The literature that exists on the role of eunuchs in pre-modern bureaucracies suggests that purposive castration was a means of securing subordinate commitment and maintaining organizational control. This paper briefly summarizes this literature, and tests these conclusions against the Chinese experience. It finds that cultural factors were more important than the simple fact of desexualization in determining the role and behaviour of eunuchs, and that in many cases castration did not engender loyalty or commitment, or facilitate control.
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