Eunuchs are difficult, not only one knife, but also a complicated process
Historically, the status of eunuchs was not glamorous. In ancient times, it was not easy to become a eunuch, and you had to go through a complicated selection process. Feudal society emphasized that the status of men was higher than that of women, therefore, men were seen as a sacrifice in ancient times by cutting off *** to become eunuchs.
Today, let's unveil the mystery of the selection of ancient eunuchs.
In this special period, many poor men did not hesitate to cut off their lives in order to survive and became eunuchs to serve in the palace, which is undoubtedly a kind of abandonment of male dignity and a shameful thing.
As a result, records of the eunuch's life experience, even the most detailed purification process, are scarce. For people who don't know the industry, they may think that becoming a eunuch is a very simple thing, and they only need to swing a knife from the palace and give up their dignity to soar in the palace.
However, this is not the case. It was not until the ** period that these things were known to the world. First of all, it was understood that in the last years of the Qing Dynasty, the selection of eunuchs did become simpler.
This is thanks to a newspaper interview with an old man with a special status, Sun Yaoting, who is known as the last eunuch in Chinese history.
Sun Yaoting's path to becoming a eunuch was not all smooth sailing. In order to survive, his father had to cleanse him with his own hands and send him to the palace as a eunuch. However, at this time, the Qing Dynasty was already in turmoil, although Pu Yi was still in power, but in fact he was already an emperor in name only.
The expenses in the palace have been greatly reduced, if it weren't for Sun Yaoting's luck and being recommended by Prince Alcohol's Mansion through his relationship, he might not have been able to enter the palace smoothly. However, his experience occurred during the period when the Qing Dynasty was coming to an end, when the Qing court could no longer afford the complicated process of selecting eunuchs, so Sun Yaoting finally got his wish and entered the palace.
However, if in a period of regime stability, the situation can be very different.
Under normal circumstances, what is the process of becoming a eunuch? Historically, it is impossible for the practice of wielding a knife at home to clean oneself to be recognized by the imperial court, and it is likely to be eliminated in the audition stage.
This is because in the court, the biggest reason for male purification is to avoid outsiders from disturbing the harem, which is not uncommon in the previous dynasties, such as the incident of the fake eunuchs Chang Yu and Zhao Ji of the Qin State, which will make the emperor worry that his woman is fornicating with others, and the heir of his son may not be his own flesh and blood.
The imperial court was in charge of the eunuchs' purification affairs, because the practice of completing the purification with a knife has a great risk of fraud. In order to ensure the accuracy and authenticity of purification, all dynasties have set up institutions dedicated to this work.
In the Ming Dynasty,"Worship room"It is the body in charge of this affairs, it is a special agency under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which is responsible for managing the affairs of eunuchs and court ladies.
In the Qing Dynasty, although the Ming Dynasty's "Jingshifang" system was followed, the Manchu nobles were limited in number and needed a large amount of fresh blood to enter the palace for duty. Therefore, eunuchs were in high demand.
However, it was obviously not feasible to leave all purification matters to the imperial court. As a result, a kind of folk organization called "knife maker" came into being. These professionals are licensed, and they may be folk people with outstanding craftsmanship, or they have been recognized by the ** after professional training from the imperial court.
Only those who have successfully purified themselves and obtained a certificate can become eunuchs and have the opportunity to enter the palace.
In the heyday of the Qing Dynasty, those "knife craftsmen" who were officially recognized by the imperial court undertook most of the cleansing work of the eunuchs. However, do you know the specific castration process?
Even with a professional, the risk remains. First of all, if you want to become a eunuch, you need to find a reliable swordsmith among the people. He must be skilled and have the relevant documents, otherwise the rest of the process will be in vain.
After finding a knife maker, it is not possible to perform surgery immediately, just as you need to pay the operation fee when you go to the hospital for surgery, you also need to prepare the corresponding gift money to find a knife maker to castrate.
In ancient feudal society, if there was no desperate situation, few men were willing to undergo cleansing surgery and give up their dignity in order to survive. As a result, people seeking this type of surgery are often poor, and their financial situation makes it impossible for them to pay the key money.
In order to solve this problem, the knifesmiths also understood the situation and negotiated the fees. You can offset part of the gift money by giving gifts such as crops, food, meat, etc., and you can even use your wife and children to pay off debts.
Therefore, it is still possible to perform such an operation even in poor conditions.
The selection process of eunuchs is very cruel, and once they are selected, they need to cut off their own *** as a price. Moreover, the risks during and after the surgery are at your own risk, and the knife maker is not responsible.
Before the surgery, you need to sign an "informed consent form for surgery", which is essentially a life and death certificate. Because the ancients believed that it was a shame to mortgage their own *** to others, almost all eunuchs would choose to spend money to redeem their "lifeline".
Although this process is full of pain and risk, in order to be able to flourish in the palace, the eunuchs are often willing to endure all this.
After signing the consent form, the surgery officially begins. The surgeon will spread a thick layer of straw or straw on your bed and let you lie down. First, you'll be served a bowl of stinky soup with a mild anesthetic effect, followed by a peeled hard-boiled egg stuffed into your mouth.
Then, the surgeon will use the knife to cut your **, take out**, and then directly cut off the whole *** This process will be done in one go without the slightest hesitation.
During this process, you may exclaim because of the pain. The egg will then slide down your throat and block your windpipe directly, causing you to suddenly lose consciousness.
That way, whether the soup works or not, you won't feel pain when you lose consciousness.
After the surgery, the knife maker will apply a piece of fresh pig bitter gall to your wound to reduce swelling and relieve pain. However, the results may not be ideal, so you may need to lie in bed and fight death for half a month after the surgery.
The process is very painful and risky. According to statistics, the success rate of this castration operation during the Qing Dynasty was only about 40%, while most of the other 60% of failed cases occurred during the postoperative recovery stage.
Some people soared, and some people slept on the sickbed, which shows that it was not easy to become a eunuch in ancient times. Despite the stakes, there are still many who have thrown themselves into it, gambling with their lives on the seemingly slim future.
This may be the cruelest reality of the feudal era.