Eunuchs in Chinese Martial Arts Films

https://journal.equinoxpub.com/GL/article/view/11376

National University of Singapore

Mie Hiramoto:

This paper investigates representations of castrated male characters in Chinese martial arts films. In my data, without exception, the castrated kungfu practitioners are villainous, powerful and extremely tenacious.

After careful examination of the characterisations of these sexually unorthodox male martial artist characters in mainstream films, I find a strikingly simplistic equation that links the castrated male characters and their visual and linguistic representations.

While the castrated males are some of the most physically capable martial arts practitioners in this genre, they are stereotypically presented as lacking masculinity, and in turn both feminised and dehumanised.

Through layers of mediatisation, the fictional castrated male characters are shown to be freaks and monsters by being linguistically and visually queered.

What is the martial arts eunuch like in movies, in real life?

https://remonews.com/vietnameng/what-is ... real-life/

Famous Chinese martial arts movies like Tan Longmen Hotel, Dragon Gate Dragon Gate all feature the eunuch as the main villain. In the film Loc Dinh Ky, the eunuch Hai Dai Phu is described as having the most powerful martial arts of the Qing dynasty.

Reading writer Kim Dung’s arrogant fencing novel Tieu Gypsy, you can see that the number one best study is “Kuhua Bao Dictionary”. This martial art secret was created by a eunuch and practiced by Dong Phuong Bui.

The above characters lead many people to ask the question: Does the eunuch really possess the martial art of “ho Phong hou vu” like in the movies?

In fact, it’s nearly impossible for eunuchs to have deep martial arts and go on a rampage, according to Sohu.

There are many reasons why most eunuchs in history have not had the opportunity to practice martial arts. First, in ancient feudal society, eunuchs came mainly from the lower classes of society. They can be descendants of prisoners of war, slaves or criminals, poor. It was difficult for these people to earn food, let alone spend money and time learning martial arts.

Second, eunuchs are usually servants of the royal family from morning to evening. Even when the emperor slept, they were by his side. Therefore, in order for the owner to feel safe, the eunuch cannot possibly have martial arts.

Third, martial arts training for eunuchs is superfluous because their primary job is to serve and serve, not to protect security in the palace. They must learn to please, flatter, entertain and serve their masters well rather than cultivating martial arts, dancing swords and dancing as bodyguards.

However, in history, it is not uncommon for eunuchs to be exposed to martial arts.

If you pay close attention, Chinese historical films with the villain as a martial arts eunuch are often set during the Ming dynasty. This is not only based on the imagination of the screenwriter or director, it also has a certain historical basis.

According to Sohu, during the Ming dynasty, some eunuchs had access to martial arts and quickly became masters.

After recapturing China from the Mongols, Minh Thai To Chu Nguyen Chuong and the successive emperors of the Ming dynasty steadily expanded the territory by suppressing and invading.

Whenever he captured a land, Minh Thai To often forced children descendants of soldiers and prisoners of war to become eunuchs to serve. Coming from a military background, these children had a solid foundation in physical strength and martial arts from an early age. Upon entering the palace, some of the best performing children would be taught martial arts and physical training so that they could best serve the emperor.

At the time of Minh Thanh To (Vinh Lac De), there were many foreign eunuchs in the Ming dynasty. They mostly come from ethnic minorities in the regions of Tibet, Xinjiang, Mongolia and Liaodong. Emperor Yongle especially loved to choose eunuchs from among children who were good at martial arts, good at horseback riding and archery. He is also a famous emperor who likes to use talented eunuchs and eunuchs to work for him.

The selection of eunuchs from distant places was a way for the Ming emperors to control the subjugation of minority border tribes. If these tribes refused to give birth to healthy and talented children, they would be punished by the Ming dynasty.

The most famous eunuch of the Ming dynasty can be mentioned Trinh Hoa. As an admiral, he commanded the vast naval fleets of the Ming dynasty seven times to explore the distant seas to the west. At its peak, Zheng He’s expeditionary fleet amounted to 300 ships.

According to Minh Su, Trinh Hoa was very good at martial arts and had a tall, healthy body. Zheng He was captured by the Ming forces after the battle to occupy Yunnan and was forced to become a eunuch under the Yongle Emperor.

According to Qulishi, undergoing purification (removal of part of the genitals) does not mean that the eunuch’s physical strength is weakened. They can still do heavy lifting with the bow and practice martial arts. Some eunuchs even consider martial arts or poetry, money as the only love of their life after losing their feelings for women.

Due to the influence of Chinese historical dramas, many people often mistakenly believe that eunuchs with high martial arts are all from the East Workshop, the number one spy and secret agency of the Ming dynasty. However, this is incorrect.

In 1420, to suppress the opposing factions that could have threatened his throne, the Yongle emperor decided to found the Oriental Workshop. This agency operated in secret, responsible for overseeing the entire Ming court, regardless of whether they were aristocrats or mandarins. If a minor crime is discovered, the East Workshop is authorized to deal with it alone, if the crime is serious, it should be reported directly to the king.

Initially, Dong Workshop was only concerned with investigating and arresting the suspects. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the East Workshop had a large army, armed with weapons and its own prison. The people who work for this agency not only possess skills in espionage and espionage, but are also skilled in the use of weapons and interrogation tools.

However, the Oriental Workshop was run by high eunuchs under the direct command of the Ming Emperor. The arrest and interrogation of suspects are all done by the translators under their command, the eunuchs do not have to intervene. Therefore, even if they learned martial arts, the story of the deep martial arts eunuchs of the Ming dynasty fighting and chasing martial arts masters to compete for the “minister” or martial arts secrets about the Gypsy like some movies. .

During the Qing dynasty, a number of eunuchs who knew martial arts also appeared in China. According to the Encyclopedia of Chinese History, of the more than 500 eunuchs who worked in Yuanmingyuan (the imperial garden of the Qing dynasty in Beijing), 60 knew martial arts. They are called “Kyung eunuch eunuch six ten names”. In 1860, the Anglo-French coalition burned Vien Minh Vien, 20 “eunuchs of Ky Dung” rushed to fight and were killed.

According to Sohu, another eunuch who was particularly good at martial arts, named Dong Hai Xuyen, also appeared during the Qing Dynasty. This mysterious figure is the creator of Bagua Chuong, one of the most famous martial arts in China.

Known as the “Tiet Mao Ti Vuong” gypsy, Dong Hai Xuyen was named as one of the 10 most powerful martial arts masters of the Qing Dynasty. The dramatic battle between Dong Hai Chuan and Quach Van Tham – a master of the Xing Yiquan faction – shook Beijing at the time. Many famous martial arts masters who lived during the Qing dynasty were disciples of eunuch Dong Hai Xuyen.

It can be seen that despite physical flaws, eunuchs of the past can still rise to become talented in many ways, one of which is martial arts. However, much of what we see in eunuch martial arts movies is just a fiction.

Source: https://danviet.vn/thai-giam-vo-cong-ca ... 584724.htm

CHINA`S LAST IMPERIAL EUNUCH TELLS HIS STORY

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct- ... story.html

China`s last imperial eunuch doesn`t smoke, doesn`t drink and, clearly, doesn`t mess around with women.

At 84, Sun Yaoting said those are some of the reasons he still enjoys reasonably good health.

Sun`s hands and knees are crippled with arthritis, but his mind is clear and filled with memories no one else on earth can match.

He lives in a simple, unadorned Buddhist temple at No. 68 West Gulou St. in northwestern Peking. About a mile away stands the magnificent, sprawling Forbidden City, where Sun and 1,200 men like him once served the last emperor of China, Pu Yi.

That was in the first part of this century, when young men born into the poverty of the countryside could sometimes trade their manhood for a better life. Only men who had been castrated were allowed to live behind the walls of the Forbidden City with the emperor, his wife and concubines.

The eunuch system was established early in China`s history by emperors who wanted to ensure the fidelity of their wives and concubines.

But eventually, eunuchs used their closeness and familiarity with the royal household to establish an unrivaled power base. They began to control court life, often dominating the emperor.

Many eunuchs became rich and influential, including one, Xiao Dezhang, who was born in the village next to Sun`s near Peking. It was Xiao`s prosperity that led Sun`s father to castrate his son.

''I was 10 years old at the time,'' Sun said with an incongruous smile. ''My father used a knife. There was no anesthetic. It was very painful.''

Sun was the second of four sons. His father singled him out for the drastic action because the eldest son was in France with a work group and Sun`s two younger brothers were not old enough to become eunuchs.

''Life was very, very poor for my family,'' Sun said, staring ahead at an empty wall across the room.

''My father could not afford to make me an apprentice. It took up to four years to become a carpenter and my father could not afford that. So he did what he had to do.''

Less than a year later, in 1911, the Qing Dynasty fell to the Republican Revolution and the days of imperial rule were over. But Emperor Pu was allowed to remain with his court in the palace behind the walls of the Forbidden City.

Sun, the youngest of 1,200 eunuchs at the time, studied Peking Opera for two years to appear in court performances. Later, he worked in the palace accounts department, became a servant to the emperor`s uncle and then a trusted aide to one of the emperor`s concubines in the heart of the palace, where only women, eunuchs and the emperor could enter.

Finally, Sun became a servant for Pu`s wife, Empress Wang Rong.

''She was very kind,'' Sun said of Wang. ''She never beat her servants. ''I used to get her cigarettes and tea. Sometimes we would go for a walk or play games.''

The empress` favorite game was a Chinese version of ''drop the handkerchief,'' where one person walks around a circle of players, drops a handkerchief and tries to get back in the circle before being caught by whoever picks up the handkerchief.

''We used to play that quite often,'' said Sun, his pleasant face breaking into an infectious smile built around the three shiny white teeth left in his upper jaw.

Sun spent seven years in the imperial court, but said he feels as though he spent most of his life serving the empress. That ended in 1924, when the warlord Feng Yuxiang threw the imperial family out of the palace.

''Because there was no emperor, we poor eunuchs had no way to make a living,'' Sun said. ''We got together some money and lived in a place we called `the Temple of Eunuchs.`

''Life there was very hard then. Because there were many poor eunuchs, we could not afford to buy even coal to keep warm in the winter.''

Occasionally, Sun said, he visited his family outside Peking. But he lived in the Temple of Eunuchs until the communists came to power in 1949, an event known now as ''liberation.''

''After liberation, the government went to the temple and saw the poverty of the eunuchs,'' Sun said. ''The government gave us clothes and food. Those who could work got jobs.''

Sun began doing odd jobs at the Buddhist temple where he still lives. He spends his time chatting with friends or leaning on a hooked wooden cane for short walks around the crowded temple grounds.

In his youth, Sun spent most of his time surrounded by women. Now he lives with men. Does he have a preference?

''Men and women, it makes no difference,'' he said.

Despite the arthritis that has twisted his left hand, Sun appears in robust health. He said that is because he doesn`t drink or smoke, a rarity in China, where most everyone chain smokes.

The old man knows he sacrificed a lot by becoming a eunuch, but he gained a lot too. In a country of 1 billion people, it is hard to stand out from the crowd. But Sun knows he is special.

''I have told my story so it can be written down to educate the children,'' Sun said. ''They know that I am the last eunuch.''

September 15, 1985

Was Puyi, the Emperor of China, gay?

https://www.quora.com/Was-the-last-empe ... ay-or-both

Puyi wasan’t a gay in genegal.What you konw abut his act like a gay was just fake news!

Pu Yi got married 5 times in his life, and he still failed to leave offspring.

In Jia Yinghua's "Last Marriage Decryption of the Last Emperor", Wan Rong's personal eunuch Sun Yaoting told Jia Yinghua a secret before his death: Pu Yi was "not going on the waterway, walking on the dry road", and his lover was the former eunuch Wang Fengchi with red lips and white teeth. Pu Yi ’s last wife, Li Shuxian, had a complicated background. She had been a dancer and experienced three marriages. Due to Puyi's incompetence and divorce, Premier Zhou mediated.

Such remarks are not entirely correct. Pu Yi has no children until the twilight years. The immorality of the harem in the late Qing Dynasty is actually related to eunuchs. In addition to Cixi, Pu Yi also plays sex games. The last eunuch of China, Sun Yaoting, broke the news. Eunuchs play sex games, not only urinating to eunuchs, but also like to play "multiple P" with eunuchs. Puyi likes to play with sex with eunuchs and plays sex games. So for a long time, Puyi is not only sexually incompetent, but also gay. Even Pu Yi ’s English teacher Johnston was actually gay. In Pu Yi's autobiography in the first half of his life, he actually vaguely recorded his various homosexual deeds, but they only underestimated them.

Therefore, people think that Puyi's mild incompetence is related to his debauchery. At the end of the Qing dynasty, the immorality of the imperial palace was inseparable from the eunuch. After the Republic of China, Pu Yi was placed under house arrest in the Forbidden City. He was companion with the eunuch every day. His body not only passed away at the age of 61, but also died of kidney disease.