The World's Only Eunuch Museum

By Mary King

Eunuchs have existed in a number of ancient civilizations. Among them are Greece, Rome, Egypt, Persia, Turkey and India. Even 18th century Europe had eunuchs -- the castrati who were emasculated as children in order to preserve their male soprano voices. In fact, eunuchs sang in the Vatican choir up until they were banned in 1878.

But it is China where eunuchs have held the greatest historical significance. In ancient China, castration was used both as a punishment as well as a way to work for the emperor. It was believed that since eunuchs were unable to have children they would not be tempted to seize power and start their own dynasties.

Many eunuchs were therefore considered nothing more than lowly servants, but there were also eunuchs who rose to great heights in the Imperial courts. And, it was the powerful eunuchs who triggered the jealousies of high-ranking officials. Indeed, some eunuchs were even more powerful than prime ministers, so you can imagine what a threat they were to the bureaucrats of their day.

The Ming Dynasty ran from 1368 to 1644. Nearer the end of this great era there were some 70,000 eunuchs employed by the emperor. By 1912, however, the number of eunuchs had dwindled to just 470. By this time the practice of using eunuchs had started to lose favour. And, China’s last eunuch, Sun Yaoting, was just shy of 94 years old when he died in 1996 at his home in Beijing. Sun Yaoting had served as a eunuch for Pu Yi, China’s Last Emperor.