Li Lianying 李莲英
Li Lianying served at the court of Cixi for decades. He was known as the man through whom one could reach the Dowager Empress, and what he might do for petitioners was judged primarily on hearsay. In Tian Zhuang-Zhuang's film, the final years of the Qing are shown through Li's eyes, from those chambers of the palace where outsiders almost never set foot.
Little is known about Li Lianying's (李蓮英) early life. He is believed to have been born in 1848. He entered the palace to serve as a eunuch and became one of Cixi's senior attendants. His position rested on the empress dowager's personal trust. Li could bring a petitioner before her or pass on his request, and at a court where so much was decided in private conversations, the very chance to be heard was highly prized. What exactly his duties were and how much influence he wielded is still debated. Eunuchs were rarely mentioned in documents about official decisions, even when they were present at the discussions.
Many stories about Li circulated during his own lifetime. Later these tales found their way into memoirs and court novels. He was credited with secret involvement in affairs of state, with immense wealth, and with a love affair with Cixi. Such stories have little reliable corroboration. Li outlived the empress dowager. The year of his death is usually given as 1911. How he died is not reliably known.
In the series Mo Dai Huang Di (1988) he was played by Lau Gwok-Cheung. Li became the central figure of Tian Zhuang-Zhuang's Li Lianying, the Imperial Eunuch (1991). Jiang Wen plays the old servant recalling his life at court. Cixi, played by Liu Xiao-Qing, is attached to him, needs his help, and at the same time can order him to do anything at all. The film is built on this closeness and dependence, though in the historical records they are barely visible.
