Biography of the last Chinese eunuch
Barbara Demick of The LA Times reports on Sun Yaoting, China's last living eunuch (Left, standing with his biographer, Jia Yinghua).
In 1911 when he was eight years old, his father castrated him with a razor in preparation of "an imperial life of riches." It didn't quite work out as his father had hoped.
After the Communists came to power in 1949, Sun and other surviving eunuchs were despised as freakish symbols of the feudal past. He was nearly killed during the Cultural Revolution in the late 1960s, and his siblings were so fearful of persecution that they threw away his bao, or treasure: the severed genitals that eunuchs kept pickled in a jar so they could be buried as complete men.It was not until the final years of his life that Sun was recognized as a rare living repository of history. A biography based on hours of interviews in the years before his death in 1996 was recently translated into English. The book arrives as a museum dedicated to eunuchs, built around the tomb of a 16th century eunuch, is undergoing a major expansion. It is scheduled to reopen in May.
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Correction - he was castrated in 1911.
In 1991? Is that how they make bankers these days?
I think the year was 1911 rather than 1991...
in time, someone will write similar about the media during the Bush Interregnum.
Threw. Away. His pickled genitals.
Egads.
1991->1911
qute-> quite.
Sorry, that was a typo. It is indeed 1911.
Not only he's an eunuch, but also a time traveler?
Man, I don't know, I mean I love to time travel, but I also love to have sex with my boner.
"Son, it's for your own good. Wouldn't you like to be imperially rich?"
"Sure, Dad. You go first."
Poor dad...didn't expect that Chairman Mao...
I used the "pickled genitals" phenomena in a role playing game adventure:
GURPS Alphabet Arcane
Briefly: There's a bunch of immortal imperial eunuchs wandering about, the last survivors of a lost jungle realm. If you can get one of the jars containing their pickled privates, you command the loyalty of the corresponding eunuch.
"Briefly: There's a bunch of immortal imperial eunuchs wandering about, the last survivors of a lost jungle realm. If you can get one of the jars containing their pickled privates, you command the loyalty of the corresponding eunuch."
Funny that having them by the balls works even if said balls are no longer attached.
balls as currency?
What's today's testicle exchange rate against the Krona?
#12: Never thought about it that way, but yes.
Full disclosure: I got the idea from a scene in The Last Emperor, in which the embezzeling court eunuchs are allowed to keep their ball-jars as they ejected from the Forbidden Palace . . . because even stealing from the emperor isn't a bad enough crime to deny a guy a chance to have his package in heaven.
Castration has a rich and varied history. Until the beginning of the 19th century castratos were opera superstars in Europe. The last known Church castrato actually lived long enough for his voice to be recorded (you can hear him on YouTube).
http://drvitelli.typepad.com/providentia/2008/03/the-castrato.html
If you really want to hear about bizarre castration practices, you should check out the Skoptzy of old Russia. Chinese eunuchs seem quaint by comparison.
http://drvitelli.typepad.com/providentia/2007/05/the_skoptzy.html
The day before our two male kittens were to be fixed, I had the following exchange w/ my wife:
Wife: What exactly are they going to do to the cats?
Me: They remove their testicles.
W: Would you ever have that done to yourself?
(pause)
Me: Just so that I understand the question, are you asking me if I'd ever have a doctor remove my own testicles?
W: Yes.
M: No.
i grew up watching chinese movies. i've always assumed that they were castrated so they couldn't impregnate the females in the royal household though.
There actually was a Hong Kong made in the '80s about this guy, starring Sammo Hung.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OlHsz5YNvM&eurl=
@strevalex
Poor dad...didn't expect that Chairman Mao...
Well, to be fair, nobody expects the Chinese Inquisition.
(sorry, it had to be done)
Perhaps one day there will be a book about the last woman that was "circumsized."
Mao? More like Sun Yat-Sen.
Now that China is a world superpower, learning a little bit about its modern history might be a good idea.
JimBuck, watch out for that one!
or #21, the last dude. it's just about as stupid for men, but it's still got a religion tied up in it ... Tradition!
No more love had a Father for his son.
Eunuchs: definitely the wierdest fact I learned from my China/Japan history class last year. Seemed like they were always either rebelling or controlling the emperor like a puppet.
Not to be confused with UNIX.
Zuzu: All this time I thought my dad was saying he's a *eunuch's* sysadmin.
"The Last Eunuch of China: The Life of Sun Yaoting" available as an iPhone app for the used paperback price of $3: http://tinyurl.com/bqfgo6