Tong Guan

Tong Guan (c. 1054–1126), courtesy name Daofu , was a Chinese court eunuch, military general, political adviser, and state councillor to Emperor Huizong of the Song dynasty. In the classical novel Water Margin, Tong Guan is fictionalised as a corrupt government official and an enemy of the 108 Stars of Destiny.

Life and career Tong Guan began his military career under the mentorship of a leading eunuch general of the 1080s and became one of the few eunuch generals of the Song dynasty. Despite being a eunuch, it was written by many that Tong Guan had strong personal character and was in peak physical condition, with a long beard that was considered unusual for eunuchs. Emperor Huizong agreed, despite some protest by other ministers at court. In a secret alliance and mission of envoys across the borders, Tong Guan played a leading role in the agreement that was reached between the Jurchens and the Song dynasty to divide the Liao dynasty's territory (while the Song would ultimately obtain their coveted prize: the Sixteen Prefectures). In 1120, at the age of 66, Tong Guan was put in command of an army to begin the assault on the Liao dynasty's southern capital, Yanjing. However, the campaign was halted for a time when word came to Tong Guan's camp that a revolt had broken out within the Song Empire, Fang La's rebellion in Zhejiang. His army was forced to march several hundred miles south to Zhejiang in order to suppress this rebellion. After successfully quelling this rebellion, his army marched back north but was routed in battle. However, in the last month of 1125, Tong Guan fled across the border back to Kaifeng to deliver the ill-fated news that the Jurchens had begun an invasion of the Song dynasty. Tong Guan was made the leader of Emperor Huizong's personal bodyguard after the emperor abdicated the throne and fled from Kaifeng.

Tong Guan was later blamed for much of the disaster that befell the Song dynasty when the Jurchens conquered northern China. Emperor Huizong's successor, Emperor Qinzong, had Tong Guan executed.