Which dynasty did eunuchs originate from?
The origin of eunuchs
Eunuch, also known as eunuch, was an official who lost sexual ability after castration in ancient China and served emperors, monarchs and their families. Also known as temple people, eunuchs (choosing sons), eunuchs, officials, middle officials, internal officials, internal ministers, internal servants, internal supervisors and so on. Tang Gaozong changed the palace province to the imperial palace, and took eunuchs as eunuchs, with less supervision. Later eunuchs were also called eunuchs.
The eunuch system in the pre-Qin period originated from the pre-Qin period, and there are records about eunuchs in The Book of Songs, Zhou Li and Li Ji. Most of the Zhou Dynasty and vassal states set eunuchs. Lao Ai, the eunuch of the State of Qin, won the favor of the Empress Dowager, and was so powerful that he was named as a long letter Hou. Eunuchs are generally held by people with humble status. Its source is either filled by criminals sentenced to imprisonment or selected from the children of the people. After Qin and Han Dynasties, the eunuch system became more detailed. As a special political force, eunuchs had a great influence on the political situation of many dynasties.
After Qin Shihuang unified the six countries, eunuchs were under the jurisdiction of Shaofu. In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, Liu Bang, Emperor Gaozu, occasionally used literati to serve eunuchs in view of the lessons of Qin's death. After Yuan Di, eunuch power recovered. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, eunuchs were regular attendants of the emperor. They delivered imperial edicts, took charge of documents and influenced what the emperor saw and heard. At that time, consorts were powerful, and emperors often used eunuchs to contain consorts, which often led to the dictatorship of eunuch groups.
During the Tang and Song Dynasties, eunuchs were managed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ye Ting Bureau, the Palace Office, the Xiguan Bureau, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In charge of palace books, doormen, illness and funeral, warehouse confession and other affairs. The formal address of directors is Mu or Cheng. During the reign of Emperor Taizong, there were strict restrictions on eunuchs. The highest rank of eunuchs in the Ministry of Internal Affairs was third class, and the number was also limited. After Taizong's death, the system was gradually relaxed. During the reign of Emperor Zhongzong, the total number of eunuchs increased to 3,000, and as many as 1000 people were sealed as seven or more. During the reign of Xuanzong, there were many eunuchs, only four or five products, and there were more than 1000 people. Many people have conferred the title of left (right) supervisor with regulations. After the Anshi Rebellion, the eunuch power expanded, and some even became princes, ranking third. Some eunuchs also got their hands on military power. During the period of Su Zong, a military attache was appointed, and the official in charge of eunuchs was appointed as the highest military post to supervise the generals. Since the Dezong dynasty, eunuchs have mastered the military power of the imperial army such as Shence Army and Tianwei Army. Eunuchs hold important positions in the army, such as protecting the army and soldiers. Because the military and political power is controlled by the eunuch group, not only the civil and military officials are subordinate to it, but even the abolition of the emperor is decided by them. Of the nine emperors who ascended the throne from Xianzong to Zhaozong, seven were supported by eunuchs and two were killed by eunuchs. Eunuch's autocracy became a serious problem in the middle and late Tang Dynasty. The Song Dynasty also set up an internal affairs office, which was run by eunuchs. However, the phenomenon of eunuchs interfering in politics in Song Dynasty was not as serious as that of consorts.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, had strict management over eunuchs, stipulated that eunuchs could not read, lowered their rank, prohibited them from holding civil and military titles such as foreign minister, and hung iron plates on the palace door as a warning not to interfere in politics. Since Yongle dynasty, eunuchs have been gradually reused. Eunuchs close to the emperor were often sent to patrol the sea and served as prison officers. In the 18th year of Yongle (1420), the East Factory was set up, run by eunuchs, engaged in espionage activities, and reported everything directly to the emperor. When Xuanzong proclaimed himself emperor, he changed the ancestral system that eunuchs could not read books and set up an inner library in the palace. The official taught the little eunuch to read. In the 13th year of Chenghua (1477), a west factory was set up outside the east factory, with eunuchs as the magistrate, and the spy rule was strengthened. In addition, the official positions of eunuchs have been expanded, and there are 12 inspectors in the court, including Li Si, Neiguan, Imperial, Division and Imperial Horse. There are four divisions, such as salary, bell and drum, treasure money and mixed hall, and eight bureaus, such as silver workers, which are collectively called twenty-four yamen, each with a full-time handprint eunuch. The number of eunuchs soared, reaching tens of thousands by the end of the Ming Dynasty. During the Yingzong period, Wang Zhen, the eunuch in power, recruited some bureaucrats as cronies and formed a eunuch party, which initiated the eunuch dictatorship in the Ming Dynasty. Since then, eunuchs have been troubled. Wang Zhi in Chenghua, Liu Jin in Wuzong and Wei Zhongxian in Xizong. In the ruling and opposition, they are all powerful officials. They were overbearing, excluded dissidents, raided and blackmailed, and were repeatedly imprisoned, which aggravated the political corruption in the Ming Dynasty and brought endless disasters to the people.
In view of the serious harm caused by eunuchs in Ming Dynasty, the rulers of Qing Dynasty took some restrictive measures. In the early Qing dynasty, eunuchs were under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and were specifically managed by the respect room. The pilgrimage room, also known as the palace supervision room, has two positions: general manager and deputy general manager. When Kangxi was in charge of eunuchs, it was five products, and it was changed to four products when Yongzheng was in charge. Cut the Ming dynasty? What are the 24 yamen for? Thirteen yamen? The number of people has been greatly reduced. There were more than 1000 eunuchs in Shunzhi, which increased to 3,000 in Qianlong period until the end of Qing Dynasty. The rise and fall of eunuchs is decided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. If a eunuch breaks the law, the Ministry of Internal Affairs can take it first and then beat it. In particular, it is forbidden to interfere in politics. The emperor shunzhi imitated Zhu Yuanzhang's old system and erected a cast iron monument in the Jiaotai Hall, expressly stipulating that all illegal acts would be executed in that year. These measures have been well implemented. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, although the eunuchs favored by Empress Dowager Cixi, such as An Dehai and Li, were repeatedly banned, courtiers looked askance, but there was no phenomenon of eunuch autocracy in Han, Tang and Ming Dynasties.
How was the eunuch castrated?
Ancient books in past dynasties generally record the specific situation of castration. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, some Europeans who came to China became interested in the palace culture of China, which was different from the West, and described the castration operation in detail. However, these descriptions are mostly hearsay, far less detailed than the memories of court eunuchs based on personal experiences in the late Qing Dynasty, and their reliability is also questionable. According to the memory of eunuchs in the late Qing Dynasty, there were two famous families of castration in Beijing. Factory? : 1. Gaby, accounting department hutong in Nanchang Street; The other is the brick alley outside Di 'anmen? Xiao Dao Liu? . The host is a family heirloom recognized by the imperial court. Six products are worn on it, saying? Knife maker? . It is said that these two families have their own unique skills, but their skills have never been exposed, just passed down from generation to generation.
Cleanliness needs to choose the right season, preferably late spring and early summer. The temperature is not high or low, and there are no flies and mosquitoes, because the lower body can't wear clothes for about a month after surgery. Before the operation, people who clean themselves need to go through the necessary procedures, the key of which is to conclude a life and death document, and invite three seniors and four schoolmates as referees to declare their willingness to clean themselves, regardless of life and death, so as to avoid future troubles and lawsuits. Of course, there is a charge, but most of the clean bodies are from poor families, and they may not get a lot of money for a while, and then make friends year after year after they get rich in the palace. These also need to be clearly written in the document. But there are two things you must bring. One is a gift for the knife maker, usually a pig's head or chicken, plus a bottle of wine. Second, the items used in the operation include 30 kilograms of rice, several baskets of corn cob, several loads of sesame stalks and half a knife of enough paper. Among them, rice is a month's ration for clean people, corn cobs are used for heating, sesame stalks are burned to ashes and then put on the kang, and window paper is used to paste the windows to avoid catching the wind after the operation. Knife maker should prepare two fresh pig gall, stinky hemp soup and straw. Pig bile has the function of reducing swelling and relieving pain, and is applied to the wound after operation; Smelly hemp soup has many functions. Drinking a bowl before operation is confusing and plays an anesthetic role. Drinking after operation can make the operator diarrhea, thus reducing the urine excretion and ensuring the success of the operation. The function of straw is self-evident, that is, it is inserted into urethra after operation.
During the operation, in addition to the surgeon, three or four assistants are generally needed. Castrated people need to lie on their backs in a semi-recumbent position. Several assistants tied and fixed his lower abdomen and upper thigh with white cloth, and then someone was responsible for pressing his waist and abdomen, and someone used it. Chili soup? Clean and disinfect the castrated part. The scalpel for castration is a sickle-shaped curved sharp blade. It is said that it is made of gold and copper alloy, which can prevent postoperative infection. However, there is usually no special disinfection measures when using it. It is sterilized by baking on a fire. After all this is done, the surgeon will cut off the penis and scrotum of the castrated person with a sickle-shaped curved blade, usually in two steps:
The first step is to cut the testicles. Cut a deep hole in the left and right sides of the balloon, cut the tendon and squeeze out the testicles. This requires the eunuch to straighten his body and bulge his stomach. The testicles will be squeezed out with all their strength, and the knife maker will stick a pig gall on the left and right sides of the balloon.
Step two, cut the penis. This requires quite high technology. If you cut it shallow, you will leave more potential. In the future, the fragile bones inside will bulge out, so we must make up the second knife, which is commonly known in the palace? Brush stubble? ; If cut deeply, it will collapse after healing in the future, forming a pit shape, and it will be fan-shaped when urinating, which will make life inconvenient. Nine out of ten eunuchs in the palace have the problem of urine crotch, which is the sequela of castration. After the penis is cut off, a barley straw should be inserted, and the other pig gall should be split and applied to the wound in a butterfly shape. It is said that some people also insert a suppository-shaped pewter needle into the urethra and cover the wound with paper soaked in cold water. This is probably the technical difference between different cleaning sites.
After the operation, the castrated person must walk indoors for two to three hours with the help of one person, and then he can rest on his back. Three days after the operation is the hardest time for the castration. During these three days, they were lying on the special door panel, their hands and legs were firmly tied by locks, and they could not move at all. The main purpose is to avoid contact with the wound to avoid infection. There is also a small hole with a trap in the middle of the door panel to facilitate defecation. At that time, there was no good analgesic and anti-inflammatory means. In order to avoid wound infection, it is forbidden to drink water, which is an abnormal pain. After three days, you can urinate by pulling out the gray needle or straw, and the operation is successful. However, the suffering is not over yet, and the most important thing is to pat your legs. Every time you slap, your heart is broken, your liver is broken, and your whole body is shaking, but castration is necessary, otherwise it may lead to rickets, and you can't stand up straight all your life, so you can only endure this severe pain. The aftercare period will take about 100 days.
Every castrated man has experienced painful torture without exception. This process is so cruel and painful that castrated people will remember it all their lives. Memories of eunuch Ma Deqing in late Qing Dynasty: There were no anesthetics, no needles, no hemostatic drugs. How painful it would be to press a lively child there and cut off his deadly organs from him! One pulse leads to the heart, so distressed that I almost jumped out of my mouth? After the operation, a tube should be inserted into the urethra, otherwise the granulation will die and the urine will not come out, and a second operation is needed. Later, people who know this method said that after cutting that thing, the wound can't scar quickly? Therefore, dressing should be changed frequently. Honestly, where is medicine? It's just cotton paper coated with Bai La, sesame oil and pepper. It hurts like hell every time I change my dressing. I remember, at that time, I lay on the heatable adobe sleeping platform all day? Like a broken spine, I want to turn over, but I dare not move. It's just that I owe a little, and the wound hurts! I just lie down and pee. The bottom is covered with dust, which changes every day and is wet. ?
The penis that has been cut off is called. Bag? And under normal circumstances, will the knife maker really like this thing? Bag? Hidden in the same way, the cleansed have no right to get it back. After the processing of the knife-cutter abalone? Usually put it in? l？ Wrap it in red cloth and carefully put it in a high place indoors. Goldman Sachs? Take the meaning of promoting to a higher position and making a fortune, so as to wish you good luck in the future and promote yourself step by step. Wait until the official gets rich in the future and redeem his own? Bag? Knife makers can take the opportunity to ask for money. Redemption of one's property is called castration? Family of flesh and blood? . For them, this is the biggest happy event in their lives, and the ceremony is very grand, just like marrying a bride. There are also cases in which the family members of the clean body are preserved. In the past, poor people in rural areas had nothing higher than the beams, so they hung them on the beams and raised them every year to wish their children could stay in the palace? Step by step? .
Save? Bag? There are three reasons: first, it is to check eunuchs when they are promoted to prove their identity, which is also commonly known as? Jianbao? ; Second, what should I do after the death of eunuchs in the future? Bag? Buried together in coffins, because eunuchs hope that when they go to another world or reincarnate, they can restore the true colors of men; Thirdly, in the tradition of China, there is a concept of parents deeply influenced by the body. Eunuch, as a person who was left behind by punishment, was originally unfilial, because it was even more unfilial because he could not carry on the family line, so he would. Bag? It is also a kind of psychological compensation to save it and bury it with the coffin after death.
In particular, it should be pointed out that although castration is a necessary prerequisite for becoming a eunuch, not everyone who has been castrated can successfully enter the DPRK, and there have been strict selection systems and procedures throughout the dynasties. However, regardless of whether he entered the imperial court or not, the castrated person began a completely different life. Because of this, they generally believe that all the joys and sorrows of life begin from the date of castration, which becomes their new birthday, and the future fortune-telling is also based on heavenly stems and earthly branches, who was castrated.