唐代藩镇宦官监军使选任初探

A Study on the Selection of Eunuchs as Provincial Army Supervisors in the Tang Dynasty

作为皇帝权威在藩镇的代表,藩镇宦官监军使是唐代宦官群体的重要成员.自安史之乱起,唐王朝在藩镇普遍设立宦官监军使,以更好地控制地方藩镇、维护王朝统一.藩镇监军使既是藩镇体制形成之后皇权在地方的延伸与渗透,又随着宦官权势的扩张,成为支撑宦官专权的重要一环.唐宦官之祸引起后世的警觉,而藩镇监军使也吸引了众多学者的关注[1].

Although no specific regulations have been found on the selection of provincial army supervisors,regular record can still be found in the epitaphs and stone tablets.The eunuchs appointed as provincial army supervisors for the first time were normally selected from the top eunuchs,who were above rank 5 in prestige title and dressed in scarlet or purple.Under the background that the original organizational structure of Neishi Sheng(Inner Palace Intendancy)was basically stable,the provincial army supervisors’prestige title was much higher than the functioning official generally because of the prestige title abuse in the Late Tang Dynasty.Most of the provincial army supervisors were over fifty,but the emperor’s favorites or the descendants of powerful eunuchs were much younger than their peers when they were first appointed.The individual differences reflected the contradiction between the arbitrariness of the imperial power and the rationality of the bureaucratic group.