Reading an entry in LIFE on haunting of the Forbidden City in Beijing, “one of the world’s largest palaces” where jade jewelry, greedy ghosts, music, and ladies in waiting accompanied by eunuchs are part of the environment. “If any structure in the world has the right to be haunted, it’s the 9,000-room imperial palace” that served dynasties from 1421 to 1911, the entry says, noting an associated amount “of intrigue and violence.”
The entry notes that haunting is often associated with old buildings, and much of modern mainland China “is determined to raze reminders of its past in the name of ‘progress,'” citing the 2001 opening of a Starbucks in the Forbidden City.
This entry mentions the role of eunuchs more than once in Forbidden City intrigue. I think losing one’s sexuality must change a person’s mindset greatly. One of my favorite literary theorists in graduate school was Canadian writer Northrop Frye. His archetypal theory seemed to emphasize the interplay between male and female forces. What would drive continued daily existence without either of these? Supposedly, eunuchs were more trusted and even happier to some extent than others.