Onkou (English spelling)

Japanese: 恩倖 - おんこう（英語表記）ēn xìng

In China, this refers to people who ingratiate themselves with the emperor and receive special favor and trust beyond their status. They often disrupt politics by intervening between the emperor and the public administrative institutions, and often use the emperor's authority to behave tyrannically. In the Records of the Grand Historian and the Book of Han, they are called neikou (a type of person who uses flattery to ingratiate himself with the emperor), and such people are collected in the Biographies of Neikou. Some are beautiful and receive homosexual favor, but generally they are found among the emperor's close aides, such as in-laws and eunuchs, or those who continued to serve as close aides before the emperor ascended to the throne.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

中国で，皇帝にとり入って身分不相応に特別な恩寵を受け，信任される人々をいう。皇帝と公的な行政機関との間に介在して政治を乱し，皇帝の威を借りて専横なふるまいをすることが多い。《史記》や《漢書》などでは，おべっかを使って天子にとり入る意味をこめて佞倖（ねいこう）とよび，〈佞倖列伝〉にその種の人々を集める。中には美しい容姿で男色的な恩寵を受けるものもあるが，一般には外戚･宦官などの皇帝側近や帝位につく前からひきつづき側近として仕えてきた人々の中から多く現れる。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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