中官打人—— 從寶曆元年（825）崔發案看暴力與中晚唐的士閹關係

Violence and the Relationship between Eunuchs and Literati in the Late Tang Dynasty: A Case Study of Cui Fa

本文以寶曆元年（825）宦官毆打崔發事件為例，探究在唐代社會文化情境，紛爭為何通過攻擊對方的身體表現，以及時人如何解釋肢體衝突引起的爭議，並說明「暴力」（violence）在中晚唐士閹衝突中的作用。這起事件中，宦官為施暴者，士人為受害者。文章嘗試將暴力事件脈絡化。首先梳理事件的經過、時間、空間、參與者等訊息，其次從相關文獻的敘事結構、宦官的形象、唐代的身份秩序觀念、朝廷的處理方式等四種角度，分析事件的意義。本文指出，唐代宦官將暴力作為溝通手段，藉以表達訴求、解決問題。而宦官作為毆打者，其身份的兩重性進一步賦予皇帝與士人詮釋事件性質的資源。對唐人而言，暴力不僅造成個人身體損傷和心理上的衝擊，也挑戰倫理綱常或是國家政體的秩序。因此，朝廷或士人往往透過政治、法律等手段，嘗試消除失序的狀態。

 

Eunuchs played a crucial role in the late Tang dynasty. However, most studies on the relationship between eunuchs and literati have neglected the performance of violence. To highlight the effect of violence, this article focuses on the event of eunuchs assaulting Cui Fa in 825 C.E. From the viewpoint of microstudy, this article explores why and how eunuchs attacked literati physically as well as how contemporary interpreted this distress. First, the author investigates the process, time, space, and participants of the 825 C.E. event. Second, the author analyzes the narrative of historical sources, the images of eunuchs, the idea of social order in the Tang society, and the solutions of the Tang court to the event. The result of this article indicates that eunuchs used violence as a method of communication and an expression of their demands. Furthermore, when eunuchs became attackers, the duality of eunuchs’ identity supplied the emperor and literati with resources to argue the essence of the attack. That is, violence not only caused physical damage and psychological impact but also challenged the order of ethics and the solidity of the empire. Therefore, the court and officials were eager to reconstruct the disorder through political and legal schemes. By contextualizing the representative case, this article contributes to our understanding of violence in the late Tang dynasty.