Chapter 28 Chapter 52: Court Eunuch

What does a eunuch look like?You may not have seen it.In the 1950s, I met 20 or 30 eunuchs who had left the Forbidden City in a courtyard in Accounting Division Hutong, Beichang Street, Beijing.They were crooked, beardless, and spoke in high-pitched voices like old women.The eunuchs you see from the photos in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China are all flat images.There are two painted statues of eunuchs in the Palace Museum collection, and the three-dimensional image of the eunuch can be seen.One is a statue of a Ming eunuch.It was originally placed above the Shandousui Temple above the Fangshan District of Beijing. The Shandousui Temple was first built in the Sui Dynasty. There are more than 70 temples and ruins here, and there are more than 50 ancient pagodas.On the mountain rock, an ancient cloud ladder with 262 steps has been dug out since the Jin Dynasty, soaring into the clouds and reaching the top of the mountain.Guanyin Temple.The eunuch wears a black lacquer gauze hat, a scarlet brocade python robe, a square jade belt around his waist, a fringe belt hanging from his left skirt, and a string of beads on his right wrist.

Some scholars believe that it was modeled after Feng Bao, the eunuch who was in charge of the official seal during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty.The other is a statue of a Qing eunuch.This eunuch statue in the old collection of the Qing Palace wears black velvet wide eaves and a winter crown with red tassels on the top. It has a shrunken mouth and a wrinkled face, forcing a smile. He is bent over, wearing a long gown with horseshoe sleeves, a stone blue overcoat, sapphire beads on his chest, green cotton white-soled soap boots on his feet, a cane in his hand, and his fists curled up. The image of a sophisticated old eunuch.Painted eunuch portrait and description, see "Illustration of Qing Dynasty Palace Life", Forbidden City Publishing House, 2007.These two statues of eunuchs represent the image of a special group of eunuchs in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.Emperor Qianlong said that eunuchs were "foolish people in the countryside, who are extremely humble and humble, and they can enter the palace and give them rank, which is already a kindness". (Volume 1 of "Existing Regulations in the Imperial Palace") Eunuchs are also human beings, but they are considered humble and lowly by the emperor.

Eunuchs are eunuchs who have been castrated and serve the emperor and his family members in the court. The earliest record is found in "Zhou Li·Tian Guan".In history, eunuchs were also called eunuchs, eunuchs, eunuchs, middle officials, inner officials, inner supervisors, inner servants, fire masters, urchins, etc. In Ming and Qing Dynasties, they were often called eunuchs and eunuchs.Eunuchs have a humble status, physical disabilities, and they are in the court and close to the imperial power, forming a special group. Eunuchs, a special group, always carry two things: one is a large towel, and the other is thick knee pads.Zaili Rong'er recalled: Poor old eunuch, it's already past the May Festival, and the upper body is already dressed very thinly, but the lower body is still bulging.It is said that because of their physical defects, most of them suffer from drenching urine, and they have to wear large towels (ancient diapers) around their waists no matter in winter or summer. The older they get, the worse it gets.The knee pads on the knees are sewn into the trousers all year round, and they are most clearly revealed in summer.They may kneel on the ground anytime and anywhere—no matter where they are, on a rockery or by the side of a stone road, they must kneel without any hesitation, so knee pads are sewn into their trousers all the year round.The knee pads of the great eunuch are made of precious leather, and Li Lianying used golden monkey skin as the knee pads.

According to the number of eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Kangxi heard from the old eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty that there were 100,000 internal eunuchs, and there were no meals available, and some people died of starvation every day. (Volume 240 of "Records of the Holy Ancestors of the Qing Dynasty") This number may be exaggerated, but the actual number is still quite alarming.For example, in the eleventh year of Zhengde (1516), "three thousand four hundred and sixty-eight men from the palace were collected as sea households" (volume 137 of "Records of Emperor Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty").There are still thousands of people who have already left the palace, but were not admitted because they did not have a "ticket post", and went to the Ministry of Rites to petition.In the first year of Tianqi (1621), 3,000 pure men were selected to enter the palace, and more than 20,000 folks sought elections, and another 1,500 people were ordered to be admitted. (Volume 5 of "Records of Emperor Xizong of Ming Dynasty") There is a lack of accurate information on the number of eunuchs in the Ming Palace.According to the statistics of some scholars, 13,320 eunuchs were elected four times in the Wanli Dynasty of the Ming Dynasty, 7,200 eunuchs were selected in the Tianqi Dynasty, and a total of 20,520 eunuchs were elected in the two dynasties.This is indeed a huge number.There were fewer eunuchs in the Qing palace than in the Ming palace, about two to three thousand.

There are twenty-four yamen in the inner palace of the Ming Palace, including: Twelve Supervisors - the Supervisor of Rites, the Imperial Supervisor, the Internal Official Supervisor, the Imperial Horse Supervisor, the Divisional Supervisor, the Shangbao Supervisor, the Shengong Supervisor, the Shangshan Supervisor, and the Shangyi Supervisor , Yinshou Supervisor, Zhidian Supervisor, and Duzhi Supervisor; Four Divisions--Xinxin Division, Baochao Division, Bell and Drum Division, Mixed Hall Division; Eight Bureaus-Bingzhan Bureau, Scarf and Hat Bureau, Needlework Bureau, Neiwei Dye Bureau, Wine and Vinegar Noodle Bureau, Siyuan Bureau, Clothes Bureau, and Silver Work Bureau. (Volume 16 of "Zhuo Zhong Zhi") For example, there are eunuchs who are in charge of ceremonies, eunuchs who are in charge (general manager), eunuchs who hold prints (internal and external chapters), eunuchs who hold pens (planned to approve Zhu according to cabinet votes), and eunuchs who follow the hall (Guan Zhangzou). documents) and book eunuchs (keep and send documents), etc.Learning from the lessons of the Ming Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty imposed stricter restrictions on eunuchs.Emperor Qianlong used the three surnames of Qin, Zhao, and Gao to serve as an eunuch in order to warn himself of the disaster of Zhao Gao in the Qin Dynasty. ("Qing Barnyard Notes·Gao Zong Selected the Three Surnames of Qin and Zhao Gao as Eunuchs") Although there were domineering eunuchs An Dehai and Li Lianying in the late Qing Dynasty, they could be described as "insignificant and big witches" compared with the Eastern Han, late Tang and Ming dynasties, and their power and arrogance were much worse.

In the twelfth year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1655), the Ministry of Industry was ordered to cast an iron plate, and the emperor's edict was written: "I have now ruled that the internal government office and the number of personnel are in charge. Handing over Manchu and Han officials, the more they are good at playing foreign affairs, the more they say that the officials are good or not, they will be put to death immediately, and the loan will not be tolerated. Special iron plates are set up, and they will be followed from generation to generation. Standing in the Jiaotai Hall, it warns the eunuchs in the harem not to interfere in the government.

In the 16th year of Kangxi (1677), the "Palace Supervision Office", also known as the "Respect Room", was established.This is the only eunuch organization in the Qing Dynasty since the Kangxi Dynasty. It manages the lives of the emperor, concubines, princes, and princesses. It is responsible for furnishing, cleaning, and guarding the palace.Emperor Kangxi personally wrote the "Respect Room" plaque and hung it in the room.The Respect Room is on the east side of Qianqing Gate, corresponding to the South Study Room.

In the 61st year of Kangxi (1722), the rank of eunuch was designated as the fifth rank, and the title of eunuch was granted by the Qing Dynasty.In the first year of Yongzheng (1723), Dingjing Shifang was appointed as the fourth rank.This is the highest title of eunuch in the Qing court.They can get eight liang of silver and eight dendrobium of rice every month (one dendrobium is five dou in the Qing Dynasty).And the young eunuch who just entered the palace also received two taels of silver every month, one and a half rice. ("Current Regulations in the Imperial Palace") Their annual salary exceeds that of the seventh-rank magistrate, and they can also receive various nominal rewards.Although their social status is low, they are well paid and have great power.Eunuchs are a group, naturally there are treacherous and virtuous.Let's talk about the traitor of the eunuch first.