Chinese Cultural Studies:
from Mary M. Anderson, Hidden Power: The Palace Eunuchs of Imperial China, (Buffalo NY: Prometheus, 1990), 15-18, 307-11
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Eunuchs, males who have been rendered sexually impotent by mutilation or
removal of the external genitals, served as palace menials, harem watch-dogs,
and spies for rulers in most of the ancient world kingdoms stretching from
Rome, Greece, and North Africa, through the biblical lands, and on across the
Man continent. Nor were _castrati_ unknown in modern times. They were idolized
in eigtheenth-century opera houses of Europe, having been emasculated as
children to preserve their male soprano voices. The practice of using eunuchs
for Vatican choir, was banned only ill 1878. Castrated aides attended the
Great Moghul emperors of India, and the maharajas of Indian princely states
under British rule well into the twentieth century. Nowhere, however, were
eunuchs of such great and long-continuing historical significance as in the
palaces of Imperial China.

Down through the centuries of China's dynastic rule, officials repeatedly
memorialized the Dragon Throne, pleading that eunuch interference in state
affairs be curbed. However, almost none recommended that the ancient eunuch
system be abolished. This is but one indication of how deeply ingrained in
Chinese thinking was the custom that allowed only sexless males to serve the
Imperial Presence, the ladies of his royal family, and his thousands of'
concubines, all amassed together in the "Great Within' behind forbidden palace
doors.

It should be pointed out that Chinese dynastic histories were all written by
mandarins, the educated elite who, as a class, despised the palace eunuchs.
Mandarins alone were eligible to hold office in the bureaucracy, the "Great
Without." Men qualified for coveted bureaucratic positions by passing grueling
official examinations that required years of arduous study. The examinations
were based on the philosophy of Confucius, the Great Sage, whose teachings
became the backbone of Chinese culture. Records indicate that Confucius
himself, some 5M years before Christ, gave his stamp of disapproval to eunuch
assumption of power, thereby tending authority for centuries of Confucianists
to defame all palace eunuchs. Some researchers suggest that the scholar-
officials hated the eunuchs because, as personal attendants to the sovereign,
the eunuchs always had his car, and so were in a better position than even the
most powerful minister to curry favor, exercise influence, and accumulate
wealth. Thus, when considering old Chinese accounts of eunuch treachery,
allowance must be made for prejudice or exaggeration. Nonetheless, the bulk of
evidence weighs so heavily against the eunuchs that few can doubt the harm
they did the nation.

The use of eunuchs in Chinese courts was based in very old tradition, and no
society clung more tenaciously to long-established custom than the Chinese.
Court chronicles reveal that Chinese kings as early as the eighth century BC
_.,_ and no doubt long before that, kept castrated servitors. Confucianism
exalted all that was ancient, and admonished monarchs of every dynasty to
meticulously follow precedents set not only by saintly historical kings of
old, but also by god-kings glorified in China's legendary past.

Since remotest times, and especially after the advent of Confucianism, Chinese
males, including rulers, demanded strict moral purity in their womenfolk.
Hordes of sexually impotent men were needed to guard the chastity of imperial
ladies languishing in the teeming women's quarters. The emperor kept the
largest harem in the land not only to support his image as paramount personage
of the realm, but also to ensure many heirs to the throne in a time of high
infant mortality. If the emperor's queens failed to bear a living heir, sons
of the highest ranking concubines could succeed to the throne. The presence of
numerous ever-watchful eunuchs lurking in the recesses of the sprawling palace
guaranteed that each child born therein was sired by the monarch. Non-eunuch
males, even relatives of the ruler or of his consorts, were barred from the
vicinity of the women's apartments on penalty of death.

Irrefutable royal paternity was essential to Chinese rulers, for the hoary
cult of ancestor worship decreed that each emperor must perform the official
sacrifices made to his deceased forebears as far back as the dynasty's near-
deified founder. Each emperor, as Heaven's representative on earth, had to
conduct the vital state religious rites necessary to maintain the harmonious
balance between Heaven and the Chinese nation.

Eunuchs were also required to preserve the aura of sacredness and secrecy that
surrounded the Imperial Presence. The Emperor of China1 was exalted as the
recipient of the mystical Mandate of Heaven that sanctified his right to rule.
Since it was believed that this Heaven-sent mandate could he rescinded if the
emperor misgoverned or __ conducted himself unvirtuously, the personal life of
the Son of Heaven was carefully shielded from ordinary mortals test they
observe any human failings. Only the "effeminate, cringing eunuchs," slavishly
dependent upon the emperor for their very lives, were considered cowed enough
to be silent witnesses to his private foibles and weaknesses.

During imperial audiences officials kept their eyes decorously lowered, for to
look upon the royal countenance was strictly forbidden. When tile emperor
proceeded through the capital city carried in the royal sedan chair by
eunuchs, bamboo curtains were erected  

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