The Disasters of Partisan Prohibitions refers to two incidents in which a number of Confucian scholars who serve as officials in the Han imperial government and opposed to powerful eunuchs, and the university students in the capital Luoyang who support them (collectively referred to by the eunuchs as "partisans" (dangren), are imprisoned.
Some are executed; some are released but lose their civil rights.
The first incident (in 166) is largely bloodless, but the second incident (in 169), which comes after the Confucian scholars Dou Wu (the father of Empress Dowager Dou) and Chen Fan are defeated by eunuchs in a physical confrontation, see a large number of the partisans lose their lives.
The restrictions on civil liberties imposed on the surviving partisans are not lifted until 184 when Emperor Ling is concerned that the partisans will join the Yellow Turban Rebellion.
