For hundreds of years, life in the Palace of Forbidden City of Beijing was dominated by the large number of eunuchs – men castrated necessary to qualify as the emperor’s servants.
In 1644 the Manchus conquered the Ming Dynasty and built the last dynasty to rule China, under the name “Qing”. The emperors during the Qing dynasty were very proud of the parties they held, especially the parties that took place in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the room that was used to enthrone Emperor Pu Yi in 1908.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty there were about 70,000 eunuchs employed by the emperor, some serving inside the Imperial Palace. Certain eunuchs gained immense power that occasionally superseded that of prime ministers.
It is said that the justification of the employment of eunuchs as high-ranking civil servants was that, since they were incapable of having children, they would not be tempted to seize power and start a dynasty. The emperors’ concubines were also protected from any potential affairs they might have had with men working in the palace complex. The dinner parties in this Hall of the Supreme Harmony were famous for their excellent service and their entertainment. The privilege of welcoming of the Emperor’s guests had the most experienced senior eunuchs.
This Eunuch Imperial Dining culture slowly disappeared after the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1911, which was put to an end by the famous Chinese Revolution led by Sun Yat Sen. Political unrest continued in China in the following years, and in 1948, there were only very few eunuchs in China, down from thousands inhabiting the palace during the time of Emperor Pu Yi.
Emperor Pu Yi only kept 50 of his best eunuchs to serve him during the end of his terms. A year after Emperor Pu Yi was dismissed from the Palace, people said his bad karma resulted from how badly he treated some of the eunuchs during his term of power.
