The Last Word on Court Eunuchs
These 15 stories barely scratch the surface of eunuch history across civilizations. From Chinese paper inventors to Ottoman commanders, men who lost their testicles often gained unusual access to power. Their ambiguous gender status allowed them to move between worlds, closed to others. They served emperors in bedrooms and on battlefields alike. Most eunuchs remain nameless in history, but these exceptional few show how castration sometimes opened doors rather than closing them. ars.
