Overthrow of Oboi, 1669

Oboi emerged as the strongest of the regents appointed for the child Kangxi Emperor and used prosecutions, appointments and military influence to dominate the court. The execution of his fellow regent Suksaha removed an important rival.

Kangxi organised Oboi’s arrest in 1669 and subsequently reduced the punishment from death to imprisonment. The removal marked the emperor’s transition from ward of the regency to active ruler.

The first volume of The Deer and the Cauldron gives Trinket a comic and fictional role in the palace coup. The event therefore anchors the novel’s mixture of documented court politics and extravagant invention.