Friends who have watched palace dramas should all know that in ancient times, if a man wanted to enter the palace and become a eunuch, he had to purify himself first. Purification means getting rid of his penis. The characters in the TV series "The Myth" are still vivid in the memory of Quest: Gao Yao was forcibly purged before entering the palace, tied up with ropes, unable to move, and his mouth was filled with eggs. After that, little JJ was The old eunuchs in the palace were cut off, which was called purification. Then why did the eunuch need to purify himself? How do you purify yourself? What was the reason why eunuchs wanted to be cut in ancient times? The following exploration will tell you the reasons why the ancient eunuchs wanted to cut. The real reason why eunuchs want to purify their bodies

According to the Secret Chronicles, I understand that in ancient times, the emperor's harem did have three thousand beauties, and of course there were more, even tens of thousands of concubines. Yes, I remember that Quest mentioned in the previous article "Yang Guang asked the palace maids to wear crotchless pants and visited more than 30 palace maids in one night". In ancient times, in addition to visiting his own concubines, the emperor could even visit any of his concubines at will. maid. Some of the emperor's concubines may not have even seen the emperor once after entering the palace. I believe there are always some who are unbearably lonely because of falling out of favor. If you were the emperor, would you want your wife to cuckold you behind your back? The men who serve your wife become eunuchs, and your wife will no longer be able to do it behind your back.

The emperor cut off the men's vaginas in order to end the chaos in the harem, but the trouble often came from the eunuchs. If the purification is not complete, eunuchs are not much different from ordinary men, and they will also have sexual problems. It is rumored that Cixi had an affair with An Dehai and Li Lianying. This is what happened. One sentence summarizes the reason why eunuchs in ancient times had to be circumcised: because the emperor was afraid that the eunuchs would have sex with the women in the palace.

Illustration of the purification process of ancient eunuchs

In the past, there were two institutions for men to purify themselves. One was government-run. The purification institution in the Qing Dynasty was the "purification institution" under the Ministry of Internal Affairs that managed harem affairs. "Secretary of Punishment"; and then there is the "professional clean house" among the people. Of course, there are also family workshops. Purification is very risky, and the mortality rate is very high, with only about 40% surviving. It’s not that they are desperate, most people would not do such a thing as “cutting off their descendants”.

According to the Qing Dynasty notebook "Chenyuan Miscellaneous Knowledge", those who are willing to purify themselves and enter the palace to be eunuchs must be introduced by a high-status eunuch, and then sign a marriage certificate with the witness and marry themselves as a woman. Go to the palace. The key is to draw up a life-and-death document, and ask three elders and four young men as witnesses, stating that they voluntarily purify themselves, regardless of life or death, so as to avoid trouble and lawsuits in the future.

Of course, fees must be charged, usually ranging from 10 taels to 8 taels of silver. Most poor families can't afford it, so they have to make a contract and wait until the child enters the palace, and then they will give back monthly after they become rich. The months are few and the interest is high. If you do not do well in the palace, it will take ten or twenty years to pay off the debt. There are two other things you must bring. One is a gift for the knife maker, usually a pig head or a whole chicken, plus a bottle of wine. The second is the items used during the operation, including 30 kilograms of rice, several baskets of corn cobs, several loads of sesame straw and half a knife of window paper.

Among them, rice is a month's ration for the purifier, corn cobs are used to burn the kang to keep warm, sesame straw is burned to ashes and used to pad the kang, and window paper is used to paste the windows to avoid being exposed to the cold after the operation. . The knifemaker must prepare two fresh pig galls, smelly hemp soup and wheat straw. Pig gall has the effect of reducing swelling and relieving pain, and can be applied to the wound after surgery. Smelly cannabis soup has many functions. Drinking a bowl before surgery will make people confused and act as an anesthetic. Drink it after surgery to make the operator have diarrhea, reduce the amount of urine excretion, and ensure the success of the surgery. The function of wheat straw is to insert it after surgery. urethra.

You are not allowed to drink water for 3 days after the operation. It is said that you must endure extreme pain during this period due to thirst and pain. After 3 days, I pulled out the plug of the white wax needle and my urine gushed out like water. I was done. If this is not the case, one can only wait for death in agony, and no one can lend a helping hand. After a hundred days of surgery, the wound heals, and a eunuch is created.

The purification master keeps all the cut things like treasures. The person being purified has no right to claim them, and they are all kept by the purification master. The purifier prepared a liter in advance, which contained less than half a liter of lime. Place the two pills neatly in a position, and use lime to absorb the water to prevent them from rotting. Then wrap the purification contract in oil paper and put it inside the sheng. Then wrap the mouth of the sheng with a big red cloth and tie it tightly. Carefully put the sheng to the beam below the roof. This is called red step (cloth) high (sheng). ), wishing those who purify themselves good luck and promotion in the future. How do eunuchs urinate after ablution

There are different degrees of eunuchs’ vaginal discharge. Some only have their testicles removed, while most of them have their vagina completely removed. For the latter, a hollow tube must be inserted before the wound heals. Straw straw catheterization leaves a small hole for urination after the wound heals. If a hollow tube such as a straw straw is not inserted, the wound will heal completely and urination will be impossible.

Generally, eunuchs urinate while squatting. After the Qing Dynasty, eunuchs dug for their treasures and removed their power. Even their vaginas were cut off. This depends on the skill of the surgeon. After the cut, bulges will appear, and you will be punished twice every year during physical examination, called stubble; if the cut is deep, it will appear concave after recovery, and pee will leak out in a fan shape, even if you squat down to urinate, you will inevitably get it. On their pants and shoes, many eunuchs are smelly. If the knife maker's skills are top-notch, congratulations, you can squat and pee like a woman, and you won't be covered in it. Questions about ancient eunuchs

The Qing Dynasty should be regarded as a dynasty where eunuchs were less troublesome, and it was probably also a dynasty with the most complete eunuch system. For example, there were more than ten dynasties. Regarding the eunuch system and various situations in the Qing Dynasty, let’s make a short Q&A with some common questions.

Part One: Basics

Q: How many eunuchs were there in the Qing Dynasty?

A: The number of eunuchs in the Qing Dynasty fluctuated, but overall it became less and less from the early Qing Dynasty to the late Qing Dynasty. In the early Qing Dynasty, the Qing Palace accepted many eunuchs from the Ming Dynasty. It is said that the number was as many as more than 90,000. Therefore, the number of eunuchs in the early Qing Dynasty was said to be extremely large. By the late Shunzhi Dynasty, there were still more than 9,000 eunuchs. After that, there were fewer and fewer eunuchs. During the Qianlong period, there were 2,866 eunuchs under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 2,638 during the Jiaqing period, 1,989 during the Guangxu period, and 1,517 in July of the second year of the Republic of China. It is said that there is a common saying circulating in the court of Ming and Qing Dynasties, called "Enough, three thousand and six." A scholar once said that this refers to the number of palace maids in the Qing Dynasty. Please kick that scholar and don't believe him. This sentence actually refers to is the number of eunuchs. But to be precise, this is the "ideal number of eunuchs", and the number of eunuchs in the Qing Dynasty seems to have never been able to reach this number after the Qianming Dynasty was consumed.

Q: Apart from the palace, where else can there be eunuchs?

A: In addition to the palace, there are eunuchs in the palaces of princes and princesses. Generally speaking, there are dozens of eunuchs in each palace. A few ministers also have eunuchs in their homes, but the number is very small. In addition, there are retired eunuchs in the temple. For retirement and elderly care, please see the following questions.

Q: What is the origin of eunuchs in the Qing Dynasty? In other words, who would become a eunuch?

A: People who served as eunuchs in the Qing Dynasty were generally poor or desperate people. The main sources can be summarized as follows:

1. Those who apply for purification and enter the palace on their own due to poverty.

2. A person who was sold by his parents and later purified into the palace.

3. Being abducted and sold to a person who specializes in collecting children, and then purified and brought into the palace.

4. Those who enter the palace due to different talents (heaven castrated) or trauma (you know).

5. Those who commit crimes and enter the palace by purifying themselves to avoid accountability.

6. Those who committed suicide for some reason... There is a story such as someone had an argument with a pawnshop, and the pawnshop laughed at his poor pawnshop, so someone got angry and cut off his penis to pawn...

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Q: How can one commit a crime and enter the palace?

A: It is said that if you have committed some serious crimes, you can avoid responsibility on the grounds of cleansing yourself. It is said that some eunuchs in the palace or the royal palace came this way. To be precise, this is against the laws of the Qing Dynasty, but there are many such legends and the theoretical basis is not very clear. For example, Dong Haichuan was an eunuch in Prince Su's Mansion. It is said that he purified himself to avoid disaster because he had killed someone.

Q: Where can I go to purify myself?

A: In the Qing Dynasty, the government had a special place for purification, which was called the "official knife craftsman" of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In addition to the "official knife makers", there were also two "private knife makers" in the late Qing Dynasty, namely "Bi Wu" from the Accounting Department Hutong on Nanchang Street and "Xiao Dao Liu" from the Di'anmen Fangzhuan Hutong. These "knifemakers" provided at least forty eunuchs to the palace every quarter. There is also a kind of self-purification, which is particularly scary. Although the Qing Dynasty law strictly prohibits private purification, and violators will be punished with death, but some people still give birth to their own children? pain? Down? ruthless? hand? ...even there? relative? since? Hold? knife? ...For example, the eunuch Ma Deqing was purified by his biological father in the 31st year of Guangxu's reign...

Q: Do eunuchs have such things as contracts of sale?

A: Yes, it means "guaranteed sweet knot" written during the "purification test"...

Q: How did the eunuch purify himself?

A: This is a good question... let’s talk about the official process, some unofficial ones... just wish you luck...

Before the surgery, I was raped You need to rest for about 10 days and provide a lot of nutrients, but the drinks are reduced day by day. After that, I will tell you every day that it is very painful. Do you want to regret it? I will tell you until you are tired of it.

On the day of the operation, the victim’s limbs were tied up, a hard-boiled egg was stuffed into his mouth, and then... he was stabbed with kucha! It is said that the person who was raped at this time fainted, and then the surgeon quickly "tied the tendons" (well, I don't understand what this is). After tying, "open the door", that is, insert a pen tube into the urethra, then apply medicine and nurse it back to health.

During the recuperation process, it is said that urinating is the most painful... You know...

According to some old eunuchs, the voice changed on the day of the operation, the hair began to fall off in three days, and the hair began to fall off in 12 days. The pen tube can be removed, and you can walk on the ground in about 21 days...

There are also surgical records of "private workshops" such as Xiaodao Liu, which are slightly different from the official procedures.

Q: Where do you put everything after you cut it?

A: OK... question... Because the ancients believed that this thing must be put into the coffin after death, there is a special way to preserve it...

It is said that it is... Tai Heavy words...I'll quote the original text directly: "First wash the cut items with water, fry them thoroughly with sesame oil, filter out the oil droplets, and wrap 'Babaosan' (lime, powdered pearls, tide camphor, and camphor) in yellow oil silk Grind noodles, musk, semen, agarwood, cinnabar, etc. into powder), dip the fried food in 'Babaosan' and wrap it, then pack the oily silk in a bag sewn with yellow satin or yellow cloth, and put it in Inside a special wooden box or a box made of gold, silver, jade, or green, write the name, age, place of origin of the eunuch, the name and date of the guarantor, the eunuch’s birth date, and the outside of the wooden box is wrapped in yellow. Silk, tie it with yellow silk rope, put the box in a wicker basket, cover the mouth of the basket with yellow satin or yellow cloth, tie with five-color silk thread, write "100 years of good luck" or "good luck" on the red paper These words are affixed to Sheng. "This thing is usually kept at the knife maker's house until the eunuch becomes wealthy and comes to "redeem it for promotion". After the eunuch redeems it, it is offered to him in his bedroom.

Q: Are the conditions the same for all eunuchs who have undergone surgery?

A: It is said that it is not the same. Depending on the place where the surgery is performed and the specific circumstances, there may be sequelae. In the late Qing Dynasty, there was a young eunuch in Prince Fu County's palace. Because of the poor operation, he had to urinate on the bed every night. By the way, the little eunuch's master eunuch later heard that "beating the stick with a stick can cure nocturia", so he made a routine of hitting him with 20 sticks every day after he urinated on the bed. As a result, the little eunuch died after being beaten for half a year...

Q: Are there eunuchs before entering the customs?

A: Yes. In "Manwen Old Documents", Taizu once mentioned, "The boys who were wrapped in Baylor were raped when they were young, and then sent to Baylor's courtyard." This shows that there were a small number of eunuchs before entering the customs, but the number was very small.

Part 2: Eunuchs in the Palace

Q: What were the procedures for eunuchs to enter the palace in the Qing Dynasty? Are there any conditions required?

A: Cleanse yourself first, then sign up. After signing up, I went through a personal inspection. It is said that the content is to look at appearance, conversation, intelligence, and then touch the gear (through the pants). It is said that purification, recuperation, medicine, registration, and buying a set of boots, hats, robes, and coats require a lot of money. The eunuchs usually owe the purification money, and they will pay back the money slowly in the future.

Q: Are there any special requirements for selecting eunuchs?

A: The Qing Dynasty stipulated that "every person under the age of fifteen will be given a reward of 12 ounces of money from the knife maker", which is called "knife reward" or "washing money". It can be seen that the younger the better.

Q: Some books say that some eunuchs are from bannermen. Is this true?

A: Yes and no. Many scholars looked at the files directly. Many eunuchs wrote "under the banner of Zhenghuang" and so on. They thought they were eunuchs who were born in the banner. In fact, they are not bannermen, but just recognize the flag. The old eunuch of the Qing Palace said: "I lived in the Shenxing Division for a few days before entering the palace. Those who are not there must recognize the flag, which means those of us who are preparing to enter the palace must recognize the flag." Which flag to belong to is probably to clarify the identity so that someone will be responsible in the future."

Q: Can a person who is married and has a family become a eunuch?

A: Yes. An old eunuch in the Qing Palace recalled the life of the Queen Mother and said: "I remember that among the more than 20 eunuchs that were handed over that year, there were 30-year-olds. The old Queen Mother asked him if he had married, and she said yes. . Asked if she had a son, she said yes. The old queen said, well, she has a wife and a son, and she wants to be a eunuch. After saying that, she was delighted.

Q: How to choose eunuchs in the palace?

A: After the new eunuchs learned the rules and were reviewed, they were brought into the palace by people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. They wrote down their names, ages, and origins, and then knelt in rows in the courtyard for their masters to choose. The emperor or the queen mother picks first, then the rest of the masters pick, and then the rest are distributed everywhere.

Q: In Qing palace dramas, it is said that eunuchs cannot read. Is this true?

A: No. An old eunuch in the Qing Palace recalled the Queen Mother's daily life and said: "If you don't just lean on me, you will close your eyes and ask the eunuch to read ancient poems and leisure books. Maybe you will fall asleep while listening." There are only a few deep words in the palace. The eunuch is responsible for this job." It can be seen that there are eunuchs who can read.

Q: When selecting a eunuch, how do you ensure that he has been purified...?

A: Before selection, you need to "check for defects". First, see whether he is lame, stuttering, and whether his appearance is correct.

After that, they have to be "inspected", that is, they enter the clean room one by one and are inspected by the eunuch who is responsible for cleaning. You know...

Q: People always say that there is an iron sign in Shunzhi that says eunuchs are not allowed to interfere in politics. ?

A: Yes, there is a lot of content on the iron sign. Let me briefly explain: On June 29, the 10th year of Shunzhi, the Inner Court was ordered to say: No member of the inner court is allowed to leave the imperial city unless on assignment. . Outside of duties, one is not allowed to interfere in anything, to attract outsiders, to make friends with foreign officials, to make secret friendships between brothers, nephews, and relatives. It is not allowed to use the names of brothers, nephews, and others to buy land, thereby controlling the government and disturbing the people. Officials outside the country are not allowed to associate with internal officials. If there are internal and external contacts, the same officials will be promoted, the academy will inspect the report, the science and education will be corrected, and the truth will be reviewed and the law will be rectified. The prevention and prohibition are strict, but the reform of the common people will bring disadvantages. I still make clear instructions to China and foreign countries, so that I can use the eunuch's wishes at my own discretion. The inner court immediately issued an order to the Yamen to comply with it. Notices engraved in Manchu and Chinese characters should be known to everyone from the king down to the officials, soldiers and people.

Q: What is the punishment of eunuchs?

A: There were many restrictions on eunuchs in the Qing Dynasty, and there were even more punishments. There were even "Regulations on Separate Punishments for Eunuchs and Women Who Commit Suicide", "Regulations on the Punishment of Eunuchs Stealing Fish and Shrimp in Gardens", "Regulations on the Punishment of Eunuchs Stealing Fish and Shrimp in Gardens", There are many such regulations in the Separate Punishment Regulations for Leaving Gold Blades and Other Objects Accidentally Inside.

Q: In Qing palace dramas, there are always eunuchs beating other eunuchs or palace maids, and some eunuchs committing suicide. Is it impossible?

A: Let’s take a look at the example. "Any big eunuch in each palace who does not follow the orders of his master and beats the junior eunuchs and maids without authorization will be dispatched if he is the leader (eunuch), and if he is an (ordinary) eunuch, he will do the right thing." "All eunuchs and maids, in the Those who injure themselves with a gold blade in the palace shall be executed; those who attempt to commit suicide but are rescued by others shall be hanged and awaited in prison; those who attempt to commit suicide by hanging in the garden but are rescued by others shall be sent to Ili to be slaves to the soldiers, and women are permitted to do so. They were redeemed according to the law; those who committed suicide in the palace had their bodies abandoned in the wilderness, and their relatives sent them to Yili to be enslaved by the soldiers; those who committed suicide in the garden, their bodies were not abandoned, and their relatives sent them to Urumqi to be enslaved by the soldiers. . ”

Q: Why should people be held accountable for committing suicide?

A: After all, suicide is an unlucky thing. It is taboo in the palace, so the punishment is stricter, but generally speaking, the sentence is slightly lighter. For example, during the Qianlong period, the dining eunuch Wang Guotai He cut his neck with a knife and was sent to the mountains for fifteen years...

Q: What if the eunuch escapes?

A: There are still exceptions. Take a look. "The first time he escaped and was surrendered, he was punished with sixty. He was sent to work as an errand. He was given a five-cent reduction in food and was rewarded with silver for one year. If he was captured and the second time he escaped, he was both surrendered and was punished with sixty. He was sent to Wudi to cut grass for one year. Two After escaping once, he was sent back to Wudian for one and a half years. He was captured after being sent to Wudian for two years. , are liable to 100. Three years of imprisonment, four years of imprisonment, five years of imprisonment, and five years of imprisonment. ." But relatively speaking, the crime of escaping is relatively light, so there are individual eunuchs? even? Continue? escape? run? As many as five or six times...

Q: How do eunuchs differentiate between high and low?

A: Generally speaking, in fact, there are three types of eunuchs: the chief eunuch, the chief eunuch, and the ordinary eunuch. In terms of official rank, there are eunuchs with tops and eunuchs without tops. In terms of errands, there are eunuchs who are superior to those who are not superior, and so on.

Q: Do eunuchs have grades?

A: In the 61st year of Kangxi's reign, eunuch grades were stipulated for the first time, with the highest being the fifth grade. During the Yongzheng period, there were also fourth-rank eunuchs, and in the late Qing Dynasty, eunuchs had second- and third-rank titles. Specifically, there are the fourth-rank supervisor attendants, the fifth-rank palace attendants, the sixth-rank palace supervisors and principal attendants, the sixth-rank deputy palace supervisors and attendants, the seventh-rank chief attendants, the seventh-rank deputy attendants and the eighth-rank attendants. Eighth-grade deputy eunuch, etc. It is said that eunuchs are divided into 20 grades, so I won’t go into details here.

Q: How are eunuchs at different levels treated?

A: High-ranking eunuchs are paid extremely well. The fourth-grade general manager is paid eight taels of silver, eight dou of rice, and three hundred for public expenses every month, while the eunuchs without grades are paid according to the third grade, and the first-grade eunuchs are paid according to Eunuchs earn three taels of silver, three dou of rice, and six hundred coins at public expense every month. A second-class eunuch earns two taels and five cents of silver per month, two dou and five liters of rice, and six hundred coins made at public expense. A third-class eunuch earns two taels of silver, two dou of rice, and six hundred coins at public expense each month. This is within the palace, but the wages of eunuchs in the palace outside the palace are generally lower than those in the palace. In addition, the income of some special eunuchs in the palace, such as Li Lianying, is obviously not only this small.

Q: What is the proportion of senior eunuchs?

A: There are relatively few statistics in this area. According to the records of the late Qing Dynasty, there were more than 1,900 eunuchs during the Guangxu period, including 16 general managers and 152 leaders, accounting for 8.47% of the total number. It can be seen that the vast majority of eunuchs were still

Q: In Qing palace dramas, the emperor When summoning ministers, there are eunuchs around them, is this true?

A: No. The Qing system stipulated that when the emperor summoned ministers, the general manager, leader or eunuch responsible for leading the ministers in the memorial office could only wait in the corridor outside the door, and was not allowed to enter the Ming Palace without permission.

Q: How are the eunuchs in the palace on duty?

A: It depends on how and where you are on duty.

For example, the eunuchs in the late Qing Dynasty said: "When you go to work, whether you are standing next to the master or listening to the master's instructions on the corridor, you must stand there upright, with your hands hanging tightly on both sides of your body." Another example is the eunuch's office in front of the imperial court. Said, "... After the emperor went to bed, several of the royal staff went to 'do the watch' on the ground floor of the emperor's palace." It is worth noting that, except for a few chief eunuchs who need to pay greetings, generally eunuchs do not salute when on duty. "We As usual, those who serve in front of the emperor do not kneel down and do their own business. "Ordinary eunuchs do not go in to pay greetings. Even when they go to the class to attend to duties and serve meals, they do not bow. They do whatever they are supposed to do. They are fine. Where are you standing? ”

Part Three: The Life of Eunuchs

Q: How do eunuchs call each other?

A: According to the dictation of a eunuch in the late Qing Dynasty, "peers call each other master, Zhang Ye for Zhang, Li Ye for Li, and the lower level calls the higher level master. The eunuchs don't like it. People call them eunuchs. If you call them husbands, you are simply insulting their ancestors."

Q: Can eunuchs marry wives?

A: In the Qing Dynasty, high-ranking eunuchs had foreign residences. For example, Xiao Dezhang had four wives, but of course, there was no "use"... But the lower-level eunuchs generally did not have this kind of leisurely life.

Q: In novels or Qing palace dramas, there is always talk about eating against each other. Was there such a thing in the Qing Dynasty?

A: There was no such custom in the Qing Dynasty. In the Qing Dynasty, palace maids were employed. They could leave the palace in their twenties and marry freely after that. How could they have sex with eunuchs?

Q: Some people say that eunuchs need to "test two crops". Is this true?

A: There seems to be this statement in some unofficial histories and "The Palace Maid's Talk", but it is probably not accurate. According to the old eunuch, after Ande Hai was beheaded in the Qing Palace, rumors spread that Ande Hai was unclean, and he also complained about the behavior of the eunuchs in the palace, so there was a "second inspection" of the eunuchs in the inner court. This incident of "cleaning up the second crop" was regarded by many eunuchs as "a great shame and a great humiliation". This seems to be a more credible statement.

Q: What do the eunuchs in the palace usually wear? Is it like wearing a Jifu robe (python robe) like in Qing palace opera?

A: No. Eunuchs usually wear ordinary robes and coats, according to their rank. The imperial eunuchs who are not of high rank and have the highest rank should use dragon flowers and five bats to celebrate their longevity. The eunuchs who are not the imperial eunuchs of no rank and have the highest rank do not need the supplement. Only during ceremonies and festivals, all eunuchs in front of the imperial court ("superior" eunuchs), regardless of size, must wear python robes.

Q: Do eunuchs have to work all the time? Under what circumstances can one leave the palace?

A: According to the regulations of the Qing Dynasty, when a eunuch cannot work due to old age, disability or illness, he can retire from the palace and serve the people after the chief eunuch reports that it is true. There are also some eunuchs who, when they get older, are sent to palaces outside the palace, such as royal palaces, to spend their old age doing casual jobs.

Q: How are they doing after leaving the palace?

A: After leaving the palace, eunuchs are generally miserable. The first is social discrimination, and the second is that most of them are poor, homeless and have difficulty making a living. So they basically died in temples or Taoist temples. There are twenty-six eunuch temples around Beijing.

Q: Why did the eunuch temple accept them?

A: When they work in the palace, they usually save a sum of money, and then use the money to directly donate it to the temple, or buy acres of land and donate it to the temple. The temple has a home.

Q: What if you are a very poor eunuch who has no money to donate to the temple?

A: If the eunuch is very poor and has few interpersonal relationships, he will often become a beggar after leaving the palace, and his life will be miserable.

Q: Besides Xiao De Zhang and Li Lianying, are there any other special eunuchs?

A: There was Liu Duosheng (ok, I want to complain about this name), who was the second steward of Queen Xiao Qinxian. Later, he became a disciple of Zhang Zongxu, the abbot of Baiyunguan. His Buddhist name was Liu Chengyin, Taoist priest. Taoist No. Suyun, later became the 20th abbot of Baiyun Temple with Gao Yunxi. He also founded the Huoshan sect, a branch of the Longmen sect of Taoism, and created a sect for eunuchs to believe in Taoism. It is said that he ordained many eunuchs and built several eunuch temples.

Q: Is there anything special about the eunuch’s appearance?

A: In fact, I heard that if you have been... since you were a child, you will look particularly young as you get older. It is said that Liu Chengyin "talks elegantly, looks like a scholar, is over sixty years old, and looks like a noble official. Like a forty-year-old person." And if you are a "midway monk", you will age very quickly.

Q: Some people say that eunuchs don’t live long, right?

A: Not necessarily. When the literary and historical data were recorded after New China, there were some eunuchs over eighty years old still alive.

Q: What do eunuchs do when they are not on duty?

A: When eunuchs are not on duty, they usually serve senior eunuchs. Otherwise, they are bored. In the words of the eunuch, “I’m tired of walking in a fixed circle.

"

Q: How did the eunuchs live?

A: This question is more complicated. Zhu Jiaxin once asked the eunuch in front of Cixi, "Where did you live when you were on duty in Ningshou Palace? ? Where does Li Lianying live? The eunuch replied: "Li Lianying is in charge of the wing to the west of Huangji Hall." Cui Yugui lives in the east side room. Master and I lived in the east corner door, in the room on the west side of the hall. ”

Q: When a eunuch is on duty, does he work all day long?

A: Eunuchs generally have a "shift" system. For example, for the eunuchs in the royal family, when they have lunch in the morning, it is One class. From lunch to evening, there is another class.

Q: Do eunuchs have holidays?

A: There is no fixed schedule for eunuchs in the palace. During the holidays, you could take time off if something happened, but generally it was very rare. A eunuch in the late Qing Dynasty said: "Sometimes you can take a few hours off to go outside for fun, but there is no place to relax, and the procedures for entering and exiting the palace are very troublesome. ”

Q: What do eunuchs eat?

A: Different statuses vary. Senior eunuchs eat very well, such as Xiao De Zhang. It is said that he eats the same as the Queen Mother. Pretty much, the food was very grand. The middle-class eunuchs ate what they wanted. To put it simply, after Qianlong, the food in the Qing palace was very lavish, so a lot of food was wasted, so the remaining dishes were given to the eunuchs for cleaning. As for the lower eunuchs, according to relevant records, “Eunuchs serving in various places have one meal and one soup for every meal. The eunuchs in other empty palaces, front doors, cleaning offices, etc. all eat big pots of rice and dishes. ”

Q: Is there any special treatment? Where did you get the clothes? Where is the labor insurance?

A: Both the Three Sections of the Palace and the Shengshou have rewarded money, which is more than the salary.

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Q: Do all eunuchs hold whisks?

A: The image of eunuchs holding whisks is an image on the opera stage and does not exist in reality. Don’t be fooled by the Qing Dynasty drama. .

Part 4: The eunuchs in the palace

Q: What is the situation of the eunuchs in the palace?

A: It is similar to that in the palace, but only divided into The specific sources are the same as those given by the palace. Some are officially cleansed, but some are private.

Q: What is the status of the eunuchs in the palace?

< p> A: Generally speaking, the status of eunuchs in the palace is relatively high. Their status in the inner house is higher than that of maids, and they have basically the same status as the servants with status.

Q: What do the eunuchs in the palace do? Work?

A: The eunuchs of the palace mainly work in the guanfang, which is the so-called inner house. There are palace officials outside the guanfang, and the work content inside the guanfang is also very complicated. There are those who serve around you, those who accompany you, those who serve as prime ministers, those who guard the gates, etc.

Q: How are the eunuchs in the palace classified?

A: Those in the palace. Eunuchs, the first level is the general eunuch, usually there is one general eunuch and one deputy general eunuch;

The second level is the "elder eunuchs", who are the eunuchs who serve the elders in the mansion. They are often junior eunuchs. The "parents" who have raised their masters from childhood to adulthood (because parents rarely raise children directly), even the young masters do not dare to neglect them; the third level is the "little eunuchs", the little eunuchs usually serve their masters and are younger. , but they are more favored; those who also belong to the third level are "resident eunuchs", who are responsible for some important reception work around the master, and belong to the same "upper class" as the little eunuchs; the fourth level is "Sula eunuchs", They are ordinary eunuchs who work everywhere as errands.