The Tang Dynasty’s Precarious Revival

The mid-Tang period (780–835 CE) witnessed a desperate attempt at fiscal and administrative revival after the devastating An Lushan Rebellion (755–763). Emperor Xianzong’s reign (805–820) temporarily stabilized the empire through military campaigns against rebellious regional governors (jiedushi), but his sudden death—allegedly from poisoned “immortality elixirs” administered by eunuchs—plunged the court into factional chaos.

Two dominant factions emerged: the Niu Party, led by examination-graduate bureaucrats like Niu Sengru, who favored pragmatic compromise with regional warlords, and the Li Party, headed by aristocratic clansman Li Deyu, who advocated aggressive centralization. Their rivalry, compounded by eunuch interference, would cripple the dynasty.

The Cauldron of Court Politics

### The Niu-Li Factional War

The Niu-Li conflict (Niu-Li dangzheng) was as much about social identity as policy. The Niu faction, composed of jinshi exam graduates, represented “new money” meritocracy. Their gradualist approach sought to stabilize finances by tolerating semi-autonomous warlords while incrementally reclaiming power.

In contrast, the Li faction, drawn from old aristocratic families like the Zhao郡李氏, viewed warlords as existential threats. Their hardline stance masked deeper anxieties—the erosion of hereditary privilege by exam-educated upstarts.

Factional purges became cyclical: when Niu partisans held power, Li allies were exiled; when Li regained influence, Niu officials faced demotion. This instability paralyzed governance, as policies reversed with each regime change.

### The Eunuch Ascendancy

Amid bureaucratic infighting, eunuchs consolidated unprecedented power. As permanent fixtures in the inner palace, they manipulated emperors while bureaucrats came and went. The Li faction, with closer ties to the imperial household, initially exploited eunuch networks more effectively—until the eunuchs turned the tables.

A Reign of Terror: The Short, Violent Life of Emperor Jingzong

Emperor Jingzong’s reign (824–826) epitomized the court’s decay. The 16-year-old emperor, obsessed with polo and hunting, routinely humiliated eunuchs—whipping them for losing games or parading them naked before court ladies. His grandfather Xianzong had been murdered by eunuchs; history repeated itself in 826 when a conspiracy led by eunuchs Liu Keming and Su Zuoming stabbed Jingzong to death in a palace lavatory.

The coup collapsed when rival eunuch Wang Shoucheng installed Jingzong’s brother, Emperor Wenzong (r. 826–840), triggering a new power struggle.

Wenzong’s Reforms and the Road to Disaster

### A Well-Intentioned Reformer

Wenzong, unlike his predecessors, was studious and reform-minded. He:
– Restored daily court audiences (abandoned since 820)
– Dismissed 3,000 superfluous palace women and 1,200 idle officials
– Attempted to curb eunuch influence by promoting rival factions

Yet his reliance on eunuch Wang Shoucheng—Xianzong’s alleged murderer—undermined credibility.

### The Sweet Dew Plot (835 CE)

Wenzong’s advisors Li Xun and Zheng Zhu devised an elaborate scheme to eliminate eunuchs:
1. Divide and Conquer: Pit eunuch leaders Wang Shoucheng against Qiu Shiliang.
2. Decapitation Strike: Lure all eunuchs to witness a fake “heavenly omen” (sweet dew on a pomegranate tree) at the Left Guard Office, where hidden troops would massacre them.

The plan unraveled when General Han Yue, overseeing the ambush, panicked—his nervous sweating alerted Qiu Shiliang. A gust exposed hidden soldiers, and eunuchs fled with Wenzong as hostage.

Aftermath: The Eunuch Countercoup

The failed Sweet Dew Incident (Ganlu zhi bian) had catastrophic consequences:
– Mass Executions: Over 1,000 officials, including Li Xun’s family, were slaughtered in Chang’an’s streets.
– Imperial Puppetry: Wenzong became a eunuch prisoner, lamenting he was “less free than Zhou’s last king.”
– Dynastic Decline: The Tang never recovered. Eunuchs dominated until the dynasty’s 907 collapse.

Legacy: Why the Tang Couldn’t Break the Cycle

The mid-Tang crisis reveals three fatal flaws:
1. Structural Weakness: Fiscal decentralization empowered warlords, while eunuchs filled the vacuum of weak emperors.
2. Elite Fracturing: The Niu-Li schism proved meritocracy and aristocracy couldn’t coexist peacefully.
3. Violent Escalation: The 835 massacre demonstrated that once eunuchs controlled the military (via the Shence Army), even emperors were expendable.

Modern parallels—from bureaucratic infighting to praetorian guards—echo this cautionary tale of how institutional decay, when left unchecked, invites tyranny. The Tang’s tragedy wasn’t just its factions or eunuchs, but its inability to reform before the center could no longer hold.