There is a famous Buddhist temple in Beijing called Guanghua Temple, which is also the seat of the Beijing Buddhist Association. What is surprising is that there is an old man living here who has not bathed in nearly thirty years. It wasn't until later, when the old man personally told the secret of why he didn't take a bath, that people knew the story behind it.
1. Victims of the eunuch system
Eunuchs only became a position-like presence in the imperial palace during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, and their raison d'être was a product of the feudal class hierarchy. Speaking of which, the eunuch was a very strange existence at that time, although his identity was very humble, he was able to hold a lot of power, and even as an outsider in the palace, he could see the intrigues and the lives of high-level figures in the palace.
During the Ming Dynasty, the power in the hands of eunuchs reached its peak, and the establishment of the East Factory was a symbol of the status of eunuchs. Examples of eunuchs in power during the Ming Dynasty abounded, and for a time eunuchs became indispensable beings in the court. However, after Wei Zhongxian was rehabilitated, the emperor regained power from the eunuchs, and the eunuchs' power collapsed for a while.
On December 25 of the third year of the Qing Dynasty's reign, which was also the first year of the Republic of China, Puyi, the last emperor of China, issued an edict of abdication. At that time, Puyi was only 6 years old, which also represented the end of China's feudal dynasty. The dynasty ended, and Sun Yaoting became the last eunuch in China.
From the beginning of the position of eunuch, people have rarely been able to identify with their existence, and "neither male nor female" is all the impressions of them. Although if you want to become a eunuch, your body will inevitably be mutilated, but at that time, eunuchs were also a way to live. So there will still be poor families who will send their children to the palace and let them live on the other hand. In this way, Sun Yaoting became the last eunuch in Chinese history.
Human beings are constantly changing in the long river of history, and Gu Long once said that although these changes are only tiny existences in billions of light years, all of them are only fleeting. And when we look back at the vast river of history, we will also find that such changes are actually unstoppable.
Second, the last eunuch
Sun Yaoting was born in a poor rural family, as the second child in the family, his father named this little boy Liujin, which means "blessed" and is also a good wish for Sun Yaoting's future. Therefore, Sun Yaoting is a person who has been pinned on by the whole family.
However, the poor family born in the countryside has no future to speak of, and because there are bullies who seize the family's land, which makes the already poor family even more miserable, and his father is imprisoned. Sun Yaoting could only live with his mother and brother, who were unable to make a living.
During that difficult time, there happened to be a chief eunuch who was on an errand in the Forbidden City who returned to his hometown to visit his relatives. Just look at the eunuch's popularity, a little more powerful than the official at that time, the remaining dishes of the eunuch's visit to his relatives were all unattainable for these poor boys. Sun Yaoting seemed to see the way out, and he also wanted to live a little more majestically like this old eunuch. After all, you can still be an errand at the feet of the Son of Heaven, which is also a beautiful difference.
Forced to make a living, the Sun family could only send Sun Yaoting to the palace as a eunuch, and in 1916, the Sun family was introduced to the Forbidden City by being introduced. Sun Yaoting, who was only fifteen years old, suffered pain that he had never experienced before after entering the palace, and when he was unconscious in pain, he then woke up, looked at his body, and suddenly felt that there was no end to the road ahead.
Sun Yaoting was in the Qing Dynasty, although the feudal system gradually declined, but he still experienced a lot in the palace. The old eunuch Dexiang who brought him into the palace was also a very high-status person in the palace, and in order to survive in this deep palace that made people shiver, he could only hold Dexiang's thighs tightly, and everything he did and every step he took had to be very careful.
Sun Yaoting can work and talk in the palace, smart and clever, very likable. In the second year of his entry into the palace, Duan Kang, the then princess of the Guangxu Emperor, heard that Lao Dexiang's men had a small eunuch who could speak and work, so when he watched a drama class, Sun Yaoting also participated in the performance. For the eunuch, such a favor was already a great gift to him. Compared with other eunuchs, Sun Yaoting was undoubtedly lucky.
After spending some time in the drama class, Sun Yaoting bought himself a new name called Wang Chengxiang, and then he naturally entered the sifang. At that time, the private room was usually managed by the chief eunuch, and Sun Yaoting still exerted his ability to work hard and complain in it, and after a few years, he was promoted to the empress dowager at that time, WanRong Dang.
At that time, Wanrong was still young, a few years younger than Sun Yaoting, which was the age when children loved to play. As Wanrong's eunuch, Sun Yaoting often accompanied Wanrong's side and played with her wholeheartedly, and it was in this way that he quickly got Wanrong's liking.
Third, the era of displacement
Soon the great wheel of the times began to spin, and the feudal dynasty completely collapsed between dynasties. In 1924, Emperor Puyi was expelled from the Forbidden City, and everyone in the palace began to decide to flee, and everyone knew that the feudal trend was gone, and the Qing Dynasty was really destroyed.
Sun Yaoting was loved by Wanrong, so he could only go out of the palace with Wanrong. However, after serving Wanrong for several months, Wanrong decided to look for Puyi, who was missing. Sun Yaoting could not accompany him, but could only say goodbye to Wanrong, and his career as a eunuch was completely over.
But the future is still very long, and Sun Yaoting doesn't know where he can go now. When he returned home, he found that there was no land in the family to work at all, and he could only rely on the help of his brothers who were not rich. However, due to his broken body, there will always be some unspeakable discussion and insightful exploration, and these pressures make Sun Yaoting breathless, there is no other way, Sun Yaoting still decided to leave his hometown and go to Beijing.
There was a temple in Beijing that took in many eunuchs, and Sun Yaoting lived with these eunuchs. Some rich eunuchs provided food and drink for everyone, and Sun Yaoting reluctantly survived. Although not happy, but at least every day can be full. But the days that followed became more and more difficult, and Sun Yaoting even survived by picking up garbage on the street.
This lasted until the liberation period, and the government began to make reasonable arrangements for these eunuchs, not only paying them a monthly living expenses, but also arranging corresponding work for them. Sun Yaoting was assigned to manage the temple in Beijing. Although he was not in the palace, Sun Yaoting still worked as diligently as he had done at the beginning, and he felt satisfied on such days.
After experiencing the demise of the Qing Dynasty and the arrival of a new era, Sun Yaoting was grateful to the government and even worked hard to adapt to this new era. Although Sun Yaoting was destined to be alone and widowed in this life, he was still very satisfied. Although there are also times when he is lonely, the thought that he does not have to be displaced again will turn this loneliness into motivation.
But as a eunuch, the defects in his body have never been able to be restored, and he reminds Sun Yaoting of the fact that he was once a eunuch. Because of this, he never took a wife in his life. He didn't even want to take a bath, because every time he took a bath, he would have to face the imperfections in his body, which would also make him feel inferior and miserable. So for nearly decades, until he died, he didn't take a bath.
epilogue
In 1996, Sun Yaoting died, which also marked the end of the eunuch group and era. Sun Yaoting was still grumpy about his physical lack, and although he later won respect for himself, he could not get by. Therefore, Sun Yaoting also specially explained that he did not need to purify himself after his death, hoping that he could retain his due dignity in the end.