What was the name of castration of eunuchs in ancient China?

Eunuch was originally named "Eunuch". The original meaning of the word "official" is "official" or "official", so the word "official" is often associated with the word "official" and is called eunuch, so there is a saying that "the official sea rises and falls". In history, Qin Shihuang began to set up the post of "a constant servant", whose main tasks were to freely enter and leave the court, serve the emperor and his family, convey imperial edicts and master documents. These people are called eunuchs. In order to prevent these eunuchs who can freely enter and leave the palace from causing trouble in the palace with beautiful women, the court stipulated that eunuchs must castrate their genitals before entering the palace, so eunuchs became "eunuchs" who were neither male nor female.

The secret of castration of ancient eunuchs in China

The existence of castration undoubtedly provides the material and technical premise for the appearance of eunuchs, and the longevity of castration is complementary to the long-term continuation of castration and eunuch system.

Castration, as a form of punishment, appeared in Xia and Shang Dynasties. Among the so-called "five punishments" in the slavery era, it is the penalty method second only to the death penalty. At first, the object of punishment was mainly adultery between men and women. Palace punishment is based on the need of maintaining the marital system of husband's right, and is gradually improved to meet the needs of the supreme ruler trying to maintain the purity of his family blood relationship. With the continuous consolidation of autocratic monarchy, the forbidden palace has 72 concubines in three palaces and six courtyards, plus 3,000 make-up, which is really a world of beautiful women. Letting those beautiful young women do rough work will spoil the fun. If men and women live together, it will inevitably give the emperor a headache, so a large number of castrated eunuchs enter the court, and the scope of castration gradually expands to all kinds of criminals except adultery. Emperor Jing of the Western Han Dynasty stipulated that "those who want to rot should be allowed to die", that is, castration was allowed to replace the death penalty. As a result, the nature of castration gradually evolved from a simple punishment for adultery to a punishment for mitigating death and avoiding death.

On the one hand, this change greatly expanded the source of castrated objects, on the other hand, it also changed the situation that eunuchs were all filled by criminals in the early days, which had a great impact on the personnel composition of eunuchs. Sima Qian, a famous man in the history of China, defended Li Ling, the minister of punishments, and was beheaded according to law. Later, he was imprisoned to avoid death.

The object of ancient castration is often not limited to the criminals themselves. Repeated executions, especially the so-called "heinous genocide", usually involve future generations. The purpose of this castration is to make the death penalty criminals childless, and its nature is an indirect "genocide". Wynn, a famous eunuch in Ming Dynasty, was jailed for his uncle's crime, and his family was implicated. In the 13th year of Qing Daoguang (A.D. 1833), a decree was issued: "In the future, the law that violates the case should be formulated as a crime at the end of the year, and his son Sun Ming knows that those who have not realized their rebellion, whether they are mature or not, will be castrated by the internal affairs office if they have been in Qianlong for 54 years"; He was temporarily imprisoned at the age of ten. "At the age of eleven, he was handed over to the Ministry of Internal Affairs as usual." It can be seen that in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, there was still the practice of castrating the descendants of criminals.

Ancient castration is a form of punishment, so its execution naturally has a special system. According to historical records, there were so-called "corrupt officials" in Qin during the Warring States period; In the Han dynasty, "there was a silkworm room in the prison of Shaofu Ruolu", which was a place where castration was specially carried out. During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, there were many eunuchs in the Southern Han Dynasty. More than 500 eunuchs died when the Northern Song Dynasty attacked and destroyed the Southern Han Dynasty. The government agency in charge of castration in the Qing Dynasty was the Department of Abstinence from Punishment under the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It is particularly worth mentioning that in the Ming and Qing dynasties, there were also non-governmental organizations in Beijing that contracted the castration of the government.

Whipping is an extremely cruel punishment, which is not only reflected in the incomparable pain in the process of castration, but also in the harm to the physiology and personality of the prisoner. The cruelty peculiar to castration has long aroused people's criticism, and many rulers in history have ordered the abolition of castration several times under the pressure of public opinion. As early as the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty issued a decree: "If a husband is punished, his limbs will be broken and his skin will be carved for life. How painful it is to be punished without virtue! What do you mean by parents? In addition to the meat (palace) punishment, it is easy to make it. " During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Northern Wei regime once restored the legal status of castration, stipulating: "If a woman violates the law, she will be punished by her fellow villagers. Those under the age of 14 will be punished, and the female has no county magistrate. " In the early years of Sui Dynasty, Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty enacted a new law, stipulating that the names of punishment were capital crime, exile, imprisonment and rod punishment. As a result, other corporal punishment including castration was officially abolished. After the Sui Dynasty, although there were still cases of castration in judicial practice, the name of castration was rare in the formal punishment system of past dynasties.

After the abolition of castration in Sui Dynasty, although castration was not prohibited, it became an exception in judicial practice, and the source and number of eunuchs needed in the palace were difficult to guarantee. However, the imperial courts did need many eunuchs in charge of various officials, and other ways besides castration also appeared accordingly.

One way is to forcibly castrate prisoners of war or court actresses.

After the abolition of castration in Sui Dynasty, the proportion of criminals among eunuchs became smaller and smaller. In order to expand the source of eunuchs, all previous dynasties forcibly castrated enemy prisoners of war and then transferred them to the court for service. According to "Zi Jian", the Sui Dynasty once "caught a mountain old man to be an official". This situation was more common in the Ming Dynasty. During the Ming Yingzong period, Ruan Rang, the eunuch guarding Huguang and Guizhou, led an army to attack east temple and forcibly castrated all the captured 1565 children of east temple. When Yingzong got the news, he was very angry and ordered to reprimand Ruan Rang, thinking that the number was too alarming and would disturb the place. Ruan rang defended the emperor and said, "Fight against adversity with soldiers, and cut its seeds." In other words, the purpose of his doing this is to give the traitors devastating punishment and prevent them from rebelling again. In addition, there were many actresses, soldiers in the imperial army or attendants of court officials in ancient courts, who were forcibly castrated as internal officials because of the emperor's favor. During the reign of Emperor Taizong, there was a court actress named Luo Hei who was attracted by him because she was good at playing the pipa, so she was castrated and taught to play in the palace. Wang Min, an army soldier in the Ming Dynasty, was favored by Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty because he was good at cuju. Wang Min was forced to castrate immediately and became a squire around him, accompanying the emperor Cuju in the palace.

The second way is to rob or sell young children at the border for castration.

Since the Sui Dynasty at the latest, robbing or selling young children from the frontier for castration has become one of the important sources of palace eunuchs. This is the reason why so many eunuchs came from Lingnan and central Fujian from Sui and Tang Dynasties to Ming and Qing Dynasties. Lingnan and Minzhong in the Tang Dynasty were just barren places, but the people here were gentle and quiet, handsome and graceful. More importantly, personal transactions are prohibited in the mainland, but not in these remote places. Therefore, since the Tang Dynasty, the market engaged in trafficking in human beings, especially young children, has been booming until the overthrow of the Ming Dynasty. Some handsome and clever children were sold, castrated and sent to the palace. Many people also made a fortune by changing eunuchs.

Make a windfall and become a local gentry.

The third way is the contribution of local officials or governors.

In order to please the emperor, local officials deceived or forcibly castrated folk children and presented them to the court, especially in the Tang and Ming Dynasties. Every year in the Tang Dynasty, Taoist schools were obliged to present castrated children to the court, which was called "private complaint". Gao Lishi, the great eunuch, was recruited by Lingnan during the holy calendar year and made Li present. During the reign of the Ming Dynasty, Minister Zhang Fu also selected a group of smart and handsome young children to bring back to Beijing, castrate eunuchs and send them to the palace. Among them, Fan Hong, Wang Jin, Ruan An and Ruan Lang are recorded in history. Fan Hong is quiet and elegant, extremely talented, and has a refined charm, which is very popular with Ming Chengzu. He was allowed to study in the palace as an exception. Fan Hong served several emperors before and after, and won their favor. Ming Yingzong once praised Fan Hong's extraordinary conduct and called him Penglai to help the world. In addition, there are also examples in history of North Korea, Annan and other governors offering eunuchs to the court.

Although the above three situations are different from castration, they are all forced for the castrated person, which is essentially the same as the penalty of castration. On the contrary, there has been a strange phenomenon of self-castration for a long time in history. The purpose of this kind of voluntary abstinence or pure abstinence is generally very clear, that is, I hope to be a eunuch through the palace. This is obviously a deformed social phenomenon induced by the eunuch system and the improvement of eunuch status.

Eunuchs have gone through a long process from forced castration to voluntary purification, and the key lies in the improvement of eunuch status. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there was a trend of "serving the monarch from the palace". Since then, in most dynasties when eunuchs gained power, the phenomenon of self-palace has become particularly common. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, eunuchs were rampant and in power, so many "rotting corpses and smoked sons" volunteered to be the remnants. In the Tang Dynasty, eunuchs were arrogant, and their power reached its peak. They could appoint and remove courtiers and kill emperors at will, which has become a common practice since they entered the palace. Eunuchs were the most powerful in Ming Dynasty, and the phenomenon of self-castration was also the most serious, including "self-castration after marriage"; Those who have "smoked their sons"; And "Brothers Are Castrated". What's more, some people "castrate their children and grandchildren in order to get rich", and their behavior is by no means "despicable" enough to describe, which is really outrageous.

Although they are all voluntary, there are still differences in motivation, which can be roughly divided into the following situations:

First, because of greed for wealth and egoism. Most of these self-castrated people have reached adulthood at the time of castration. Self-castration is a voluntary act of pursuing wealth and fame.

Eunuchs were originally despised and enslaved, facing physical defects, humble status, family rejection and social discrimination, but they were in the imperial court, serving the emperor and holding the supreme power of life and death, which was enough to make people respect. In awe, people find that humble eunuchs also have dazzling power and inexhaustible wealth. As a result, the attitude of the world towards eunuchs changed from contempt to admiration, and from admiration to imitation. Some people have lived in poverty for generations and have no intention of changing their fate; Some people are lazy by nature and feel uneasy about their duties; Some people who missed the imperial examination and hoped to get ahead have already entered the palace from the palace. "Qing Qian Chao" once recorded a eunuch named Zhang in the late Qing Dynasty. He used to be a scholar who tried many times, but he failed again because he was smeared with ink when he took the provincial examination. He struggled for several days and failed to solve it, and finally went to the palace in a rage. Fortunately, he didn't die, and finally he turned to the palace and became a eunuch. In ancient times, it was not uncommon for frustrated literati who studied hard at a cold window but suffered repeated setbacks to seek wealth and gain personal status. At the same time, some depressed current officials also have self-harm and progress. Mining tax Huai that troubled Liaodong during the Wanli period of Ming Dynasty. When I was young, I was responsible for collecting taxes, getting married and having children in Chongwenmen, Beijing. Since entering the palace, he has been appointed as Ren Shang's food supervisor, responsible for managing the imperial diet and the palace diet. Later, Gao Huai was appointed as the mining tax envoy of Liaodong, exacting exorbitant taxes and damaging businessmen, and was finally dismissed and returned to Beijing for provoking a rebellion. It should be said that frustrated literati and frustrated officials have high cultural literacy, and once they enter the court, they can often be reused.

In addition to frustrated literati and self-harming officials, more unemployed people are unwilling to take the imperial examination because they have no access to books. In the eyes of these people, it is much easier to suffer a painful castration than to study hard in a cold window for more than ten years or decades. What's more, once you are an official, you can get ahead. Whether you are a bureaucrat in an important position or a rich family, you should try to curry favor with your own door and act arbitrarily. This kind of dignity, except for the royal family, is probably the ultimate that ordinary people can imagine.

The second is to live in the palace. Most of these people from the palace come from the lower classes. They come from the palace to make a living and find a place to stay.

Food and clothing for men and women is the natural desire of life, but in comparison, after all, food and clothing is the first and men and women are the last. For many poor people, it is really unbearable to have food and clothing, so it is not easy for them to find a job without food and clothing. In fact, many poor men will never realize their extravagant hopes of getting married and having children. Instead of having enough food and clothing for men and women, it is better to simply enter the palace, serve the emperor and queen for eunuchs, live frugally for a lifetime, and maybe there will be a bright future! From the recollection analysis of some eunuchs in the late Qing Dynasty, most eunuchs came from Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and Shandong, and their native places were relatively concentrated. The reason is that once eunuchs get rich, they will be very attractive to the poor around them, so as to learn from each other and introduce them, forming a local atmosphere. Others became palace eunuchs because of life setbacks. For example, the eunuch surnamed tang recorded in Qing Dynasty's Kangxi period in Qing Dynasty, who was originally a businessman, was married and had children. Later, because of repeated failures in business, he went north to Beijing in a rage and voluntarily castrated himself and became a eunuch in the palace. Xiao was a famous eunuch in the late Qing Dynasty, and his family was poor. According to his descendants, in order to get ahead, he cleaned himself alone in the barn with a sharp sickle. After being discovered, he lay on the heatable adobe sleeping platform for six days before waking up.

Wei Zhongxian, the most arrogant and powerful eunuch in the late Ming Dynasty, was originally a street rogue who was addicted to gambling. He couldn't get along in the shopping mall because of heavy debts, and finally he became angry and resigned from the palace. Later, he changed his name and became a eunuch. Later, he was favored by Zhu Youxiao's wet nurse Hakkas and became an illiterate eunuch.

Third, the adopted son of the eunuch in the palace entered the palace after castration and then became a eunuch. Although such people were castrated in their early years, they usually adopted sons first and then castrated, mostly voluntarily.

Generally speaking, the ancient dynasties did not object to eunuchs adopting sons. On the one hand, it is based on the objective need that eunuchs can't have their own children and have to support the elderly and die; On the other hand, with the continuous improvement of eunuchs' social status, at least on the surface, they hope to have a normal family life. During the Han, Tang, Song and Ming Dynasties when eunuchs were prominent, it was quite common for eunuchs to marry and have children. According to the available data, almost everyone in the upper class owns a mansion outside the palace. They all get married and adopt children, and it is not uncommon for their wives to get married from Plutocratic family. Hu, who was married to Chou Shiliang in the Tang Dynasty, was the daughter of Hu Chengen, a guest in the late period of Kaifu, a proofreader of the Prince and an ancient scholar, and a gift minister of the Ministry of Housing. She has a distinguished family background. When he was a traitor, Li married his daughter, a powerful minister, and her family background was equally prominent. When you get married, you have to have children. At that time, the court stipulated that high-quality eunuchs could enjoy the privilege of being an official, and their adopted sons inherited the title, so some greedy people flocked to them, or sold themselves to be adopted sons and nephews, and their wishful thinking was undoubtedly the splendor after entering the palace as an official. The imperial court stipulated that eunuchs were only allowed to adopt one son, but in fact many people adopted several children, even dozens or hundreds. At the cost of voluntary castration, these people do not hesitate to change their names and surnames for promotion. In the Tang Dynasty, Yang Sisheng's surname was Su, Gao Lishi's surname was Feng, Yang's surname was Qiao, Yang Fuguong's surname was Lin, and Tian's surname was Chen. Later, they all changed their surnames with their adoptive parents. The cost is great, but the return is also considerable. Because of the need to cultivate their own power, castrating the right to adopt children can often become high-quality eunuchs. Shiliang Zhou, the eunuch, has five adopted sons. Except for one who failed to be an official because of his young age, the other four sons are all personable and powerful.

The eunuch families passed down from adoptive parents and adopted sons in history, with Yang in the middle and late Tang Dynasty as the most typical one. This family started with Yang Zhilian, the deputy commander of the left Shence Army in Zhenyuan, Tang Dezong. The five generations of adoptive parents and adopted sons have been active in the core of power for more than 100 years, so they are called "the right family in the world". Among them, Yang's fifth-generation adopted son, ranked by the word "shou", can be named by dozens of people in history books, such as Yang Shouli's appointment as envoy of Tianwei, Yang Shou's trust in Shangzhou's defense of history, Yang Shouzhen's appointment as ambassador of Long Jian, Yang Shouliang's appointment as ambassador of Xingyuan, Yang Shouzong's appointment as ambassador of Zhong Wu and Yang Shouzhong's appointment as ambassador of Yangzhou. Other people with names but no positions or positions that are difficult to test are even more difficult to count. 6? 1 Yang Legend has it that dozens of his adopted sons are surnamed Shou, all shepherds and generals; New Tang book? 6? 1 Yang Fuguong even claimed that his adopted son was 600 people, who ruled the army in the world and the power of the world belonged to him.

In addition to the above, there are some inexperienced young children in the huge team of the palace. Either it is sent to the cleaning workshop by the father and brother, or it is sold to the cleaning workshop by the trafficker. The proportion should not be too small. These young children don't have the ability to protect themselves and live independently. They can't control their own destiny and are at the mercy of everything. Because of this, when these people grow up through hardships, they often hate their fathers and brothers very much and blame all their sufferings on their cruelty and cruelty. As for those young children abducted by mercenary traffickers, they lost contact with their families from an early age and drifted like duckweeds all their lives. They don't even know who to hate when they grow up.

As more and more people volunteered to become eunuchs, the special occupation of knife-wielding eunuchs appeared in the capitals of various dynasties at the latest from the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. Some people regard cleaning as a means to make a living and get rich, and gradually have a fixed place and formed their own rules. The aforementioned "Wu Bi" family and "Xiao Dao Liu" family who were in Beijing during Guangxu period of Qing Dynasty were all officials. They recruit forty eunuchs to the General Administration of Internal Affairs every season. The cumbersome procedures such as cleaning are arranged by the two companies.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, people who voluntarily accepted cleanliness first went to a fixed place to register, which was called "hanging stalls", and then they had to go through the examination of the workshop owner, mainly to see their appearance, figure and manners. Those who are adults, ugly or not smart enough usually don't have surgery. The reason for this is that handsome and intelligent people are easy to be liked by emperors and queens after entering the palace, and they also have a bright future in economy and power, so the workshop owner is willing to operate on these people. On the contrary, it is their luck that ugly people who are not very smart can enter the palace, and it is often difficult to survive after entering the palace. Of course, the purpose of eunuchs doing this business is to make money, and they will not embarrass those who insist on entering the palace without hesitation. Perform castration

Before the operation, you usually have to pay for surgery, recuperation, diet, medicine and many other expenses. In all, there is always 182 pieces of silver. Many people who entered the palace were penniless and couldn't afford it, so they had to set up a written evidence, find a good guarantor and pay it back monthly after entering the palace. Some eunuchs who entered the palace did not get along very well, and their debts were still unclear for more than ten years.

From the court's point of view, it was generally stipulated in the past dynasties that anyone who voluntarily castrated must report to the court for approval, and it is strictly forbidden for officials and people to castrate themselves. It was stipulated in the Song Dynasty that anyone who volunteered to keep clean must first register with the Ministry of War. The Ministry of War chooses those who are good-looking and smart and castrates them on auspicious days. The Ministry of War recorded the date of castration and played it later for inspection. Castrated people are examined after being injured, and then they can be sent to court according to certain evaluation procedures. If there is a private castration among the people, once it is verified, it will be hell to pay.

In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the court still held a negative attitude towards more and more people who left the palace, and it was often forbidden by decree. The Ming dynasty strictly forbidden the palace many times. There were not many candidates from the palace in the early Ming Dynasty, and the eunuch position did not attract too many people's attention, so the problem was not prominent. During the reign of Injong in the Ming Dynasty, people in the palace began to appear in batches, and Injong ordered them to be sent to the polar regions as border guards. During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty, nine people from Shanxi became officials from the palace and entered the Jin Palace. When Xuanzong got the news, he ordered the Ministry of Justice to arrest him. During Jingtai period, the court made an exception and accepted a group of eunuchs in the palace. As soon as the case was opened, the number of people in the palace increased rapidly. They are in droves, and there are always hundreds of private palaces outside the Forbidden City, clamoring to enter the palace to serve. In desperation, the imperial court ordered the palace to be banned one after another, saying that this generation was self-defeating and noisy and should be punished as a felony. Those who have entered the palace are not allowed to live in the palace and stay in the capital. Offenders were sentenced to death, and local officials were ordered to send all those who entered the palace back to their places of origin.

During the reign of Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty, the clause prohibiting him from entering the palace was incorporated into the Hall of Minghui, which clearly stipulated that those who entered the palace were "unfilial". In the eyes of ancient people, body hair and skin were influenced by parents. Filial piety is to preserve body hair and skin first, and castration that destroys body hair and skin is naturally unfilial. Mencius once said that there are three kinds of unfilial, and the last one is the biggest. Since the palace has lost its fertility, this will inevitably affect the continuation of family lineage, and the crime committed is the most unfilial. China's ancient dynasties flaunted "filial piety" to govern the world, and unfilial behavior violated ethics and morality and must be severely punished. Therefore, the provisions in Ming Dian clearly stipulate that the person confined in the palace should be given the heaviest punishment: great civilization.

But strangely, the legal provisions and specific implementation in ancient China are sometimes completely different. Since Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty issued a decree prohibiting self-palace, there are still many people from self-palace, but there are few records of people who were executed in history. Every time the emperor's latest imperial edict is taken as the law, the emperor often severely criticizes the unfilial behavior of the palace in each imperial edict, and then routinely explains that he can't bear to bring them to justice to show infinite kindness to the people. Unfortunately, the emperors' actions that could not be done with laws eventually turned those laws into waste paper, and all the provisions were useless, and those who were in the palace remained the same.

For many people who suffer from castration or voluntary castration, becoming a palace eunuch is undoubtedly the most ideal choice. But in fact, not everyone who has been castrated can enter the palace smoothly, or that being castrated is only a prerequisite for entering the palace. To really enter the palace and become a eunuch, you must go through strict screening.

Since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the selection of eunuchs has been managed by specialized agencies, and eunuchs must first go through inspection and confirmation. When Ying Zheng, the king of Qin, just succeeded to the throne, the Queen Mother colluded with Lv Buwei in order to let Lao Ai enter the palace to satisfy her own selfish desires.

Secretly bribing people who perform castration, pulling out Ai's beard to hide people's eyes and ears, so as to enter the palace. The negative example is Luan Ba, the eunuch of the Eastern Han Dynasty. He used to be a eunuch, but later his physiology changed and his yang was unobstructed, so he was expelled from the palace.

The selection of eunuchs in Song Dynasty was managed by Privy Council and Xuanhui Academy respectively. The former is in charge of the eunuch's stay and the latter is in charge of the eunuch's name. For example, eunuchs in the palace must report their names to Xuanhui Hospital for registration. When choosing eunuchs, there are age restrictions and certain assessment procedures. The court stipulates that you must be at least fifteen years old to enter the palace; Judging from the assessment, it is mainly to "try to understand the meaning of ink", and those who assess the Chinese style are eligible to serve in the palace. According to the records of eunuchs in the Song Dynasty, although there are some examples of entering the palace as officials under the age of fifteen, they are exceptions after all, and the eunuchs selected are generally proficient in writing and calligraphy. This is obviously different from Zhu Ning in Xuanzong period of Ming Dynasty and Wei Zhongxian in charge of Li Si prison in late Ming Dynasty.

In the history of China, the number of eunuchs in Ming Dynasty was unprecedented, but the selection of eunuchs had to go through strict procedures. The first is to sign up for castration. According to the Ming Hui Dian, it was stipulated at that time that if people had four or five sons, they could report to the official to castrate one son if they wanted, and the official would draw up a list of candidates. If the people castrate privately and attempt to use it, they will be severely punished by sending border guards to exile the army. It should be mentioned that neighbors also have the obligation to report to each other, and those who know not to report will be punished together. Followed by alternate employment. In the early Ming Dynasty, the recruitment of eunuchs was mainly handled by the Ministry of Rites. Later, because the eunuch affairs in the palace were all in the charge of the supervisor, the recruitment of eunuchs was gradually handled by the supervisor in conjunction with the ritual department. In the sixth year of Wanli, Ming Shenzong ordered Li Si supervisor to select 3,570 eunuchs together with does. As for the procedure of using eunuchs, according to the Minutes of Proceedings written by Liu Ruoyu, an eunuch in the late Ming Dynasty, all eunuchs in the imperial court, as backup candidates, had to spend the night in the vegetable factory outside Dong 'anmen from the back door of the imperial court after the primary election in the imperial lobby. The next morning, he was named in Dong 'anmen and went to Neiguan Prison, where he was strictly selected again. Those who pass the examination will be issued ebony cards for standby. Finally, the eunuchs or pen-grasping eunuchs in the palace were supervised and printed by Li Si and distributed to all parts of the palace in front of Wanshou Mountain.

In the early years of Qing dynasty, it inherited the system of Ming dynasty. All eunuchs who entered the army were first recorded by the Ministry of Rites, and then sent to the minister in charge of internal affairs for inspection. Then, Zhang Yisi, officials of the accounting department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, together with the old eunuchs sent by the palace, checked one by one before handing them over to the eunuchs in charge of the palace to serve. In the late Qianlong period, the collection and use of eunuchs were unified under the authority of the minister of internal affairs and handled by the Ministry of Justice. Since the "Forbidden City Change" occurred in Jiaqing period, the assessment of eunuchs in Qing Dynasty has become more and more strict. In addition to the identification of eunuchs, it is also necessary to examine their origins in detail. The Ministry of Internal Affairs will write the place and let the local officials from their origins issue a seal to ensure that they have nothing extra-legal before they can be hired. If local officials can't issue a letter of guarantee, eunuchs will be transferred back to their original places and will not be employed.

For new eunuchs, there have been age restrictions in previous dynasties. Generally speaking, most of them are 15 to 20 years old, and those who get married and have children are less likely to enter the palace. On the one hand, it is convenient for young people to manage and serve, on the other hand, it is also for the safety of the court. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, prisoners were still an important source of eunuchs, but most of them were teenagers under 14 years old. The so-called "greater than not cutting the waist, punishing its compatriots, rotten under the age of fourteen." In Song Dynasty, it was stipulated that eunuch's adopted son "tried ink as righteousness at the age of twelve", and those who passed it had to wait for three years before they could introduce their work. It can be seen that you can only enter the palace at the age of fifteen. The number of eunuchs in Ming dynasty was the largest, and their ages varied greatly. However, according to the epitaphs of some eunuchs, most eunuchs who first entered the palace were between 15 and 20 years old. According to the available data, the selection of eunuchs in Qing Dynasty is generally under the age of 20. In the early years of Yongzheng, it was clearly stipulated that 17-year-old prison inmates were not allowed to accept it. During the Qianlong period, it was stipulated that new palace officials under the age of fifteen would be transferred by the Ministry of Rites; /kloc-those over 0/5 years old shall be ordered to issue a seal guarantee, which shall be forwarded by the application department. Due to various considerations, most local officials are unwilling to issue a seal guarantee for those who join their own government, which actually blocks the way for people over 15 to enter the palace. After the change of the dynasty in the Forbidden City, the imperial court was more strict in the selection of internal officials, stipulating that anyone who devoted himself to it must be under the age of 16 and unmarried and have children before accepting it; /kloc-those over 0/6 years old are not allowed to be sent to the imperial palace, but can be used by princes and county kings./kloc-those under 0/6 years old are replaced by palace servants. From the books about eunuchs in past dynasties, there are many records such as "less castration", "less castration" and "being a young official". Some of them have been castrated at an early age, and some have entered the palace as officials at a young age. Generally speaking, because young castration is easier to succeed, the so-called "less castration" refers to being castrated at a young age, and Li, who was castrated at the age of eight or nine in the late Qing Dynasty, entered the palace as an official. After all, it is rare.