During the feudal period in China, eunuchs were among the closest attendants to the emperor and the concubines in the imperial palace. They were always on duty day and night to serve their masters as quickly and effectively as possible.
Sun Yaoting was a eunuch who served under Emperor Puyi, revealing some significant secrets about life in the palace.
Among these revelations, Sun Yaoting disclosed that serving the emperor was not a simple task, as any mistakes could lead to severe punishment—light punishments included beating, while severe ones could result in execution. Aware of this, Sun Yaoting always strived to serve his master diligently to avoid errors. However, this eunuch could not escape making a mistake while attending to a concubine.
Falling asleep during night watch is a serious taboo for eunuchs.
Specifically, while on night watch duty in the concubine’s quarters, Sun Yaoting succumbed to sleepiness and dozed off for a while. This was a major taboo for eunuchs as they had to remain alert to respond immediately whenever their master called. If a eunuch fell asleep, they would not hear their master’s summons, which would anger the master and lead to punishment for failing to fulfill their duties.
Fortunately for Sun Yaoting, he woke up just before the concubine noticed he had fallen asleep. From that incident, this eunuch learned from the methods of other eunuchs to stay awake during night duties by placing a spiny burdock fruit in his shoe.
Burdock fruit with thorns.
According to Sun Yaoting, the burdock fruit is a wild fruit that looks quite unattractive and is covered in sharp thorns. If he stuffed this spiny burdock fruit into his shoe, he would be pricked by the thorns if he fell asleep. This pain would wake him up.
Moreover, placing this fruit in his shoe would allow the eunuch to walk more quietly, minimizing noise that could disturb his master. Consequently, he would experience less pain from being pricked by the burdock fruit.
