Eunuchs, men who were castrated in the ancient courts, used a large number of eunuchs and court ladies in the imperial palaces of the Ming and Qing dynasties to take care of the emperor and the concubines of the harem. According to historical records, the number of eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty was over Wan, this should be the peak of the entire feudal society. In the Qing Dynasty, the number of eunuchs had decreased. During the Qianlong period, there were about 2,800 eunuchs. After that, they basically lasted around 2,000. Until the second year of the Republic of China (1913), there were more than 1,500.
Picture of Concubine Jin (Taffles Duankang) and the eunuchs
On the evening of June 27, 1923, Jianfu Palace in the Forbidden City caught fire, and a large number of houses were burned down. All the precious texts collected by Emperor Jiaqing in Jianfu Palace Playing with calligraphy and painting and rare treasures were all turned into ashes, which made Pu Yi greatly annoyed. He suspected that the eunuchs set fire because someone had stolen the treasures of Jianfu Palace for fear of being found. Since then, there has been an assault by the eunuchs in the palace, so after repeated consideration, Pu Yi ordered all the eunuchs to be expelled from the palace for his personal safety.
Sun Yaoting's youth: serving Wanrong and Puyi personally
Sun Yaoting, who was later called "China's last eunuch", also left the Forbidden City, where he had stayed for 7 years, and returned to his hometown in Jinghai, Tianjin, but it didn't take long for Emperor Duan Kang The concubine remembered the clever little eunuch who had served her, and sent someone to recall Sun Yaoting from her hometown. When she met Puyi by chance, she was left behind and began to serve Wanrong and Puyi next to her. At this time, Sun Yaoting felt that she had reached The peak of life, because the ultimate goal of every eunuch is to serve the emperor and queen.
Sun Yaoting talked about the feelings of being left behind by Puyi
In 1924, Feng Yuxiang went to Beijing and ordered Lu Zhonglin to drive Puyi and others out of the Forbidden City, including all the palace ladies and a few eunuchs, after Sun Yaoting left the palace. Continue to follow Wan Rong to serve in the house of Regent Wang Zaifeng, only one month later, Wan Rong followed Pu Yi to Tianjin, and Sun Yaoting was completely unemployed.
At this time, Sun Yaoting has nowhere to go, and can only return to his hometown in Tianjin. He has been an eunuch for 8 years, and he can't adapt to the living environment of his hometown, let alone work in the field. He is completely relying on the help of his brothers. After a long time, even the brothers began to despise him, and Sun Yaoting could no longer stay in his hometown.
Sun Yaoting
Sun Yaoting middle-aged: settled in Xinglong Temple where the eunuchs gathered
In 1926, Sun Yaoting heard that Puyi and Wanrong were in Tianjin, he went looking for it with excitement and tried to return to his master, and finally found out about Puyi’s residence, the door. The police didn't even let in, so he had to wander around and had no love for his life, but finally came to the old eunuch's place of death: Xinglong Temple.
Xinglong Temple was very famous among the eunuchs who left the palace. Any eunuch who wants to stay here always has very strict conditions. Not only need to pay a certain amount of fees before leaving the palace, but also need to be there after leaving the palace. I have been working as a handyman for four years, and at the same time, he is not allowed to have bad behavior before he can be admitted. Most of the Xinglong Temple in the late Qing Dynasty were very wealthy eunuchs. After Puyi drove the eunuchs out of the palace, a large number of eunuchs who had no place to stay came here.
Although Xinglong Temple gathers people who have the same disease and pity each other, they are still divided into three or six or nine grades according to the amount of wealth they possess. The rich eunuchs can spend money to hire poor eunuchs to serve, and even those who marry daughters-in-law here. Sun Yaoting came here penniless and was taken care of by another eunuch Ma Deqing before he settled down.
Sun Yaoting took a group photo with the visitors
Sun Yaoting in his later years: In order to preserve dignity, after 30 years of liberation, Xinglong Temple became a public place. At this time, more than 30 eunuchs who were still alive in Beijing gathered here. In order to help them, Each person pays 16 yuan a month for living expenses, and 8 yuan more for coal fire expenses in winter. Sun Yaoting became the administrator of the temple because he could write and calculate, and his positive work attitude made Sun Yaoting not only raise his salary to 35 yuan, but also become the whole of Beijing. Member of the temple management team.
At the end of the 1970s, Sun Yaoting moved from Xinglong Temple to Guanghua Temple. Within a few years, the old eunuch Ma Deqing, who had taken care of Sun Yaoting, died in Guanghua Temple. Sun Yaoting became the last living eunuch in China. At the same time, he became the only person who witnessed the demise of the Qing Dynasty and the disappearance of the group of eunuchs from history.
Sun YaotingIn his later years, he was taken care of by many people and lived a comfortable life. However, he took a bath only a few days when he was young, but he did not take a bath again in the last 30 years of his life, because he understood that he was like a normal man. The difference, in order to retain the last dignity, he can only do so.
Pujie's preface to Sun Yaoting’s autobiography
As a "living history" Sun Yaoting, he was interviewed by many people in the 1990s. He always knew everything about the past in the palace and received every visitor very warmly. According to his self-report, some writers wrote "Secrets of the Last Eunuch——-The Biography of Sun Yaoting" and found the preface to Pu Jie, the younger brother of the last emperor Pu Yi, which made Sun Yaoting very excited. , Erye can write this preface to us. We used to be slaves! This is really famous in one fell swoop..."
On the evening of December 17, 1996, Sun Yaoting, the last eunuch in China, finished his walk in Guanghua Temple. His life was 94 years old.
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