This book is unusual because the subject itself is unusual. Eunuchs! What do we know about them, other than statements full of bewilderment, sometimes contempt, usually based on ignorance or misunderstanding of the essence of a complex phenomenon. Who are these people, how did they become eunuchs, what place did they occupy in society? The book will talk about China, a country where the institution of eunuchs existed for many centuries. Secrets of the court, court intrigues, intimate secrets were associated with eunuchs... These are pictures of Chinese history, little known in China itself, and even more so, outside it. Interesting are the fragments of those literary monuments that talk about the fate of the court eunuchs, some of whom became literary heroes. Compiled by: D.N. Voskresensky, V.N. Usov.