The last Eunuch

This is a Qing Dynasty Eunuch and he's the last eunuch on earth.
he is dead by then.

Eunuchs are basically castrato, male who had their genitalia castrated. It is a practice not limited only to the Chinese society but also noted in Europe, Persia and India since antiquity.
At the beginning, the eunuchs that served in Chinese court exist from as a result of the crime and punishment system. 
Kung-hsing, the Chinese term for castration, meant palace punishment.
In addition, some of the eunuchs come from barbarian tribes and defeated foreign enemies of the kingdom. As luxury of court increase, and poverty in the populace became widespread, more and more of the peasants castrate either themselves or their sons as a means of economical survival. 
As time evolves especially with the growing size of the imperial court; the recruitments of eunuchs became institutionalized.
‘Specialist’ outside the imperial palace operated on those potential eunuchs, who were guaranteed by others. The fees for these in the Qing dynasty was 6 taels, which most of them can’t pay and had to be deducted from their salary. 

In terms of the operation itself, once an absolute consent was given, the patient was seated in a semi-reclining position, crouch-like while his waist and legs were firmly held down. The abdomen and upper thighs were tightly bound with bandages, and the operated area cleaned with hot water. With a small, slightly curved blade, the ‘specialist’ will cut off both the testis and the penis. A plug inserted into the urethra.


These operations were generally successful. Fatalities range among 1 in 1000, to 1 in 10,000; primarily due to infection and urine blockage. The severed part are known as ‘pao’ or treasure and is kept by the eunuchs and have to be presented to the head eunuchs as part of the entry examination into the palace. In addition, most eunuchs kept their ‘pao’ on the top of cupboard signifying ‘pao pao kao shen’ and have it buried together when they die so that they can be a whole person in the next life.  

After the castration, the eunuchs underwent a change of voice becoming like a girl and more of a falsetto during adulthood. They lose their beards and they often suffer from bed-wetting, leading to the description of ‘smelly like a lao kung (eunuch)’.
In addition to these, the loss of their testosterone, leads to a fattish appearance and loss of weight and strength in most. Psychologically, the loss of their sexual organs leads to the perception that they are incomplete, eunuchs are really sensitive to any criticism of their appearance or defects, and tend to be rather petty and argumentative. 

the eunuch certificate.

Not heaven but women and eunuchs Bring misfortunes to mankind Wives and those without balls Bleat with similar voices
- Book of Odes
 
Since time memorial, the Chinese people especially since the advent of Confucianism, demands strict moral purity among its womenfolk. This combined with the necessity of Chinese kings and emperors to produce male heirs, which in turn require a huge presence of a royal harem, effectively created and demanded the presence of the most elusive of Chinese political animals --- the Chinese eunuchs.
The access and influence that the eunuchs enjoy with the emperor enables them to enjoy certain power and privileges via the emperor's supreme power. When combined with the false belief that the castrato, being one who's unable to sire a child, would therefore be not ambitious, having no personal empire to build, leads to the usage of eunuch in palace and then administrative affairs, something that would be repeatedly be abused by eunuchs who built alliances and personal fiefdom of power.
Certainly, the potential of corruption and abuse of power among the eunuchs are well-known, and there exists a ‘separation of power’ between the inner and outer courts. In many dynasties, eunuchs are forbidden to leave the palace, and also forbidden to have inputs into the matter of the administration of the nation, a task of the mandarins. 

During the Ming dynasty, Zhu Yuan Zhang (Emperor Hongwu) had this engraved on an iron tablet in front of the palace: “Eunuchs are forbidden to interfere with government affairs. Those who attempt to do so will be subjected to capital punishment.”
He had this further to say about eunuchs: “Not one or two of these people out of thousands are good. Those who are evil frequently number thousands. If they are employed as ears or eyes, then the ears and eyes are covered. If they are employed as the heart and bowel, then the heart and bowels will be sick. The way to control them is to make them fear the laws and not permit them to have merit. If they have merit, them they will be arrogant and lustful.” 

These lessons however are not learned by all, and if learned, never deep enough to prevent the rot from setting in, with increasing number and power of the eunuchs through the generations. At its peak, the total numbers of eunuch employed by the Ming imperial government numbers approximately 100,000 at the end of the Ming dynasty.


“These two can neither be taught nor controlled- palace women and eunuchs”Confucius, Book of Odes.


After  reading this,i thank god that im living in the 21st Century.At least my brother and friends don't have to go through all this unnecessary things.


going to sleep soon!
thanks to aunt Cecilia that told me about the last eunuch thing because i was questioning her.
How does a eunuch private part looks like?
then she said go see pictures la.the last eunuch did took off his pants and let everyone to take a picture and this happens hundred years ago!
but in Forbidden City,China.They still do have the enlarged pic of this and a clearer explanation.

Nights world and Happy Raya!

Loves,Siaueikwei