the.com/eunuch
the price of proximity to power, paid in advance and in full.
means a man who has been castrated, historically to make him a trustworthy servant of courts, harems, or empires precisely because he could father no rival dynasty.
from from greek eune (bed) and echein (to keep) — literally bed-keeper, the guy trusted to guard the emperor's sleeping quarters and, crucially, his wives.
china's imperial systemtens of thousands served the qing court by 1900
byzantine career patheunuchs could rise to general, patriarch, even regent
ottoman hierarchyblack eunuchs outranked white ones in harem command
ming dynasty powerzheng he, admiral of treasure fleets, was one