Why were eunuchs could not have children, still given palace maids by the emperor to“form families”?

Hello everyone, welcome to History and Culture. Friends who enjoy watching Chinese historical costume dramas may have noticed a puzzling detail. In the palace, eunuchs who were incapable of fathering children were sometimes rewarded with palace maids by the emperor, or even tacitly allowed to form a family. To modern eyes, this seems very difficult to understand. Since eunuchs could not continue the family line, why would they still be arranged to have partners? Were these palace maids willing participants? And what was life like for them after such unions? All of this was not an exaggeration created by TV dramas. But a very real and special phenomenon that existed throughout the long feudal era. Eunuchs were a unique group that existed for a very long time in Chinese feudal society. In early times, they were called eunuch officials, huang guan, and did not necessarily have to undergo physical mutilation. They were simply male servants specially assigned to handle inner palace affairs. However, as imperial power grew increasingly centralized and absolute, the emperor's demands for order in the rear palace and the security of the royal bloodline became ever stricter. While the inner palace indeed required large numbers of strong, able-bodied laborers, it could not tolerate adult men who might potentially threaten the imperial order. Thus, the castration system gradually became a mandatory requirement. Only after passing through this procedure could one serve long-term in the palace. Under this institutional constraint, eunuchs lost many possibilities that ordinary men could have in life. Yet they remained people with thoughts, emotions, and feelings. Living long-term in the closed, high-pressure environment of the palace, they had to constantly guess the emperor's intentions while handling a heavy load of trivial tasks. The mental and psychological pressure they endured can easily be imagined. It was precisely because of this that, over time, the phenomenon emerged in history of eunuchs and palace maids relying on and living together, known as due shi, companionate cohabitation. It should be clarified that the union between a eunuch and a palace maid was not entirely the same as what we understand today as marriage. It was more a mutual support arrangement in daily life, involving both emotional dependence and practical considerations. Additionally, some eunuchs had already married and had children before entering the palace and were later selected to continue serving inside. Thus they still nominally had a family outside. Historical records mention figures such as Sher Xian of the Western Han, Wang Fu of the Eastern Han, Gao Lisher of the Tang, and Little De Zhang, Zhang De, of the Qing, all of whom fall into this category. There were also some eunuchs who, because they held enormous power in the palace, received special imperial permission to establish residences outside the palace and arrange life companions. Such bestowals were essentially a political tool. By granting them special treatment in their personal lives, the emperor secured the eunuch's loyalty and dependence, while at the same time indirectly monitoring their actions through people closely connected to their daily life. History also records some seemingly even more bizarre situations. For example, during the Northern Wei, the powerful eunuch Liu Teng had not married before entering the palace. Nor are there clear records of any paired companion after he entered. Yet when he died, dozens of sons came to keep vigil at his funeral. In reality, these were not biological sons, but adopted, easy, sworn or foster sons. At the height of his power, many court officials, in order to protect themselves or to curry favor, voluntarily sent their own sons or younger relatives to serve under him. Liu Teng used this to consolidate his influence. Such relationships were more like extensions of political networks from a human perspective. Although eunuchs had lost physical integrity, their psychological and emotional needs did not disappear. When a person remains isolated for a long time, the desire for companionship and recognition becomes even stronger. Some historical scholars have also pointed out in related studies that individuals in long-term closed environments, if completely deprived of emotional support, are more prone to psychological problems. The eunuchs in the palace were precisely in such a situation. For the palace maids themselves, life choices were likewise extremely limited. Most did not enter the palace voluntarily, but were sent due to family hardship or institutional arrangements. Day after day they toiled in the palace. Although in theory they had the possibility of leaving, in practice it was filled with uncertainty. Under such circumstances, some palace maids chose to live together with eunuchs who had relatively gentle temperaments and comparatively stable positions, at the very least gaining a sense of security and basic livelihood protection. The portrayal in film and television of some eunuchs as upright in character and sincere toward others is not entirely fictional. History does record eunuchs who treated people kindly and acted cautiously, establishing relationships with palace maids based on mutual respect and support. For women trapped deep in the palace, such a choice may not have been ideal. But it was often one of the relatively controllable paths available in reality. Of course, it must also be acknowledged that not all such unions brought peaceful lives. Imbalances of power and psychology often magnified the darker aspects of human nature. Some eunuchs regarded paired eating as a symbol of status, rather than genuine emotional refuge. In such relationships, palace maids mostly played a passive role. And life was far from easy. Moreover, when the emperor bestowed palace maids upon eunuchs, on the surface it appeared to be compassion toward subordinates. But in reality it served multiple purposes. On one hand, it was a way to win loyalty and exert control. On the other, it functioned as an invisible mechanism of supervision. The bestowed relationship was both a favor and a leash. Such arrangements were not uncommon within the feudal system. Yet from a broader perspective, this phenomenon reflects the generally low status of women in feudal society. Within the system, women often lacked the right to choose and were treated as resources to be allocated. Even when living in the palace, close to the center of power, they still found it difficult to truly control their own fate. In fact, the greatest wish in the hearts of many palace maids was not wealth or glory, but one day to leave the palace and return to the life of an ordinary person. But reality rarely granted their wish. A single seemingly simple bestowal could alter the entire trajectory of their lives. Precisely for this reason, the paired eating between eunuchs and palace maids cannot simply be judged as right or wrong. It embodies both the self-adjustment people made under institutional oppression and exposes the coldness and inequality of the feudal power structure. It is not a romantic tale, but a complex reality left behind by history. This is the History and Culture channel. Liking and subscribing are the greatest help and support to us. Thank you everyone and see you in the next time.