The content described in this article is based on official and reliable sources, which are repeated at the end of this article.
"Ten eunuchs and nine pee crotch"
Eunuchs, this special group has been indispensable in all history, but this will not only make modern people curious, among so many eunuchs in the palace, will there really be one who is not completely purified? Will it really carry the emperor behind his back to interact with the concubines and palace maids?
In fact, for this problem, in 1991, the book "Palace Maids Talk about the Past" published by Beijing Forbidden City Publishing House revealed the truth!
The origin of eunuchs
Eunuchs were called "eunuchs", and they were the servants of some powerful families such as emperors and monarchs in the ancient capital, and not all eunuchs were eunuchs in the pre-Qin and Western Han dynasties.
Since the Eastern Han Dynasty, all eunuchs have been served by eunuchs, because the emperors and nobles at that time needed a large number of men to serve in their lives, and because their wives and concubines were in groups, so in order to keep their wives and concubines chaste and not have an affair with other men, they used eunuchs in large quantities.
According to the records of the "Guangxu Huidian of the Qing Dynasty", the eunuchs had their own recruitment agency, and there were special people responsible for recruiting and carrying out cleansing surgeries, and in the cleansing circle in the capital, Bi Wu in the Accounting Division Hutong of Beichang Street, and Xiaodao Liu in the square brick Hutong outside Di'anmen were the most exquisite and the most skilled.
In fact, in ancient times, the gap between people and people was very large, and some poor families often sent their children to the palace in order to have a good future for their children, after all, in the environment at that time, no matter how humble the position in the palace was, it was stronger than in the people.
Eunuchs are actually only slaves in charge of some court chores, and they cannot participate in state affairs, but because of the long time they spend with the royal family, some small eunuchs can take the opportunity to win the trust of the royal family, so as to stabilize their position.
And there is also a struggle between eunuchs, some older eunuchs need to cultivate their own power, or they are worried that they will have no one to take care of them when they are old, so they find someone to rely on in advance, and those more powerful eunuchs will also accept some godsons, castrate them into the palace, and then use them for their own use.
Before cleansing
Before purification, the purifier also needs to sign a special contract with the parent or agent of the purifier, which was called a "document" at the time, and it should be clearly marked that it is voluntary and that life and death are not the same, so that accidents can prevent unnecessary trouble.
Moreover, if a child from a poor family wants to enter the palace as a eunuch, he must first go to a place that recruits eunuchs to sign up, and then go through various physical examinations before he can be selected after passing the examination, and then undergo cleansing surgery.
Before the cleansing, the cleanser also needs to go on a diet for a day, because the day after the operation is not allowed to go to the toilet, but this is not the main thing, because the cost of the cleansing operation is very expensive, according to records, at that time, the cost of the cleansing operation cost 100 taels of silver.
In the face of this high cost, some people choose to castrate themselves, but this behavior is very dangerous, because the slightest carelessness will lose life, in the early Qing Dynasty, because there are many people who die by castration on their own, so at that time there were special regulations to prohibit this behavior.
In the forty-eighth year of Qianlong, there was a common man Wang Erge, whose family was very poor, and he could not afford to pay for this high cost of purification, so he privately purified his 11-year-old son Wang Cheng.
However, the paper couldn't contain the fire after all, and the matter was still exposed, so the father and son were both arrested and put in prison, and it was a coincidence that the Qianlong Emperor coincidentally interrogated the matter.
After learning the ins and outs of the matter, Qianlong not only did not investigate the behavior of the two, but also arranged errands for the two, and then ordered the abolition of this criminal law of "strictly prohibiting private purification".
Faced with the inability of poor children to pay for the cleansing operation, the cleanser at that time also set up a special way of "installment payment", that is, first set up a note, and then deduct it from their "money" every month, and some were like investments, waiting for the cleansed child to succeed in the future to repay themselves.
There are even some cleansers who will conduct some private transactions, and the standard of charging is two prices, one is to keep alive, and the other is to keep the castration alive.
It is also necessary to prepare pig bitter gall, eggs, wheat straw, paper and other items in advance, which are all needed during the operation.
Cleansing process
Because there was no anesthetic at that time, before the cleansing, the cleanser would lie on his back on the kang, and then several other people would fix and tie him, and before the start of the cleansing, the chief cleanser would ask if the cleanser would regret it, but for those children who were sent there from an early age, they did not understand the meaning of the knife at all.
At the beginning, the surgeon will stuff a boiled egg into the cleanser's mouth to prevent the cleanser from accidentally biting his tongue when he feels pain.
And the cleanser also needs to straighten his body, let the little belly bulge outward, and then start to use the knife, because the castration is too deep, too shallow, and it is not good, although the main knife is skilled, there will still be a situation of making up a knife, and then it is to take all the bitter gall paste to reduce swelling and stop bleeding.
If you are interested, you can take a look at "Eunuch Talk", which records in detail the process of purification, in fact, in 1987, Lin Zhengying starred in "China's Last Eunuch", which recorded that the poor children in remote mountainous areas saw the big eunuch who returned to their hometown, and their hearts were full of envy.
Although the mother was very unbearable, she still sent her son into the palace under the persuasion of her father, in order to solve the problem of food and clothing for the family.
Because there will be sequelae after castration, they will spill their pants wet when it is usually convenient, which is why there is a sentence: "ten eunuchs and nine urines".
Is there really a person who is not completely purified?
In the face of so many eunuchs in the palace, everyone must be curious whether some eunuchs are actually fake cleansing and then blending into the palace? After all, for the concubines in the harem and the palace maids, there have been various stories between them and the eunuchs.
In fact, in 1991, the book "Palace Maids Talking about the Past" published by Beijing Forbidden City Publishing House revealed the truth!
In the harem of the Qing Dynasty, a special department was set up to manage the eunuchs, called the Internal Affairs Office, and their main responsibility was to conduct a physical examination of all the eunuchs in the palace.
Normally, some people from poor families who enter the palace as eunuchs, they are just bent on making money, and they don't dare to do this kind of headless thing, although in the face of these rules of gambling with their lives, there are still some people who will risk their lives to gamble.
According to historical records, Chang Yu was a "fake eunuch", when Qin Shi Huang ascended the throne, because he was too young, so the power was basically held by Lü Buwei and the Empress Dowager, but for too long, Lü Buwei was afraid that his adultery with the Empress Dowager Zhao would cause trouble for him, so he got Chang Yu into the palace.
At that time, Lu Buwei and the Empress Dowager Zhao bought off the officials who presided over the palace punishment, and just pulled out Chang Yu's beard and sent him to the palace as a eunuch, but Chang Yu was also extremely loved by the Empress Dowager Zhao when she served the Empress Dowager Zhao in private, and slowly the Empress Dowager Zhao was also pregnant, so the two moved to live in the palace in Yongdi.
Since then, Chang Yu was named the Marquis of Changxin, and lived a happy life, even all the things in the harem, the Empress Dowager Zhao also gave full authority to Chang Yu to be the master, at that time, Chang Yu's family child servants were as high as thousands, but later they were denounced, and after the failure of the rebellion, they were sentenced to death by Ying Zheng, and the car was split and died.
In fact, in ancient times at that time, there were "fake eunuchs" and real eunuchs who lost their lives because of gossip, after all, there are many stories of eunuchs and concubines.
For example, there are many stories about Cixi, because there is a Li Lianying by Cixi's side, and she often goes in and out of Cixi's dormitory, and the two often go in and out of various occasions together.
In fact, Li Lianying is a real eunuch, he was sent to the palace as a eunuch by Prince Zheng Duanhuafu, if Li Lianying is a fake eunuch, then Prince Zheng will not be able to escape, so Prince Zheng will not take such a big risk and let Li Lianying be a fake eunuch.
And although Cixi's slaves and maids around her have changed batch after batch, her favorite besides An Dehai is Li Lianying, because Li Lianying can perfectly resolve Cixi's troubles and serve her.
epilogue
Eunuchs have experienced great ups and downs in China's history, but who would be willing to give up their body and dignity in exchange for this menial job if it weren't forced by life?
Fortunately, with the development of our society, these special groups have been gradually eliminated, so that we no longer have to endure these miserable lives in our lives.
Article source: "Palace Maid Talks about the Past", "Guangxu Huidian of the Qing Dynasty", movie: Lin Zhengying "China's Last Eunuch".