Profs & Pints Northern Virginia: The Eunuchs of Imperial China

Profs and Pints Northern Virginia presents: “The Eunuchs of Imperial China,” on the complex lives of castrated men who played a vital role in China’s history, with Justin Jacobs, professor of history at American University and scholar of ancient China and the Silk Road.

Eunuchs were important members of the royal courts of imperial China, despite many efforts to vilify them and erase them from the historical record. Come learn in depth about these complicated and controversial figures with Justin Jacobs, a historian of archaeology and Asia who teaches courses on ancient and modern China and previously has given several excellent Profs and Pints talks.

Dr. Jacobs will discuss the tragic but fascinating life cycle of the eunuchs of Chinese courts, describing their tumultuous youths, traumatic emasculations, and lives of demeaning service among highly educated Confucian scholars who viewed them as rivals and ritually excoriated them. You’ll learn about new research that enables us to understand more fully just why so many men in China once willingly submitted to the horrific mutilation of their bodies to better their lives.

To subvert traditional stereotypes and give the misunderstood eunuchs their due, Professor Jacobs will let you hear the voices of the last surviving eunuchs of the early twentieth century. He’ll also trace the eunuchs’ surprising fate after the fall of the last imperial dynasty.

It’s a talk that will greatly broaden your perspective on gender and world history. (Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. Talk starts 30 minutes later.)

Image: An early 1900s photo of eunuchs carrying a sedan holding China’s Empress Dowager Cixi. Photographer unknown / Public Domain