The entire 66 part (100 hour) TV series is available on-line at the Hong Kong site listed in Post #5 above. There it is with the original Korean soundtrack and Chinese subtitles.

The entire set is also available for rental through Netflix (and probably elsewhere) with the Korean soundtrack and English subtitles.

It may also be purchased through the site listed in Post #1.

Though I am unable to understand the dialogue, I have checked through some of the online episodes and have found some of the castration scenes. I realize that the scenes are dramatized, but I must say that the position of the subject and the way the castrator approaches him seems more suited to slicing off a leg than the guy's testes. I thought at first that there was something special abou the chair that somehow trapped and exposed the scrotum, but I do not believe that is actually the case.

Despite the lack of reality in what I've seen, the production is interesting and I've ordered a subtitled version. BTW, lower prices do seem to be available through Amazon.

Bill

If you're considering ordering it for the castration scenes only, don't.

They're short and few and far between.

The main theme of the series is the hero's friendship with the boy who will be king, and the girl they both love. It's essentially a very long soap opera, but acted and filmed much better. It's also well written.

In 2(2), at about 1"00 onwards, a sign is put up for eunuchs. Some men then talked. One called the terms written in the sign as for castrated males, and another replied they should not call them castrated males, but eunuchs instead.

At about 3"45, the person in white says this guy cannot be an eunuch. He was questioned why, and the reply was because he has grown a beard.

The boys who were inspected at about 5"16 are boys who are natural borned eunuchs.

One of them was questioned about it, and the reply was 'it' has stopped growing from 3 years onwards

After that was a guy who had a cleaner cut or less remains. he was awarded with more Taels

at 7.43 was a guy who was cut by scissors. What remains was about a digit long and this guy is rejected.

A new scene and The future emperor says he wants to be an eunuch.

The lady in green says he still has genitals and how can he be an eunuch.

at 12"00 the boy says he wants to cut it off himself. Hmm.. I am confused about this buy's future now. is he going to be emperor? hmm..

Thanks Jesus for the link- only one that works here in UK, but I could not get very far as I cannot understand the language.

So we are kind of up to speed on Korean and Chinese eunuchs. I am wondering, Jesus, about Japan.

Quillman (imported) wrote: Thu Jun 11, 2020 11:46 am Thanks Jesus for the link- only one that works here in UK, but I could not get very far as I cannot understand the language.

I'm surprised that the link still works after so many years.

Arab Nights (imported) wrote: Thu Jun 11, 2020 7:40 pm So we are kind of up to speed on Korean and Chinese eunuchs. I am wondering, Jesus, about Japan.

I find it interesting that Japan never seems to have adopted the practice of castration or eunuchs, despite its proximity to both China and Korea, where the practice was common. Delegations to Japan from both countries often included eunuch officials, so there was definitely knowledge of the practice and their eunuch status was noted in contemporary Japanese documents. Even domestic animals in Japan were very rarely castrated until quite recently.

When I was working in rural Japan in the 1960s, I adopted a stray cat in the village. I had to take him to a nearby U.S. military base to find a vet willing to castrate him. The villagers were appalled that I would do such a thing to a poor pussycat. (He eventually returned to the U.S. with me.)

Today, of course, pet dogs and cats are regularly castrated and it’s even been featured as the main topic on the covers of popular pet-owner magazines.

The only exception in the Japanese area was the Ryukyu Kingdom (modern Okinawa Prefecture), which was an independent kingdom until 1879 when it was formally annexed by Japan. While still independent, there were a few eunuchs in its administration and the kingdom even sent a few Okinawan eunuchs to serve in the Chinese court. A few years ago there was a Japanese TV drama about an Okinawan woman in the 1860s who pretended to be a eunuch in order to obtain a proper education and to become a government official.

All of the countries/kingdoms surrounding China, other than Japan took up the practice of castration and eunuchs both for local administration and for sending as tribute to China. It was thought that having a local in the Chinese palace could be of benefit. At least one of the Korean kings personally selected good-looking and intelligent boys to castrate and send. There were generally Vietnamese eunuchs in the Chinese capital (and Chinese eunuchs in the Vietnamese court). There were even eunuchs sent from as far away as Java. They were sometimes sent in the opposite direction as well and there are records of Chinese eunuchs serving in West Asian Moslem courts.

When the last Emperor of Vietnam, Bao Dai, fled into exile in France during the Vietnam War, he was accompanied by some of his court eunuchs.

Le Van Duyet (1763-1832) was a Vietnamese eunuch who, as a general served to unify Vietnam and establish the Nguyen Dynasty. His portrait was on the South Vietnamese 100 Dong banknote before the end of the war. (I find it interesting that a Boy Scout troop in San Jose made up largely of Vietnamese-American boys is named after him. I wonder how many of them know that he was a eunuch.)

Milkman (imported) wrote: Mon Nov 24, 2008 11:57 am actually even without subtitles this is a good series