Editing Castration (section)

==History==
[[File:The Mutilation of Uranus by Saturn.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|''The Castration of [[Uranus (mythology)|Uranus]]'': fresco by [[Vasari]] and [[Cristofano Gherardi]] ({{circa|1560}}, Sala di Cosimo I, [[Palazzo Vecchio]], [[Florence]])]]
Castration may have arisen in the Neolithic period in response to animal husbandry, rising populations and population specialisation.<ref name="Reusch">{{cite thesis |type=PhD |last=Reusch |first=Kathryn |year=2013 |title=That Which Was Missing: The Archaeology of Castration |publisher=University of Oxford}}</ref>

Either surgical removal of both testicles or [[chemical castration]] may be carried out in the case of [[prostate cancer]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.malecare.com |title=MaleCare.com | website= MaleCare.com |date= 23 February 2011 }}</ref> [[Testosterone]]-depletion treatment (either surgical removal of both testicles or chemical castration) is used to slow down the cancer. Surgical removal of one or both testicles known as [[orchidectomy]] is the most common treatment for testicular cancer.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-03-02|title=Testicular cancer – Treatment|url=https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/testicular-cancer/treatment/|access-date=2021-02-25|website=nhs.uk|language=en}}</ref>

Castration has also been used in the United States for [[sex offender]]s as a way of avoiding incarceration.<ref>{{cite web| url= https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=93947| title=Some Sex Offenders Opt for Castration| work= ABC News}}</ref> It can greatly reduce sex drive or interest in those with sexual drives, obsessions, or behaviors, or any combination of those that may be considered deviant.

Involuntary castration appears in the history of warfare, sometimes used by one side to torture or demoralize their enemies.<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Eichert |first1= David|date= 2019|title= 'Homosexualization' Revisited: An Audience-Focused Theorization of Wartime Male Sexual Violence| journal= International Feminist Journal of Politics|volume= 21|issue= 3| pages= 409–433|doi= 10.1080/14616742.2018.1522264|s2cid= 150313647}}</ref>

===Africa and the Middle East===
[[File:V.M. Doroshevich-East and War-Eunuch near Door of Sultan's Harem.png|thumb|Chief Eunuch of [[Abdul Hamid II]] (1912)]]
Over the 13 centuries of the [[Arab slave trade]] in Africa, unknown numbers of Africans were enslaved and shipped to the Middle East.

"The Caliphate in Baghdad at the beginning of the 10th Century had 7,000 black eunuchs and 4,000 white eunuchs in his palace."<ref name= "amazon1">{{cite book |title=Islam's Black Slaves: The Other Black Diaspora |url=https://archive.org/details/islamsblackslave00sega |url-access=registration |isbn = 978-0374527976|last1 = Segal|first1 = Ronald|date = 9 February 2002|publisher=Macmillan }}</ref> The Arab slave trade typically dealt in the sale of castrated male slaves. Black boys at the age of eight to twelve had their penises and scrota completely amputated. Reportedly, about two out of three boys died, but those who survived drew high prices.<ref>{{Cite journal | doi=10.1210/jcem.84.12.6206| pmid= 10599682|title = Long-Term Consequences of Castration in Men: Lessons from the Skoptzy and the Eunuchs of the Chinese and Ottoman Courts| journal=The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism| volume=84| issue=12| pages=4324–4331|year = 1999|last1 = Wilson|first1 = Jean D.| last2=Roehrborn| first2=Claus| doi-access=free}}</ref>

===Europe===
==== Slavery ====
The employment or enslavement of eunuchs (castrated men) was practiced in classical and [[Castration in ancient Rome|Roman antiquity]] and continued into the Middle Ages. In the 10th century, slave traders in Verdun in France and in Becâne ([[Pechina]]), Spain, castrated captives who were then enslaved as harem attendants in [[Al-Andalus]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gök |first1=H. İbrahim |date= 2013 |title=The Slave Trade and its Routes in the Mediterranean Region in the Middle Ages |journal=Studia et Documenta Turcologica |volume=2013 |number=1 |pages=173–191 |issn=2344-6560 |publisher=Presa Universitară Clujeană| location=Cluj-Napoca, Romania|quote=From the ancient world on, slavery was a tragic phenomenon in the social and cultural life of human society.|quote-page=173 }}</ref>

==== Punishment ====
[[Edward Gibbon]]'s ''[[The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire|Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire]]'' reports castration of defeated [[Byzantine Greeks]] at the hands of the [[Franks|Frankish]] marquis [[Theobald I of Spoleto|Theobald]] of Camerino and Spoleto in the course of 10th-century wars in Italy.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gibbon |first=Edward |title=The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire |publisher=[[Project Gutenberg]] |chapter=Chapter 56 |chapter-url= https://www.gutenberg.org/files/25717/25717-h/25717-h.htm#Elink562HCH0002 |access-date=27 April 2020}}</ref> Gibbon also alludes to a 12th-century incident set out in [[William Fitzstephen]]'s ''Vita Sancti Thomae'' (''Life of [[Thomas Becket|St. Thomas]]'') in which [[Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou|Geoffrey of Anjou]] castrated the members of the cathedral chapter of [[Sens Cathedral|Sens]] as a punishment for disobedience.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gibbon |first=Edward |title=The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire |chapter=Chapter 59 |via=[[Project Gutenberg]] |chapter-url= https://www.gutenberg.org/files/25717/25717-h/25717-h.htm#Flink692HCH0001 |access-date=27 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Gourde |first= Leo T. |title=An Annotated Translation of the Life of St. Thomas Becket by William Fitzstephen |year=1943 |publisher=[[Loyola University Chicago]] |journal=Master's Theses |volume=622 |page=100 |url= https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses/622 |access-date=27 April 2020}}</ref> In the medieval [[kingdom of Georgia]], the 12th-century [[pretender]] [[Demna of Georgia|Demna]] was castrated by his uncle [[George III of Georgia]] to ensure the supremacy of George's branch of the family.<ref>{{cite book|last=Eastmond|first=Antony|title=Royal imagery in medieval Georgia|year= 1998| publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press|location= University Park, Pennsylvania |isbn= 0271016280| page= 107| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=2KPdSQU-Bx4C&pg=PA107 | via= Google Books }}</ref> Another victim of castration was the 12th-century medieval French philosopher, scholar, teacher, and (later) monk [[Pierre Abélard]]. He was castrated by relatives of his lover, [[Heloise (student of Abelard)|Héloïse]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Russell |first1=Bertrand |title=The History of Western Philosophy |url= https://archive.org/details/historyofwestern00russ |url-access= registration |date=1945 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |page= [https://archive.org/details/historyofwestern00russ/page/436 436]}}</ref> [[Wimund|Bishop Wimund]], a 12th-century English adventurer and invader of the Scottish coast, was blinded and castrated after losing a power struggle.<ref>{{cite book |last1= Newburgh (of) |first1=William |title=Selections from the "Historia rerum anglicarum" of William of Newburgh, by Charles Johnson, M. A. |date=1920 |publisher=SPCK |page=21 |chapter-url= https://openlibrary.org/works/OL4923649W/Selections_from_the_Historia_rerum_anglicarum_of_William_of_Newburgh_by_Charles_Johnson_M._A |access-date=31 January 2020 |language=la |chapter=24 | via= openlibrary.org}}</ref> In medieval England, men found guilty of [[high treason]] were [[hanged, drawn and quartered]], which often included [[emasculation]] (removal of the genitalia).<ref>{{cite book|last=Bellamy|first=John|title=The Tudor Law of Treason|publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul|year=1979|isbn=978-0-7100-8729-4|location=London|pages=202–204}}</ref>
[[File:Castration.jpg|right|thumb|The procedure of castration as punishment during the 16th century]]

==== Modern era ====
[[Wim Deetman]] was criticized by the Dutch parliament for excluding evidence of castration<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/time-truth-about-catholic-sex-abuse-netherlands|title=Time for the truth about Catholic sex abuse in the Netherlands|work=RNW|access-date=21 March 2012| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120321230333/http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/time-truth-about-catholic-sex-abuse-netherlands|archive-date=21 March 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> in his report on sexual abuse by the Roman Catholic Church, where ten children were allegedly "punished" by castration in the 1950s for reporting sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests. The Deetman Commission had rejected it as the person who reported the incident admitted it was speculative. 

In Spain, a law against castration was used to deny sex-reassignment surgery to transgender people until the Penal Code was reformed in 1983.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Transexualidades: Otras Miradas Posibles|last= Missé|first=Miquel|publisher=Editorial EGALES|year=2013|isbn= 978-84-15899-13-6|location=Barcelona|pages=37}}</ref>

===China===
According to legend, during the reign of the legendary Emperor Shun and Yu in China, in 2281 BC, castration was passed into law as a punishment, remaining so until the reign of [[Emperor Gaozu of Tang|Gaozu of Tang]] (618–626 AD). However, it was still practiced after his reign.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/chronologicalha00fabegoog|quote=the five punishments are adopted branding cutting off the nose feet castration and death emperor wen kao tsu.|title=Chronological handbook of the history of China: a manuscript left by the late Rev. Ernst Faber|author=Ernst Faber|year=1902|publisher=Pub. by the General Evangelical Protestant missionary society of Germany| page= [https://archive.org/details/chronologicalha00fabegoog/page/n29 3]|access-date=11 January 2011}}</ref> According to historians, it was incorporated into Chinese law during the Zhou dynasty.<ref>{{cite book| url=https://archive.org/details/chinainlighthis00fabegoog|quote=china chow dynasty 1100 imperial castration was one of the five legal corporal punishments.|title=China in the light of history| first= Ernst |last= Faber|year=1897|publisher=American Presbyterian mission press| page= [https://archive.org/details/chinainlighthis00fabegoog/page/n28 18]|access-date=11 January 2011}}</ref> It was one of the five physical punishments that could be legally inflicted on criminals in China.<ref>{{cite book| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=5phBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA406|title=Cyclopaedia of political science, political economy, and of the political history of the United States, Volume 1| first= John Joseph | last= Lalor|year=1882|publisher= Rand, McNally|page=406|isbn=9780598866110}}</ref>

Records of castrations in China date to the [[Shang dynasty]] ({{circa|1700}}–1050 BC), when the Shang kings castrated prisoners of war.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=S3Y2PTI_vYYC&pg=PA136|title=Children in slavery through the ages|author1=Gwyn Campbell |author2=Suzanne Miers |author3=Joseph Calder Miller |year=2009|publisher=Ohio University Press|isbn=978-0-8214-1877-2|page=136}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Ka6jNJcX_ygC&pg=PA11|title=The eunuchs in the Ming dynasty|author=Shih-shan Henry Tsai|year=1996|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=0-7914-2687-4|page=11 |via= Google Books}}</ref>

During the reign of [[King Mu of Zhou|Mu]] of the [[Zhou dynasty]] (10th c. BC) the Minister of Crime, Marquis Lu, reformed the law in 950 BC to make it easier for people to be sentenced to castration instead of death.<ref>{{cite book| url= https://archive.org/details/chinachineseill01werngoog|quote=castration capital avoid.|title=China of the Chinese|author=Edward Theodore Chalmers Werner|year=1919|publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons| page= [https://archive.org/details/chinachineseill01werngoog/page/n182 146]}}</ref> As long as the practice existed in China, not only were the testicles removed but castration included the severing of one's entire genitalia. Both organs were cut off with a knife at the same time.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=S3Y2PTI_vYYC|title=Children in slavery through the ages|author1=Gwyn Campbell |author2=Suzanne Miers |author3=Joseph Calder Miller |year=2009|publisher=Ohio University Press|isbn=978-0-8214-1877-2|page=138 |via= Google Books}}</ref>

Men were castrated and made into state slaves during the [[Qin dynasty]] (221–206 BC) to perform forced labor for projects such as the [[Terracotta Army]].<ref>{{cite book| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=V6U2AQAAIAAJ| title=Qin Shihuang | first=| last= |year= 2001|publisher=Bayerisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege|isbn=3-87490-711-2|page=273 |via= Google Books}}</ref> The Qin government confiscated the property and enslaved the families of rapists who received castration as a punishment.<ref>{{cite book|title=The early Chinese empires: Qin and Han| first=Mark Edward | last= Lewis|year=2007|publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn= 978-0-674-02477-9|page=252|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EHKxM31e408C&pg=PA252 |via= Google Books}}</ref> Men punished with castration during the [[Han dynasty]] were also used as slave labor.<ref>{{cite book| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=8IktAAAAIAAJ|title=Osiris, Volume 10|author=History of Science Society|year=1952|publisher=Saint Catherine Press|page=144 |via= Google Books}}</ref>

In the Han dynasty (206 BC–220 AD), castration continued to be used as a punishment for various offences.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=A1nwvKNPMWkC&pg=PA75|title=The History of China| publisher=Britannica Educational Publishing, The Rosen Publishing Group| year= 2010| isbn=978-1-61530-181-2|page=76 |via= Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |via= Google Books |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=NhkRAAAAYAAJ&q=castration|title=Women in traditional Chinese theater: the heroine's play|author=Qian Ma|year= 2005|publisher=University Press of America|isbn=0-7618-3217-3|page=149}}</ref> Chinese historian [[Sima Qian]] was castrated by order of the Han Emperor of China for dissent.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://archive.org/details/chinachineseill01werngoog|quote=castration inflicted li ling.|title=China of the Chinese|author=Edward Theodore Chalmers Werner|year=1919|publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons| page= [https://archive.org/details/chinachineseill01werngoog/page/n188 152] | via= archive.org}}</ref> In another incident multiple people, including a chief scribe and his underlings, were subjected to castration.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aLbsTKaO6v0C&pg=PA231|title=The Grand Scribe's Records: The Memoirs of Han China, Part 1 |via= Google Books |author=Ch'ien Ssu-Ma|year=2008|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0-253-34028-3|page=231}}</ref>

During the early part of the [[Ming dynasty]] (1368–1644 AD), China demanded eunuchs to be sent as tribute from [[Korea]]. Some of them oversaw the Korean concubines in the harem of the Chinese Emperor.<ref>{{Cite book |via= Google Books |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=tyhT9SZRLS8C&pg=PA301|title=The Cambridge history of China: The Ming dynasty, 1368–1644, Part 1|author1=Frederick W. Mote |author2=Denis Twitchett |author3=John King Fairbank |year=1988|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=976|isbn=0-521-24332-7}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |via= Google Books |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Ka6jNJcX_ygC&pg=PA14|title=The eunuchs in the Ming dynasty|author=Shih-shan Henry Tsai|year=1996|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=0-7914-2687-4|page=16}}</ref>

When the Chinese overthrew Mongol rule, many Mongol captives were castrated and turned into eunuchs.<ref>{{cite book| via= Google Books| url=https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-asian-history_1991_25_1|url-access=registration|title=Journal of Asian history, Volume 25|year=1991 |publisher=O. Harrassowitz |page= [https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-asian-history_1991_25_1/page/127 127] }}</ref> When the Ming army finally captured [[Yunnan]] from Mongols in 1382, thousands of prisoners were killed and, according to the custom in times of war, their young sons—including [[Zheng He]]—were castrated.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/02/books/chapters/0202-1st-menzi.html|title='1421'|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2 February 2003|last1=Menzies|first1=Gavin}}</ref><ref name="google16">{{cite book |via= Google Books| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ka6jNJcX_ygC&pg=PA16|title=The eunuchs in the Ming dynasty|author=Shih-shan Henry Tsai|year=1996|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=0-7914-2687-4|page=16}}</ref>

During the [[Miao Rebellions (Ming dynasty)]], Chinese commanders castrated thousands of [[Miao people|Miao]] boys when their tribes revolted, and then distributed them as eunuch slaves as gifts to various officials.<ref name="google16"/>

At the end of the Ming dynasty, there were about 70,000 eunuchs (宦官 ''huànguān'', or 太監 ''tàijiàn'') employed by the emperor, with some serving inside the [[Forbidden City]].

The last imperial eunuch in China was [[Sun Yaoting]] who died in 1996.

====Non-Han peoples in China====
The [[Khitan people]] adopted the practice of using eunuchs from the Chinese and the eunuchs used were non-Khitan prisoners of war. The Khitan were a [[nomad]]ic [[Mongols|Mongolic people]] and originally did not have eunuchs as part of their culture.<ref>[http://www.docin.com/p-220201686.html 祝建龙 (Zhu Jianlong), 二〇〇九年四月 (April 2009), 12.](Page 18 on online document viewer, Page 12 on actual document)</ref> When the Khitan founded the [[Liao dynasty]] they developed a [[harem]] system with concubines and wives and adopted eunuchs as part of it. All of the eunuchs captured were ethnic Chinese from the [[Central Plain (China)|Central Plains]] that came from two sources. The Khitan captured Chinese people who were already eunuchs at the Jin court when they invaded the [[Later Jin (Five Dynasties)|Later Jin]]. Another source was during their war with the Chinese [[Song dynasty]]: the Khitan would raid China, capture Han Chinese boys as prisoners of war and emasculate them to become eunuchs. The emasculation of captured Chinese boys guaranteed a continuous supply of eunuchs to serve in the Liao dynasty harem. The Empress Dowager [[Xiao Chuo]] (Chengtian) played a large role in the raids to capture and emasculate the boys.<ref>[http://www.docin.com/p-220201686.html 祝建龙 (Zhu Jianlong), 二〇〇九年四月 (April 2009), 13.] (Page 19 on online document viewer, Page 13 on actual document)</ref>

Chengtian took power at age 30 in 982 as a regent for her son. Some reports suggest that she personally led her own army against the Song Chinese in 986. Her army defeated them in battle,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bennett Peterson |first1=Barbara |title=Notable women of China : Shang dynasty to the early twentieth century |date=2000 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0765605047 |page=259 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KLNrqn4WLZYC&q=empress+xiao+986&pg=PA259 |via= Google Books}}</ref> fighting the retreating Chinese army. She then ordered the castration of around 100 ethnic [[Han Chinese|Chinese]] boys she had captured in China, supplementing the Khitan's supply of eunuchs to serve at her court, among them was [[Wang Ji'en (Liao dynasty eunuch)|Wang Ji'en]]. The boys were all under ten years old and were selected for their good looks.<ref name=Jay>{{cite book |via= Google Books |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=gc_3IXkwG3QC&pg=PA261|title=Women Shall Not Rule|isbn=9781442222908|last1=McMahon|first1=Keith|date=6 June 2013| publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=gc_3IXkwG3QC&pg=PA269|title=Women Shall Not Rule|isbn=9781442222908|last1=McMahon|first1=Keith|date=2013 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |via= Google Books}}</ref>

The ''[[History of Liao]]'' described and praised Empress Chengtian's capture and mass castration of the Chinese boys in a biography on Wang Ji'en.<ref>{{cite book |last1=McMahon |first1=Keith |title=Women shall not rule : imperial wives and concubines in China from Han to Liao |date=2013 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1442222892 |page=261}}</ref>

Some legends say that the Mongol [[Genghis Khan]] was castrated by a Tangut princess using a knife, who wanted revenge against his treatment of the Tanguts and to stop him from raping her.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=mwDJ-3XPNooC&q=tangut+castrate+genghis&pg=PA193|title=In the footsteps of Genghis Khan|author=John DeFrancis|year= 1993|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=0-8248-1493-2|page= 193 |via= Google Books}}</ref>

During the [[Qing dynasty]] (1644–1911 AD), the sons and grandsons of the rebel [[Yakub Beg of Yettishar|Yaqub Beg]] in China were all sentenced to castration. Surviving members of Yaqub Beg's family included his four sons, four grandchildren (two grandsons and two granddaughters), and four wives. They either died in prison in [[Lanzhou]], Gansu, or were killed by the Chinese. His sons Yima Kuli, K'ati Kuli, Maiti Kuli, and grandson Aisan Ahung were the only survivors in 1879. They were all underage children, and put on trial, sentenced to an agonizing death if they were complicit in their father's rebellious "sedition", or if they were innocent of their fathers crimes, were to be sentenced to castration and serving as [[eunuch]] slaves to Chinese troops, when they reached 11 years old, and handed over to the Imperial Household to be executed or castrated.<ref>{{cite book |via= Google Books| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Yjg1AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA83|title=Translations of the Peking Gazette|year=1880|page=83}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |via= Google Books |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=DqYoAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA145|title=The American annual cyclopedia and register of important events of the year ..., Volume 4|year=1888|publisher=D. Appleton and Company|page=145}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=3xYbAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA145|title=Appletons' annual cyclopedia and register of important events: Embracing political, military, and ecclesiastical affairs; public documents; biography, statistics, commerce, finance, literature, science, agriculture, and mechanical industry, Volume 19|year=1886|publisher=Appleton|page=145 |via= Google Books}}</ref> Although some sources assert that the sentence of castration was carried out, official sources from the US State Department and activists involved in the incident state that Yaqub Beg's son and grandsons had their sentence commuted to life imprisonment with a fund provided for their support.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/clarencekingmemo00centrich|quote=Cruelty to Children Yakoob Beg.|title= Clarence King Memoirs: The Helmet of Mambrino|author=James D. Hague|year=1904|publisher=G.P. Putnam's Sons|location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/clarencekingmemo00centrich/page/50 50]|access-date=19 September 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=THE PROTECTION OF CHILDREN.; CASE OF THE KINGMA CHILDREN—LETTER FROM THE STATE DEPARTMENT.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1880/03/20/archives/the-protection-of-children-case-of-the-kingma-childrenletter-from.html |newspaper=The New York Times |location=New York |date=20 March 1880 |access-date=19 September 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bp4toTYNDLkC&pg=PT170|title=Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China|author=Jung Chang|year=2014|publisher=Anchor|location=New York|page=131|isbn= 978-0-385-35037-2 |via= Google Books}}</ref>

===Korea===
The eunuchs of Korea, called {{lang|ko|Naesi}} ({{Korean|내시|內侍}}), were officials to the king and other royalty in traditional Korean society. The first recorded appearance of a Korean eunuch was in [[Goryeosa]] ("History of Goryeo"), a compilation about the [[Goryeo]] period. In 1392, with the founding of the [[Joseon dynasty]], the {{lang|ko|Naesi}} system was revised, and the department was renamed the "Department of {{lang|ko|Naesi|italics=no}}" ({{Korean|내시부|內侍府|labels=no}}).<ref name="Naesi">{{cite web |url=http://100.naver.com/100.nhn?docid=367722 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130129153043/http://100.naver.com/100.nhn?docid=367722 |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 January 2013 |title=내시 : 지식백과 |language=ko |website=100.naver.com |access-date=17 December 2015 }}</ref>

The {{lang|ko|Naesi}} system included two ranks, those of {{lang|ko|Sangseon}} ({{Korean|상선|尙膳|labels=no}}, "Chief of {{lang|ko|Naesi|italics=no}}"), who held the official title of senior second rank, and {{lang|ko|Naegwan}} ({{Korean|내관|內官|labels=no}}, "Common official {{lang|ko|naesi|italics=no}}"), both of which held rank as officers. 140 {{lang|ko|naesi}} in total served the palace in Joseon dynasty period. They also took the exam on [[Confucianism]] every month.<ref name= "Naesi"/> The {{lang|ko|naesi}} system was repealed in 1894 following [[Gabo reform]].{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}

According to legend, castration consisted of daubing a boy's [[genital]]s with human [[feces]] and having a dog bite them off.<ref>{{cite book |via= Google Books| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=U-fc5X0cUjwC&pg=PA280|title=Manthropology: The Science of Why the Modern Male Is Not the Man He Used to Be|author=Peter McAllister|year=2010|publisher=Macmillan|isbn= 978-0-312-55543-6|page=280}}</ref> During the [[Yuan dynasty]], eunuchs became a desirable commodity for [[tributes]], and dog bites were replaced by more sophisticated surgical techniques.<ref>{{cite book |via= Google Books |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=S3Y2PTI_vYYC&pg=PA137|title=Children in slavery through the ages|author1=Gwyn Campbell |author2=Suzanne Miers |author3=Joseph Calder Miller |year=2009|publisher=Ohio University Press|isbn=978-0-8214-1877-2|page=137}}</ref>

===Vietnam===
The Vietnamese adopted the eunuch system and castration techniques from China. Records show that the Vietnamese performed castration in a painful procedure by removing the entire genitalia with both penis and testicles being cut off with a sharp knife or metal blade. The procedure was agonizing since the entire penis was cut off.<ref>{{cite news|title= Bí mật về thái giám trong cung triều Nguyễn|author= Theo Công An Nhân Dân|url= https://znews.vn/bi-mat-ve-thai-giam-trong-cung-trieu-nguyen-post336065.html|newspaper= Zing News|date= 18 July 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130721110844/http://news.zing.vn/xa-hoi/bi-mat-ve-thai-giam-trong-cung-trieu-nguyen/a336065.html|archive-date= 21 July 2013|url-status= live}}</ref> The young man's thighs and abdomen would be tied, and others would pin him down on a table. The genitals would be washed with pepper water and then cut off. A tube would be then inserted into the urethra to allow urination during healing.<ref>{{cite news|title=Bí mật về thái giám trong cung triều Nguyễn|author=Theo Công An Nhân Dân|url=https://znews.vn/bi-mat-ve-thai-giam-trong-cung-trieu-nguyen-post336065.html|newspaper=Zing news|date=18 July 2013| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130721110844/http://news.zing.vn/xa-hoi/bi-mat-ve-thai-giam-trong-cung-trieu-nguyen/a336065.html|archive-date=21 July 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> Many Vietnamese eunuchs were products of self-castration in order to gain access to the palaces and power. In other cases, they might be paid to become eunuchs. They served in many capacities, from supervising public works, to investigating crimes, to reading public proclamations.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Taylor |first1=K. W. |title=A history of the Vietnamese |date=2013 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0521875868 |page=121}}</ref>

[[Lý Thường Kiệt]] was a prominent eunuch general during the [[Lý dynasty]] (1009–1225).

The [[Trần dynasty]] sent Vietnamese boy eunuchs as tribute to Ming dynasty China several times, in 1383, 1384 and 1385<ref name="Tsai 1996 p. 15">Tsai (1996), p. 15 {{Google books|Ka6jNJcX_ygC|The Eunuchs in the Ming dynasty (Ming Tai Huan Kuan)|page=15}}</ref> Nguyen Dao, Nguyen Toan, Tru Ca, and Ngo Tin were among several Vietnamese eunuchs sent to China.<ref>Nguyẽ̂n (2008), p. 169 {{Google books|tUN8tC0ftJcC|The History Buddhism in Vietnam, Vol. IIID.5|page=169}}</ref>

During the [[Fourth Chinese domination of Vietnam]], the Ming Chinese under the [[Yongle Emperor]] castrated many young Vietnamese boys, choosing them for their handsomeness and ability, and brought them to Nanjing to serve as eunuchs. Among them were the architect-engineer [[Nguyễn An]]<ref>Wang (2000), p. 135 {{Google books|CdJKLd2jJq0C|Aching for Beauty: Footbinding in China|page=135}}</ref> and [[Nguyen Lang]] ({{lang|vi-Hani|阮浪}}).<ref>Goodrich (1976), p. 691 {{Google books|067On0JgItAC|Dictionary of Ming Biography, 1368–1644|page=691}}</ref> Vietnamese were among the many eunuchs of different origins found at Yongle's court.<ref>Campbell (2009), p. 147 {{Google books|S3Y2PTI_vYYC|Children in Slavery Through the Ages|page=147}}</ref> Among the eunuchs in charge of the Capital Battalions of [[Beijing]] was Xing An, a Vietnamese.<ref>Tran (2006), p. 116 {{Google books|tzh1fQEEFPAC|Việt Nam: Borderless Histories|page= 116}}</ref>

In the [[Lê dynasty]] the Vietnamese Emperor [[Lê Thánh Tông]] was aggressive in his relations with foreign countries including China. A large amount of trade between Guangdong and Vietnam happened during his reign. Early accounts recorded that the Vietnamese captured Chinese whose ships had blown off course and detained them. Young Chinese men were selected by the Vietnamese for castration to become eunuch slaves to the Vietnamese. It has been speculated by modern historians that the Chinese who were captured and castrated by the Vietnamese were involved in trade between China and Vietnam instead of actually being blown off course by the wind and they were punished as part of a crackdown on foreign trade by Vietnam.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/miscellaneouspa00irelgoog|title=Miscellaneous papers relating to Indo-China: reprinted for the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society from Dalrymple's "Oriental Repertory," and the "Asiatic Researches" and "Journal" of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Volume 1|author=Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Straits Branch, Reinhold Rost|publisher=Trübner & Co.|year=1887|location=LONDON|page=[https://archive.org/details/miscellaneouspa00irelgoog/page/n278 252]}}</ref>

Several Malay envoys from the [[Malacca sultanate]] were attacked and captured in 1469 by the Lê dynasty of Annam (Vietnam) as they were returning to Malacca from China. The Vietnamese enslaved and castrated the young from among the captured.<ref name="Tsai 1996 p. 15"/><ref>Rost (1887), p. 252 {{Google books|utZMAAAAYAAJ|Miscellaneous papers relating to Indo-China and Indian archipelage: reprinted for the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. Second Series, Volume 1| page= 252}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Wade|2005|pp=3785–3786}}</ref>

A 1472 entry in the [[Ming Shilu]] reported that when some Chinese from [[Nanhai District|Nanhai county]] escaped back to China after their ship had been blown off course into Vietnam, where they had been forced to serve as soldiers in Vietnam's military. The escapees also reported that they found out up to 100 Chinese men remained captives in Vietnam after they were caught and castrated by the Vietnamese after their ships were blown off course into Vietnam. The Chinese Ministry of Revenue responded by ordering Chinese civilians and soldiers to stop going abroad to foreign countries.<ref>{{harvnb|Wade|2005|pp=2078–2079}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Chinese State at the Borders |year=2007 |publisher=UBC Press |isbn=978-0774813334 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/chinesestateatbo0000unse/page/92 |author=Leo K. Shin |edition=illustrated |chapter=Ming China and Its Border with Annam |editor=Diana Lary |access-date=5 January 2013 |page=[https://archive.org/details/chinesestateatbo0000unse/page/92 92] }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=明實錄 (Ming Shilu)|chapter-url=http://wenxian.fanren8.com/06/03/49/106.htm|access-date=5 January 2013|language=zh|chapter=首页 > 06史藏-1725部 > 03别史-100部 > 49-明实录宪宗实录-- > 106-明宪宗纯皇帝实录卷之一百六|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921053755/http://wenxian.fanren8.com/06/03/49/106.htm|archive-date=21 September 2013}}</ref><ref>《明宪宗实录》卷一百六，成化八年七月癸亥</ref> China's relations with Vietnam during this period were marked by the punishment of prisoners by castration.<ref>Tsai (1996), p. 16 {{Google books|Ka6jNJcX_ygC|The Eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty (Ming Tai Huan Kuan)|page=16}}</ref><ref>Tsai (1996), p. 245 {{Google books|Ka6jNJcX_ygC|The Eunuchs in the Ming dynasty (Ming Tai Huan Kuan)|page=245}}</ref>

A 1499 entry in the Ming Shilu recorded that 13 Chinese men from [[Wenchang]] including a young man named Wu Rui were captured by the Vietnamese after their ship was blown off course while traveling from [[Hainan]] to [[Guangdong]]'s Qin subprefecture ([[Qinzhou]]), after which they ended up near the coast of Vietnam, during the [[Chenghua Emperor]]'s rule (1447–1487). Twelve of them were enslaved to work as agricultural laborers, while the youngest, [[Wu Rui (eunuch)|Wu Rui]] was selected for castration since he was the only young man and he became a eunuch attendant at the [[Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long|Vietnamese imperial palace in Thang Long]]. After years of service, he was promoted at the death of the Vietnamese ruler in 1497 to a military position in northern Vietnam. A soldier told him of an escape route back to China and Wu Rui escaped to [[Longzhou County|Longzhou]]. The local chief planned to sell him back to the Vietnamese, but Wu was rescued by the [[Pingxiang, Guangxi|Pingxiang]] magistrate and then was sent to Beijing to work as a eunuch in the palace.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Chinese State at the Borders |year=2007 |publisher=UBC Press |isbn=978-0774813334 |url=https://archive.org/details/chinesestateatbo0000unse/page/91 |author=Leo K. Shin |edition=illustrated |author-link=Ming China and Its Border with Annam |editor=Diana Lary |access-date=5 January 2013 |page=[https://archive.org/details/chinesestateatbo0000unse/page/91 91] }}</ref>

The ''[[Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư]]'' records that in 1467 in An Bang province of Dai Viet (now [[Quảng Ninh Province]]) a Chinese ship blew off course onto the shore. The Chinese were detained and not allowed to return to China as ordered by Le Thanh Tong.<ref>Cooke (2011), p. 108 {{Google books|7mlKjn3FfoMC|The Tongking Gulf Through History|page=108}}</ref> This incident may be the same one where Wu Rui was captured.<ref name="Cooke 2011 p. 109">Cooke (2011), p. 109 {{Google books|7mlKjn3FfoMC|The Tongking Gulf Through History|page=109}}</ref>

In the [[Nguyễn dynasty]] the poet [[Hồ Xuân Hương]] mocked eunuchs in her poem as a stand-in for criticizing the government.<ref>Chandler (1987), p. 129 {{Google books|jzUz9lKn6PEC|In Search of Southeast Asia: A Modern History|page=129}}</ref>

Commoners were banned from undergoing castration in Vietnam; only adult men of high social rank could be castrated. Most eunuchs were born as such with a congenital abnormality. The Vietnamese government mandated that boys born with defective genitalia were to be reported to officials, in exchange for the town being freed from mandatory labor requirements. The boy would have the option of serving as a eunuch official or serving the palace women when he became ten years old.<ref>Andaya (2006), p. 177 {{Google books|tClCMl7hswQC|The Flaming Womb: Repositioning Women in Early Modern Southeast Asia|page=177}}</ref> This law was put in place in 1838 during the Nguyễn dynasty.<ref>Woodside (1971), p. 66 {{Google books|0LgSI9UQNpwC|Vietnam and the Chinese Model: A Comparative Study of Nguyen and Ch'ing Civil Government in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century|page=66}}</ref> The only males allowed inside the Forbidden City at [[Huế]] were the Emperor and his eunuchs.<ref>Fodor's (2012), p. 31 {{Google books|j6EtDnQnnvAC|Fodor's See It Vietnam, 3rd Edition|page=31}}</ref>

The presence of eunuchs in Vietnam was used by the French colonizers to degrade the Vietnamese.<ref>Stearns (2006), p. 1 {{Google books|oJFrN5tRlCgC|Aching for Beauty: Footbinding in China|page=1}}</ref>

===Americas===
In 1778, [[Thomas Jefferson]] wrote a bill in Virginia reducing the punishment for rape, polygamy, or sodomy from death to castration.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Thomas Jefferson, A Bill for Proportioning Crimes and Punishments 1778 Papers 2:492—504l |url=http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/amendVIIIs10.html}}</ref> Over the years, several U.S. states have passed laws regarding chemical castration for sex offenders but not one state has mandatory castration. In 2016, Alabama lawmaker [[Steve Hurst]] proposed a bill requiring certain sex offenses to require the perpetrator be castrated prior to their release from state custody.<ref name="CBS_US_Castration_Bill">{{cite news |title=Lawmaker introduces sex offender castration bill in Alabama |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lawmaker-introduces-sex-offender-castration-bill-in-alabama/|work=CBS News |date=7 March 2016}}</ref>

A 1969 study found that men institutionalized at the same facility in Kansas lived an extra 14 years, on average, if they were castrated.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2013-03-07|title=Castrated men live longer|url=https://ami.group.uq.edu.au/castrated-men-live-longer|access-date=2020-07-13|website=ami.group.uq.edu.au|language=en}}</ref>

In 1983, Judge C. Victor Pyle sentenced three men convicted of rape to choose between 30 years in prison or castration.<ref name="NYT_US_1983_Judge_Pyle">{{cite news |last1=Schmidt |first1=William E. |title=Rape Sentence: Castration or 30 Years |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/11/26/us/rape-sentence-castration-or-30-years.html|work=The New York Times|date=26 November 1983}}</ref> The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that the castration option would be cruel, however, and the men were sentenced to prison.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hirsley|first=Michael|date=10 January 1985|title=3 ask for castration as option to prison|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1985-01-10-8501020772-story.html|access-date=13 July 2020|website=Chicago Tribune|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Ellis|first=Mike|date=20 January 2016|title=Anderson's infamous rapist, once set to be castrated, gets new prison term|url=https://www.independentmail.com/story/news/local/2016/01/20/andersons-infamous-rapist-once-set-to-be-castrated-gets-new-prison-term/88660372/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200715092641/https://www.independentmail.com/story/news/local/2016/01/20/andersons-infamous-rapist-once-set-to-be-castrated-gets-new-prison-term/88660372/|archive-date=15 July 2020|access-date=2020-07-13|website=Independent Mail|language=en}}</ref>