated young and raised by the inner attendant Zhang Tai. When the Prince of Jin campaigned against Wang Xingyu, Chengye shuttled among the armies; Li Keyong took a liking to him. When Zhaozong, harried by Li Maozhen, prepared to escape to Taiyuan, he sent Chengye ahead to Jin with his message and appointed him Hedong army supervisor. After Cui Yin purged the palace eunuchs, every eunuch still in the provinces was ordered killed on sight. The Prince of Jin spared Chengye and hid him at Hulu Temple. After Zhaozong’s death Chengye emerged from hiding and resumed the post of army supervisor.
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晉王病且革，以莊宗屬承業曰：「以亞子累公等。」 莊宗常兄事承業，歲時升堂拜母，甚親重之。 莊宗在魏，與梁戰河上十餘年，軍國之事，皆委承業，承業亦盡心不懈。 凡所以畜積金粟，收市兵馬，勸課農桑，而成莊宗之業者，承業之功為多。 自貞簡太后、韓德妃、伊淑妃及諸公子在晉陽者，承業一切以法繩之，權貴皆斂手畏承業。
As the Prince of Jin lay dying he entrusted Zhuangzong to Chengye: “I place Yazi in your hands.” Zhuangzong treated him like an elder brother, visiting each year to bow to his mother, and held him in the highest regard. For more than ten years Zhuangzong warred with Liang along the Yellow River from Wei; civil and military affairs all went to Chengye, who never slackened in his duty. The hoarded grain, the armies bought and trained, the fields urged back to the plow—most of what made Zhuangzong’s rise possible was Chengye’s work. Empress Dowager Zhenjian, the consorts Hande and Yishu, the princes at Jinyang—Chengye held them all to the law, and the great families learned to fear him.
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莊宗歲時自魏歸省親，須錢蒲博、賞賜伶人，而承業主藏，錢不可得。 莊宗乃置酒庫中，酒酣，使子繼岌為承業起舞，舞罷，承業出寶帶、幣、馬為贈，莊宗指錢積呼繼岌小字以語承業曰：「和哥乏錢，可與錢一積，何用帶、馬為也？」 承業謝曰：「國家錢，非臣所得私也。」 莊宗以語侵之，承業怒曰：「臣，老敕使，非為子孫計，惜此庫錢，佐王成霸業爾！ 若欲用之，何必問臣？ 財盡兵散，豈獨臣受禍也？」 莊宗顧元行欽曰：「取劍來！」 承業起，持莊宗衣而泣，曰：「臣受先王顧托之命，誓雪家國之讎。 今日為王惜庫物而死，死不愧於先王矣！」 閻寶從旁解承業手令去，承業奮拳毆寶踣，罵曰：「閻寶，朱溫之賊，蒙晉厚恩，不能有一言之忠，而反諂諛自容邪！」 太后聞之，使召莊宗。 莊宗性至孝，聞太后召，甚懼，乃酌兩卮謝承業曰：「吾杯酒之失，且得罪太后。 願公飲此，為吾分過。」 承業不肯飲。 莊宗入內，太后使人謝承業曰：「小兒忤公，已笞之矣。」 明日，太后與莊宗俱過承業第，慰勞之。
When Zhuangzong came home from Wei he wanted coin for dice and to tip the actors; Chengye kept the treasury keys and refused him. Zhuangzong held a banquet in the vault. Wine deep, he made his son Jiji dance for Chengye; when the boy finished, Chengye offered a jeweled belt, silks, and a horse. Zhuangzong pointed at the coin stacks and called to Chengye by Jiji’s pet name: “Hege needs money—give him that whole pile. Why offer belt and horse?” Chengye answered: “That is the state’s treasury—not mine to give away.” Zhuangzong sneered; Chengye blazed: “I am an old commissioner of the throne! I am not saving this vault for my heirs—I am saving it to make you king! If you mean to spend it, why ask me? When the treasury is empty and the army melts away, will I be the only one ruined?” Zhuangzong shouted to Yuan Xingqin: “Fetch a sword!” Chengye seized his sleeve and wept: “Your father entrusted you to me—I swore to avenge our house and state. If I die today guarding this storehouse, I die with a clear conscience before your father!” Yan Bao pulled him away; Chengye knocked him flat and raged: “Yan Bao—you were Zhu Wen’s man, Jin fed you honor, and you could not utter one honest word, only flatter and crawl?” The empress dowager heard and summoned Zhuangzong. Filial to the bone, he was terrified at the summons. He filled two cups and begged Chengye: “A drunkard’s slip will bring the Dowager’s wrath upon me. Drink this—forgive me part of the blame.” Chengye would not touch the cup. Inside, the dowager sent word: “The boy was rude—I have already had him whipped.” Next day mother and son came to Chengye’s door to comfort him.
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盧質嗜酒傲忽，自莊宗及諸公子多見侮慢，莊宗深嫉之。 承業乘間請曰：「盧質嗜酒無禮，臣請為王殺之。」 莊宗曰：「吾方招納賢才以就功業，公何言之過也！」 承業起賀曰：「王能如此，天下不足平也！」 質因此獲免。
Lu Zhi drank hard and treated everyone with contempt; Zhuangzong and the princes smarted under it, and the emperor hated him for it. Chengye seized a moment: “Lu Zhi is drunk and insolent—let me kill him for you.” Zhuangzong said: “I am recruiting talent to finish the work—your words go too far!” Chengye rose and bowed: “If you can be thus, the realm is already half won!” Lu Zhi was spared.
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天祐十八年，莊宗已諾諸將即皇帝位。 承業方臥病，聞之，自太原肩輿至魏，諫曰：「大王父子與梁血戰三十年，本欲雪家國之讎，而復唐之社稷。 今元兇未滅，而遽以尊名自居，非王父子之初心，且失天下望，不可。」 莊宗謝曰：「此諸將之所欲也。」 承業曰：「不然，梁，唐、晉之仇賊，而天下所共惡也。 今王誠能為天下去大惡，復列聖之深讎，然後求唐後而立之。 使唐之子孫在，孰敢當之？ 使唐無子孫，天下之士，誰可與王爭者？ 臣，唐家一老奴耳，誠願見大王之成功，然後退身田里，使百官送出洛東門，而令路人指而嘆曰『此本朝敕使，先王時監軍也』，豈不臣主俱榮哉？」 莊宗不聽。 承業知不可諫，乃仰天大哭曰：「吾王自取之！ 誤我奴矣。」 肩輿歸太原，不食而卒，年七十七。 同光元年，贈左武衛上將軍，謚曰正憲。
In Tianyou 18 (921) Zhuangzong had already promised his generals the throne. Chengye was bedridden; hearing this he was carried from Taiyuan to Wei and pleaded: “Father and son bled against Liang for thirty years to avenge Tang and restore the dynasty. The chief enemy still lives, yet you seize an emperor’s name—that was never your first vow, and you will lose the world’s heart. You must not.” Zhuangzong said: “The generals demand it.” Chengye said: “No. Liang is Tang’s murderer and Jin’s foe—the world hates it. Slay that great evil, avenge the Tang emperors, then find a Tang scion and set him on the throne. If any Tang blood remains, who could stand before you? If none remain, which man under Heaven could contest you? I am only an old slave of Tang. Let me see you triumph, then go home while officials see me out Luoyang’s east gate and folk point and say, “That was the late king’s commissioner”—would not we both be glorified?” Zhuangzong would not hear him. Knowing words were wasted, Chengye looked skyward and wailed: “My king chooses this for himself! You have ruined your slave.” He was carried home to Taiyuan, stopped eating, and died at seventy-seven. In Tongguang 1 (923) he was posthumously made General of the Left Martial Guard, posthumous name Zhengxian (“Upright and Lawful”).
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張居翰
Zhang Juhan
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五代文章陋矣，而史官之職廢於喪亂，傳記小說多失其傳，故其事跡，終始不完，而雜以訛繆。 至於英豪奮起，戰爭勝敗，國家興廢之際，豈無謀臣之略，辯士之談？ 而文字不足以發之，遂使泯然無傳於後世。 然獨張承業事卓卓在人耳目，至今故老猶能道之。 其論議可謂傑然歟！ 殆非宦者之言也。
Five Dynasties prose was mean, and the historians’ office collapsed in chaos; tales were lost, deeds break off midstream, and error creeps in. When heroes rose, armies clashed, and kingdoms fell—were there no counsels and no eloquence? Words failed them, and their voices died with the age. Yet Zhang Chengye alone stands bright in living memory—old men still tell his story. His counsel was magnificent—was it not? Hardly words one expects from a eunuch.
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自古宦者亂人之國，其源深於女禍。 女，色而已； 宦者之害，非一端也。 蓋其用事也近而習，其為心也專而忍。 能以小善中人之意，小信固人之心，使人主必信而親之。 待其已信，然後懼以禍福而把持之。 雖有忠臣碩士列於朝廷，而人主以為去己疏遠，不若起居飲食、前後左右之親為可恃也。 故前後左右者日益親，則忠臣碩士日益疏，而人主之勢日益孤。 勢孤，則懼禍之心日益切，而把持者日益牢。 安危出其喜怒，禍患伏於帷闥，則向之所謂可恃者，乃所以為患也。 患已深而覺之，欲與疏遠之臣圖左右之親近，緩之則養禍而益深，急之則挾人主以為質，雖有聖智不能與謀，謀之而不可為，為之而不可成，至其甚，則俱傷而兩敗。 故其大者亡國，其次亡身，而使奸豪得借以為資而起，至抉其種類，盡殺以快天下之心而後已。 此前史所載宦者之禍常如此者，非一世也。 夫為人主者，非欲養禍於內而疏忠臣碩士於外，蓋其漸積而勢使之然也。 夫女色之惑，不幸而不悟，則禍斯及矣，使其一悟，捽而去之可也。 宦者之為禍，雖欲悔悟，而勢有不得而去也，唐昭宗之事是已。 故曰深於女禍者，謂此也。 可不戒哉！ 昭宗信狎宦者，由是有東宮之幽。 既出而與崔胤圖之，胤為宰相，顧力不足為，乃召兵於梁。 梁兵且至，而宦者挾天子走之岐。 梁兵圍之三年，昭宗既出，而唐亡矣。
Since antiquity eunuchs have ruined realms—and the root runs deeper than women’s harm. Women tempt with beauty alone; eunuchs harm by many means. They serve at the ruler’s side and grow intimate; in heart they are focused and pitiless. Small favors win his mood, small loyalties win his trust, until he must believe in them and keep them near. Then they bind him with fear of rise and ruin and take the reins. Loyal ministers may fill the court, yet the ruler thinks them far from himself—not so reliable as those at his pillow and table. Those at his side draw closer; his ministers draw farther; his power stands alone. Alone, he fears ruin more each day; their grip tightens each day. His fate rides on their moods; peril hides behind the curtain—the “dependable” become the danger. When he wakes to the poison and turns to distant ministers against his intimates—move slowly and the rot spreads; move fast and they hold him hostage. Even a sage cannot plot freely: plans fail, action fails—until ruler and realm break together. The worst end in ruined states, the lesser in ruined men; rebels use the backlash to rise, hunt every eunuch, and kill until the crowd is satisfied. So runs the eunuch plague in the old histories—not once alone. No ruler chooses inner ruin and outer exile of his best men—circumstance piles up until he has no choice. A woman’s charm: if he never wakes, he is lost; wake once and he can cast her off. Eunuch harm—even repentance may not let him escape; Zhaozong proved that. That is what “deeper than women’s harm” means. Who would not take warning? Zhaozong doted on his eunuchs—and the crown prince was imprisoned. Freed, he plotted with Chancellor Cui Yin, who lacked force and summoned Liang’s troops. As Liang marched, the eunuchs dragged the emperor west to Qi. Three years of siege; when Zhaozong emerged, Tang was dead.
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初，昭宗之出也，梁王悉誅唐宦者第五可範等七百餘人，其在外者，悉詔天下捕殺之，而宦者多為諸鎮所藏匿而不殺。 是時，方鎮僭擬，悉以宦官給事，而吳越最多。 及莊宗立，詔天下訪求故唐時宦者悉送京師，得數百人，宦者遂復用事，以至於亡。 此何異求已覆之車，躬駕而履其轍也？ 可為悲夫！
When Zhaozong fled, the Liang king slaughtered seven hundred Tang eunuchs including Diwu Kefan; the rest were ordered killed empire-wide, yet governors hid many. Provinces defied the center and staffed their courts with eunuchs—Wu and Yue most of all. Zhuangzong recalled Tang eunuchs to the capital by the hundreds; they took power again—and the house fell. What is this but finding an overturned cart and driving it back along the same rut? A bitter lesson.
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莊宗未滅梁時，承業已死。 其後居翰雖為樞密使，而不用事。 有宣徽使馬紹宏者，嘗賜姓李，頗見信用。 然誣殺大臣，黷貨賂，專威福，以取怨於天下者，左右狎匿，黃門內養之徒也。 是時，明宗自鎮州入覲，奉朝請於京師。 莊宗頗疑其有異志，陰遣紹宏伺其動靜，紹宏反以情告明宗。 明宗自魏而反，天下皆知禍起於魏，孰知其啟明宗之二心者，自紹宏始也！ 郭崇韜已破蜀，莊宗信宦者言而疑之。 然崇韜之死，莊宗不知，皆宦者為之也。 當此之時，舉唐之精兵皆在蜀，使崇韜不死，明宗入洛，豈無西顧之患？ 其能晏然取唐而代之邪？ 及明宗入立，又詔天下悉捕宦者而殺之。 宦者亡竄山谷，多削髮為浮圖。 其亡至太原者七十餘人，悉捕而殺之都亭驛，流血盈庭。
Before Liang fell, Chengye was already dead. Juhan later became Bureau Commissioner in name only. Palace Commissioner Ma Shaohong, once given the Li surname, won real favor. Yet the men who framed ministers, sold offices, and hoarded power until the realm hated them were the emperor’s cronies—the inner attendants of the yellow gate. Mingzong had come from Zhenzhou to court and waited in the capital as a mere courtier. Zhuangzong suspected him and sent Shaohong to spy; Shaohong warned Mingzong instead. When Mingzong rebelled from Wei the world blamed Wei—few knew Shaohong planted the seed. Guo Chongtao had taken Shu; Zhuangzong, believing the eunuchs, turned against him. Chongtao died without Zhuangzong’s knowledge—the eunuchs killed him. Tang’s best troops were still in Shu; had Chongtao lived, would Mingzong have dared march on Luoyang without glancing west? Could he have calmly seized the throne? Mingzong’s first order was another empire-wide slaughter of eunuchs. They fled to the hills and shaved their heads as monks. Seventy who reached Taiyuan were seized and killed at Duting Post until the courtyard ran with blood.
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明宗晚而多病，王淑妃專內以幹政，宦者孟漢瓊因以用事。 秦王入視明宗疾已革，既出而聞哭聲，以謂帝崩矣，乃謀以兵入宮者，懼不得立也。 大臣朱弘昭等方圖其事，議未決，漢瓊遽入見明宗，言秦王反，即以兵誅之，陷秦王大惡，而明宗以此飲恨而終。 後湣帝奔於衛州，漢瓊西迎廢帝於路，廢帝惡而殺之。
Mingzong aged and fell ill; Consort Wang Shufei ruled within, and eunuch Meng Hanqiong seized the levers. The Prince of Qin visited the dying emperor; leaving, he heard lamentation, thought his father dead, and plotted to storm the palace lest he lose the throne. Ministers Zhu Hongzhao and others still debated; Hanqiong rushed to the sickbed, cried treason, and had the Prince of Qin killed—loading him with guilt so that Mingzong died in bitterness. Later, when Emperor Min fled to Weizhou, Hanqiong went west to meet the deposed emperor on the road; the deposed emperor despised him and had him killed.
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嗚呼！ 人情處安樂，自非聖哲，不能久而無驕怠。 宦、女之禍非一日，必伺人之驕怠而浸入之。 明宗非佚君，而猶若此者，蓋其在位差久也。 其餘多武人崛起，及其嗣續，世數短而年不永，故宦者莫暇施為。 其為大害者，略可見矣。 獨承業之論，偉然可愛，而居翰更一字以活千人。 君子之於人也，茍有善焉，無所不取，吾於斯二人者，有所取焉。 取其善而戒其惡，所謂「愛而知其惡，憎而知其善」也。 故並述其禍敗之所以然者著於篇。
Alas! Ease and comfort spoil every man who is not a sage—pride and slackness follow. Eunuchs and women do not strike in a day—they wait until pride and idleness open the door. Mingzong was no wastrel—yet even he fell prey, perhaps because he reigned too long. Most other rulers were soldiers who rose overnight; their lines were brief, and eunuchs barely had time to work harm. Where the worst happened, the pattern is plain enough. Chengye’s counsel stands noble and bright; Juhan changed one character in an edict and spared a thousand lives. The noble take whatever good they find in a man; from these two I take what is good. Cherish the good and heed the evil—that is “to love yet see the fault, to hate yet see the virtue.” So both are told here, with the causes of their ruin set down in full.