# An Dehai > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/An_Dehai > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/An_Dehai.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Dehai > Source revision: 1355468814 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Chinese court eunch (1844–1869)}} {{family name hatnote|[An](/source/An_(Chinese_surname))|lang=Chinese}} {{Infobox person | name = An Dehai | image = Andehai.jpg | birth_date = 1844 | death_date = 12 September 1869 (aged 24 or 25) | birth_place = [Nanpi](/source/Nanpi_County), Tianjin Prefecture, [Zhili Province](/source/Zhili_(province)), [Qing China](/source/Qing_dynasty) | death_place = [Jinan](/source/Jinan), [Shandong Province](/source/Shandong), Qing China | known_for = Favourite of [Empress Dowager Cixi](/source/Empress_Dowager_Cixi) | occupation = Palace eunuch }} '''An Dehai''' ({{zh|s={{linktext|安|德|海}}|p=Ān Déhǎi|w=An Te-hai}}, 1844 – 12 September 1869) was a palace [eunuch](/source/eunuch) at the imperial court of the [Qing dynasty](/source/Qing_dynasty). In the 1860s, he became the confidant and favourite of [Empress Dowager Cixi](/source/Empress_Dowager_Cixi) and was subsequently executed as part of a power struggle between the empress dowager and [Prince Chun](/source/Yixuan%2C_Prince_Chun). Before becoming a eunuch, An lived in [Wanping Fortress](/source/Wanping_Fortress), near [Beijing](/source/Beijing). Empress Dowager Cixi regarded An as her favourite eunuch, and referred to him as "'''Little An'''" ({{lang|zh|小安子}}). Jung Chang writes in ''[Empress Dowager Cixi](/source/Empress_Dowager_Cixi%3A_The_Concubine_Who_Launched_Modern_China)'' (2013) that "Cixi{{'s}} feelings towards him went far beyond fondness for a devoted servant", and she was "clearly in love" with An.{{cite book|first=Jung|last=Chang|pages=84–86|title=Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China|date=26 September 2013|isbn=9781448191420|publisher=Random House}} In 1869, Cixi sent An on a mission to the Imperial Textile Factory in [Nanjing](/source/Nanjing), {{cite book|last = Rawski|first = Evelyn S.|title = Last Emperors: A Social History of Qing Imperial Institutions|publisher = University of California Press|date = February 5, 2001|pages = 466|url = https://books.google.com/books?ei=YH7nUPLZC9Ph0AHusYG4Dg|isbn = 0520228375}}{{cite book|last = Haw|first = Stephen G.|title = Beijing: A Concise History|publisher = Routledge|series = Routledge Studies in the Modern History of Asia|date = November 30, 2006|pages = 224|isbn = 0415399068}} to "supervise the procurement" of wedding gowns for [Emperor Tongzhi](/source/Emperor_Tongzhi){{'s}} wedding. On this trip, An travelled on the [Grand Canal](/source/Grand_Canal_(China)) with a conspicuous display of imperial authority. This was an open violation of palace rules, which prohibited palace eunuchs from leaving the capital without authorisation on the penalty of death, so as to prevent eunuchs from gaining too much power. When An and his entourage reached [Shandong Province](/source/Shandong), the governor [Ding Baozhen](/source/Ding_Baozhen) reported his behaviour back to the [Forbidden City](/source/Forbidden_City).{{cite journal |last1=Stent |first1=George Carter |title=Chinese Eunuchs|journal=Journal of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society |date=1877 |publisher=Kelly & Walsh, Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. North China Branch, Shanghai|issue=11 |page=165, 166, 168 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EgZB3cMK58sC&pg=PA165}} Led by Prince Chun, who disliked An, the [Grand Council](/source/Grand_Council_(Qing_dynasty)) ordered the execution of the eunuch. [Empress Dowager Ci'an](/source/Empress_Dowager_Ci'an) seemed to have supported the decision whereas Empress Dowager Cixi, who favoured An, did not intervene on the eunuch's behalf. According to one explanation, Empress Dowager Cixi was attending a performance of [Beijing opera](/source/Beijing_opera) at the time that the decision was taken and had requested not to be disturbed. As a result, An and six other eunuchs in his entourage were beheaded near the Ximizhi Spring in a [Guandi Temple](/source/Guandi_Temple_(Communist_Youth_League_Street%2C_Jinan)) in [Jinan](/source/Jinan). The other members of An's group, including his female relatives and a few musicians, were made slaves and banished to [Heilongjiang](/source/Heilongjiang) in the far northeastern corner of the Qing Empire. After An's execution, a bereaved Cixi had all of his belongings collected, and entrusted them to one of her brothers. One of An's friends, a fellow eunuch, laid the blame for his death on Cixi, and was promptly strangled to death as punishment. It has been suggested by historians including Stephen Haw and Jung Chang that An's execution was part of, and exacerbated, a broader power struggle between Empress Dowager Cixi and Prince Chun. ==References== {{reflist}} Category:Qing dynasty eunuchs Category:1844 births Category:1869 deaths Category:Qing dynasty government officials Category:Politicians from Cangzhou Category:People executed by the Qing dynasty by decapitation Category:People executed by the Qing dynasty Category:Executed people from Hebei --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [An Dehai](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Dehai) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Dehai?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.