im not sure if this is the right place to post this, but i have some questions for the eunuchs of this board.

personally, im definitely not planning on doing anything like this. but im a student of history, and i got interested when i read about eunuchs.. i read about the castrati singers in italy who kept thier high-pitched voices, and about eunuchs employed in royal courts throughout history, one reason being that they cant start thier own dynasty.

in particular, i was reading emperor of china by jonathan spence, which is like an organized memoir of an emperor of qing china. in the text, emperor kang-hsi mentioned eunuchs, and at one point said this about them-

"for eunuchs are basically yin in nature. they are quite different from ordinary people, when weak with age they babble like babies." and goes on to say that he limits their political power and has drastically reduced thier numbers from the ming dynasty.

anyway

how do you feel about that? i know its a critical comment, but other than this, i havent found alot of accounts of eunuchs and how theyre similar and different from normal dudes. i mostly find historical facts and basic medical facts, but no in-depth physiological analyses, and no personal accounts other than what i read in the book.. and so i came here.

to the point, my questions are:

after becoming a eunuch,

what sort of mental changes have you experienced?

have people said that youre different?

does the operation make you more feminine, or just less masculine, or some other state thats neither masculine or feminine? can you relate to girls more?

i know im bombarding you guys, but im just looking for an explanation of the eunuch lifestyle and experience, ranging from the physical to psychological.

personal accounts would be great, sites with relative info would also be welcome.

Yep I agree, infact these are the questions that most of the people have in their minds...

I do also not plan to become a eunuch or castrated what so ever but but I wonder is how come people enjoy having sex after castration or nullification? OK most will say they have other pleasure points but forget all those how come to ever enjoy having an orgasm without having balls?

I really wonder do they really regret doing so?

Greetings to eveybody from Istanbul

Some of us (me for example) got this way due to medical reasons. Cancer, injury, orchialgia etc. So... While we might not have the testosterone that the testicles were or were supposed to make we can take it by using a drug like Testoderm, Androgel, Androderm or injecting testosterone. If you do that, the change? Well it varies as some say its not the same. The change in many cases is minor so we are still enjoying sex and being "male" and so forth. My theory is that it takes a lot of juggling to get hormone replacement right. A lot of doctors tend to error on the low side which may be quite a bit different from how the person was before having his testicles removed. And if they do injections there is always a bit of a "cycle" that is if nothing else different from the 24 hour cycle that healthy males have.

The Eunuchs of ancient times had no treatments like that available. They had very low testosterone levels and there are clearly changes that happen. Some people seek a life without the constant demands of the male sex drive. They wish to be asexual and apart from the standard male/female thing. It can come with some serious baggage because it can come with other issues like mental fog, depression like symptoms etc. That seems to vary with the person. Some are in misery and others seem to love the effects of being at low levels of testosterone. I can't comment much more because thats not what I'm about. I respect those that wish this because for a variety of reasons I think its probably a good idea. *Insane high sex drives or desires that are criminal and so forth.

To "feminize" however I think in most cases you need to add estrogen to the mix. There are a number of transexual people here who can comment on that better then I. If a man is overweight and taking testosterone it can convert to estrogen and do some feminization.

Hope that answers your questions.

I am an elective eunuch. I chose to no longer be male. Prior to castration I was a gay man and was not overtly masculine but not feminine. Now as a eunuch I am still attracted to men. Today after almost 12 years without testosterone in my system some of my features are softer but I could not pass as a woman. I have gained weight and the weight has appeared in areas you would equate with a feminine fat pattern. I probably could not pass as straight as I could have when under the influence of T. Since I have no T in my system I find that people are much more comfortable with me upon first meeting. Since I have become happier after finding my true self I am more assertive then before I was castrated.

Of course that is a brief posting on me and if 50 eunuchs responded you would have 50 different experiences. We are all unique individuals as any segment of the population. I hope historians better than myself will post about some famous eunuchs in power and as warriors. You might be surprised by the gamut of eunuchs.

Big Dan,

One problem in trying to understand eunuchs is beginning with the Chinese example. The history of the Chinese political bureaucracy, from the tiny statelets before the rise of the first emperor, Qin Shihuangdi in 221 BCE, until the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1911 CE, has been a continual struggle for power between the eunuch bureaucracy of the court and the Confucian scholarly elite who believed that they were the only ones qualified to rule. Successful emperors were those who carefully played off one group against the other.

The Chinese eunuchs were almost entirely from conquered tribes, or received as tribute from surrounding states, or from the very poorest class of Chinese peasant. For example, 1,565 young Hmong boys were castrated and sent to the capital after a successful battle during the reign of the Ming emperor Yongle. The great admiral Zheng Hi was one of many boys castrated after Yunnan fell to the Ming army. Other eunuchs were supplied to the emperor by tributary missions from as far away as Java and Burma, though Korea and Vietnam supplied the largest number of foreign eunuchs. Many eunuchs remained uneducated and illiterate, but there were also many who became very successful administrators within the bureaucracy.

Because of the low repute in which Confucian scholars (and the source of most of our written records) held eunuchs, who could not pass on their family line – an important Confucian virtue – only a few are widely recognized for their contributions. The “Three-Jeweled” Admiral Zheng He being the one most widely recognized in the west, though Sima Qian is considered by many to be the earliest person to practice what is considered modern historiography and Cai Lun probably was the actual inventor of paper.

Elsewhere across the Eurasian land mass, eunuchs held a wide variety of roles. Systematic human castration was probably invented in or near the city of Lagash in Sumer in the years just before 2100 BCE. I can find no clear evidence that it was independently invented anywhere else. The idea of castration most likely spread to China through the trade routes of Central Asia and it first appears there during a time of great Middle Eastern influence. There is no evidence of human castration in the New World before Europeans brought the practice.

The earliest eunuchs in Lagash seem to have served as shepherds, canal boat crew, and praise singers to the gods (the first castrati). Within a short while their virtues were recognized and they began to be used in court. Not just to guard women as harem attendants, but as confidants to the king and as incorruptible administrators. (At least they were perceived as incorruptible.) By the time of the Assyrian and Babylonian empires eunuchs were frequently appointed as provincial administrators and served as important military officers. One Assyriologist whose works I have read, has claimed that a majority of Assyrian generals were eunuchs. The Old Testament prophet Nehemiah was a eunuch who served first as a poison taster to the king and rose to be an important administrator. The prophet Daniel, if he actually existed (which is debated by Biblical scholars) was, together with his three companions, an example of the eunuch-administrator.

As just a sampling of important eunuch military personnel, there is not just the Chinese admiral, but also Judar Pasha, a Spanish eunuch who led the first major Moslem conquest across the Sahara into Black Africa. Narses, an Armenian eunuch in the court of Justinian, was the general who saved Rome and northern Italy from the Ostrogoths in 554 CE. Muhammad Khan Qajar, castrated at age six, led his tribe to overthrow the Zand Dynasty, rulers of Persia, in 1794. He became the first Qajar emperor and was succeeded by his nephew. Le Van Duyet, a Vietnamese eunuch serving the Nguyen family, accompanied his master to battle and eventually became the general who unified Vietnam in 1802. His master, took the throne as Emperor Gia Long, naming Le Van Duyet as administrator of the southern region of the unified country. The Nguyen Dynasty lasted until it was overthrown by Ho Chi Mihn in 1945.

For all the details on the power and influence of eunuchs in history, you’ll need to wait for my book. In the meantime, there are many useful items on the Non-Fiction Articles ( http://www.eunuch.org/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=10) board here on the Eunuch Archive. Go to the bottom of the page and sort from the beginning. This will lead you to over 200 threads that have been posted to date.

I'll keep it safe, I'll go along with Mr. T!

With HRT in the right quantity...very little if any change. Without however is a different story. And it didn't agree with me!

I'm what I would call a suprised eunuch....I woke up from a coma....SUPRISE!!! I don't recommend this, it's a shock to the system and the ego. I was accidentally sent home from the hospital with no HRT. I went for almost a month with no testosterone and quite frankly it was nasty! I didn't know what was going on at the time, and was basically in denial and ashamed to ask. Some may love the changes...I did not!

I've adjusted, physically and mentally, and I think I'm pretty much unchanged. I'm at an awkward age were I don't know whether to blame things on getting older or on a hormone deficiency. I prefer the later as it can be adjusted!

If you have any questions, just ask, as you can see we have trained staff on duty!

Oh, and thank you to Jesus for an excellent historical view!

"have people said that youre different?"

People say I'm quite a bit more cheery ('You're just like you were when you were a little kid!'). I think this is entirely coincidental with my learning how love myself and live my life to a more satisfying end that I had though was possible.

thanks everyone, the replies have been informative and insightful.

the poster jesus had a great historical overview.. ive read about eunuchs in byzantium, the ancient near east, china and etc., and also of the hijra in india.

i havent had alot of luck in finding books that do a good job of covering eunuch history.. if youre writing a book, then i wish you the best of luck, and ill look forward to it.

it seems that the biggest difference is taking away all the testosterone. i guess that would have a great impact on how you function... its funny to think that my mind/personality would be different without that chemical.

naturally, modern day eunuchs get thier castration done long after puberty. im of the opinion that castration before puberty would lead to much greater differences. their voice wouldnt change, as in the case of the castrati.. and i also believe that the mind/personality would develop somewhat differently, which is what i think kang-hsi was commenting on.

and thanks for putting me on to the nonfiction articles, i hadnt thought to search from the beginning.. when i checked there before, i only saw like 2 threads. lol.

i appreciate the info, im just someone who likes to understand the world around me, and eunuchs are a neglected topic it seems.

As an elective eunuch who is not on HRT, I can definitely state that there are some changes. First, I have nasty hot flashes, especially at night. Second, while I can have an erection, I mostly don't care if I do or not. Finally, I have noticed some definite changes in my thinking and emotional behavior. I can't do math or logic puxzzles as easily as I used to. Also, my taste in movies and Tv has changed. I no longer care to watch any horror or pornography. I don't even read the stories on the Ea....

Note to Jesus: Many thanks for your interesting post. Please will you let us know when your book is published?