ipernity: Eunuch Tomb 田义墓 by m̌ ḫ

Folder: China

Tian Yi (1534-1605) was a eunuch of the imperial court for 63 years. He served three emperors and eventually became the director of ceremonies, the fourth ranking position in the political structure of the time. After Tian Yi's death, Ming Emperor Wan Li ordered a tomb erected in honor of Tian Yi's lasting service to the country. Six other eunuchs chose to be buried alongside him out of respect and admiration for his work. Site includes a small exhibition hall at the entrance that provides scattered details of the eunuchs' lives. The tombs themselves are simple earthen mounds with random four-foot-tall phallic structures at their base. The stairway built next to the tomb allows an opportunity to walk ten feet underground and experience the inside of the Ming dynasty mausoleum.

Throughout the ancient world, eunuchs were a small stratum of society, most notably in China, Rome, Egypt, Greece, and Persia. Castration was a requirement of men seeking to work as imperial aides or entertainers. In most of these places, the practice diminished as the slave society declined. But in China, it lasted from the Xia Dynasty through to the Qing Dynasty in the early 20th century. During this time, a eunuch culture emerged, and in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), a bureaucratic system consisting of 12 directorates, four offices and eight bureaus was established. Tian Yi, perhaps the most celebrated of all Chinese eunuchs, oversaw the Directorate of Ceremonies, the highest office within the administration in the 16th Century.

In line with the practice of the time, Tian Yi was castrated at the age of nine and went to the imperial court to wait on the emperor and his entourage. He served three emperors -- Jiajing, who reigned from 1521 to 1566, Longqing, who reigned from 1566 to 1572, and Wanli, who reigned from 1572 to 1620. He was favored and promoted to the fourth rank because of his considerateness, cautiousness, experience and prudence. He died at the age of 72, having worked in the imperial court for 63 years. On Tian Yi's death, Emperor Wanli was so bereft that he suspended court meetings for three days and later erected a memorial hall and tablet pavilions to commemorate his good and faithful servant. In order to pay tribute to him, eunuchs of later generations had their tombs near his, forming the group that now constitutes the Beijing Eunuch Culture Exhibition Hall in Shijingshan District of Beijing. This is China's first museum to focus on the eunuch phenomenon. Its halls have exhibits that give insight into the history of the eunuch system, their duties, and their marital and family lives.