talent. The biography, which appears in the Song History, displays the typical disdain and prejudice that eunuchs suffered even if they were such talented individuals as Guan:"It was his nature to be cunning and fawning. From being an attendant in the side-apartments of the palace, because he was skilled at manipulating the weighty as well as the trivial intentions of people, he was able by means of first serving in order to later command. (in Di Cosmo, 208) "Another famous eunuch was Zheng He (1371-1433 CE) who made seven voyages to the Indian Ocean for Emperor Chengzu. One of Hes fleets was composed of 317 ships, including 62 'treasure ships' full of gifts for foreign rulers and over 30,000 men. On his various travels, He followed Arab trading routes and stopped off at such far-flung places as Vietnam, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, and East Africa. He then returned to China and wowed the court with his exotic captures such as giraffes, lions, and fabulous gems.LATER HISTORYFrom the early 15th century CE the eunuchs set up their own mini-bureaucracy at court where they could ferret away paperwork and filter out the input of government ministers in state affairs. It even included a secret service branch which could investigate corruption or identify suspects who might plot against the status quo and imprison, beat, and torture them if necessary in the prison the eunuchs had created for that purpose. At the end of the century, this eunuch-led apparatus had grown spectacularly to 12,000 employees, making it the equal of the official state bureaucracy. By the latter stages of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 CE) there were some 70,000 eunuchs, and they had established almost complete domination of the imperial court. During that period four infamous dictators - Wang Zhen, Wang Zhi, Liu Jin, and Wei Zhongxian - were all eunuchs. The power they held and the political intrigues they often stirred up resulted in the eunuchs becoming infamous, and they were especially unpopular with Confucianist scholars. Huang Zongxi, the Ming dynasty Neo-Confucianist thinker here sums up the general view of eunuchs in Chinese history: "Everyone has known for thousands of years that eunuchs are like poison and wild beasts" (in Dillon, 93).-ABOUT THE AUTHORMark CartwrightMark holds an M.A. in Greek philosophy and his special interests include ceramics, the ancient Americas, and world mythology. He loves visiting and reading about historic sites and transforming that experience into free articles accessible to all.fonte: @edisonmariotti #edisonmariottihttp://www.ancient.eu/article/1109/?mc_cid=c0047d4d12&mc_eid=29abc3e159Cultura nao e o que entra pelos olhos e ouvidos,mas o que modifica o jeito de olhar e ouvir. A cultura e o amor devem estar juntos.Vamos compartilhar.Culture is not what enters the eyes and ears, but what modifies the way of looking and hearing.--br via tradutor do googleEunucos na China antiga.Os eunucos eram poderosos jogadores politicos no antigo governo chines. Originando como escravos de confianca na casa real, eles eram ambiciosos para usar sua posicao privilegiada para obter o poder politico. Aconselhar o imperador dentro do palacio e bloquear o acesso dos funcionarios ao seu governante, os eunucos acabaram por adquirir titulos nobres,