Eunuch: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 18:20, 20 October 2009
A eunuch (Template:Pron-en) is a political rank often found in ancient courts. Over the millennia since, they have performed a wide variety of functions in many different cultures such as: courtiers or equivalent domestics, treble singers, religious specialists, government officials, military commanders, and guardians of women or harem servants.
Eunuchs were often - but not always - spadones, especially when they guarded women. Such spadones were usually of the castrated variety, and such castration would usually occur early enough to have had major hormonal consequences. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the twenty first century BC.[1][2]
In modern times the term is almost always used as a synonym for spadone, and has little connection with the historic use as a reference to specific court officials. Hence, some translations of ancient texts identify individuals as eunuchs when they were simply men who were impotent with women, or were merely celibate.
Etymology and origins
The English word eunuch is from the Greek eune ("bed") and ekhein ("to keep"), effectively "bed keeper".
Servants or slaves were usually castrated in order to make them safer servants of a royal court where physical access to the ruler could wield great influence. Seemingly lowly domestic functions such as making the ruler's bed, bathing him, cutting his hair, carrying him in his litter or even relaying messages could in theory give a eunuch "the ruler's ear" and impart de facto power on the formally humble but trusted servant. Similar instances are reflected in the humble origins and etymology of many high offices (e.g., chancellor began as a servant guarding the entrance to an official's study). Eunuchs supposedly did not generally have loyalties to the military, the aristocracy, or to a family of their own (having neither offspring nor in-laws, at the very least), and were thus seen as more trustworthy and less interested in establishing a private 'dynasty'. Because their condition usually lowered their social status, they could also be easily replaced or killed without repercussion. In cultures that had both harems and eunuchs, eunuchs were sometimes used as harem servants (compare the female odalisque) or seraglio guards.[citation needed]
Eunuchs by region and epoch
Ancient Middle East
Eunuchs were familiar figures in the Assyrian Empire (ca. 850 till 622 B.C.), in the court of the Egyptian Pharaohs (down to the Lagid dynasty known as Ptolemies, ending with Cleopatra). Political eunuchism became a fully established institution among the Achamenide Persians[3]
China
In ancient China castration was both a traditional punishment (until the Sui Dynasty) and a means of gaining employment in the Imperial service. At the end of the Ming Dynasty there were about 70,000 eunuchs (宦官 huànguān, or 太監 tàijiàn) employed by the emperor, with some serving inside the Imperial palace. Certain eunuchs gained immense power that occasionally superseded that of prime ministers. Self-castration was commonplace and half-hearted attempts were sometimes made to make it illegal. The number of eunuchs in Imperial employ had fallen to 470 in 1912, when the practice of using them ceased.[citation needed]
It is said that the justification of the employment of eunuchs as high-ranking civil servants was that, since they were incapable of having children, they would not be tempted to seize power and start a dynasty. In many cases, eunuchs were considered more reliable than the scholar officials. A similar system existed in Vietnam.[4]
The tension between eunuchs in the service of the emperor and virtuous Confucian officials is a familiar theme in Chinese history. In his History of Government, Samuel Finer points out that reality was not always that clear-cut. There were instances of very capable eunuchs, who were valuable advisors to their emperor, and the resistance of the "virtuous" officials often stemmed from jealousy on their part. Ray Huang argues that in reality, eunuchs represented the personal will of the Emperor, while the officials represented the alternate political will of the bureaucracy. The clash between them would thus have been a clash of ideologies or political agenda.[5]
European Jesuit priest Matteo Ricci was the first European to reach China with a musical instrument, who presented a Harpsichord to the Ming imperial court in 1601. He trained four eunuchs to play it.[6]
Ancient Greece, Rome and Byzantium
The practice was also well established in Europe among the Greeks and Romans, although more rarely as court functionaries than in Asia. In late Rome, emperors such as Constantine were surrounded by eunuchs for such functions as bathing, hair cutting, dressing, and bureaucratic functions, in effect acting as a shield between the emperor and his administrators from physical contact. Eunuchs were believed loyal and dispensable.[citation needed]
At the Byzantine imperial court, there were a great number of eunuchs employed in domestic and administrative functions, actually organized as a separate hierarchy, following a parallel career of their own. Archieunuchs—each in charge of a group of eunuchs—were among the principal officers in Constantinople, under the emperors.[7] Under Justinian in the fifth century, the eunuch Narses functioned as a successful general in a number of campaigns.
Ottoman Empire (Turkey)
The Ottoman court harem—within the Topkapı Palace (1465–1853) and later the Dolmabahçe Palace (1853–1909) in Istanbul—was under the administration of the eunuchs. These were of two categories: Black Eunuchs and White Eunuchs. Black Eunuchs were Africans who served the concubines and officials in the Harem and together with chamber maidens of low rank. The White Eunuchs were Europeans from the Balkans. They served the recruits at the Palace School and were from 1582 prohibited from entering the Harem. An important figure in the Ottoman court was the Chief Black Eunuch (Kızlar Ağası or Harem Ağası). In control of the Harem and a perfect net of spies in the Black Eunuchs, the Chief Eunuch was involved in almost every palace intrigue and could thereby gain power over either the sultan or one of his viziers, ministers or other court officials.[8]
India
Eunuchs were frequently employed in Imperial Indian palaces as servants for female royalty, and often attained high-status positions in Indian society. Eunuchs in Imperial palaces were organized in a hierarchy, often with a senior or chief eunuch ("Khwaja Saras") directing junior eunuchs below him. Eunuchs were highly valued for their strength, to provide protection for the ladies palaces, and their trustworthiness, allowing eunuchs to live amongst women with fewer worries. This enabled eunuchs to serve as messengers, watchmen, attendants, and guards for palaces. Often, eunuchs also doubled as part of the King's court of advisers.[9][10]
As a result of the number of high-status job openings available for eunuchs, poor families often converted one of their sons into a eunuch and had him work in the imperial palaces to create a steady source of revenue for the family and ensure a comfortable lifestyle for the son. This practice of castration was banned throughout the Empire in 1668 by Aurangzeb, but continued covertly.
Notable eunuchs
- See also: Category: Eunuchs
In chronological order.
- Aspamistres or Mithridates (5th century BC) Bodyguard of Xerxes I of Persia, and (with Artabanus) his murderer.
- Artoxares: An envoy of Artaxerxes I and Darius II of Persia.
- Bagoas (4th century BC) Prime minister of king Artaxerxes III of Persia, and his murderer. (Bagoas is an old Persian/Farsai word meaning Eunuch.)
- Bagoas (4th century BC) A favorite of Alexander the Great. Influential in changing Alexander's attitude toward Persians and therefore in the king's policy decision to try to integrate the conquered peoples fully into his Empire as loyal subjects. He thereby paved the way for the relative success of Alexander's Seleucid successors and greatly enhanced the penetration of Greek culture to the East.
- Philetaerus (4th/3rd century BC): founder of the Attalid dynasty of Pergamum
- Sima Qian – old romanization: Ssu-ma Chi'en (2nd/1st century BC) Was the first person to have practiced modern historiography – gathering and analyzing both primary and secondary sources in order to write his monumental history of the Chinese empire.
- Ganymedes (1st century BC) Highly capable adviser and general of Cleopatra VII's sister and rival, Princess Arsinoe. Unsuccessfully attacked Julius Caesar three times at Alexandria.
- Pothinus (1st century BC) Regent for pharaoh Ptolemy XII.
- Unidentified eunuch of the Ethiopian court (1st century BC), described in The Acts of the Apostles (chapter 8). Philip the Evangelist, one of the original seven deacons, is directed by the Holy Spirit to catch up to the eunuch's chariot and hears him reading from the Book of Isaiah (chapter 53). It's a section, which prophesies Jesus' crucifixion, and Philip witnesses to the eunuch about the fulfillment of the prophecy. The eunuch is baptized shortly thereafter. It's the first recorded case of the conversion of someone who had possibly been marginalized for gender reasons.
- Cai Lun – Ts'ai Lun in the old romanization (1st/2nd century AD) Reasonable evidence exists to suggest that he was truly the inventor of paper. At the very least, he established the importance of paper and standardized its manufacture in the Chinese empire.
- Origen – early Christian theologian, allegedly castrated himself based on his reading of the Gospel of Matthew 19:12 (For there are eunuchs, who were born so from their mother's womb: and there are eunuchs, who were made so by men: and there are eunuchs, who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven. He that can take, let him take it.). However, Origen's self-castration is not attested by anyone other than Tertullian.
- Eutropius (5th century AD) Only eunuch known to have attained the highly distinguished and very influential position of Roman Consul.
- Chrysaphius – chief minister of Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II, architect of imperial policy towards the Huns.
- Narses (478–573) General of Byzantine Emperor, Justinian I, responsible for destroying the Ostrogoths in 552 at the Battle of Taginae in Italy and saving Rome for the empire.
- Ly Thuong Kiet (1019–1105), general during the Ly Dynasty in Vietnam. Penned what is considered the first Vietnamese declaration of independence. Regarded as a Vietnamese national hero.
- Malik Kafur (fl. 1296 - 1316), was a eunuch slave who became a general in the army of Alauddin Khilji, ruler of the Delhi sultanate.
- Zheng He (1371–1433), famous admiral who led huge Chinese fleets of exploration around the Indian Ocean.
- Kim Cheo Son, one of the most famous eunuchs in Korean dynasty, ably served kings in the Joseon dynasty. His life is now the subject of a popular historical drama currently airing in South Korea.
- Shu Diao Intrigant eunuch who was responsible of a successor civil war in the feudal state of Qi
- Zhao Gao Favourite of Qin Shihuangdi, who plotted against Li Si (died 210 BC)
- Zhang Rang Head of the infamous "10 Changshi" (Ten attendants) of Eastern Han Dynasty
- Huang Hao Eunuch in the state of Shu; also appears in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms
- Cen Hun Eunuch in the state of Wu during the Three Kingdoms Period
- Gao Lishi A loyal and trusted friend of Tang emperor Xuanzong
- Le Van Duyet Famous eighteenth century Vietnamese eunuch, military strategist and government official (he was not however a spadone, being born a hermaphrodite)
- Li Fuguo The Tang eunuch who began another era of eunuch rule
- Yu Chao'en Tang eunuch who began his "career" as army supervisor
- Wang Zhen First Ming eunuch with much power, see Tumu Crisis
- Yishiha Admiral in charge of expeditions down the Amur River under the Yongle and Xuande Emperors
- Liu Jin Another "famous" eunuch despot
- Wei Zhongxian Most infamous eunuch in Chinese history
- An Dehai Corrupt eunuch of Qing Dynasty – Favorite of Empress Dowager Cixi
- Li Lianying Another despotic eunuch of the Qing Dynasty
- Sun Yaoting (1902–1996) last surviving imperial eunuch of Chinese history
See also
Notes
- ^ Maekawa, Kazuya (1980). Animal and human castration in Sumer, Part II: Human castration in the Ur III period. Zinbun [Journal of the Research Institute for Humanistic Studies, Kyoto University], pp. 1–56.
- ^ Maekawa, Kazuya (1980). Female Weavers and Their Children in Lagash – Presargonic and Ur III. Acta Sumerologica 2:81–125.
- ^ Orlando Patterson, Slavery and Social Death, 511 pp., Harvard University Press, 1982 ISBN 067481083X, 9780674810839 (see p.315)
- ^ For an extended discussion see Mitamura Taisuke,Chinese Eunuchs: The Structure of Intimate Politics tr.Charles A.Pomeroy,Tokyo 1970, a short, condensed version of Mitamura's original book =三田村泰助, 宦官, Chuko Shinsho, Tokyo 1963
- ^ Huang, Ray (1981). 1587, A Year of No Significance: The Ming Dynasty in Decline. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-02518-1..
- ^ Jones. Andrew F. [2001] (2001). Yellow Music — CL: Media Culture and Colonial Modernity in the Chinese Jazz Age. Duke University Press. ISBN 0822326949.
- ^
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chambers, Ephraim, ed. (1728). Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences (1st ed.). James and John Knapton, et al. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) [1] - ^ Lad, Jateen. "Panoptic Bodies. Black Eunuchs in the Topkapi Palace", Scroope: Cambridge Architecture Journal, No.15, 2003, pp.16–20.
- ^ "Akbar-Birbal Anecdotes". Retrieved 2008-11-02.
- ^ "Ghilmans and Eunuchs". Retrieved 2008-11-02.
