So refreshing to come across a channel that talks about Chinese history and can actually pronounce Chinese names correctly. Interesting content too, I'll be checking out the rest of your channel.
I was just about to comment this. Studied Mandarin for almost 10 years and even lived in Beijing for 3 years. It was so nice to hear him pronounce them properly. Made me smile.
There was an old phrase of “stinking like a Eunuch,” which either referred to the fact that many Eunuchs had some urinary incontinence or “dribbling,” or that Eunuchs would wear heavy perfume to cover this, and so smelled strongly of perfume. Just another difficulty in the whole difficult process.
@@davidfreeman3083 - There are reports of eunuchs being hostile and sadistic, - so the vengeful theory makes sense. Very gross that the parents forced their young boys to undergo the extreme torture of castration. What a horrific betrayal. The death rate from castration was very high. This video claims that the professional castrator killed 1 client out 50. It is more likely that the majority of his clients died from massive blood loss or extreme infection.
I’m so beyond happy I found this channel. It’s so hard to find people who make Chinese history easier to understand, let alone make it interesting too!!
@@roblox21242 That just takes time my friend. I've been fascinated with ancient Chinese history since my childhood. My recommendation is to watch some classic Chinese TV shows so you can get a handle on pronunciations first - like Romance of the Three Kingdoms (2010 version or 1996 version, both are good) or Advisor's Alliance. You'll obviously not understand everything being said, but if you can at least understand the names being said and the places, that will help you a lot over time. I'm at the point where I can remember names and places and to me, they sound normal. Keep watching and reading, and it'll become normal to you.
What's interesting is how many different roles eunuchs played. Some were merely house keepers, while others were given control over entire armies and provinces.
As a Eunuch, their wealth, status and power wouldn't be passed down to another generation. Neither were they considered as a sexual threat, and thus unlikely to produce bastard children. That gave the perception of them being safe. They carried few material liabilities. This allowed them to get close to those in power... and the rest, as they say, is history
Kind of sad knowing countless numbers of poor young boys were castrated for the role. Many, if not all, of these children had no say as they were castrated.
I finally find a channel that's probably most accurate about Chinese history, and presented it in a chronological and clear way with the dates and names of the persons and locations. Good research work !
Me, in pain recovering from surgery: RUclips: wanna hear about chinese castrated civil servants? Me: Sure, hearing about someone else's horrible pain might distract me.
and they say the average person should feel guilty for being depressed because of bed bound people in the hospital. Looks like hospital bound people are just as hypocritical as the rest of us
There was a very powerful eunuch before the Han dynasty. The name is Zhaogao赵高 of Qin dynasty. He was very close to the first emperor of China. And he managed to rigged the final imperial edict. Choosing the younger prince Huhai胡亥 as the next emperor and purged elder prince Fusu复苏 with his supporters. Later on Zhaogao purged prime minister Lisi李斯, became the practical ruler of the Qin dynasty. He was so powerful if he say "a deer is a hourse" no one in the court would dare to oppose him.
Lao Ai was an eunuch ( fake because he wasn’t castrated ) he actually had 2 sons with the mother of the Qin emperor Ying Zheng ( the emperor who united china .Lisi was his prime minister …
I've always been interested in the topic of how eunuchs were able to adopt children to make a surrogate family and thus a legacy, such as Cao Cao who had a eunuch "grandfather."
@@stevoz6743 They actually know the psychological issue regarding eunuchs and is the reason why they were trusted servants and despised enemies. Out of the 3 main temptations of man; power, wealth and sex, only the first 2 are available to the eunuch and because of that, they will do practically anything for it. This is why they are extremely loyal if you're their master, assuming that you're able to maintain your status and able to provide power and wealth to them. This also mean that they are ruthless to those who deny them of those 2 as they have sacrificed their very chance to have sex and a family to get power and wealth. Either by force or voluntarily, their purpose in life have been set the moment they are castrated, so they will stop at nothing to get what they want. Even the emperor is not safe if they can find a more generous patron.
I heard that castration makes a male docile and feminized. Is that true? P.S. Why was it necessary to cut the penis off in addition to the testicles? Seems like cutting off the testicles would suffice. 😞
@@stevoz6743 This makes no sense since the primary reason why monarchs would appoint eunuchs as senior officials was because they could not sire any offspring and thus create their own lineage to challenge the Monarch's lineage.
You'd think so right? But it's more to maintain the palaces and look after the emperor as well as his concubines. To stop affairs happening and illegitimate children being everywhere - it makes sense to castrate them. But I agree it's crazy how the tradition lasted so long considering they ruined 4 of China's greatest dynasties.
in case someone wants to know, Ruan An, the Vietnamese eunuch was not the designer of the forbidden city, but a supervisor of construction in the last phrase of the whole program. He was too young to be the designer when the forbidden city started to be constructed. He was just a little boy when he was trafficked to Beijing as a eunuch.The design of such a huge program usually takes more than imaginable amount of intellectuals, scholars and time to do, letting along a young foreign eunuch.
So he is too young to be a designer, but old enough to be a supervisor? Thats dumb logic! Ofc he would not be able to design the whole thing by himself, but it did not mean you could take away his credits of being the architect, not to mention that he was the main architect and the supervisor at the same time! Double the work!
It was to my shame that as a British born Chinese I didn't know much of my own history and culture. So I started on the Tang Dynasty 500 poems, read the top five Chinese classics and had tuition on the dizi and erhu. This series on Chinese history will go a long way to fill in the vast gaps in my knowledge. Thank you.
Hi Edward, please can you tell me if you know the Old testament of the Bible. Chinese history traditions and rituals match the history of the Israelites (the people of the covenant - you could say 'heavenly mandated sons of God' as is said in these videos). The Han names match the meanings attributed to the tribes. If you don't know, I hope you can direct me to the classics translated to English by a Chinese native, as the translations I've found are by white people with their spin.Thank you, appreciate it. And if you are a descendent of the heavenly mandated sons of God, I bow to you, sir.
British or rather specifically English accent. He could be Chinese who studied in England or an Englishman who studied Chinese Literature/history or half Chinese.
SO informative and interesting. I love history of any form.0⁰73 years old and always believed castration was just having the testicles cut off. What a shock and eye opener to learn otherwise. I knew about them being kept to be buried with the owner so they were 'whole' again. I will keep watching and learning. A HUGE thank you.
You are right, "castration" is only the removal of the testicles. But "emasculation" is the removal of the whole crown jewels. The irony of getting your jewels cut off voluntary is that you need to have big balls to go through with such a procedure.
I'm watching a chinese drama named "Yu Jun Ge" which is filmed about the Eunuchs' throne robbing in Tang dyanasty and coincidently suggested this video by YT. Thanks for sharing. Have learned alot.
Thanks for these wonderful documentaries! I had no interest or even knew any Chinese history until I took a course in university to fulfill a requirement and have wanted to learn more ever since!
I think that what would be a wonderful series,if they made one based on the book "Tales of a Chinese Grandmother" by Frances Carpenter. It is about an upper class Chinese family in Ancient China and details their day to day life along with their special ceremonies and the stories that the Grandmother tells her grandchildren. In the series they could actually dramatized the stories the children are told. I'm sure that such a series would be an instant hit. ☺️
Holy shit finally a Chinese history video with properly pronounced names! Saw you replying to another comment that you weren't Chinese, that makes it even more impressive!
@kincaid SAED The jars they carried around housed their “treasures” according to the video. When the men died, they would enter heaven as whole intact men.
At first I thought they were just a scapegoat but thinking about it the power dynamic is probably similar to the praetorians or janissaries where outsiders are brought in so they will only be loyal to the emperor rather than other court factions but being in the inner circles makes them powerful enough to become their own faction.
When you eliminate one's future, all that's left to pursue is money and power. What else do you expect from those who have no future other than infinite greed at the cost of a future they have no stake in?
I read that Empress Dowager Cixi had romantically fallen in love with a handsome eunuch, and she was grief stricken when he was eventually executed. Castration was extremely dangerous and resulted in numerous boys and young men bleeding to death or dying from massive infections. A number of eunuchs suffered from severe nerve damage caused by the castration, which caused them to lose all control of urination so they had to wear diapers the rest of their lives. There are surprising reports that some eunuchs indulged in bizarre sadistic sexual practices. Weird.
Those reports do not surprise me, loss of their manhood, I think, would leave bitterness of some sort, so going for power was their way to be a man. Those men who had gone thru puberty before being forced to face the knife, sexual desire was not forgot, and kinky sex was the only way to satisfy . There was even a story that the most powerful Eunuch was actually intact, and his women servants were his whores. Is that rumor true? Who can truly say.
Most famous of all the eunuchs of all dynasties is Tian Yi who served during the Ming Dynasty .he served not one or two emperors consecutively but 3 .first emperor JiaJing then emperor LongQing and finally emperor WanLi.No other eunuch had ever been rewarded as he was .after his death at the palace the emperor Wanli declared 3 days of mourning .The emperor had a mausoleum built for him to this day the site which is about 15 km east of Beijing. He was born in Shannxi province …
Well made documentary! and I must say the pronunciation of names in Chinese is excellent, although I neither speak nor read Chinese. Thank you so much for enlightening me on the history of eunuchs who were an important part of history. I didn’t realize they lasted into the 1990’s! Loved the last emperor Puyi!
@@History_of_China you pronounce every language in your videos very well, actually. To my limited knowledge of the phonology of Manchu, you even rocked that obscure language! Great job! I gotta ask, though, what's your secret? You can pronounce so many languages so very well!
After binge watching over the last three days now. I have found nothing inaccurate or unsatisfying in your productions. On the contrary they seem well researched, and crafted for the discerning scholar. Thank you. I do have a request, one which I hope you will grant, giving it all the consumate nuance, and eye towards detail, with which you have made all the others. Would you consider making us a history of imperial patronage in the martial arts? Not merely the famous Shaolin Temple arts. But those from the Wu Tang mountains as well. There seems to have been a "golden age" between the end of the Ming Dynasty and the end of the Qing Dynasty. Although we can be certain that martial arts were supported by governmental mandate and imperial decree far earlier than the Ming Dynasty. At the very least as far back as Marshal Yue Fei and the Southern Song Dynasty. Anything you can do to shed light on this subject. And how, and why, martial arts flourished more so in China. From farmers to emperors, than in other countries, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again. Laoshr #60 Ching Yi Kung Fu Association
Thank you so much! I'll take it into account, though I can't say for sure when or if I cover this topic. The subject is pretty interesting though, so I probably will eventually :)
I love history. This history of the eunuchs is very fascinating. And a clear demonstration of the human will to survive and thrive in every circumstance.
I enjoyed this presentation on eunuchs in China immensely. Though interested in history, I have not found a resource as valuable as this one. Thanks so much. I plan to watch all of your previous videos and all that your present in the future.
If there is one thing I can take away from Court Eunuchs through history, it's that the "conversion process" sounds extremely painful and has all sorts of unpleasant possible complications. Urinary incontinence was one of them, giving rise to the insult "Stinking like an eunuch".
Cdrama lover here, I get so much excited when another fantasy /costume /xinxia/wuxia drama comes! Much respect to Chinese entertainment industry from Pakistan 🇵🇰🐬. I will recommend some of the ancient Chinese dramas Ten miles of Peach blossom Ashes of love Princess li Wei young Princess Agents Journey of flower Legend of fuyao Legend of MI yue Empresses in the Palace Empress of China Story of Yanxi palace Secret of three kingdoms Castle in the sky Nirvana in fire The king's woman The flame's daughter The long ballad The untamed Word of honour Love and destiny Love and redemption Miss the dragon The Rebel princess The legends Ancient love poetry Story of Minglan The wolf Song of glory Legend of Xiao chuo Eternal love of dream Heavenly sword:dragon slaying Bloody romance Goodbye my princess (traumatic) General and I Love of thousand years Green Hill fox Princess of lanling kimg Renascence ♥️☕🎂
Fun fact: There was a kingdom in China which only employed castrated people as high officials because the monarch thought such people had no connections to their families so they wouldn't be selfish and would give their all to the kingdom, leading to the castration of 20000 officials and wannabe officials. Yeah that was Southern Han, one of the 10 kingdoms in the 5d10k era. On top of this, the rulers of that kingdom tended to be exceptionally absurd trust me.
I wonder how many poor young boys didnt survive the castration process not just in china but everywhere.1 in 50 if you could afford a swanky dude but most castrators werent that swanky done at home or in dirty places, for torture or money, with dirty equipment. A lot simply bled to death
Only an united eunuchs with a collective 'ball-less' rage can brought down a powerful dynasty's emperor in China long history; by the time an emperor realized what a group of ball less men are capable of doing other than not fool around with his queen and concubines , it is already too late. 😁😁
Request video - Please do a video on Three Kingdoms - Zhu Huan and Zhu Yi. You'll see why the minute you research them. They are FULL of insane stories and crazy stuff happening and are highly underrated. Zhu Yi, in fact, his death, or rather how he was killed, essentially contributed to Wu's ultimate downfall and their biggest turmoil. It caused extreme tension, so Zhu Yi and Zhu Huan are significant figureheads in Wu that are barely even talked about!
@@History_of_China Sure thing, totally understandable! I'll leave you with one piece of a funny story. Zhu Huan, after receiving wine, said to Sun Quan, “Your minister is now to go far away, but first he would like to stroke the beard of his lord.” Zhu Huan advanced and stroked Sun Quan’s beard then said, “Now I can actually say I have stroked the tiger’s beard!” Sun Quan laughed out loud. Perhaps the first laugh out loud recorded in the texts too, assuming it's true to translation, lol!
The truly horrible thing is, that is the *official* procedure - in other words, it was the *best* care you could get in being castrated. There are many cases of people who castrate themselves to enter the palace - Wei Zhongxian (18:02) was one such guy. So imagine what the *unofficial* castrations were like.
Love the video! Would be great to make some special mention of Lao Ai who was a fake eunuch during the early Qin Shi Huang era, originally presented to Qin Shi Huangs mother as a lover but ended up gaining immense power in the Qin court and even attempted a failed coup to gain power. The other would be Zhao Gao who was believed to be an eunuch and was instrumental in the downfall of the Qin dynasty, he forced Qin Er Shi to commit suicide and caused the country into rebellion. Another special mention would be Wang Zhen during the reign of emperor Yingzong of Ming. He had a great relationship with the child emperor like childhood friends and thus gained significant trust and power from the emperor. He was one of the main reasons the Tumu crisis happened. Anyways keep it up!
Next time, you should add Zhao Gao, history recorded him as the main factor lead to the collapse of the first Chinese Empire. The Qin Empire. Good video.
@@sislertx I think all ancient civilisations have a similar level of brutality but the Chinese had better records so they are the ones we read about more
As I understand it now, eunuchs are very different compared to trans or intersex people for a number of reasons. These eunuchs remind me of the castratos in Italy. They still see themselves as men throughout their lives. Their experiences, their roles, and identities are just different compared to other cultures that historically recognize intersex bodies or trans identities like the Hijras or the Tritiya Prakriti in pre-colonial India. The Hijra do practice castration, but, unlike the Chinese eunuchs or Italian castratos, the Indian Hijra perceive and express themselves explicitly as feminine or androgynous in their 3,000 years of history. They even have Gods, Goddesses, and Deities that explicitly cross the boundaries of what is considered masculine and feminine. This is an excellent video.
I can never understand why someone would voluntarily become a eunuch, especially because of how horrible the process is and all the effects that come after as well
@@ross6753 heh "forced" into celibacy but we all know how well THAT worked or works nowadays...priest still be sneaking around if not w/women then boys. Should've just castrated them too
You forgot the great little tale about how the First emperor of Qin, almost was overthrown by a false eunuch Lao Ai; who had impregnated his own mum. great video otherwise, but that was one bit of 'eunuch' drama that would echo through future dramas for certain.
@@cocoaorange1 The First Emperor was worst. He executed his two half brothers even though they were children and he killed much more building the Great Wall and his palaces.
@@namedrop721 How does this change the fact that he was a false eunuch? Eunuchs served both the emperor and dowager empress as well as the consorts and other harem women.
This channel looks like a great resource for Chinese history in vid form. Lot of clips from C-dramas, C-docu-dramas. I'm looking for a list of the "best" historical vids... I mean at least based on "historical" that do not stray down too many character driven paths. For example most of the ROTK-based dramas, etc.... One outstanding I just re-watched is "1566"...excellent because it held to history as much as can be expected and was driven by the economics of the empire ... yet was filled with great drama, character acting and writing. Thank you OP for the list of video credits in the info. PS I started rewatching The Ming Dynasty, but got frustrated by the micro-details of the characters. The Towards the Republic is very good, but slow getting eng subs.
I absolutely love China history and thank you for making it more easier for me, the way you pronounce the Chinese names so effortlessly I thought you were Chinese. Well done great video as always and you have yourself a new subscriber.
I enjoyed this doc very much and therefore subscribed. Currently, I'm hooked on watching numerous Asian shows on RUclips such as, "The Legend of Fei," "The Legend of Dragon Pearl," "Word of Honor," "Condor Heros," "Sword & Brocade," "Imperial Coroner," "Chronicle of Life," "King of Blaze," "Legend of Phoenix," "Ruyis Royal Love in the Palace," etc. Let's just say I'm watching at least about 25 shows all with English subtitles. In all those shows, Eunuchs were clearly visible and played critical roles within the Palace.
Fascinating and very well done! Have you done any videos about the painful foot binding of young Chinse girls and how it all started.? Did the Empresses like Cixi have mutilated feet?
Thank you! I have not touched that subject yet, but definitely will eventually. Cixi, like all Manchu women, did not have her feet bound as it was a Han Chinese custom which was frowned upon by the Manchus. It was nonetheless still widely practiced by the population until the 20th century
Excellently done! Just a note - Wei Zhongxian's partner-in-crime's surname is 客, but as a surname, that word is pronounced 'qie3'. So she is actually Madam Qie, not Madam Ke.
Nice video for such a horrific topic. Seeing how much damage the eunuchs did in Chinese history I wonder why no emperor ever thought of forbidding castration and abolishing the eunuch system altogether. Japanese shoguns had great harems too, but they didn't use eunuchs, so there was really no need for them. Here in Italy young boys were castrated to become opera singers. They were mutilated before their voice changed, so that they kept a white voice but with the powerful lungs of an adult man. These singers were extremely popular, both in opera and religious music. The practice lasted from the XVI to the XIX century, and thousands of boys, mostly from poor families, were castrated for this purpose. The most famous of these singers was Farinelli, who became an opera star and the private singer of king Philip V of Spain, a position that made him rich and powerful. There is a movie about his life, but it's not very accurate. The last castrated singer was instead Alessandro Moreschi, who died in 1922. Some records of his voice can still be found on RUclips. Next time you could make a video about the imperial examination system, foot binding or about eunuchs in Korea and Vietnam. I read somewhere the creepy story of a Vietnamese emperor who paid a particularly smart boy to get castrated and become an officer.
The eunuch was never the problem. They were often unfairly blamed for the downfall of many dynasty because the person who intend to depose their previous ruler to establish their own dynasty need to give justification for their treacherous act, and eunuch happened to be a convenient scapegoat for them. U are free to argue that castration is a big violation toward human right, but the chinese ruler invent and employ eunuch for a good reason (for them). They are the most loyal and the least likely faction to revolt because there is almost no point for them to do so (that doesnt prevent them from being a corrupt and arrogant human being). They cant have offspring, so they have no one to succeed them if they want to take the throne. For that reason the emperor often put too much favor and trust towards eunuch. Those excessive favor often made other officials, generals and/or palace attendant to grow jealousy and resentment toward them, which sometimes contribute to their downfall and tarnished their name in the history book.
They didn't abolish the practice because the eunuchs were useful, and not just as scapegoats. Does it really make sense that they were responsible for so many problems, when they didn't have the majority of power?
@@caitthecat You're right. Rulers are often forced to make dishonorable choices, whose responsability they have to delegate to someone else, someone who can be sacrificed if needed. Nicholas Cage in "Lord of War" said something like this. Eunuchs in imperial China could play this role. Plus the power of eunuchs came only from the emperor, who could make and destroy them at will. This is the same reason why the Ottoman government was entirely made of slaves.
@@agathonchristianto9580 Eunuchs were kept because in part because of the Imperial harem system. Women were secluded and regular men besides the emperor were not allowed in the harem. Eunuchs were employed to serve as male servants without them being able to impregnate the consorts and concubines. Eunuchs are prevalent in societies that secluded women, like the Muslim sultanates, Hindu rajas, and even the Greeks. You mention the harems of Imperial Japan, but for a Chinese Emperor, the lifestyles of Japanese women would have encouraged the use of eunuchs. I say thus because the Heian period of Japanese history saw a lot of loose sexual behavior from Japanese noblewomen, who had more rights and weren't secluded like their Chinese counterparts. Furthermore, Japan was a feudal society with powerful lords and powerless emperor. China, throughout most of it's history, was a very centralized society with dominated by the Imperial court. The emperors and shoguns of Japan needed the support of the samurai and their daimyo lords to retain power because they did not have a standing army. Whereas the Chinese emperors had a standing army and were less dependent on their nobles. The daimyos and samurais of Japan would not have tolerated the domination of the government by low born eunuchs.
Eunuchs have always been a problem. Emperor Hongwu of Ming knew that all too well and created a tablet saying, ""Eunuchs must have nothing to do with the administration".
I keep meaning to bring this up, but I'm very curious about how emperors, empresses, princes, et cetera seem to have two names--their own name and their 'royal' name or similar. I think you've touched on this practice in previous videos, but I'd love a more in-depth explanation. Even a full video if there's enough depth to it. Thank you as always for the excellent content!
Thank you! It'll definitely be a subject for a future video. But essentially, they had their personnal name (birth name), temple name, posthumous name, at least one but possibly serveral era names as well, in addition to the traditional courtsey name and possibly art/pen name that citizens could have. They are however overall known by either their temple name (ex: Tang Taizong) or era name as from the Ming to Qing (ex: Hongwu, Kangxi)
Everyone had multiple names in chinese tradition. Ming, Zi, Hao. Ming was the name given to you by your parents. Zi was your scholar name when you reached adulthood and Hao was the name you picked yourself.
There’s a parallel in the Roman Empire of mighty Imperial slaves and Imperial freedmen. As former slaves they were no dynastic threat and owed everything to their former owners.
I love how he pronounced those names so fluently and at the same time narrating the story in English so nicely.
No it's weird
So refreshing to come across a channel that talks about Chinese history and can actually pronounce Chinese names correctly. Interesting content too, I'll be checking out the rest of your channel.
I was just about to comment this. Studied Mandarin for almost 10 years and even lived in Beijing for 3 years. It was so nice to hear him pronounce them properly. Made me smile.
Studied Chinese (Mandarin) for 4 years and lived in Beijing for a few months and I was also thinking this also.
I've studied Mandarin for like 5 chapters of HSK 1 book and never lived in China and was gonna say the same thing
Shade thrown on Jabzy.
I never studied mandarin for even a second in my life and I was about to write the same
There was an old phrase of “stinking like a Eunuch,” which either referred to the fact that many Eunuchs had some urinary incontinence or “dribbling,” or that Eunuchs would wear heavy perfume to cover this, and so smelled strongly of perfume. Just another difficulty in the whole difficult process.
Omg for real? Cant be
Civet paster and agarwood oil very expensive
So sad.
that happens when they go sloppy on you with that rusty razor
Umm so castrated modern trans are glorified enuchs so maybe they smell too 😂
"It takes balls to take down the Chinese empire."
"History says otherwise, in surprising specificity..."
Empire was taken down along with the balls…
Aptly said lol
😂apparently true!
It's sort of true, it takes the taken away of the balls. They're probably revenging for that...
@@davidfreeman3083 - There are reports of eunuchs being hostile and sadistic, - so the vengeful theory makes sense.
Very gross that the parents forced their young boys to undergo the extreme torture of castration. What a horrific betrayal. The death rate from castration was very high. This video claims that the professional castrator killed 1 client out 50. It is more likely that the majority of his clients died from massive blood loss or extreme infection.
I’m so beyond happy I found this channel. It’s so hard to find people who make Chinese history easier to understand, let alone make it interesting too!!
im still having a hard time because of the names its confusing and city names... i wish the names was easier to understand remember
I’m glad you are appreciative of our culture
Oh yea Katarina, you must be either a Chinese bot, a smurf, a paid troll, a moll, a lost soul, or maybe just a skooby.
@Morgrim who asked
@@roblox21242 That just takes time my friend. I've been fascinated with ancient Chinese history since my childhood. My recommendation is to watch some classic Chinese TV shows so you can get a handle on pronunciations first - like Romance of the Three Kingdoms (2010 version or 1996 version, both are good) or Advisor's Alliance. You'll obviously not understand everything being said, but if you can at least understand the names being said and the places, that will help you a lot over time. I'm at the point where I can remember names and places and to me, they sound normal. Keep watching and reading, and it'll become normal to you.
What's interesting is how many different roles eunuchs played. Some were merely house keepers, while others were given control over entire armies and provinces.
As a Eunuch, their wealth, status and power wouldn't be passed down to another generation. Neither were they considered as a sexual threat, and thus unlikely to produce bastard children. That gave the perception of them being safe. They carried few material liabilities. This allowed them to get close to those in power... and the rest, as they say, is history
Kind of sad knowing countless numbers of poor young boys were castrated for the role. Many, if not all, of these children had no say as they were castrated.
And they weren’t criminals either🥺
@@rockit3422 Yes, usually these young boys were just captured child slaves or orphans.
they also grew boobs… yum
😞
I'm gonna go out on a limb and say none of them had that choice. Even if asked they wouldn't know what that meant.
I finally find a channel that's probably most accurate about Chinese history, and presented it in a chronological and clear way with the dates and names of the persons and locations. Good research work !
Thank you! Glad you like it :)
Me, in pain recovering from surgery:
RUclips: wanna hear about chinese castrated civil servants?
Me: Sure, hearing about someone else's horrible pain might distract me.
@Josh Smith Just several severely impacted teeth, thankfully not a castration lol.
and they say the average person should feel guilty for being depressed because of bed bound people in the hospital. Looks like hospital bound people are just as hypocritical as the rest of us
Nice. I'm recovering from surgery too!
Lol, I hope you will have a speedy recover :)
Wishing you a speedy recovery
And hopefully you have already recovered :)
There was a very powerful eunuch before the Han dynasty. The name is Zhaogao赵高 of Qin dynasty. He was very close to the first emperor of China. And he managed to rigged the final imperial edict. Choosing the younger prince Huhai胡亥 as the next emperor and purged elder prince Fusu复苏 with his supporters. Later on Zhaogao purged prime minister Lisi李斯, became the practical ruler of the Qin dynasty. He was so powerful if he say "a deer is a hourse" no one in the court would dare to oppose him.
Lao Ai was an eunuch ( fake because he wasn’t castrated ) he actually had 2 sons with the mother of the Qin emperor Ying Zheng ( the emperor who united china .Lisi was his prime minister …
I watched a Chinese war drama on netflix featuring him as the villain.
@@chestervelosophotography6702 what's the name of the drama? I love Chinese Drama, especially ancient ones involving generals and war etc.
扶苏not复苏
@@vestysteiner9480
ruclips.net/video/wK1xsQWllDs/видео.html
I've always been interested in the topic of how eunuchs were able to adopt children to make a surrogate family and thus a legacy, such as Cao Cao who had a eunuch "grandfather."
@@stevoz6743 They actually know the psychological issue regarding eunuchs and is the reason why they were trusted servants and despised enemies.
Out of the 3 main temptations of man; power, wealth and sex, only the first 2 are available to the eunuch and because of that, they will do practically anything for it. This is why they are extremely loyal if you're their master, assuming that you're able to maintain your status and able to provide power and wealth to them.
This also mean that they are ruthless to those who deny them of those 2 as they have sacrificed their very chance to have sex and a family to get power and wealth. Either by force or voluntarily, their purpose in life have been set the moment they are castrated, so they will stop at nothing to get what they want. Even the emperor is not safe if they can find a more generous patron.
@@stevoz6743 My understanding is that young boys are castrated.
I heard that castration makes a male docile and feminized.
Is that true?
P.S. Why was it necessary to cut the penis off in addition to the testicles? Seems like cutting off the testicles would suffice. 😞
Cao Cao's grandfather was one of the 10 attendants and they got special privileges - one of them being able to adopt sons to carry on the family name
@@stevoz6743 This makes no sense since the primary reason why monarchs would appoint eunuchs as senior officials was because they could not sire any offspring and thus create their own lineage to challenge the Monarch's lineage.
Also what a delight that the narrator can speak the language fluently, a delight to the ear.
Thank you so much!
Learning Chinese History can take more than a lifetime. You make Chinese history so fascinating.
There's a simple and 100% effective solution to all Eunach related problems: NOT deliberately creating them.
They were need to do manual labourers, but were castrated to prevent infidilities among the Emperor's harem.
On the other hand, look at how well ahead China was.
Eunuchs were everywhere. They even lead armies of Byzantine Empire.
You'd think so right? But it's more to maintain the palaces and look after the emperor as well as his concubines. To stop affairs happening and illegitimate children being everywhere - it makes sense to castrate them. But I agree it's crazy how the tradition lasted so long considering they ruined 4 of China's greatest dynasties.
why do you think they are pushing transgenderism? trans people will be the new eunuchs , will loyalty only to the state
Honestly, this channel is so helpful. You deserve the subscriber base of the big history channels.
in case someone wants to know, Ruan An, the Vietnamese eunuch was not the designer of the forbidden city, but a supervisor of construction in the last phrase of the whole program. He was too young to be the designer when the forbidden city started to be constructed. He was just a little boy when he was trafficked to Beijing as a eunuch.The design of such a huge program usually takes more than imaginable amount of intellectuals, scholars and time to do, letting along a young foreign eunuch.
lol that guy who was spamming the place that he was the designer just popped a vein.
你们的历史一塌糊涂
that is a great example of a eunuch's operating system
So he is too young to be a designer, but old enough to be a supervisor? Thats dumb logic! Ofc he would not be able to design the whole thing by himself, but it did not mean you could take away his credits of being the architect, not to mention that he was the main architect and the supervisor at the same time! Double the work!
@@nguyenvinh2161kuai xiang is the real name of the architect
It was to my shame that as a British born Chinese I didn't know much of my own history and culture. So I started on the Tang Dynasty 500 poems, read the top five Chinese classics and had tuition on the dizi and erhu. This series on Chinese history will go a long way to fill in the vast gaps in my knowledge. Thank you.
My absolute pleasure :)
Hi Edward, please can you tell me if you know the Old testament of the Bible. Chinese history traditions and rituals match the history of the Israelites (the people of the covenant - you could say 'heavenly mandated sons of God' as is said in these videos). The Han names match the meanings attributed to the tribes. If you don't know, I hope you can direct me to the classics translated to English by a Chinese native, as the translations I've found are by white people with their spin.Thank you, appreciate it. And if you are a descendent of the heavenly mandated sons of God, I bow to you, sir.
What the? Where does chinese history traditions and rituals match the history of the Israelites?
Could be worse lol. You could be an American zealot that arrogantly speaks out their ass lol.
The current chinese regime is a little shifty on teaching it tbh so good for you .
Quality narration and content, as expected of this channel.
I love the narrator’s voice…the way he pronounces English and Chinese.
British or rather specifically English accent. He could be Chinese who studied in England or an Englishman who studied Chinese Literature/history or half Chinese.
and the way he pronounces French is flawless too.
SO informative and interesting. I love history of any form.0⁰73 years old and always believed castration was just having the testicles cut off. What a shock and eye opener to learn otherwise. I knew about them being kept to be buried with the owner so they were 'whole' again. I will keep watching and learning. A HUGE thank you.
You are right, "castration" is only the removal of the testicles. But "emasculation" is the removal of the whole crown jewels.
The irony of getting your jewels cut off voluntary is that you need to have big balls to go through with such a procedure.
"The kings, the oppressors, exploiters of all kinds, are as guilty as the criminals who have emerged from the masses..."
- Bào Jìngyán (鮑敬言)
鮑敬言，東晉人。
生卒年不詳，僅知其好老莊，善清談，曾與葛洪辯論，他認為“有司設，則百姓困，奉上厚，則下民貧”，法国汉学家白乐日称他为中国第一位無政府主義者。著有《無君論》，已失佚。
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
I'm watching a chinese drama named "Yu Jun Ge" which is filmed about the Eunuchs' throne robbing in Tang dyanasty and coincidently suggested this video by YT. Thanks for sharing. Have learned alot.
@Абдульзефир If you're intrested in chinese costume drama with plot twists and sweet romance, then you may enjoy to spend some of your time for it ^_~
Glad you liked it!
Well-presented documentary. The narration is crisp and tight. I don't know any Chinese language, but your pronunciation sounds very authentic.
Thanks for these wonderful documentaries! I had no interest or even knew any Chinese history until I took a course in university to fulfill a requirement and have wanted to learn more ever since!
"Beware of ballless men." - Machiavelli
Thats a misquote. The original Italian reads, "beware of business men." On the other hand.
Eunuchs, it seems, had a bone to prick with everyone.
Or, as LBJ once said, "I never trust a man unless I've got his pecker in my pocket"
@@stefanschleps8758good job missing the joke loser 😂
I think that what would be a wonderful series,if they made
one based on the book "Tales of a Chinese Grandmother" by Frances Carpenter. It is about an upper class Chinese family
in Ancient China and details their day to day life along with
their special ceremonies and the stories that the Grandmother tells her grandchildren. In the series they could actually dramatized the stories the children are told.
I'm sure that such a series would be an instant hit. ☺️
Thank you for the best reader.
Holy shit finally a Chinese history video with properly pronounced names! Saw you replying to another comment that you weren't Chinese, that makes it even more impressive!
Thanks for your comment! I was raised in a bilingual environment, though :)
@@History_of_China Ahhh that's cool
Imagine getting castrated then not getting the job.
@kincaid SAED The jars they carried around housed their “treasures” according to the video. When the men died, they would enter heaven as whole intact men.
Or not being able to piss after the procedure...😫
@kincaid SAED 7
they would grow boobs and serve in third-class prostitution…..
@@sampuspitakumarajiva8930 Also, have a high voice, no masculinity features like a muscled physique and mustache.
It’s funny how eunuchs are always portrayed as effeminate, power hungry, conniving villains in HK wuxia movies 😅
So true. And they work together in groups
Lol Bc they were
Most eunuch are feminine...
i think that's just western pervert and close minded views. Because of colonisation, most of them see things like us knowing or unknowingly.
They literally were. Han Dynasty fell because a group of eunuchs seized power and made the emperor a puppet ruler.
I still think history may overly blame ennuchs because its less embarrassing for losing an empire
Sounds about right.
thanks to a bunch of dudes with no ds, your empire failed
or blamed the empress or concubines. worked all the times
At first I thought they were just a scapegoat but thinking about it the power dynamic is probably similar to the praetorians or janissaries where outsiders are brought in so they will only be loyal to the emperor rather than other court factions but being in the inner circles makes them powerful enough to become their own faction.
When you eliminate one's future, all that's left to pursue is money and power. What else do you expect from those who have no future other than infinite greed at the cost of a future they have no stake in?
People have always been exceptionally brutal and heartless, but castrating young boys is just disturbing on so many levels
Say it louder so the Present can hear you
I read that Empress Dowager Cixi had romantically fallen in love with a handsome eunuch, and she was grief stricken when he was eventually executed. Castration was extremely dangerous and resulted in numerous boys and young men bleeding to death or dying from massive infections. A number of eunuchs suffered from severe nerve damage caused by the castration, which caused them to lose all control of urination so they had to wear diapers the rest of their lives. There are surprising reports that some eunuchs indulged in bizarre sadistic sexual practices. Weird.
Absolutely, An Dehai was her rumoured lover. It has no true historical basis though, just speculation
@@History_of_China - Appreciate your reply! I read about this in a biography of the Empress, published several years ago.
Those reports do not surprise me, loss of their manhood, I think, would leave bitterness of some sort, so going for power was their way to be a man. Those men who had gone thru puberty before being forced to face the knife, sexual desire was not forgot, and kinky sex was the only way to satisfy . There was even a story that the most powerful Eunuch was actually intact, and his women servants were his whores. Is that rumor true? Who can truly say.
@@myrnaskogland1268 - Good points!
Some of the Imperial Princes were often censured for "fooling around with the eunuchs"
Beautiful narration made even better with correct pronunciation of Chinese names. Incredibly well done.
Thank you so much!
Most famous of all the eunuchs of all dynasties is Tian Yi who served during the Ming Dynasty .he served not one or two emperors consecutively but 3 .first emperor JiaJing then emperor LongQing and finally emperor WanLi.No other eunuch had ever been rewarded as he was .after his death at the palace the emperor Wanli declared 3 days of mourning .The emperor had a mausoleum built for him to this day the site which is about 15 km east of Beijing.
He was born in Shannxi province …
Always glad to see you posting new videos!
Thanks :)
I just love your voice, it's very soothing.. thanks for another informative video😊
I'm glad you enjoy! Thanks for your comment :)
Well made documentary! and I must say the pronunciation of names in Chinese is excellent, although I neither speak nor read Chinese. Thank you so much for enlightening me on the history of eunuchs who were an important part of history. I didn’t realize they lasted into the 1990’s! Loved the last emperor Puyi!
I'm glad you enjoyed! Thanks for your comment :)
I don’t speak Chinese but the pronunciation is excellent.
$500 for things that don’t make any sense.
@@History_of_China you pronounce every language in your videos very well, actually. To my limited knowledge of the phonology of Manchu, you even rocked that obscure language! Great job!
I gotta ask, though, what's your secret? You can pronounce so many languages so very well!
The theme of this video, those who do not learn from the past are destined to repeat it. Again and again and again.
It's worth reading the last eunuch's (assisted) autobiography.
Excellent presentation. Very informative and insightful. Thank you for that. Subscribed!
After binge watching over the last three days now. I have found nothing inaccurate or unsatisfying in your productions.
On the contrary they seem well researched, and crafted for the discerning scholar. Thank you.
I do have a request, one which I hope you will grant, giving it all the consumate nuance, and eye towards detail, with which you have made all the others. Would you consider making us a history of imperial patronage in the martial arts? Not merely the famous Shaolin Temple arts. But those from the Wu Tang mountains as well. There seems to have been a "golden age" between the end of the Ming Dynasty and the end of the Qing Dynasty. Although we can be certain that martial arts were supported by governmental mandate and imperial decree far earlier than the Ming Dynasty. At the very least as far back as Marshal Yue Fei and the Southern Song Dynasty. Anything you can do to shed light on this subject. And how, and why, martial arts flourished more so in China. From farmers to emperors, than in other countries, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again.
Laoshr #60
Ching Yi Kung Fu Association
Thank you so much! I'll take it into account, though I can't say for sure when or if I cover this topic. The subject is pretty interesting though, so I probably will eventually :)
Amazing story - a part of history not often discussed
Very well researched, with real and verified historical information, congratulations!
Thanks!
I love how he pronounced the Chinese names so correctly and not in an English accent
Narrator is chinese.
@@man-who-sold-the-world ok if thats the case....then he has a great English accent 😅
Thanks! I am not Chinese though :)
@@History_of_China what are u then?
@@stevekima8881 I'm French, but my mother is English :)
I love history. This history of the eunuchs is very fascinating. And a clear demonstration of the human will to survive and thrive in every circumstance.
I’ve never been so glad to live in modern times.
I enjoyed this presentation on eunuchs in China immensely. Though interested in history, I have not found a resource as valuable as this one. Thanks so much. I plan to watch all of your previous videos and all that your present in the future.
Very good video gosh it has been so long since I last found such a good channel! Good work mate! Cheers from Brazil
Thank you so much!
Sun Yaoting didn't die wealthy like most eunuchs but he took with him the rich history of China's last imperial rule.
I remember seeing a movie, “The Last Emperor,” and It showed a great deal about the eunuch system. I enjoyed this program very much.
If there is one thing I can take away from Court Eunuchs through history, it's that the "conversion process" sounds extremely painful and has all sorts of unpleasant possible complications. Urinary incontinence was one of them, giving rise to the insult "Stinking like an eunuch".
But in some places men still do that to girls, I just want to castrate every man who abuse little girls
Cdrama lover here, I get so much excited when another fantasy /costume /xinxia/wuxia drama comes! Much respect to Chinese entertainment industry from Pakistan 🇵🇰🐬. I will recommend some of the ancient Chinese dramas
Ten miles of Peach blossom
Ashes of love
Princess li Wei young
Princess Agents
Journey of flower
Legend of fuyao
Legend of MI yue
Empresses in the Palace
Empress of China
Story of Yanxi palace
Secret of three kingdoms
Castle in the sky
Nirvana in fire
The king's woman
The flame's daughter
The long ballad
The untamed
Word of honour
Love and destiny
Love and redemption
Miss the dragon
The Rebel princess
The legends
Ancient love poetry
Story of Minglan
The wolf
Song of glory
Legend of Xiao chuo
Eternal love of dream
Heavenly sword:dragon slaying
Bloody romance
Goodbye my princess (traumatic)
General and I
Love of thousand years
Green Hill fox
Princess of lanling kimg
Renascence
♥️☕🎂
I've watched some cdramas on your list. I'm watching Blooms in Ruyi Pavilion now. Check it out on Viki.
I also like Arsenal Military Academy. Not a historical drama but it's good.
@@perfectstudents8361, yes I will surely watch them. Thank you for recommendation!
You have really good taste 🤩😍
Most of ur recommendation are trash. Mostly here are looking and studying history. You should only recommended a good and quality one.
fun fact: an Eunuch invented paper, also, Cao Cao's adoptive grandfather was a member of the Han Ten Attendants
Yea, he showed it here.
I love this kind of presentation, which seize a theme, and with it cut through history. Thanks, and keep up the good work.
Thank you! Will do!
Fun fact: There was a kingdom in China which only employed castrated people as high officials because the monarch thought such people had no connections to their families so they wouldn't be selfish and would give their all to the kingdom, leading to the castration of 20000 officials and wannabe officials.
Yeah that was Southern Han, one of the 10 kingdoms in the 5d10k era.
On top of this, the rulers of that kingdom tended to be exceptionally absurd trust me.
Extremely well-made and entertaining video. You got an instant subscribe from me!
I wonder how many poor young boys didnt survive the castration process not just in china but everywhere.1 in 50 if you could afford a swanky dude but most castrators werent that swanky done at home or in dirty places, for torture or money, with dirty equipment. A lot simply bled to death
Only an united eunuchs with a collective 'ball-less' rage can brought down a powerful dynasty's emperor in China long history; by the time an emperor realized what a group of ball less men are capable of doing other than not fool around with his queen and concubines , it is already too late. 😁😁
Request video - Please do a video on Three Kingdoms - Zhu Huan and Zhu Yi. You'll see why the minute you research them. They are FULL of insane stories and crazy stuff happening and are highly underrated. Zhu Yi, in fact, his death, or rather how he was killed, essentially contributed to Wu's ultimate downfall and their biggest turmoil. It caused extreme tension, so Zhu Yi and Zhu Huan are significant figureheads in Wu that are barely even talked about!
I'm not gonna make Three Kingdom topics for a while, but when I return to that period, I'll consider it :)
@@History_of_China Sure thing, totally understandable! I'll leave you with one piece of a funny story.
Zhu Huan, after receiving wine, said to Sun Quan, “Your minister is now to go far away, but first he would like to stroke the beard of his lord.” Zhu Huan advanced and stroked Sun Quan’s beard then said, “Now I can actually say I have stroked the tiger’s beard!” Sun Quan laughed out loud.
Perhaps the first laugh out loud recorded in the texts too, assuming it's true to translation, lol!
I am so glad I came across this Chanel. Fantastic informative videos. Thank you!
i screamed internally listening to the whole 13th minute of this video explaining the castration procedure!
It is horrific! I can’t imagine anyone doing that to a child or adult man. Such a sad fate for those men.
The truly horrible thing is, that is the *official* procedure - in other words, it was the *best* care you could get in being castrated. There are many cases of people who castrate themselves to enter the palace - Wei Zhongxian (18:02) was one such guy. So imagine what the *unofficial* castrations were like.
Love the video! Would be great to make some special mention of Lao Ai who was a fake eunuch during the early Qin Shi Huang era, originally presented to Qin Shi Huangs mother as a lover but ended up gaining immense power in the Qin court and even attempted a failed coup to gain power. The other would be Zhao Gao who was believed to be an eunuch and was instrumental in the downfall of the Qin dynasty, he forced Qin Er Shi to commit suicide and caused the country into rebellion.
Another special mention would be Wang Zhen during the reign of emperor Yingzong of Ming. He had a great relationship with the child emperor like childhood friends and thus gained significant trust and power from the emperor. He was one of the main reasons the Tumu crisis happened.
Anyways keep it up!
Thank you! I considered adding them but didn't want to make the video any longer
Why did china have so many? This gross. And what purpose did it even serve really? How could men do this to themselves for money?
I believe it wasn’t Zhao Gao but Xiang Yu who forced Huhai to commit suicide.
Grazie a voi per il ritmo veloce dei video. Che argomento affascinante! Fortunatamente, possiedo ancora due belle palle. Sinceramente
Ikr? It’s pretty cool
Next time, you should add Zhao Gao, history recorded him as the main factor lead to the collapse of the first Chinese Empire. The Qin Empire. Good video.
That would be a great video
China has always been BRUTAL
@@sislertx I think all ancient civilisations have a similar level of brutality but the Chinese had better records so they are the ones we read about more
how did he do it
There is no prove of "zhao gao is a eunuch".People usually believe that,but there's no record of it.
Excellent! Thank you for the clear and concise history!
As I understand it now, eunuchs are very different compared to trans or intersex people for a number of reasons. These eunuchs remind me of the castratos in Italy. They still see themselves as men throughout their lives. Their experiences, their roles, and identities are just different compared to other cultures that historically recognize intersex bodies or trans identities like the Hijras or the Tritiya Prakriti in pre-colonial India. The Hijra do practice castration, but, unlike the Chinese eunuchs or Italian castratos, the Indian Hijra perceive and express themselves explicitly as feminine or androgynous in their 3,000 years of history. They even have Gods, Goddesses, and Deities that explicitly cross the boundaries of what is considered masculine and feminine. This is an excellent video.
Interesting! Thanks for your comment
This one of those videos that the algorithm graces you with only once in a while
I can never understand why someone would voluntarily become a eunuch, especially because of how horrible the process is and all the effects that come after as well
@@ross6753 true but the difference is that priests weren't castrated and it had no health risks to them
@@ross6753 I would much rather fight temptation than be genitally mutilated back then but I see why people did castrate themselves
@@ross6753 yes
because a clean strong hairline is important trough out life...
@@ross6753 heh "forced" into celibacy but we all know how well THAT worked or works nowadays...priest still be sneaking around if not w/women then boys. Should've just castrated them too
You forgot the great little tale about how the First emperor of Qin, almost was overthrown by a false eunuch Lao Ai; who had impregnated his own mum.
great video otherwise, but that was one bit of 'eunuch' drama that would echo through future dramas for certain.
That is messed up. He and his mom were sick.
@@cocoaorange1 The First Emperor was worst. He executed his two half brothers even though they were children and he killed much more building the Great Wall and his palaces.
Lao Ai was a servant of the emperor’s mom, not the emperor lmao. Y’all are killing me, please learn to read
@@namedrop721 How does this change the fact that he was a false eunuch? Eunuchs served both the emperor and dowager empress as well as the consorts and other harem women.
its debatable whether that was his real mom or not. He is probably not the original son of the king anyway... just a replacement..
Fascinating history channel! The narrator is excellent.
Thank you! Glad you enjoy :)
Thank you for the informative video! Somewhere in the comments below I read that you're French! Amazing pronunciation of Chinese words.
Thank you so much! I am half-French, half-English, but brought up in France :)
This channel looks like a great resource for Chinese history in vid form.
Lot of clips from C-dramas, C-docu-dramas. I'm looking for a list of the "best" historical vids... I mean at least based on "historical" that do not stray down too many character driven paths.
For example most of the ROTK-based dramas, etc....
One outstanding I just re-watched is "1566"...excellent because it held to history as much as can be expected and was driven by the economics of the empire ... yet was filled with great drama, character acting and writing.
Thank you OP for the list of video credits in the info.
PS I started rewatching The Ming Dynasty, but got frustrated by the micro-details of the characters.
The Towards the Republic is very good, but slow getting eng subs.
I absolutely love China history and thank you for making it more easier for me, the way you pronounce the Chinese names so effortlessly I thought you were Chinese. Well done great video as always and you have yourself a new subscriber.
Thank you! Glad you enjoy my work :)
@@History_of_China you are most welcome
Hahaha the music in the background is from my favourite game civ5. And you also show scenes from Total war three kingdoms!!!
Absolutely! In addition to being greatly entertaining, many Civ and TW games also have fantastic music and brilliant cutscenes :)
“They were known as the 12 members” well I’m glad to know they had humor back then
I enjoyed this doc very much and therefore subscribed. Currently, I'm hooked on watching numerous Asian shows on RUclips such as, "The Legend of Fei," "The Legend of Dragon Pearl," "Word of Honor," "Condor Heros," "Sword & Brocade," "Imperial Coroner," "Chronicle of Life," "King of Blaze," "Legend of Phoenix," "Ruyis Royal Love in the Palace," etc.
Let's just say I'm watching at least about 25 shows all with English subtitles. In all those shows, Eunuchs were clearly visible and played critical roles within the Palace.
Glad you enjoyed!
Wow.
Just wow.
Say what you will, but may the last official Eunuch RIP. He was the last of a culture and way of life.
Came across this video and really appreciated that you adapted traditional Chinese instead of simplified Chinese in the video.
This practice isn’t limited to China. I was watching “Magnificent Century,” a Turkish TV series, and they have Eunuchs too.
I think maybe the narrator is Chinese British. This is a fascinating talk, very well done.
Very cool mini history. Thanks for your hard work making it!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Fascinating and very well done! Have you done any videos about the painful foot binding of young Chinse girls and how it all started.? Did the Empresses like Cixi have mutilated feet?
Thank you! I have not touched that subject yet, but definitely will eventually. Cixi, like all Manchu women, did not have her feet bound as it was a Han Chinese custom which was frowned upon by the Manchus. It was nonetheless still widely practiced by the population until the 20th century
Excellently done! Just a note - Wei Zhongxian's partner-in-crime's surname is 客, but as a surname, that word is pronounced 'qie3'. So she is actually Madam Qie, not Madam Ke.
Thanks! I did not know that!
can you make a series about the song dynasty, like the qing ?
I definitely will eventually, but I have set to do the Yuan and Ming dynasties first :)
So should Vietnam demand a memorial site for Ruan an in the Forbidden city as a token of friendly historical relationship between the two?
Doubt that will fly with PRC
fun fact, the surname ruan is actually Nguyen in vietnamese
During that time that part of Vietnam was under China
He was forcibly taken after China invaded Vietnam, so no, it wouldn't be a token of friendly relationship, but a reminder of Chinese occupation lol...
Excellent video. Very interesting, informative and worthwhile video.
Thank you! Glad you liked it :)
Nice video for such a horrific topic. Seeing how much damage the eunuchs did in Chinese history I wonder why no emperor ever thought of forbidding castration and abolishing the eunuch system altogether. Japanese shoguns had great harems too, but they didn't use eunuchs, so there was really no need for them.
Here in Italy young boys were castrated to become opera singers. They were mutilated before their voice changed, so that they kept a white voice but with the powerful lungs of an adult man. These singers were extremely popular, both in opera and religious music. The practice lasted from the XVI to the XIX century, and thousands of boys, mostly from poor families, were castrated for this purpose.
The most famous of these singers was Farinelli, who became an opera star and the private singer of king Philip V of Spain, a position that made him rich and powerful. There is a movie about his life, but it's not very accurate. The last castrated singer was instead Alessandro Moreschi, who died in 1922. Some records of his voice can still be found on RUclips.
Next time you could make a video about the imperial examination system, foot binding or about eunuchs in Korea and Vietnam. I read somewhere the creepy story of a Vietnamese emperor who paid a particularly smart boy to get castrated and become an officer.
The eunuch was never the problem. They were often unfairly blamed for the downfall of many dynasty because the person who intend to depose their previous ruler to establish their own dynasty need to give justification for their treacherous act, and eunuch happened to be a convenient scapegoat for them.
U are free to argue that castration is a big violation toward human right, but the chinese ruler invent and employ eunuch for a good reason (for them). They are the most loyal and the least likely faction to revolt because there is almost no point for them to do so (that doesnt prevent them from being a corrupt and arrogant human being). They cant have offspring, so they have no one to succeed them if they want to take the throne. For that reason the emperor often put too much favor and trust towards eunuch. Those excessive favor often made other officials, generals and/or palace attendant to grow jealousy and resentment toward them, which sometimes contribute to their downfall and tarnished their name in the history book.
They didn't abolish the practice because the eunuchs were useful, and not just as scapegoats. Does it really make sense that they were responsible for so many problems, when they didn't have the majority of power?
@@caitthecat You're right. Rulers are often forced to make dishonorable choices, whose responsability they have to delegate to someone else, someone who can be sacrificed if needed. Nicholas Cage in "Lord of War" said something like this. Eunuchs in imperial China could play this role. Plus the power of eunuchs came only from the emperor, who could make and destroy them at will. This is the same reason why the Ottoman government was entirely made of slaves.
@@agathonchristianto9580 Eunuchs were kept because in part because of the Imperial harem system. Women were secluded and regular men besides the emperor were not allowed in the harem. Eunuchs were employed to serve as male servants without them being able to impregnate the consorts and concubines. Eunuchs are prevalent in societies that secluded women, like the Muslim sultanates, Hindu rajas, and even the Greeks. You mention the harems of Imperial Japan, but for a Chinese Emperor, the lifestyles of Japanese women would have encouraged the use of eunuchs. I say thus because the Heian period of Japanese history saw a lot of loose sexual behavior from Japanese noblewomen, who had more rights and weren't secluded like their Chinese counterparts.
Furthermore, Japan was a feudal society with powerful lords and powerless emperor. China, throughout most of it's history, was a very centralized society with dominated by the Imperial court. The emperors and shoguns of Japan needed the support of the samurai and their daimyo lords to retain power because they did not have a standing army. Whereas the Chinese emperors had a standing army and were less dependent on their nobles. The daimyos and samurais of Japan would not have tolerated the domination of the government by low born eunuchs.
Thanks for your comment!
Omg Varys from Game of Thrones makes much more sense now! Thank you for this awesome video!!
I'm glad you liked it :)
Eunuchs have always been a problem. Emperor Hongwu of Ming knew that all too well and created a tablet saying, ""Eunuchs must have nothing to do with the administration".
BASED
@@kristianvillarosa4655 DESAB
Outstanding documentary. Extremely enlightening.
Thank you!
I keep meaning to bring this up, but I'm very curious about how emperors, empresses, princes, et cetera seem to have two names--their own name and their 'royal' name or similar. I think you've touched on this practice in previous videos, but I'd love a more in-depth explanation. Even a full video if there's enough depth to it.
Thank you as always for the excellent content!
This happened in Europe too. It's a regnal name.
Thank you! It'll definitely be a subject for a future video. But essentially, they had their personnal name (birth name), temple name, posthumous name, at least one but possibly serveral era names as well, in addition to the traditional courtsey name and possibly art/pen name that citizens could have. They are however overall known by either their temple name (ex: Tang Taizong) or era name as from the Ming to Qing (ex: Hongwu, Kangxi)
@@History_of_China Good Lord. A breakdown of all of that would be rather interesting, I should think. :)
Ya I would be interested in this too. I guess similar to UK royal family who have multiple titles but would like to hear about it.
Everyone had multiple names in chinese tradition. Ming, Zi, Hao. Ming was the name given to you by your parents. Zi was your scholar name when you reached adulthood and Hao was the name you picked yourself.
I like reading and watching videos about Historical facts. Thank you for uploading. 🙏🌹🙏
Hello from France, big fan, I hope to meet you one day ♥️:p
Keep up the good work. I watched all your videos, awesome videos and really detailed. I hope you make a series of Ming Emperors
Thank you so much! The Ming series will come up just after I do the Yuan dynasty :)
Captain Jack sparrow: You’re not a eunuch are you?”
Thank you for the video. I appreciate learning more about the history of China.
There’s a parallel in the Roman Empire of mighty Imperial slaves and Imperial freedmen. As former slaves they were no dynastic threat and owed everything to their former owners.
Not sure why this popped up in my recommended, but glad it did. I feel educated.
Eunuchs also in ancient Egypt, Babylonia, the Persian Empire, and ancient Rome.
Thanks so much! I really appreciate the posts you make.
Glad to hear it! Thanks for following :)