HISTORY OF EUNUCHS IN CHINA - CHINESE EUNUCHS DOCUMENTARY

[Music] in many cultures through history eunuchs or castrated men have played significant cultural roles in societies in china and especially imperial china eunuchs were a pivotal component of the imperial court but how did this practice come to be what were their roles and how did they evolve throughout the ages in this documentary i'll explain the eunuch system in the history of china its functions prominent members and eventually its demise [Music] in ancient china criminals were usually sentenced to one of five different penalties named the five punishments these included the death sentence amputation of various body parts and castration this last punishment named kung was prescribed for people accused of crimes such as treason or adultery eunuchs were initially often used as slaves in the households of powerful families or as free labor in great construction projects such as the immense mausoleum of china's first emperor sincho huang their service in the court is described in ancient chronicles of the 8th century bc it is however during the famous han dynasty that their role truly became noteworthy often oftentimes eunuchs serving in the imperial court were young boys of barbarian peoples captured during campaigns in border territories once the conquest completes local boys were castrated and brought to serve in the palace as they could not have any children of their own and potentially found a rival family to the ruling one nor get involved with the monarch's wives they gradually became trusted servants who were appointed with administrative tasks before long their presence in the palace became a normal site as the han dynasty progressed the power held by eunuchs and their influence on the emperors steadily grew being appointed to stronger and stronger political positions around the 1st century a.d the first eunuch era began as they started controlling many state affairs during the decadent reign of emperor ling of han the first faction of eunuchs came to prominence although composed of 12 members they were collectively known as the ten attendants along the years during which the han dynasty was slowly crumbling these eunuchs successfully ousted rival officials including important generals and ministers acquiring more and more power they use their authority and influence to embezzle much wealth and strengthen their despotic position the ten attendants actions inevitably further destabilized state affairs and contributed to the outbreak of the yellow turbine rebellion in 189 emperor ling fell ill and died prematurely at 33 years old he was succeeded by his 13 year old son leo bien enthroned as emperor shall under the regency of general khardeen and empress dowager who were hostile to the eunuch faction trying to conserve their power the ten attendants successfully assassinated the christine shortly after as a respected military leader his death crystallized opposition to the eunuchs in response several warlords and generals stormed the palace and massacred all the eunuchs they could find ending the rule of the ten attendants these events however led tyrant don draw to seize power as the han dynasty collapsed and the three kingdom era began the first eunuch era was over in the centuries that followed as the nation broke into many quarreling petty kingdoms and small dynasties eunuchs would typically be granted little to no power perhaps in the knowledge of the threats eunuch factions could present [Music] in the 7th century china was completely reunited onto the glorious tang dynasty which also subjugated many neighboring states with the return of a large and powerful imperial court eunuchs would make a comeback on the political scene in 784 the command of one of its greatest armies known as the chancellortune or army of divine strategy stationed in and around the capital of changhan was granted entirely to court eunuchs this military force was a foothold for them to gradually take control of the tongue courts during the 9th century as tongue emperors gradually lost interest for state affairs eunuchs were able to amass and conserve power in late 835 after realizing how much imperial authority had been lost to the eunuchs emperor wan zhong assisted by his most trusted advisor chancellor lee soon and physician jung zhu plotted against them in the aim of restoring the tang dynasty to its glory days they plan to first crush the eunuch faction by massacring them before reclaiming lands lost to the tibetan empire and campaigning in the north perhaps in the hopes of keeping the glory to himself chancellor lee soon decided to ignore the plan that was arranged and took the initiative taking the opportunity of a meeting where many eunuchs were assembled he sent soldiers to assassinate them the plan however failed as according to a legend a gust of wind blew open a gate revealing the soldiers ready to take action subsequently the eunuchs realized the trap and mostly managed to escape after seizing emperor wontong they declared that lee soon had rebelled and sent the army of divine strategy under their control to slaughter lee soon's forces all his supporters and other officials unfavorable to them in a great purge that claimed over one thousand lives li soon and jungju were executed and emperor wenzong lost all remaining power to the eunuchs after this event known as the sweet dew incident eunuchs freely selected each tongue emperor's successor by issuing imperial edicts in the monarch's name keeping complete control of the court however as the 9th century progressed the country was torn by rebellions and infighting between eunuch factions as well as military governors and warlords and the tang dynasty inevitably crumbled the last powerful eunuchs of the imperial court were massacred in 903 by warlord lee maudrun but by then the nation was so fragmented between other warlords that the dynasty only survived another four years formally ending in 907 the second eunuch era was over [Music] much like after the han dynasty's collapse eunuch authority after the end of the tongue was destroyed as the country was torn between small states an era known as the five dynasties and ten kingdoms this situation of civil war was the perfect opportunity for foreign invasions as the kitans expanded westwards crushing northern chinese states they established their own lyal dynasty although they did not traditionally practice castration having their own traditions and customs the kitans did emasculate han chinese prisoners of war and captured young boys to serve in their imperial palace these eunuchs were however essentially simple servants who did not hold influential positions in parallel the song dynasty was able to emerge further south in 1960 promptly conquering all on its path until becoming an immensely powerful state and main rival to the kitan-yal dynasty its first monarch zhao kuang yin emperor titu of song was well aware of the danger eunuchs could present to imperial authority as such he explicitly prohibited them from being appointed to important political positions nonetheless important and powerful eunuchs would still emerge later on in the song dynasty some such as dro hwai trung even attempted coups without success others such as tung guan were epitomes of loyalty to the song emperor tonguan was a eunuch who served as a trusted general in chief and counselor to emperor hoi zong of song and was granted strong influence and titles due to his talent in 1125 he was appointed command of emperor huizong's personal bodyguards when the song had to flee in the face of the invading jersey dynasty which had already defeated the kitan lial soon a final foreign invasion of china would reunify and pacify the country for a while from the steps of mongolia the unstoppable mongol horde crushed all states in its path promptly establishing the yuan dynasty that took control of all of china in 1279 however they did not embrace hand customs as much as other foreign dynasties during the rule of the u.n eunuchs were mainly used as gifts in diplomatic contexts only a limited number of them served in the palace and only for labor or in minor positions nonetheless their number and influence would significantly increase as the yuan dynasty was gradually cynicised [Music] a third eunuch era was yet to come for imperial china the han chinese ming dynasty which overthrew the mongols in 1368 was the era during which eunuchs became most prominent although its first two emperors hongwoo and jianwan despised eunuchs and banned them from any position in politics such would not be the case for drudee the fourth son of hongwoo with the support of the neglected eunuchs geordi rebelled and seized power from his nephew emperor jianwon in 1402 he would become emperor jungler third monarch of the ming and thereafter hold eunuchs in high regard during his reign yonglas entrusted eunuchs on great expeditions to enrich and strengthen the ming dynasty the most famous of them are captured huay muslim castrated as a child during the ming conquest of yunnan province named zhanghua would become a formidable admiral after entering service on their emperor jungler and distinguishing himself he was given command of troops during jungler's campaigns against emperor jiangwon becoming a trusted advisor of the monarch he was appointed to lead the ming treasure expeditions great naval explorations that eventually led him to east africa in parallel a christian eunuch serving emperor yung lu would be sent to lead expeditions down the armor river to establish and strengthen relations with the churchian tribes within the newark gun regional military commission as emperor jungler's situation was initially unstable he spent his early reign strengthening his political power and suppressing dissidents for this purpose he founded the eastern depot an intelligence agency and secret police to monitor and spy on officials and the general public alike it was entirely run and operated by eunuchs planting the seeds of their influence in the ming dynasty's politics emperor jungler's most formidable work was undoubtedly the construction of the forbidden city in beijing which he declared the new capital of the empire the colossal complex was largely designed by nuen an unit castrated during the ming conquest of northern vietnam after 14 years of hard work the forbidden city was completed and operational in 1420 it would thereafter be the home of thousands of palace eunuchs with roles ranging from low servants to powerful court officials as jungler trusted eunuchs he planned to appoint many to prominent positions the majority did however not have an education the emperor therefore ordered the founding of the inner school an institution where they would learn to read and write and receive a general advanced education to prepare them for administrative tasks and artistic purposes from then on in addition to captured foreign eunuchs and eunuchs given as tributes a great number of local han chinese were voluntarily castrated to serve in the palace either as boys on their parents decision or as adults motivation behind this choice was often material as serving in the ming dynasty's forbidden city guaranteed good living conditions and the possibility of distinguishing oneself therefore making a fortune and acquiring significant political power although sometimes emasculated at home candidates for unique service would typically go and see an expert castrator called dalzatian who charged a hefty sum for the procedure the taltzer jiang would in return ensure a smooth and professional operation and take medical care of his client's recovery in the weeks that followed once on the operating table the specialist requested a final confirmation by the client that this was his wish before he would carry on with the castration using a specialized knife the taltzer zhang assisted by his apprentices would slice off the candidates penis and testicles together in one or two clean cuts the wounds were then tightly covered for three days during which the candidate would not drink to prevent urination after this intense trial the bandages were removed if the candidate was then able to urinate it would prove that no blockage had taken place during the healing process and his safety was practically guaranteed otherwise he faced certain death although this reportedly only occurred in about one in fifty candidates after typically three to four months the wounds had completely healed new eunuchs could then apply for service in the palace and if selected would go through lengthy training on their experienced eunuchs although they would live the rest of their lives emasculated each eunuch aimed to be buried as a whole man their organs were therefore carefully preserved and placed in a receptacle with their name attached to it by the castrator this object was used as a means to identify eunuchs in the palace and needed to be presented for promotions it was not uncommon for some eunuchs to own fake receptacles had they lost their own tasks to which palace eunuchs were appointed ranged from secretary and administrative jobs to manual labor such as gardening or cooking they also performed as musicians and dancers in a large part to entertain imperial concubines in the harem which they served and managed as the ming dynasty flourished the number of eunuchs serving in the palace increased constantly reaching dozens of thousands some eunuchs even began being privately employed by prominent families the presence of powerful and influential eunuchs would lead to the third eunuch era as the young sons of ming emperors were raised by eunuchs they could ensure that the next emperor would be favorable to them or even under their influence in 1505 following the death of his father emperor hong ju prince drew holzhau was enthroned as emperor jungkook at only 14 years old having been raised by eunuchs and spent all his life surrounded by them he actually trusted them over court officials furthermore it soon became clear that young and protranto had no interest in politics therefore entrusting eunuchs to manage state affairs as a result a group of eight eunuchs headed by one lyoujin would rapidly take control of the nation soon being nicknamed the eight tigers through their influence and blessings of the teenage emperor they placed their supporters in important positions while purging their rivals rapidly securing complete power in the forbidden city the secret police and even in the army the following year in 1506 realizing how despotic the situation was becoming prominent officials including members of the grand secretariat the highest institution of the ming dynasty and even other eunuchs made the general plea to the emperor to remove them from power emperor junta however refused to punish the eight tigers subsequently their power was confirmed and many court officials resigned tyrannical leotin head of the eight tigers organized the eunuch's revenge on the officials by ensuring the motions stripping of all titles or even torture and assassination as his reign of terror continued an outraged prince of the imperial family even launched a rebellion which would turn out unsuccessful due to the unit's control over the army the origins first for power would however also be his demise as it led to internal strife within the eight tigers a jealous rival eunuch exposed to emperor jungkook leo's alleged plans to assassinate him in order to place his own grandnephew on the throne convinced the emperor had leotine arrested and sentenced to lyncher the infamous death by a thousand cuts an execution that reportedly lasted for three days until the head tiger finally succumbed the remaining seven tigers kept significant power until jongdah's death in 1521 after which they were purged from government jorjin would however not be the most powerful eunuch in the history of china about a century after the eight tigers rule prince drew your jaw was enthroned in 1620 as empretienci at 15 years old the teenage monarch was notoriously illiterate probably due to a learning disability and further grew to be uninterested in state affairs preferring to work on carpentry and woodwork projects instead subsequently his trusted witness madame kerr and a eunuch named waitong were able to use their influence over him to acquire power they promptly purged their opponents strengthening their position to the point of near unchallenged rule a powerful confucian faction of the court pleaded them pretensive to remove wei tong xiang from power accusing him of many heinous crimes just as it had been the case with emperor jongdah the officials were unable to convince the emperor and the eunuch and wetness's power was consolidated as a purge and demonstration to other officials waitongshang then had the leaders of the faction tortured to death the eunuch's uncontested rule as a virtual emperor would go on for practically a decade during which he would amass spectacular wealth and power and even have temples honouring him built across the country powerless emperor tiensie died with atonaire in 1627 leading to his brother julio jien to be enthroned as emperor trung chun the new leader immediately received memorials from dozens and dozens of officials requesting the eunuch's immediate removal from power eventually trung jun grew the confidence to have wei zhongxiang stripped from all his titles who would soon take his own life rather than face further punishment emperor chongjong would be the final monarch of the ming dynasty to rule in beijing as it was overthrown and replaced by the manchu invaders of that sing dynasty in 1644 at the collapse of the ming about 70 000 palace eunuchs were left in the forbidden city the manchus however with their own customs and way of ruling and aware of the trouble caused by eunuchs throughout the lot of the ming dynasty profoundly distrusted them the qing authorities headed by dorgon child emperor xunju's uncle and regent severely cut down the number of palace eunuchs to only about one thousand their role was also reduced to simple manual labor far from political positions nonetheless dorgon died in 1650 reportedly of a hunting accident rivals of his faction in the court subsequently sought to destroy his influence and gradually transfer power to teenage emperor xun zhu in this power struggle palace eunuchs headed by wulyang foo were able to reclaim some power by participating in the destruction of dorgon's faction and emperor chondru was able to take over the government the young monarch would thereafter trust eunuchs quite deeply and wolyang became his favorite advisor the eunuch convinced empressunji to establish their 13 offices political offices run entirely by eunuchs rather than manchu officials this rebounded eunuch influence over court politics would have and not last long after chandra's premature death in 1661 wu yang fu was purged and the 13 officers disbanded once again eunuchs became little more than servants in the palace their lives one of submission and servitude there was however one exception as the following emperors became profoundly involved with tibetan buddhism the exceptional position of uniklama was created and 18 uniklamas would thereafter serve in the forbidden city essentially acting as the imperial household's private priests a privileged and envied position nonetheless that seeing took no chances with palace eunuchs their conditions although good depended on absolute obedience for decades until potentially being granted retirement on the event of a eunuch escaping from the forbidden city he would be sentenced to two months imprisonment and a beating of 20 blows a second desertion would see the eunuch placed in the uncomfortable kang for two months straight finally third time deserters were banished to mukden the capital of manchuria for harsh service during two years and a half before their return to work in beijing other offences such as neglect of duty would result in heavy beatings in two sessions separated by three days causing extreme pain however if a eunuch was found guilty of such crimes as theft of an object personally belonging to the emperor he would be immediately sentenced to death by public beheading during the reign of emperor tienlong in the golden age of the haitian era the forbidden city became a particularly vibrant palace subsequently the number of palace eunuchs was raised at 3100 around the year 1750 to cater to its functioning its peak during the xing dynasty after this date as the dynasty would gradually decay the number of palace eunuchs slowly dwindled the nation faltered significantly during the nineteenth century a period during which prominent eunuchs became infamously corrupt and more powerful in 1861 empress dawaj also seized power in a time of great chaos as a woman despite being in control of the nation she could technically not access all parts of the forbidden city therefore to run the complex and oversee everything within so she began using a network of eunuchs which became her ears eyes and hands and the chief eunuch developed a strong personal relation with the emperor's dowager and was subsequently entrusted with a lot of power he was sent on a mission to nanting in 1869 during which he traveled with a public display of imperial authority and supposedly extorted local officials along the way anderhai was however arrested by dean baldran the governor of shandong province and publicly executed in a power struggle between the empress dowager and yee sin the prince gong her ally turned rival from then on one final prominent eunuch of the history of china would emerge with ander high gone the position of chief eunuch had become vacant one powerless eunuch named li yin ying cunningly studied hairdressing soon becoming an expert and was subsequently selected by the empress dowager as her personal hairdresser through his talent and ability to entertain cersei in conversation he soon became her favorite eunuch lilian ying's official position and closeness to the empress dowager allowed him to act as intermediate between officials wishing to speak to her privately subsequently he received many bribes in return for putting in good words and granting them privileges with the empress dowager or within the forbidden city in general after cersei's death in 1908 li lian ying received permission to retire and live the rest of his life in great luxury although palace life remained seemingly unchanged that seeing dynasty which had become backwards and hated by its population was by then on the verge of collapse in 1911 the sinha revolution took place which led to the abdication of six-year-old emperor yi in early 1912. the millennia old imperial system gave way to the republic of china the terms of the abdication however allowed the monarch and the imperial court to remain within the forbidden city although no longer holding actual political power disregarding the republic's new laws the imperial court continued to occasionally recruit eunuchs in the forbidden city their number was by now only a third of what it had been during the haitian era one such recruit was sunyating who was to be the last imperial eunuch in the history of china the son of a destitute family he had been castrated at home in 1911 at eight years old in the hopes of him becoming a palace eunuch in 1917 fifteen-year-old sunyating successfully found employment in the forbidden city by then with the child emperor powerless and the last prominent figures of the imperial courts dying or retiring palace eunuch's respective authority began to disappear to enrich themselves eunuch started stealing artifacts and furniture of the forbidden city accumulated during the past six centuries to sell them on the markets of beijing as a result teenage emperor puyi advised by his scottish tutor sir reginald fleming johnston ordered an inventory of the forbidden cities collections to be made to monitor and prevent theft however the eunuchs had fired at the palace hosting the inventory in 1923 to cover up their crimes outraged the 18 year old monarch decided to expel practically every single eunuch remaining in the forbidden city in a massive event that left a thousand of them on the streets of beijing to fend for themselves only a few dozen trusted palace units were allowed to remain for maintenance including sunyating nonetheless most areas of the forbidden city had to be closed down as there was simply not enough staff to keep them open the following year the imperial court was evicted from the forbidden city by general fung yuxiang in the midst of the warlord era most of the remaining eunuchs would thereafter return to civilian life with a tiny fraction remaining in service of the court in exile although poor yi was restored as a puppet emperor by the japanese in manchuria in the 1930s only a negligible number of former eunuchs briefly including sunyating would serve in his court which would be disbanded in 1945. outliving all his colleagues sunyating the last imperial eunuch made a final visit to the forbidden city in 1995. yesterday an immoral system of china ended [Music] despite being mostly powerless and ill-reputed throughout history chinese eunuchs were occasionally able to strongly influence politics of the empire or even seize complete control their role in imperial china as the closest figures to the imperial household undoubtedly shaped the very course of history thank you for watching my video i hope you enjoyed it if so please leave a like and subscribe to the channel if you have any questions or requests feel free to leave them in the comment section below [Music] you

Channel: History of China

Views: 867,956

Keywords: history of china, chinese history, eunuchs, eunuchs documentary, chinese eunuchs, imperial eunuchs, imperial china eunuchs, imperial chinese eunuchs, eunuchs in china, ten attendants, eunuch era, tang dynasty eunuchs, ming dynasty eunuchs, han dynasty eunuchs, eight tigers, wei zhongxian, emperor tianqi, qing dynasty eunuchs, eunuchs harem, li lianying, an dehai, sun yaoting, last eunuch, history of china documentary

Id: bED-91ij4u8

Length: 29min 44sec (1784 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 06 2021