preface
One cold night in 1911, a heart-rending cry came from Sun Yaoting, who had just turned 10, from a slum in Tianjin.
In order to feed his family, his parents could not bear to castrate him and send him to the Forbidden City, allowing the teenage child to start his career as a eunuch.
There was no choice, in order to survive, he chose to castrate
Sun Yaoting was originally born in an ordinary peasant family, a place in Tianjin, where he had to rely on the sky to eat every year. If you are not careful, you can cause famine. Sun Yaoting's family of 6 only relies on 7 acres of land to make a living, and their lives are very difficult. In order to survive, their parents and Sun Yaoting have had to rely on short-term work and begging to make ends meet since they were young. Every time there is a natural disaster, life becomes more difficult.
Fortunately, Sun Yaoting's parents were able to help out at a local teacher's home, so that they could get some food subsidies for the family. Due to his parents' relationship, Sun Yaoting was also able to go to school and read with the children of that family, which was rare among children at that time. But if the teacher's family loses money, the family will fall back into a desperate situation.
However, the good times did not last long, and the floods made the already barren land even more unable to grow crops, and Sun Yaoting's parents became beggars, dirty and smelly. The family's hungry days are increasing, and the stalemate poverty has cut Sun Yaoting's parents like a knife. They try to make ends meet by borrowing money from relatives and friends, but they are also destitute and unable to help.
In that era of feudal decay, how helpless it was to have children but not be able to feed them. In order to survive, Sun Yaoting's parents gritted their teeth and made a sad but realistic decision - to castrate Sun Yaoting and send him to the palace, at least to obtain a sum of money from the royal family to maintain the family.
This decision is tantamount to a thunderbolt for a teenage child. After Sun Yaoting heard the news, he couldn't sleep all night and tossed and turned in bed.
He did not want to lose the most important organ of a man, let alone his dignity as a human being. However, in that era of cannibalism, the fate and pursuit of the individual did not matter, and the family was the basis for survival. Sun Yaoting begged his parents for three days and three nights, but his parents had decided to send him to become a eunuch.
The pain of that knife was not only physical, but also left scars in the heart that were difficult to erase. Without male roots, he is destined to be despised by society in this life, and he can no longer have children and start a family like a normal person. He will live as a monster who is neither male nor female.
Sun Yaoting had cried and despaired. But the instinct to survive and love for his family made him choose to accept and accept the life arranged by the fate of eunuchs. He told himself that it was his son's responsibility to at least feed his family.
After the Xinhai Revolution, he entered the palace by virtue of his connections
The Xinhai Revolution broke out in 1911, overthrowing nearly 300 years of rule of the Qing Dynasty and dealing a heavy blow to the eunuch profession. Sun Yaoting, who had just entered the palace and served for a few years, could not accept everything that happened for a while.
He begged his parents to change this helpless decision, but it was too late. The precarious Qing dynasty seemed to be doomed. He even knelt in front of his parents and begged him to remove his eunuch status and become a new man, but both parents thought it was too early.
Sun Yaoting's family inquired and learned that Puyi was still living in the Forbidden City and was still recruiting eunuchs and palace maidens. So Sun Yaoting plucked up the courage and re-entered the Forbidden City through connections. He hopes to take this opportunity to find a good way out for his family.
The Republic of China was formally established in 1912, but inside the Forbidden City, royal life continued as usual. Sun Yaoting, who was just 15 years old, began to do heavy chores in the palace, at first without a name, only a code name. He felt that he was like a dog, losing his dignity as a human being, and could only rely on his master to survive.
In fact, Sun Yaoting did not want to do the bleak job of eunuch anymore, but he had no choice. At least he could get some livelihood in the palace so that his family would not starve to death. This job, he must stick to it. His son's intentions also made Sun Yaoting's parents impress him.
During the day, Sun Yaoting worked diligently and slept tiredly at night. Occasionally he imagined what his life would have been like if he hadn't been castrated. This painful thinking will always keep him awake at night and make it difficult to sleep all night. He hid in corners and cried several times, but soon he had to cheer himself up, because the nascent Republic of China still needed the service of eunuchs.
See through the void and evils of palace life
The effort pays off. Sun Yaoting's wit was appreciated by the imperial concubine Duankang, and he was transferred to the court opera class. This is simply a great grace for a nameless junior. However, Sun Yaoting was also keenly aware that the interpersonal relationships in the palace were complicated, and it was common for colleagues to fight openly and secretly, and to compete for favors.
Sun Yaoting cherished this opportunity very much, and saw through all kinds of laws and the jungle in the palace. In 1916, he spent 60 pieces of silver to give himself the nice name "Wang Chengxiang", officially getting rid of the identity of an anonymous clan, which is also rare among eunuchs. Pick a good name and you can give yourself a foothold in the royal palace.
The name given by Imperial Concubine Duankang rekindled his hope for court life. He began to desperately curry favor with the chief eunuch and strive to go further. He seemed to be obedient, but in his heart he had already looked down on these eunuchs who relied on sycophancy to rise to power. Finally, he was promoted to be the palace slave of Puyi's empress Wanrong.
Sun Yaoting finally got his wish and entered the deepest part of the harem. But he also found that this harem was full of desolation and melancholy
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Witness the fate of the last empress
Wanrong was only 16 years old when she became Empress Puyi, and it can be said that she was still a girl. She is beautiful and beautiful, quiet and dignified, not only can play the piano and paint, but also proficient in poetry and song, can be called a talented woman.
But the good times did not last long, and after Wanrong entered the palace, she and Puyi's life soon ceased to be loved. Puyi often did not go to her dormitory to spend the night, and even if she came occasionally, she did not have the slightest conjugal affection. The reason for the estrangement between the two, according to Sun Yaoting's observation, is related to Puyi's early tired of Wanrong's innocence.
Wanrong is quiet and introverted, and her range of activities is limited to her own courtyard. The palace eunuch became her only playmate. Sun Yaoting witnessed the growing withering and despair of this talented empress.
Sometimes, Wanrong would sprinkle her silver taels on the ground and let them, the eunuchs and palace maidens, pick them up. Looking at the scene of everyone pushing and laughing for the silver two money, she would also smile reluctantly. Sun Yaoting could see the loneliness and paleness in her heart from her empty eyes.
Sun Yaoting was full of pity for this weak queen in his heart. As soon as she entered the palace, she was as deep as the sea, from a free girl to being imprisoned in a golden palace, and the gentle sorrow made all the eunuchs who witnessed her sigh. This proud daughter of heaven withered in the empire established with her own hands.
According to Sun Yaoting's recollection, Wan Rong paid great attention to personal hygiene and had to bathe and change clothes every day. But in the process of bathing, she never did it herself, and let the palace eunuchs serve the whole time. This has become a way for her to maintain her dignity, but the fate of the empress will never be in her own hands.
When bathing, the eunuchs had to keep in mind all kinds of cumbersome royal ceremonies, and every movement of the queen must not be the slightest mistake, otherwise they might lose their lives. Province personal freedom, they are also but slaves of imperial power.
When undressing for Wanrong, Sun Yaoting and the other eunuchs could only half-bend their waists and carefully avoid the empress's body. When bathing the queen, they should carefully control the temperature of the water, and one accidentally may burn the queen's delicate skin.
When the empress got up, several eunuchs rushed forward and wrapped her naked body in towels and clothes. During the entire dressing process, Wanrong was like a doll, controlled by the eunuchs.
In fact, not only Empress Wanrong, but all harem concubines' bathing followed such a ritual. This has become a regular etiquette in the imperial deep palace, but for future generations, such extravagant and unreasonable etiquette has become difficult to imagine and accept.
When wiping the ten toes of the queen, Sun Yaoting would also have a secret disgust in his heart - such an absurd courtesy was really indignant. He couldn't help but think, when this dynasty ended, would these mediocre royal families escape responsibility and judgment?
After ending his career as a eunuch, he died happily
In 1924, Puyi was expelled from the palace, and Wanrong left with him. Since then, the life of the former emperor has become history. Sun Yaoting also officially ended his short court life.
He was castrated all his life, and he was old and childless and daughterless. But instead of being discriminated against in the nascent Republic of China, he received the care of the government. He received living expenses from the National Government and was given a quiet and comfortable place to live.
In that troubled time, having a peaceful place was already a great gift for Sun Yaoting. He spent a peaceful old age, free from the mockery and harm of the old times, which somewhat alleviated the pain in his heart.
Sun Yaoting became the last eunuch in Chinese history. His life witnessed the end of an era. Those passing years have allowed him to witness the glory and decay of the imperial family, and the life and sadness of the beautiful people in the harem.
Once he looks back, it seems that the meaning of his life is only to tell these pasts—to tell the absurd history. When the times changed, he became a witness to an era.
epilogue
The lives of the last eunuchs are not as extraordinary as we think, but it is the bits and pieces they witnessed that make up that wonderful historical scroll.
Sun Yaoting and other eunuchs were part of history. When history is forgotten, their existence is unfollowed, and it becomes extremely sad. But Sun Yaoting was fortunate that he was not forgotten, but walked his life with dignity.