The autobiography of the last eunuch in China
What was it like to have ancient figures living in modern society?
Many people are unaware of the fact that the last eunuch in Chinese history was very close to us, and he lived until his death in 1996.
As a figure in the "legend", the eunuch has always lived in our imagination, but from the interview with the last eunuch, it can be known that he once served the empress to take a bath and was a witness to the fall of the Qing Dynasty.
So who is this eunuch? What does he look like?
In the ancient feudal dynasties, eunuchs were indispensable to the affairs of eunuchs who were chaotic in the government, and many eunuchs who controlled the government could stir up the court.
For example, Zhao Gao, who destroyed Great Qin, Wei Zhongxian, who was nine thousand years old, and Liu Jin, the emperor of the station, were all eunuchs who were powerful for a while, and although these people were low-status eunuchs, they could also be passed down through the ages.
Therefore, whether it is the ancients or the present, in fact, they are full of contempt and disgust for eunuchs, but in addition to these eunuchs who are in power and opposition, in fact, those little eunuchs are also poor people.
Under the rule of the feudal dynasty, many families really could not survive, so they could only send their sons to the palace as eunuchs, although the "purification" would lose the ability to pass on the generations, but the good villains could survive.
To be fair, no man would be willing to give up his dignity voluntarily, after all, the ancients attached great importance to "passing on the generations", so today we will understand the life of the last eunuch in China.
This eunuch is called Sun Yaoting, and his autobiography", "The Last Eunuch in China", gives us an insight into his life.
Born in Tianjin in 1902, Sun Yaoting's family is an authentic poor family, a family of 6 people, there is not enough to eat, but Sun Yaoting is luckier than other children in the same village.
There is a private school in their village, Sun Yaoting's father is responsible for planting land for Mr. Private School, and his mother cooks for Mr. Private School, because of this relationship, Sun Yaoting can learn some knowledge for free in the private school without paying money.
However, the good times were not long, there were changes in the private school, the parents' work was gone, and Sun Yaoting could not continue to study here, so the Sun family thought of a way, that is, to let Sun Yaoting go to the palace as a eunuch.
Although eunuchs are not a very despised profession, in the feudal dynasty, want to serve the royal family is also a trust relationship, after the Sun family to inquire, finally met a person.
This person was a eunuch in the palace of Prince Shuo, named He Deyuan, and after He Deyuan's introduction, Sun Yaoting successfully entered the regency palace, and soon after entered the palace to serve the nobles.
In fact, at that time, the Qing Dynasty had already perished, but puyi, the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty, was still insisting, and he insisted on electing female eunuchs in the people in spite of the civil ban, which gave Sun Yaoting the opportunity.
In 1916, at the age of 15, Sun Yaoting was sent to the bottomless Forbidden City, where he endured humiliation and was stabbed, eventually becoming a eunuch.
At that time, he could not use his own name in the palace, and after entering the palace, he got a name called "Shunshou" and began the life of a dark eunuch.
Because the first time he entered the palace had no status, he could only do the hardest and most tiring work every day, and when his work was done, he had to serve other eunuchs with status, not only giving people and urine, but also enduring beatings and scolding every day.
This life lasted for a full year, until he survived to the second year, and his life ushered in a turning point, because of a sentence from the Imperial Princess, Sun Yaoting "ascended to heaven one step at a time".
The last empress and the last eunuch each had their own sorrows
In 1917, just in time for Guangxu's Duankang Emperor To see a rehearsal, she happened to hear that a small eunuch named Shunshou was very clever, so when she was in a good mood, she let Sun Yaoting no longer have to do rough work and directly entered the drama class.
This is not a "step to the heavens" for a low-level eunuch, after which Sun Yaoting, who was in the drama class, slowly saved some money and accumulated some connections.
Within a few months, he spent 60 silver dollars to buy the name "Wang Chengxiang", and was promoted to Sifang after that, and his life was more hopeful.
The so-called secretarial office is the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which mainly manages some clothes, food, relocation, etc. in the harem, which is completely different from the miscellaneous service.
Even the best of the miscellaneous servants are miscellaneous servants for the rest of their lives, but if they perform well in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, are promoted by the chief eunuch or valued by their masters, then the future is immeasurable.
In Chinese history, many eunuchs who were in power and opposition began with the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Thinking of this, Sun Yaoting was excited in his heart, as if he had seen his own majestic appearance.
After all, Sun Yaoting had also been in the palace for a few years, and he was accustomed to the open and secret struggles in the court, and he was very good at pleasing people and pleasing his master.
Therefore, he was appreciated by the chief eunuch not long after he was in the sifang, and was promoted to the side of Empress Wanrong and began to serve Wanrong full-time.
I have to say that at this time, Sun Yaoting's status is already extraordinary, the empress is the mother of a country, and the palace people who can work as errands around the empress in ancient times are the children of the officials, even if they go out the door, the princes and ministers must give themselves a little thin noodles.
In Sun Yaoting's life as a eunuch, being by Wanrong's side was his happiest period.
Wanrong was a very playful woman, although she was the empress of the feudal dynasty, but because the society at that time had begun to chaos, many foreign gadgets had been introduced into the country.
For example, coffee, bicycles, etc., Wanrong's biggest hobby is cycling, or learning English, and Sun Yaoting, who is waiting around Wanrong, naturally follows the light.
The work of the eunuch is still relatively heavy, in addition to following Wanrong all day, he also has to take care of Wanrong's diet and living, and even serve Wanrong to bathe.
Because of this special experience of Sun Yaoting, it also broke out some special habits about Wanrong bathing.
According to him, Wanrong began to take off her clothes when she took a bath, and was served by others the whole time, and she did not move a finger during the washing process until she was finished washing and getting dressed.
I have to say that maybe this is the norm for the ladies and ladies of feudal society, after all, there are people waiting, and there is really no need to do it yourself.
However, fortunately, Wanrong is not a fierce person, and in terms of what she has done, her personality is still naïve and does not treat the palace people harshly.
Unfortunately, such happy days did not last long.
In 1924, Feng Yuxiang broke into the imperial palace, the emperor's concubines and palace ladies were all driven out of the Forbidden City, Puyi first hid in the home of Princess Rongshou, and then secretly went to the Japanese embassy in China.
WanRong fled to the Regency Palace, which was Zaifeng's home, and Sun Yaoting, as a personal eunuch, followed him to the Regency Palace.
However, Wanrong only stayed here for a month before running away, and this time Sun Yaoting did not follow Wanrong anymore, but returned to his hometown alone.
At this time, Sun Yaoting can be said to have encountered a low point in his life, what can a eunuch do when he returns to his hometown? He could read and hyphenate, but it was a time of chaos, and who cared if he knew a few words?
Helping to cultivate the land, but because of the purification of the body, he could not do heavy work at all, not to mention that his hometown did not have his land, even if he wanted to do it, he did not have to do it.
Sun Yaoting, who walked out of the palace gate, suddenly became a wasted man, and could only rely on his brothers to help him live every day.
After liberation, there was a happy life
This great reckoning was completely destroyed, and it was not long before Puyi established Manchukuo, at this time Sun Yaoting could have been free, but he ran back to serve Puyi.
The reason why he did not run was not because he did not dare, but because the deep-rooted feudal concept was in his mind, plus he did not know where to go even if he ran, so he could only follow the emperor again.
However, following Puyi did not last long, not long after Sun Yaoting was found to have lung disease, Puyi was afraid of being infected, so he let Sun Yaoting go home again.
This time, Sun Yaoting knew in his heart that his career was completely over, and he would not have a source of income in the future.
After the fall of the imperial courts of successive dynasties, the palace eunuchs may be able to go to the new dynasty to continue to mix, but this time is different, the feudal dynasty is completely over, and the palace eunuchs are all free.
As a palace maid, after leaving the palace, she can still live by sewing clothes, but what can a eunuch do?
Sun Yaoting had to return to Beijing, where he lived in the Xinglong Temple, where there were more than 40 other eunuchs, all poor eunuchs who had been freed from the palace.
They pooled up their savings, bought some houses and land, and then rented them out to subsidize their families, and they went to sweep up the garbage and pick up some coal to live.
Later, over the years, the houses that were rented out had to be repaired, and the little rent collected was not enough to repair the houses, so they had to go to the street to collect waste.
Such a day is many years, they have experienced wars and chaos, changes in dynasty, many eunuchs due to many sequelae after the net, life expectancy is relatively short, the companions around them are dying one by one.
Until they survived to liberation, they finally lived a stable and happy life.
At that time, there were many palace eunuchs who were free in the palace, and most of their lives were not good, so the state gave them each a monthly subsidy of 16 yuan for living expenses.
Not much, but at least they survived.
Later, the society gradually stabilized, and after the founding of New China, Sun Yaoting gloriously participated in the work, he was not only responsible for the management of the temple, but also served as a cashier for several years.
At that time, his monthly salary was enough for 35 yuan.
In Sun Yaoting's autobiography, he once said that until his old age, he felt that he really felt like a "person", which was the first time he felt the dignity of being a human being.
After that, Sun Yaoting lived in Guanghua Temple, and he saved some money in his later years, and he was able to eat and wear warmly, and he did not live until 1996, when he died at the age of 94.
Sun Yaoting's life experience allows us to see that the life of the feudal society in the old days was not so mysterious, and they lived so hard as a dispensable little person, and such a spirit is enough to deserve our admiration.
He experienced the life of feudal society, witnessed the demise of the Qing Dynasty, and served the emperor and empress, which can be described as China's "living history".
In addition to their incomplete bodies, there is no difference between them and ordinary people in other places, just take Sun Yaoting as an example, his life is indeed very worthy of people's pity.
Fortunately, the feudal era is completely over, and there will be no more victims like Sun Yaoting in the future, and it is a very happy thing that people can now live freely and are not persecuted by feudal society!