The legend of Love; The Emperor cut his sleeve

In the late West Han Dynasty, “Emperor Han Ai” who owned the land at that time fell in love with a young man whom he met named “Dong Xian”, who was four years younger than himself and was also just a chamberlain serving in the palace. With his handsome appearance, Emperor Han Ai can’t help but fall in love with him and can’t resist. The Emperor loved Dong Xian so much that wherever Emperor Han Ai was, Dong Xian must be there as well just like Dong Xian was Emperor Han Ai’s shadow. According to the rules of the Rear Palace, apart from the emperor, any man who is not a eunuch cannot enter the Rear Palace, even the Prince who is a royalty. When the prince turned 14 years old, he had to go out and spend his life outside the palace as well. However, the love blinded Emperor Han Ai, so the emperor made Dong Xian an artificial eunuch so that he could be close to him both in his sleep and in his wake.

Even though Dong Xian already had a wife, Emperor Han Ai did not care and arranged for Dong Xian’s wife to live in the palace and build a residential building in the palace for him and his wife as well. Dong Xian saw that Emperor Han Ai Loved him so much, so Dong Xian became arrogant and forgot his roots. Dong Xian stroked the Emperor’s concubine as he pleased, and Emperor Han Ai acted as if he saw nothing because he did not like women. The only thing the emperor cared about was sleeping with Dong Xian.

Emperor Han Ai was passionately in love with Dong Xian and pampered him a lot. It was said that Emperor Han Ai and Dong Xian slept in the same bed. One day Emperor Han Ai woke up from an afternoon nap and saw that Dong Xian slept on his sleeve. With the fear that he would wake his lover up, Emperor Han Ai cut off his sleeve to let Dong Xian continue sleeping. 

Since then Dong Xian was drunk in power. Whatever Dong Xian wants, Dong Xian gets. His family members also serve in the palace in major positions. Less than a year, the power the Emperor gave to Dong Xian was gone. Emperor Han Ai died at 27 years old. Before the emperor passed away, he decided to give his throne to Dong Xian. However, when there was no emperor, Tai Hao staged a coup and seized the Royal Seal immediately. Tai Hao gave out orders to cast out Dong Xian and his family. Dong Xian and his wife suicided to escape guilt. Any money and valuables the late Emperor Han Ai had given were confiscated. It was the end of the legend of the love of the emperor who cut off his sleeves.

Are you guys having fun reading this legend? Everything in this world has its merits and demerits, as well as love. Let’s all have good love, be conscious of love, and not hurt anyone by using “love,” especially ourselves.