Fckk, how could they sacrifice their loved ones for money? I never heard of this before. I often heard family encourage their sons to go to the capital to take the imperial exam to become a politician. Sometimes family sends their son(s) to martial art school to learn martial art as a young age so they can become a general or at least bodyguard for the kingdom. I rather die of hunger than sending my son to become a eunuch.
Still believe the best way to get out of poverty is by working hard and live below the means.
Fckk, this is so inhumane.Many eunuchs were orphans or sons of prisoners. In her book on the famous eunuch Zheng He, Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne, Louise Levathes wrote: “As was the custom, young sons of prisoners were castrated. Thousands of young boys—some no more than 9 or 10 years of age—were stripped naked, subjected to one brutal stroke of a curved knife... Hundreds never recovered, dying of infection and exposure. Those who did were taken to the capital to serve as court eunuchs.”