An ancient Chinese term for eunuch was huan kuan: a castrated man employed in the palace. In imperial China there was widespread castration of young boys. The local and provincial nobility imitated the emperor and also kept eunuchs. Many parents sent their sons to the courts in the hope of later benefits. This resulted in the creation of a very special occupation: that of castrator. He removed the whole penis and scrotum, after which the boy’s urine was channelled through a straw. Following the operation, performed without anaesthetic (!), some boys became incontinent. The castrator kept the penis and testicles, which the eunuch could later redeem at a high price; many eunuchs wished to be buried ‘whole’.
In the late Ming and Qing periods these castrati were notorious for their corruption. Since eunuchs were the only men allowed in the emperor’s private quarters, a young emperor would frequently develop a strong bond of trust with them. In practice they were closely involved with the upbringing of the children at the imperial court. The eunuchs reached the apogee of their power during the Ming dynasty, when they controlled virtually all administrative posts. They not only promulgated laws, but also chose the concubines and even the wife of the emperor. Palace eunuchs became so rich that they had luxurious palaces built in their native regions. Most of them were from the Beijing area or the Hebei peninsula and a few came from Shandong province or Mongolia.
The conflict between the corrupt eunuch and the virtuous Con — fucian official who resists his tyranny became a commonplace in
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Chinese historiography. In his History of Government Samuel Finer observes perceptively that the reality was often less black and white. There were very competent eunuchs, who proved valuable advisors to their emperor, while the resistance of the ‘virtuous’ official was not infrequently the blind resistance of a member of a privileged caste, opposed to all radical change, regardless of whether it was harmful or salutary for the country. But then, in China history books were generally written by officials.