Early career

It is unclear when Dong became a court official, but it is known that early in Emperor Ai's reign (which lasted from 7 BCE to 1 BCE), Dong was a minor imperial secretary (郎, lang), and he was a colleague of the later-posthumously famous Confucian scholar Yang Xiong.

By 4 BCE, at the age of 19, he was an imperial attendant (侍中, shizhong) and the director of imperial equine operations (驸马都尉), fuma duwei. (In later dynasties, this became a title for princesses' husbands. That was not true during the Han Dynasty, and it is, in any case, clear that Dong did not marry a princess.) His relationship with Emperor Ai would allow him to suddenly increase his power and prestige.

Relationship with Emperor Ai and quick ascension to great power

Circa 4 BCE, Dong had by this point become a favorite of Emperor Ai's. It was described that whenever Emperor Ai visited places outside the palace, Dong would accompany him, and once Emperor Ai returned to the palace, he would attend to the emperor. Emperor Ai rewarded him with large sums of money. Dong's wife was given unprecedented permission to enter and leave the palace as she wished, and she set up a residence with Dong inside the palace. Emperor Ai also made Dong's sister an imperial consort (with the prestigious title zhaoyi (昭仪)), ranked just below his wife Empress Fu. The three members of the Dong family thereby spent day and night near the emperor. Dong's father Dong Gong (董恭) was made the minister of palace supplies and created an acting marquess (关内侯).

Emperor Ai further ordered the imperial architect to build a luxurious residence for Dong just outside the main imperial palace, Weiyang Palace. The residence was described to be so spacious that it was like an imperial palace. Emperor Ai also gave Dong the best weapons and the most precious jewels from the imperial treasury - so much so that what Dong used was even more precious than what Emperor Ai personally used. Further, imperial burial tools were pre-awarded to Dong in preparation for his eventual burial, and Dong's future tomb was built right next to Emperor Ai's tomb.

In 3 BCE, Emperor Ai became intent on creating Dong a marquess, but could find no good excuse to do it. At the suggestion of a member of his grandmother's clan named Fu Jia (傅嘉), a plan was hatched. In 4 BCE, informants Xifu Gong (息夫躬) and Sun Chong (孙宠) had, through the eunuch Song Hong (宋弘), reported that Liu Yun (刘云), the Prince of Dongping, was using witchcraft; as a result, Prince Yun was demoted to commoner status and committed suicide. Emperor Ai announced that the plot was reported through Dong, not Song, and then created Dong, Xifu, and Sun acting marquesses. Later that year, over Prime Minister Wang Jia's objection, Emperor Ai created the three of them marquesses.

A good number of officials tried to curb Dong's power by begging Emperor Ai not to overly reward him, and they suffered for it. There is no evidence indicating that Dong was behind the punishment of these officials; rather, it appears that Emperor Ai was personally offended that these officials attacked his lover and therefore punished them for it. The officials included:

• Zheng Chong (郑崇), the palace secretary general, who was arrested and who died while in prison in 3 BCE; the governor of the capital province, Sun Bao (孙宝), who tried to get Zheng released, was himself relieved of his post.

• Wujiang Long (毋将隆), the security chief for the capital Chang'an, who refused to transfer the weapons to Dong and was demoted to the post of security chief for the Commandery of Pei.

• Wang Jia (王嘉), the prime minister, who several times tried to prevent Dong from being created a marquess and being promoted; he was imprisoned and committed suicide within the prison in 2 BCE; Emperor Ai's own uncle Ding Ming (丁明), the commander of the armed forces, who was friendly with Wang and grieved for his death, was relieved of his post and returned to his march.

However, Wang Hong (王闳), an imperial attendant and grandnephew of Grand Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun, the step-grandmother of Emperor Ai, who also made similar requests of Emperor Ai, was not punished (because Emperor Ai was impressed by his bravery) but was also not listened to.

In late 2 BCE, after Ding's successor Wei Shang (韦尚) died of an illness, Emperor Ai made Dong, at the age of 22, the commander of the armed forces (大司马, da sima) - one of the Three Excellencies, along with the prime minister (大司徒, da situ) and the prime examiner (大司空, da sikong) - and the security chief for the capital. The edict read:

:Heaven gave you to be the helper for Han Dynasty. I know your faithfulness, and I hope that you can guide the great affairs of the empire and follow what is good.

The edict's wording followed that of the alleged wording of Emperor Yao when he passed his throne to Emperor Shun, and greatly surprised and shocked all who read it.

Despite his ascension to such great post, Dong continued to accompany Emperor Ai at all times in the palace, not handling the important matters that his post should have required him to handle. At the same time, his father Dong Gong was promoted to an honorary post while his younger brother Dong Kuanxin (董宽信) was made the director of imperial equine operations, succeeding Dong Xian. Many members of the Dong clan were made imperial attendants or deputy ministers.

Death

In summer 1 BCE, Emperor Ai suddenly died without an heir. Dong Xian, as the commander of the armed forces, was the most powerful official at court, but he was paralyzed by this sudden event. Grand Empress Dowager Wang took decisive action; she proceeded to Weiyang Palace and seized the imperial seal. She then summoned Dong, who was caught by surprise and was unable to act. Grand Empress Dowager Wang summoned her nephew Wang Mang back to the palace as well and transferred the command of the imperial guard from Dong to Wang.

Wang Mang then ordered the palace secretary to issue an article of impeachment against Dong, accusing Dong of failing to attend to Emperor Ai when he had been ill. Dong was prohibited from entering the palace, and was relieved of his post the next day. That night, he and his wife committed suicide, and were buried quickly. Wang Mang disinterred him to make sure that he was in fact dead, and then had him reburied within a prison. The entire Dong clan was exiled to Hepu (合浦, in modern Zhanjiang, Guangdong) and their assets forfeited to the imperial treasury.

生平

董贤是西汉御史董恭之子，姿容端丽，长相柔媚。刘欣任太子时，十五六岁的董贤初任执掌东宫宿卫太子舍人，并无什么要紧事务，刘欣登基后，董贤升为郎官，负责在未央宫殿下传报时辰，两年后的一天，刘欣在殿内远远看到当班的董贤怦然心动，便亲切询问董贤姓名，当场授予董贤黄门郎的官职，并让他坐在自己腿上聊天，自此汉哀帝和董贤便有了肉体关系。

哀帝很宠爱董贤，封他为驸马都尉，甚至升他为大司马，而他的妹妹因容貌与董贤不分伯仲，也被董贤送进宫来，第二日董氏也被封为昭仪，而哀帝顾念董贤家中尚有妻子，便让其回家与妻子相聚，但董贤誓死不肯，无奈让董贤其妻一同入宫侍奉。汉哀帝与董贤同起同坐，同睡在龙榻上。据说有一次，哀帝睡觉醒时董贤尚未醒，哀帝乃命人割裂衣袖起身，以免惊醒董贤，这就是男色典故「断袖」的由来。

哀帝赏赐了董贤很多财物，为其建造华府，又升他的父亲为少府，赐爵关内侯，董贤妻子父亲获封将作大匠，妻弟也当上了执金吾，等若干家人亦获任官职，甚至董贤家的僮仆亦受到哀帝赏赐。董氏家族迅速崛起，成为傅丁两氏之外的第三大外戚势力。

然而哀帝欲封董贤为侯，却遭丞相王嘉反对，认为「往古以来，贵臣未尝有此，流闻四方，皆同怨之」，董贤应该「千人所指，无病而死」。冲昏头脑的刘欣强行封董贤为高安侯，王嘉其后获罪，在狱中绝食二十馀日，呕血而死。王嘉死后，刘欣封董贤为大司马，22岁的董贤成为百官之首。

元寿二年（前1年），匈奴单于来朝，出席宴会，看见群臣中的董贤年轻，觉得奇怪，便询问传译，哀帝令传译回报：「大司马年少，以大贤居位。」单于信以为真，恭贺朝廷得贤臣。哀帝后来在一次宴会中笑望董贤，曰「吾欲法尧禅舜，何如？」中常侍王闳劝谏哀帝不宜有此想法，哀帝默然不语，从此冷落王闳，但以后也没有再公开提及此事。

西汉在汉哀帝和一个没有能力的董贤的统治下，国势更加衰弱。哀帝突然驾崩，令西汉朝廷手足无措，大司马董贤毫无政治经验，整日只知哭啼，太皇太后王政君立即召王莽回朝主政。汉平帝元始元年（1年），外戚王莽以太后名义把董贤赶出皇宫，又以董贤年轻为由，罢去他的大司马官职，当天董贤与妻自尽，年仅24岁。不久，无辜的傅皇后也被废为庶人，她不堪屈辱也自杀身亡。董贤死后，朝廷没收董家财产，家人被徙往远处。