Last imperial eunuch of China
Sun Yaoting |
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| Born | (1902-09-29)29 September 1902
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| Died | 17 December 1996(1996-12-17) (aged 94)
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| Nationality | Chinese |
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| Occupation | Imperial court eunuch |
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| Known for | Being the last surviving eunuch of Imperial China |
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Sun Yaoting (Traditional Chinese: 孫耀庭, Simplified Chinese: 孙耀庭, Hanyu Pinyin: Sūn Yàotíng, Wade-Giles: Sun Yao-t'ing; 29 September 1902 – 17 December 1996) was the last surviving imperial eunuch of Chinese history.
Life
Born into poverty, his family home was burned and fields stolen by a landlord in their village; his family hoped that by making Sun Yaoting into a eunuch, they would gain Imperial influence, and would be able to take revenge on the landlord. At the age of eight, Sun Yaoting was emasculated by his father at home[1] with a single razor cut, and without the use of anesthesia. The emperor he had hoped to serve, Puyi, was deposed months later.[2][3][4]
Nonetheless, Sun Yaoting became a palace eunuch, and had become the attendant to the empress before the imperial family was expelled from the Forbidden City. He continued to serve in Manchukuo until the puppet state's collapse at the end of World War II.[5] His preserved genitals, considered a treasure by eunuchs, were discarded by his family during the Cultural Revolution, when it was considered taboo to own anything from the "old society."
The 1988 dramatic film Lai Shi, China's Last Eunuch is based on Sun Yaoting's life. His biography The Last Eunuch of China was published in 1998 and translated to English in 2008.
References
