Empress Xiao Yanyan

Xiao Yanyan (萧燕燕) (953–1009) was a Khitan empress of imperial China's Liao Dynasty. Her Chinese name was Xiao Chuo (萧綽). She married Emperor Jingzong of Liao. At his death in 982, she became regent for her son Emperor Shengzong. She was formally referred to as Empress Dowager Chengtian (承天皇太后).

She commanded her own army of 10,000 cavalry which she stayed at the head of until she was over the age of sixty. Song Dynasty troops attacked the Liao in 986, but they were pushed back and later defeated in 989. She was known for her great skills in civil administration and retained great influence until her death.

Early life
Xiao Chuo was the 3rd child of Xiao Siwen (萧思溫), Liao's chancellor. She was said to be beautiful, intelligent and mature since she was a child. At a young age, she distinguished herself from her sisters by being very thorough sweeping the floors. Impressed, her father chose her to marry the new Emperor Jingzong as a consort. Soon afterward, she was given the title of empress; she later gave birth to Emperor Shengzong.

She came from the Xiao Imperial consort clan, who traditionally supplied wives to the Liao Khitan royal family, the Yelu clan. The Xiao clan was of Turkic Uighur origin who were Kitanized and they intermarried with the Khitan Yelu clan. This Xiao consort clan was totally unrelated to ethnic Chinese who had the Xiao surname.

Reign as Empress Dowager
After Emperor Jingzong died, Empress Dowager Chengtian took power at age 30 in 982, serving as a regent for her 12 year old son. She effectively ruled Liao until her death. At 30 years of age, she was young for an Empress Dowager who were typically middle aged women unlike her. Chengtian controlled Liao policy in military strategy and negotiations during the whole Liao-Song War.

The Khitan adopted the practice of using eunuchs from the Chinese and the eunuchs were non-Khitan prisoners of war. Empress Dowager Chengtian personally led the Liao Khitan army in campaigns against the Song Chinese during their invasion of Liao in 986 and defeated them in battle,     fighting the retreating Chinese army. She then ordered the castration of around 100 ethnic Chinese boys she had captured in China, supplementing the Khitan's supply of eunuchs to serve at her court, among them was Wang Ji'en. The boys were all under ten years old and were selected for their good looks. *The EUNUCHS AND SINICIZATION IN THE NON-HAN CONQUEST DYNASTIES OF CHINA
 * JENNIFER W. JAY
 * UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA, Canada
 * This paper was presented at the Asian Studies on the Pacific Coast Conference, June 16–18, 1995, at Forest Grove, Oregon, U.S.A. Research for this project was facilitated by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. (Although the link is to a forum, the paper is posted in its full length there since it is not availible online as it was never published. The following links are to papers and articles where the original paper by Jennifer W. Jay was referenced in the bibliography)
 * 5.Jennifer W. Jay. (1995), The Eunuchs And Sinicization In The Non-Han Conquest Dynasties In China, Asian Studies on the Pacific Coast Conference, June 16-18, 1995, at Forest Grove, Oregon, U.S.A.
 * "Eunuchs and Sinicization in the Non-Han Conquest Dynasties of China." Selected Papers in ASPAC 1995. Also reprinted in Chinese Culture and Education, Selected Proceedings of the 1995 Annual Meeting of the Chinese-Canadian Academic and Professional Society of Canada, Vancouver, 1995, pp. 25-41.
 * Jay, Jennifer W
 * University of Alberta, Alberta, Canada
 * Eunuchs and Sinicization in the non-Han Conquest Dynasties of China
 * [5] Jennifer, W. Jay. The Eunuchs and Sinicization in the Non-Han Conquest of China. A paper presented to the Asian Studies on the Pacific Coast Conference 1995. Not published.] Wang Ji'en (Wang Chi-en) fl. 983 was one of those Chinese boy eunuchs who were captured and subjected to castration by the Khitan because of him being good looking. He came from Dizhou (Tichou) which is in modern day Shandong. Wang was appointed to the palace domestic service and he was fluent in Khitan.

The History of Liao 遼史 described and praised Empress Chengtian's capture and mass castration of Chinese boys in a biography on the Chinese eunuch Wang Ji'en.

《遼史·卷一百九·列傳第三十九》

◎宦官○王繼恩趙安仁 《周禮》，寺人掌中門之禁. 至巷伯詩列於《雅》，勃貂功著於晉，雖忠於所事，而非其職矣. 漢、唐中世，竊權蠹政，有不忍言者，是皆寵遇之過. 遼宦者二人，其賢不肖皆可為後世鑒，故傳焉. 王繼恩，棣州人. 睿智皇後南征，繼恩被俘. 初，皇後以公私所獲十歲已下兒容貌可觀者近百人，載赴涼陘，並使閹為豎，繼恩在焉. 聰慧，通書及遼語. 擢內謁者、內侍左廂押班. 聖宗親政，累遷尚衣庫使、左承宣、監門衛大將軍、靈州觀察使、內庫都提點. 繼恩好清談，不喜權利，每得賜賚，市書至萬卷，載以自隨，誦讀不倦. 每宋使來聘，繼恩多充宣賜使. 後不知所終. 趙安仁，字小喜，深州樂壽人，自幼被俘. 統和中，為黃門令、秦晉國王府祗候. 王薨，授內侍省押班、禦院通進. 開泰八年，與李勝哥謀奔南土，為遊兵所擒. 初，仁德皇後與欽哀有隙，欽哀密令安仁伺皇後動靜，無不知者. 仁德皇後威權既重，安仁懼禍，復謀亡歸. 仁德欲誅之，欽哀以言營救. 聖宗曰：「小喜言父母兄弟俱在南朝，每一念，神魂隕越. 今為思親，冒死而亡，亦孝子用心，實可憐憫. 」赦之. 重熙初，欽哀攝政，欲廢帝，立少子重元. 帝與安仁謀，遷太後慶州守陵，授安仁左承宣、監門衛大將軍，充契丹漢人渤海內侍都知，兼都提點. 會上思太後，親馭奉迎，太後責曰：」汝負萬死，我嘗營救. 不望汝報，何為離間我母子耶！」安仁無答. 後不知所終. 論曰：名器所以礪天下，非賢而有功則不可授，況宦者乎！繼恩為內謁者，安仁為黃門令，似矣，何至溺於私愛，而授以觀察使、大將軍耶？《易》曰：「負且乘，致寇至. 」此安仁所以不克有終，繼恩幸而免歟？

Incomplete translation:

The Eunuchs Wang Ji'en and Zhao Anren

Wang Ji'en, a native of Dizhou 棣州. Empress Ruizhi (Chengtian) led a punitive expedition to the south [against the Song]. [Wang] Ji'en was taken by her as a prisoner of war. The Empress, for the public and private interests, captured nearly one hundred good looking (handsome) [Chinese] boys under ten years of age, took them to Liangxing 涼陘, and had them castrated, Ji'en was among them. He was intelligent, literate, and fluent in the Liao (Khitan) language.

The Khitan were a nomadic Mongolic people and originally did not have eunuchs as part of their culture before the Liao. When the Khitan founded the Liao Dynasty they developed a harem system with concubines and wives, which required eunuchs. The eunuchs were not Khitan and they came from two sources, all of their eunuchs were captured ethnic Chinese from the Central Plains. The Khitan captured Chinese people who were already eunuchs at the Jin court when they invaded of the Later Jin Dynasty. Another source was during their war with the Chinese Song dynasty, the Khitan would raid China, capture Han Chinese boys as prisoners of war and emasculate them to become eunuchs. The emasculation of captured Chinese boys guaranteed a continuous supply of eunuchs to serve in the Liao Dynasty harem. The Empress Dowager Chengtian played a large role in the raids to capture and emasculate the boys.

According to the "History of the Khitan Kingdom" and Song accounts, Empress Dowager Chengtian also openly had a love affair with a Han Chinese, Han Derang (Han Te-jang) 韓德讓 who served as a minister in the Liao court, and was rumoured to have a son with him, but the History of Liao contradicts these accounts. The Song ambassadors to Liao claimed that Han and Chengtian were originally betrothed to each other before she was "stolen" and married to the Khitan Emperor Jingzong. Han Derang came from a Han Chinese family surnamed Han 韓, who were close to the Khitan royal family and served the Liao from the time of Abaoji's reign. The Khitan had abducted the Han clan from Jizhou and despite being Han Chinese, they were thoroughly Kitanized culturally and linguistically and served the Liao Khitan loyally in military and political positions along with several other Han Chinese elite families who were Kitanized. The loyalty of the Han Chinese population of the Liao to the Liao Khitan rulers frustrated the Song Chinese. Khitan women from the Imperial consort clan were given to the men of the Chinese Han family for marriage. Although accounts of the love affair may have been Song propaganda at smearing her name, Han Derang was favored by Chengtian and "became the most powerful individual in the Liao empire", and he fought for the Liao against the Song Chinese in battle.

Han Chinese previously were governed by Chinese Tang dynasty law while the Khitan were governed by Khitan custmary law, Chengtian abolished this difference and judged all Liao subjects according to Chinese law. Chengtian arranged for captured Chinese military officers like Wang Jizhong, who were skilled and knowledgeable to serve the Liao government as officials.

Modern References
A 1995 Chinese movie Great Liao's Empress Dowager (大遼太后) produced by Liaoning Film Studio stars Mu Qing as Xiao Yanyan. She is also portrayed as an antagonist in many Generals of the Yang Family adaptations, as well as one in the 2009 Korean television series Empress Cheonchu (천추태후/千秋太后).