The process of purification and pain of Chinese eunuchs

In order to become men who serve kings and non-monks in the palace, the eunuch must undergo the process of purification, ie, to remove the genitals, which is extremely painful.

According to Morning Post, Chinese history records state that the men in the palace before the Qin Dynasty (before 221 BC) and West Han (202 TCN - 8) were not necessarily eunuchs. From the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220) onwards, they were forced to cut off the genitals, becoming eunuchs to avoid arising relationships with women in the court.

The background of the eunuch may be those who are voluntary, who are fined, pay tribute, and are even cheated. Through the selection process, they were forced to be pure and officially become eunuchs.

In ancient times, there were two places that specialized in pure body surgery for men, the "Interior covered" in the palace and the "Body of the body" outside. Under the Qing Dynasty, "Kidney Picture Ti" is the name given to the part of the supply specialized in carrying out this process.

Picture 1 of The process of purification and pain of Chinese eunuchs
Stone statues describe the process of purification, also known as male genital resection in China.(Photo: Morning Post).

The teacher is the name of the pure practitioners. This is the profession of making money because the process is extremely painful and the death rate is very high, requiring high technology.

The main knife used to remove the genitals is made of gold and copper alloys to avoid infection, before using it, it must be sterilized. In addition, implementers also incorporate some other knives.

The process of purification requires the selection of weather because ancient medicine is still quite poor, not yet found an effective antiseptic. Therefore, people often conduct this process in the late spring and early summer, when the climate is mild and almost no flies and mosquitoes.

Before starting, the person who purifies and the teacher will have to sign a commitment before the presence of the witness. The pledge will clearly state that the pure body is completely voluntary, regardless of any risks or death after the body. The pure person must also pay a certain fee. Most of these people came from poor families, so they had to apply gradually for each year after entering the palace.

A few days before the surgery, the person who is not pregnant should not eat or drink to avoid urinary tract infections. When in the surgery bed, the monk does not numb the patient but only cleanses their genitals with hot chili soup.

According to the book "The Chinese Imperial Life", before carrying a child into an eunuch, the teacher will take a peeled chicken egg into its mouth, blocking it in the throat so it cannot be shouting out loud to start acting.

Because the genitalia is still able to grow or grow, euphoria after being introduced will be examined once a year. This process is called auditing . Many eunuchs have smells on the people who are not standardized by the body, causing urine to leak out.

Picture 2 of The process of purification and pain of Chinese eunuchs
The set of knives used in pure body surgery.(Photo: QQ).

The pure person will not show his throat, his voice will sound like a woman. In addition to the physiological changes, they gradually change psychologically. They lose their sexual instincts, feel their life seems to end, there is no longer any practical meaning.

Therefore, they often live with negative attitudes, and even actively abandon their plans, ideals and motivation.Most of the ancient eunuchs experienced such a depressing life . However, once they have a lot of money or hold some power in their hands, they will no longer live silently but become greedy, cruel and cruel.

Many people find it difficult to understand eunuchs about wives. However, Japanese scholar Terao Yoshio studied this problem and explained it by "psychological doctrine escaping loneliness" in his "eunuch" story.

He said that the eunuchs get married to get rid of the lonely mentality , they always have to look at the contempt of the people, so finding the warmth from the wife is also understandable.

The "wife" of the eunuchs is mostly female. The life of the royal court was isolated from the outside world so only women could give it to the eunuch.