唐 宣宗의 정국 운영과 宦官 문제

Abstract

The reign of Xuanzong was one of the last periods of revival in the second half of the Tang dynasty, which attempted political improvements during the decline of the dynasty. In order to strengthen the ruling power and maintain stable state management, Emperor Xuanzong first promoted the member renewal of the prime minister. In addition, by utilizing the anti-Li De Yu forces such as Baek Min-jung, basic conditions were established for the emperor-centered power management. Political stability and expansion of political power could be further consolidated by resolving the problem of the eunuchs, who played a decisive role in the process of Xuanzong’s enthronement. Xuanzong’s control efforts over eunuchs proceeded in the same way as measures against the prime minister. It was intended to weaken the solidarity within the eunuch forces by changing the selection of Hujunzhongwei and Shumishi by using the emperor's authority to appoint officials. In this process, the relationship between Emperor Xuanzong and eunuchs in the early days of the Dazhong period was generally stable. In particular, the activities of eunuchs confirmed in the process of dealing with the issue of Dangxiang around the 5th year of the Dazhong period and the success of policy implementation against the background show that Emperor Xuanzong’s control over eunuchs was effective at a certain level. Around the time of about eight years of the Dazhong period, Emperor Xuanzong’s attitude toward eunuchs becomes more strict. Emperor Xuanzong recognized that he had placed the eunuchs under his control. However, during the period of Dazhong, Emperor Xuanzong’s control over the eunuchs was not perfect. Control over the relatively high-status eunuchs was incomplete. The unsuccessful failure of Emperor Xuanzong’s efforts to control eunuchs has to do with Emperor Xuanzong’s perception of the way that the eunuch problem is handled. At that time, in a situation where the eunuchs were playing a role that accompanies the emperor's national rule through various activities, the way to solve the problem of eunuchs through military means was a method that was separate from the actual conditions.