The following article will focus on revealing the bitterness of the eunuchs in court life, as well as the pain and misery they must endure.
The author is going to tell you today that in fact, eunuchs are also a very aggrieved profession, not as beautiful as everyone thinks.
And the torture they suffered after entering the palace was much greater than that of a normal person.
The king of Shang invented eunuchs to prevent green hats;
The King of Shang
In fact, eunuchs have not existed since ancient times, they were set up by the last tyrant of the Shang Dynasty, Emperor Xin, in order to prevent his concubines from cuckolding themselves.
The king of Shang was lewd and lustful, and there were countless beautiful concubines in the harem, and he was afraid that his concubines would have affaires with other men, so he sent young palace maids to take care of them.
However, because these young court ladies have been in the palace for a long time, they often have feelings for the guards who guard the court.
Also, these palace maids entered the palace at a very young age, and in addition to serving the concubines, they also need to do some heavy physical work to lift and resist, and they can't do it at all.
When the king was worried, his favored traitor Fei Zhong gave him a particularly cruel and cruel bad idea, what bad idea?
That is to "castrate" a man, so that a man can no longer be considered a man, and there will be no concubines and palace maids cheating on the guards behind his back.
The king of Shang was also very happy when he heard about it, so the eunuch was born.
Later, after thousands of years of development, eunuchs gradually became an indispensable and indispensable special group of people in the royal harem.
The status of eunuchs in the palace was very low, and even the palace maids dared to call them around;
First, eunuchs are often looked down upon;
eunuch
These eunuchs are basically children from poor families, and the family has no money, so they can't support them at all, so they sell them and send them to the palace to become eunuchs, and they can also exchange some money for food and clothing to solve the problem of food and clothing.
However, you must know that in ancient times, people's thinking was very conservative, and they especially attached great importance to "no queen is great".
And these men who became eunuchs lost the function of reproducing the next generation, so they were very despised, so rich families would not let their children become eunuchs no matter what.
Moreover, eunuchs, as "monsters" who are neither male nor female, often suffer from the strange eyes of other people in the palace, and are simply looked down upon.
Even after a long time, their own psychology will be perverted, and they look down on themselves, which is really pitiful and pathetic.
Second, eunuchs are often bullied;
eunuch
The status of eunuchs in the palace is very low, and many young eunuchs who have just entered the palace are often beaten or scolded by the old eunuchs.
Moreover, the status of many eunuchs is actually inferior to that of palace maids, and many palace maids who are favored by those concubines dare to call them around, and even stretch out their hands to beat them.
There are also some people who like to bully these eunuchs who are already very sad in life, and take pleasure in it.
For example, the last emperor Pu Yi liked to tease the eunuchs for fun when he was a child, whether he was an old or a young eunuch, he did not let go.
Pu Yi
Once, he mixed raw mung beans into the bean paste bun for the eunuch to eat, wanting to see the eunuch's teeth broken, but the eunuch bit down, and his teeth jumped out of blood.
There was another time when Pu Yi was in a hurry to urinate, but he didn't want to go to the toilet to solve it, so he asked a eunuch to catch it with his mouth, and he couldn't make a "coo, coo" sound, and the eunuch didn't dare to disobey the order, so he had to do it.
What's more, once Pu Yi wanted to test whether the eunuchs listened to him, so he pointed to a piece of on the ground and let a eunuch next to him eat it, although the eunuch was unwilling, but in order to save his life, he still gritted his teeth and ate it.
Another example: Empress Dowager Cixi is very fond of her hair, once a little eunuch combed her hair, accidentally combed off a few hairs, Cixi saw it from the bronze mirror, and immediately hit the little eunuch several large boards.
3. Eunuchs are often disliked;
eunuch
Eunuchs who have been punished by the palace will bring a lot of harm to their bodies, and even leave a lot of sequelae.
One of the most common is frequent urinary incontinence, which causes them to emit an unpleasant odor from their body.
Because the sanitary conditions were very poor when they were "castrated" at that time, the knife was slightly roasted on both sides of the fire, which was considered sterilization.
And the method of stopping bleeding is simpler, that is, to bake the knife red, burn it on the wound, let it scab and stop bleeding, or apply some hemostatic medicine and incense ash to stop bleeding.
"Castration" is followed by a hole in the urethral catheter to facilitate excretion and to prevent the wound from clogging the urethral catheter after healing.
Generally, eunuchs say that after being "castrated", they will stay in an airtight hut for three days, and spread a layer of grass ash under their bodies to absorb blood and water, and they cannot drink water during this period.
If the feather is plucked after three days and the urine can be excreted, it means that the operation was successful, otherwise the operation has failed.
Moreover, "castration" will also be life-threatening, according to historical records: the survival rate of eunuch "castration" is only about 40%.
Even if they were lucky enough to survive at the time, many of them died later due to wound infection.
At the same time, after three days, the eunuch must walk back and forth on the ground to prevent infection with bedsores, or in the future, if the waist is not straightened, he will be rickety for the rest of his life, and the wound will be heart-rending when he walks.
Eunuchs often wet the bed frequently within a few months after "castration", but after a few months, the problem of bedwetting will improve.
But if some eunuchs continued to wet the bed after a few months, they would be punished by spanking.
The surviving eunuchs carried a large handkerchief with them all year round in order to absorb the urine of incontinence, but even this could not hide the strange smell on their bodies.
Therefore, in ancient times, eunuchs would have a strange smell, even if they were far away, they could smell it in the wind, which was really unbearable, and this was caused by their frequent peeing of their pants.
Another sequelae is that the immunity of eunuchs is much worse than that of normal people, so they will often get sick, and every year in winter, they will feel unusually cold.
There is also a sequelae, that is, after the eunuchs are "castrated", their voices will change.
If the eunuch was relatively young at the time of "castration", his voice would become sharp and thin, like a woman's voice.
If the eunuchs are "castrated" when they are older, their voices will become neither male nor female, and they will be very ugly.
Because of this, eunuchs cannot talk casually in the palace, otherwise they will be severely punished by their masters.
Moreover, due to the special nature of the eunuch's work, he often kneels and kowtows to various masters in the palace every day.
According to historical records, many eunuchs would wrap a thick layer of linen cloth around their knees, just so that their knees would not hurt when they knelt, even in the hot summer, this thick linen cloth would not be taken off.
Fourth, eunuchs often do the hardest and most difficult work;
eunuch
The work of the eunuch is very hard, whether it is firewood, rice, oil and salt, or clothing, food, housing and transportation in the palace, everything is basically completed by the eunuch.
The physical work that the palace maids can't do will be left to the eunuchs in the end, and even if the eunuchs are tired, they must insist on finishing the physical work.
However, the thing that made the eunuchs miserable was not being scolded or beaten, nor doing coolies day and night, but keeping vigils for the emperor or his concubines.
When the emperor or his concubines slept at night, they must have eunuchs in front of them to watch over the vigil, always ready for the emperor or concubines to call them.
If the eunuch accidentally falls asleep during the vigil, or can't hold back during the internal emergency, he goes out to the toilet.
And at this time, the emperor or concubine wakes up in the middle of the night and needs to drink water, or go to the toilet, etc., and the call to the eunuch is not answered, then he will be punished.
According to the rules in the palace, eunuchs who do not keep vigil in place will be slapped a few times, or beaten with a board, or even lose their lives.
So whenever it was the turn of a certain eunuch to keep vigil, their nerves were always tense, and they didn't dare to be sloppy in the slightest.
There were many eunuchs who put some sun-dried cang's ears in their shoes just so that they could not doze off during the vigil.
We all know that Cang'er is covered with thorns, and when it is not dried, it is not too sharp and hard, and once it is dried, these thorns will be as sharp as a needle for sewing clothes.
It is conceivable that when the eunuch falls asleep during the vigil and accidentally touches Cang'er with his foot, he will be woken up immediately, and the effect of refreshment is still good.
The worst thing about eunuchs is not that they are cleansed, nor are they beaten and scolded and vigiled, but that they are helpless in the face of the concubines!
eunuch
In the harem, eunuchs not only need to do their own work, but also serve the emperor and those concubines.
And the embarrassing thing is that whenever the concubines bathe, bathe, and change clothes, they have to be served by eunuchs.
Although the eunuch has been "castrated", some of the psychology of men before him is still retained, and the male hormones in his body are still secreted every day.
So emotionally and psychologically, they still maintain their appreciation and desire for beauty, because they are a man after all.
Every time the eunuch waits for the concubine to take a bath, he also needs to rub the concubine's back, although they are all clean, but after all, they still know about the affairs of men and women.
There will be an indescribable subtle change in their hearts, so they can only lower their eyes, and they don't dare to look up at the concubine at all.
When the concubines finished bathing, the eunuch was also responsible for cleaning their bodies and changing their clothes.
You said that the scene of "the concubine taking a bath" unfolded in front of your eyes, how could a eunuch who was still a man have no feelings? But they are just thinking about it.
Then the eunuchs had to change the clothes of the concubines and put them on them one by one.
At this time, they did not dare to show the slightest thought, and they had to work hard to suppress a certain impulse in their hearts.
And the contradiction between the psychological needs and the physical absence of eunuchs undoubtedly brought great pain to their bodies and minds.
Many eunuchs did not control their emotions because they had a feeling that it was difficult to control, and finally they were unfortunately discovered by the concubines and ended up being executed.
Sun Yaoting, the last eunuch of the Qing Dynasty, told about court life;
Sun Yaoting
Sun Yaoting was the last eunuch of the Qing Dynasty, and his life experience as a eunuch was written in the book "The Last Eunuch in China".
Sun Yaoting's family is very poor, so poor that he can't even afford to eat, and there are four brothers and sisters in the family, and he is the second oldest in the family.
One day, Sun Yaoting had a whim and wanted to enter the palace as a eunuch, because for Sun Yaoting, being a eunuch was already his only way out as a poor man.
Because only in this way can the whole family live a slightly better life with the salary earned by Sun Yaoting as a eunuch.
If Sun Yaoting made a difference in the palace, then whether it was an official or a landlord bully, he would no longer dare to bully the Sun family at will.
So the little Sun Yaoting ran to his father and said, "Dad, I'm going to be a eunuch!"
It may be that his father was dazed by hunger at the time, and he nodded in agreement without even thinking about it.
Next, Sun Yaoting's father begged someone to help him have a cleansing operation.
It may be that the person who did the operation, the "castration" technique level is too amateurish, and the little Sun Yaoting, who was in pain at that time, had convulsions, and then passed out, and has been fainting for three days and three nights.
When Sun Yaoting woke up, his father sighed and said to him, "Son, you have suffered this knife in vain, the Qing Dynasty has lost the country, and no longer recruits eunuchs." ”
When Sun Yaoting reached the age of 14, his father introduced him to Pu Yi's relatives through acquaintances, and arranged for him to serve Pu Yi a few years later.
Because Sun Yaoting is very smart and clever, in order to have a better life, he tried his best to work hard.
Soon Sun Yaoting was transferred to serve the imperial concubine Duankang, because he usually worked diligently, and was cautious and serious, the imperial concubine was very happy.
Later, Emperor Duankang recommended him to serve Empress Wanrong, and his eunuch career reached its peak.
According to Sun Yaoting's "The Last Eunuch in China", the secret private affairs of Puyi, the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty, and the harem concubines were recorded in detail.
In the book, he focuses on two of the most difficult and tiring tasks of a eunuch's career:
The first tiring thing is to wait for the concubine to bathe and change clothes, and this is also the most difficult and unbearable job;
Graceful
Sun Yaoting once served the last queen Wanrong, and when Wanrong took a bath, he also served by his side.
Wanrong is sometimes in a bad mood, or when Sun Yaoting is not serving well, she will scold him, and even sometimes like to make fun of him.
Sun Yaoting said: "Usually, when a lady takes a bath, she needs at least 10 or more palace maids and 2 or 3 eunuchs to serve her at the same time.
She sat motionless from undressing, to bathing, to wiping off the water from her body, and finally to putting on her clothes.
She was like a puppet, quietly looking at her skin in a daze, and during the whole bathing process, she would not move her fingers, and every link was completed by the eunuchs and palace maids.
During the whole bathing process, the eunuch was not allowed to look up, even if he took a towel to wipe the concubine's body, he could not look up, in case he was discovered, it must be a capital crime of beheading. ”
Once, when Wanrong was taking a bath in the palace, she asked Sun Yaoting to rub her body for herself.
Sun Yaoting lowered his head extremely embarrassed, rubbed it a few times, and immediately ran to the toilet under the pretext of diarrhea.
And Wanrong said loudly at the time: "You are not a real man, why are you still shy!"
Sun Yaoting heard this sentence clearly, and his heart was very uncomfortable, and he was very uncomfortable.
This is also the first time that Sun Yaoting has felt the pain of being crushed and torn apart since he served Wanrong.
Sun Yaoting said that it was very painful to wait for the concubine to take a bath, because during the whole process, it was inevitable to bump into some sensitive parts of the body.
Because although the eunuchs were castrated, the normal physiological functions of men in their bodies still existed more or less.
Even if there is a change in their hearts or bodies, they don't dare to let the concubine feel it, so every time they bathe the concubine, it is very painful and uncomfortable.
The second most tiring was the vigil of the concubines, and the pain was unbearable.
The eunuch serves the concubine
Sun Yaoting said that when he waited for the emperor or his concubine to keep vigil, he could not sleep or doze off all night.
If the emperor and his concubines had something to summon them, if they were unable to respond to the call at the first time because they were sleepy, they would be beaten badly.
Therefore, when the eunuchs kept vigil for the emperor or their concubines, they would put some sun-dried cang's ears in their shoes.
Sun-dried Xanthium fungus has two effects:
Sun-dried Xanthus
The first effect is to drive away drowsiness and make the eunuch wake up instantly;
Because the spikes on the sun-dried Cang'er body are very sharp, it will make these eunuchs when they are about to fall asleep, and the sudden pain will make them wake up instantly.
The second function is to walk without making a sound.
These eunuchs who kept vigil at night, in order not to let the sun-dried ears prick their feet, they walked on tiptoe, just so as not to make a sound, so as not to affect the sleep of the emperor or the concubines, so as not to be beaten again.
Epilogue:
Eunuchs are a very heart-wrenching special group, they have been cut off from their dignity, and their lives are full of sorrow.
What they need is an understanding, a warmth, and more importantly, a kind of dignity, so we should learn to be tolerant and tolerant, stop laughing at them, and give them more respect and understanding.
The lives of the eunuchs are destined to be full of helplessness and pain, and the most painful thing is that they are helpless in the face of the concubines, they have lost their fertility but still retain too many characteristics of men, and that helplessness is only known to them.
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