Surviving the Fall of the Qing

Abstract

This chapter chronicles the last days of the palace eunuch system after the fall of the Qing and the rise of the republic in 1911 and examine eunuch survival strategies in the years that followed. Some palace eunuchs would continue to serve the “little court.” By 1924, though, the realities of the republic and the calls for modernity would become readily apparent. Pu Yi, the former Xuantong emperor (r. 1909–1912), would abruptly expel the remaining eunuchs from the palace and force them onto the street with their belongings. Now outside the palace walls, eunuchs faced the challenge of surviving in a society that no longer needed their services. While some would capitalize on their former knowledge of the imperial court in order to earn money, others found that they would need to reinvent themselves and find alternate career paths in order to survive.