Eunuchs are a unique product of China's feudal dynastiesThey only operate in the mysterious Forbidden City, and before the Qing Dynasty, some of them still held the power of life and death.
ButAfter arriving in the Qing Dynasty, they had only one content of work, and that was to serve the royal familyBecause they are in the harem, in order to ensure the purity of the royal bloodline, they must be purified before entering the palace.
So so many eunuchs in the Forbidden City, have each of them been completely cleansed? Will there be any fish that slip through the net?
In 1991,"The Palace Maid Talks about the Past".Published by Beijing Forbidden City Publishing HouseThe book pretended to be a palace maid to tell the truth about the purification of eunuchs in the Qing Dynasty.
According to the book,All the eunuchs of the Qing Dynasty were more or less unwilling to their fateAfter all, they were all normal people, and in order to survive in this world, they had no choice but to become disabled.
In the ancient history of our country, as long as there are records about eunuchs, almost all of them are traitors and villains who are troubled by the dynasty and profited by dictatorshipIn many costume TV series we see, eunuchs are generally villains.
If you make a eunuch ranking, the first one to bear the brunt is the false father known as Qin Shi HuangChangxin Hou Changyu
According toSima Qian's "Historical Records"., Qin Shi Huang's biological father is Lü Buwei, and Lü Buwei sent the pregnant Empress Dowager Zhao to Yingchu, who was working as a proton in Zhao, in order to invest.
Later, Ying Chu ascended the throne and became the king of Qin, and Lü Buwei's early investment paid offAfter the death of King Xiang of Qin Zhuang, Qin Shi Huang ascended the throne, but because of his young age, he worshiped Lü Buwei as his father.
Lü Buwei became an existence under one person and above ten thousand people in the Qin State for a while, but Lü Buwei was busy with state affairsgradually ignored his former good friend Empress Dowager Zhao.
In order to meet the physiological needs of the Empress Dowager Zhao, Lü Buwei arranged for the market scoundrel Chang Yu to pretend to be a eunuch to enter the palaceAfter that, Chang Yu gradually got the favor of the Empress Dowager Zhao, and was inIn the deep palace, she gave birth to two children for Chang Yu.
At that time, Yingzheng was not yet pro-governmentThe power of the Qin State was basically in the hands of Lü Buwei and Empress Dowager ZhaoBecause Chang Yu really liked the Empress Dowager Zhao, he was named the Marquis of Changxin.
At this time, Chang Yu was a little floatingHe wanted to emulate Lü Buwei, kill Yingzheng, and set up his own child as kingUnexpectedly, Yingzheng noticed it in advance.
So Chang Yu decisively launched a coup d'état, and was finally arrested by Yingzheng and cracked the carAt the same time, the two children born to the Empress Dowager Zhao were also killed by Ying Zheng.
By the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the era of eunuch dictatorship was very serious, and the ten permanent servants at that time had completely controlled the power of the courtAnd in order to get greater power, the general He Jin wanted to send troops to kill the ten permanent servants.
We all know the results later, Dong Zhuo's army entered Luoyang, and then gunsmoke broke out everywhere, the Three Kingdoms era came, and heroes from all walks of life made their debuts.
By the late Ming Dynasty,The phenomenon of eunuch dictatorship is also very seriousWe all know that the Ming Dynasty was very prosperous in the era of Ming Chengzu Zhu Di.
But his descendants are really not in the climateSome emperors are obsessed with women, some practice immortals in the palace, and some are inappropriate to be good emperors and have to be carpenters.
Therefore, the national strength of the Ming Dynasty has become weaker and weaker, since the hanging of Emperor Chongzhen Meishan,The Qing Dynasty was successfully established, and the Qing emperor, in order to prevent the old way of the previous dynasty, greatly reduced the power in the hands of the eunuchs.
According to the record of "The Palace Maid's Conversation".The eunuchs of the Qing Dynasty were under tremendous physical and psychological pressure.
Among them was a eunuch surnamed Liu, who would vent his desires as a man every once in a whileHis master, the Empress Dowager, also knew about Eunuch Liu's behavior, but she also acquiesced.
The reason for this phenomenon is because:After the eunuchs lost their male physiological organs, their hearts always fantasized that they were wholeEven after they gain a certain amount of power, they will constantly show their dignity in front of outsiders.
And their masters are also well aware of their inner suffering, so in order to let them serve themselves better, they just sit idly byThis kind of psychological and physical control of enslaving people is the specialty of the powerful concubines in the harem.
Although those eunuchs were very nervous after gaining power, they were very nervous, but inBefore they became eunuchs, they had long been ready to meet the Lord of YamaSo it is understandable that the personality changed greatly in the later period.
During the Qing Dynasty, there was basically one characteristic of being a eunuch in the palace, that isBorn in poverty,I really can't live outside, and I have no choice but to survive in the palace sold by my family.
Before becoming eunuchs, they have to go through two procedures, this oneIt's a "cleansing" operation, and a lot of young men have fallen on it.
At that time,There are two families in Beijing that specialize in this type of surgeryAlmost all the eunuchs in the palace were castrated by these two families, and they were called by the rivers and lakes"Knife maker".
The late spring and early summer of each year is the best time for these two businessesMany people who want to be eunuchs will come to these two houses to report and wait for them to be dealt with.
The day before the eunuch was cleansed, he was not allowed to eat anythingAnd you can't drink a drop of water for three days after purification.
Many people will sign an agreement with the knife maker before purificationVoluntarily purify oneself, regardless of life or death.
When the cleanser is ready, he is fed a large bowl of anesthetic soup by the swordsmith, and then a boiled egg is placed in his mouth.
The knife maker's tools are also very professionalIt is made by the master of the palace himself, and it looks like a sickle, which is very sharpBefore the knife, the knife will also burn the tool on the fire, which can play a sterilizing role.
When ready, the operator will let the cleansing fit fit himThe dantian is heavy, and the small belly is bulgingIn addition, the body of the purifier must be upright to the extreme, so that the operation can be completed at one time, so as not to suffer the second sin of the purifierAfter the castration is completed, the ** of the knife is also very intimate, and it is directly sprinkled with a handful of ashes for disinfectionA barley stalk is then inserted into the wound of the cleanser.
At this time, the numbing strength of the person who was purified has also passedThey had to endure the pain and walk inside the house for six hoursto ensure that blood can circulate throughout the body.
At the end of these six hours, the purified person will lie on a large special bedThis kind of bed is a bit like a hospital bed where a paralyzed patient lies, and the middle hip position can be removed.
After lying down on the bed, the hands and feet of the person being purified are tied, and a layer of ash is spread under the body to prevent the wound from being ripped by the movement.
After three days of cleansing, the barley stalk inserted in the body of the cleanser will be removedIf he can be confirmed by the swordsmith to be successful, then he means that he is a real eunuch at this moment.
In many TV series, there will be eunuchs' treasures that will be placed somewhere, but in fact, they are placed in the house of these two knife mastersThese swordsmiths are usually wrapped in red cloth and placed on a high place with their names written on them.
When these eunuchs are mixed in the palace in the future, they will either ask someone to do something and take the initiative to send them, or these eunuchs will buy them for **.
After entering the palace, many eunuchs were basically arranged to do heavy and rough workThose eunuchs who often appear around the emperor and other powerful factions are very favored eunuchs, and the number is very small.
Most eunuchs basically do dirty work every day, and they get very little pay, and sometimes they lose their lives because they don't do one thing right.
It's just an errand to serve people, and I'm always worried about my life, soThe pressure on the hearts of these eunuchs is very great.
In addition, some entered the palace at a young age, although it symbolizes that the male organs were cut, butThere are still hormones in the body, so they often find palace maids who also think of spring to eat.
There are also some powerful eunuchs who will buy real estate outside the palace and marry several wivesHowever, because they can't, they will use other means to satisfy their desires.
There is also a type of eunuch who will deliberately keep a small section of "life root" when entering the palaceThis kind of eunuch is very popular with the palace maids, and at the same time, some unfavored concubines will also have a relationship with these eunuchs.
However, in the imperial palace of the Qing Dynasty, the internal affairs office would conduct a physical examination of the eunuchs at regular intervalsIf it is found that those eunuchs who have not been castrated completely, they will be re-castrated at the least, or directly killed with a cane, and even his family will be implicated.
The lives of eunuchs are mostly dramatic and tragic, and as a product of feudal society, they have experienced too much pain that ordinary people cannot experience.
Although it is a unique profession in ancient times, if you want to become a eunuch, you need to be mentally prepared strong enough, if you really can't live, I believe they won't take this heavenly path.
Information source: "Records of the Palace Maid's Conversations"--Beijing Forbidden City Publishing House.