Editing Eunuch (section)

===China===
{{main|Eunuchs in China}}
{{category see also|Chinese eunuchs}}
[[File:Prince Zhanghuai's tomb, eunuchs.JPG|thumb|210px|A group of eunuchs. Mural from the tomb of the prince [[Li Xian (prince)|Zhanghuai]], 706 AD.]]
In China, castration included [[Penis removal|removal of the penis]] as well as the testicles (see [[emasculation]]). Both organs were cut off with a knife at the same time.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XuX-MGTZnJoC&pg=PA248 |title=Encyclopedia of birth control|author=Vern L. Bullough|year=2001|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=1-57607-181-2|page=248|access-date=11 January 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/84/12/4324/2864451 |title=Long-Term Consequences of Castration in Men: Lessons from the Skoptzy and the Eunuchs of the Chinese and Ottoman Courts &#124; The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism &#124; Oxford Academic |journal=The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism |publisher=Academic.oup.com |date= December 1999|volume=84 |issue=12 |pages=4324–4331 |doi=10.1210/jcem.84.12.6206 |access-date=2021-10-28 |last1=Wilson |first1=Jean D. |last2=Roehrborn |first2=Claus |pmid=10599682 }}</ref>

Eunuchs existed in China from about 4,000 years ago, were imperial servants by 3,000 years ago, and were common as civil servants by the time of the [[Qin dynasty]].<ref>Melissa S. Dale, ''Inside the World of the Eunuch'' (2018, {{ISBN|9888455753}}), page 14.</ref><ref>Victor T. Cheney, ''A Brief History Of Castration: Second Edition'' (2006, {{ISBN|1467816663}}), page 14.</ref> From those ancient times until the [[Sui dynasty]], castration was both a traditional punishment (one of the [[Five Punishments]]) and a means of gaining employment in the imperial service. Certain eunuchs, such as the Ming dynasty official [[Zheng He]],{{citation needed|date=February 2023}} gained immense power that occasionally superseded that of even the [[Grand Secretaries]]. Self-castration was a common practice, although it was not always performed completely, which led to it being made illegal.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}

It is said that the justification for 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.<ref>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</ref> As a symbolic assignment of heavenly authority to the palace system, a constellation of stars was designated as the Emperor's, and, to the west of it, four stars were identified as his "eunuchs."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Patterson |first=Orlando |url=https://cominsitu.files.wordpress.com/2020/10/orlando-patterson-slavery-and-social-death_-a-comparative-study-1985.pdf |title=Slavery and Social Death: A Comparative Study |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=1982 |isbn=9780674916135 |page=325 |chapter=Chapter 11: The Ultimate Slave |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725174317/https://cominsitu.files.wordpress.com/2020/10/orlando-patterson-slavery-and-social-death_-a-comparative-study-1985.pdf|archive-date=25 July 2021 }}</ref>

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 advisers 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 alternative political will of the [[bureaucracy]]. The clash between them would thus have been a clash of ideologies or political agenda.<ref>{{cite book|last=Huang|first=Ray|title=1587, A Year of No Significance: The Ming Dynasty in Decline|year=1981|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven|isbn=0-300-02518-1|url=https://archive.org/details/1587yearofnosign00huan}}</ref>

The number of eunuchs in imperial employ fell to 470 by 1912, when the practice of using them ceased. The last imperial eunuch, [[Sun Yaoting]], died in December 1996.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/20/world/the-death-of-the-last-emperor-s-last-eunuch.html|title=The Death of the Last Emperor's Last Eunuch|last=Faison|first=Seth|date=1996-12-20|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-02-04|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>