This engrossing biography by Chinese historian Jia Yinghua fcatures first．hand accounts by Sun Yaoting of his adventures in the Forbidden City．his reunion with Pu Yi in Japanese—held Manchukuo in the 1 930s．his return to“normal”1ifc as a community organizer in the Buddhist temple where he 1ivcd out the rest of his lifc．

China’S 1ast eunuch Sun Yaoting died in December 1996 at age 94．He took with him intimate stories of the last vestiges of Imperial China and was himself the 1ast in the line of eunuchs who had served the royal family for more than 2，000 years．His personal iourney from poor farmboy to revered servant to PU Yi and Wanrong．China’S last emperor and empress，iS an amazing iourney which also chronicles nearly one century of turbulence and upheavalin Chinese history and culture．

This engrossing biography by Chinese historian Jia Yinghua fcatures first．hand accounts by Sun Yaoting of his adventures in the Forbidden City．his reunion with Pu Yi in Japanese—held Manchukuo in the 1 930s．his return to“normal”1ifc as a community organizer in the Buddhist temple where he 1ivcd out the rest of his lifc．

Beginning in the early 1 900s．Sun’S story follows events in China such as Pu Yi’S abdication of lmperial rule．the Japanese occupation 0f China which ended with the conclusion of World War 1 J．China’S civil war and the eventual victory of the Communist Party in 1 949．the　Cultural Revolution f 1 966—1 976)，and the subsequent "opening up"policy from which China has emerged as a leading economic and political power worldwide．

The Last Eunuch of China：The Life ol’Sun Yaoting iS a unique glimpse into China’S storied past from the perspective of a man who faithfully served China’s Imperial FamilY in the Forbidden City but was later forced to maneuver himsel f among thc tremendous and often turbulent events that became the history of 20th century China．AS Sun Yaoting recalls his experiences， he also recounts the lire of the dwindling eunuch community in China．

Prologue

1.Castration

1.The ChiefEunuch Comes Home

2.A ChildIlood Dream

3.The Castration

4.Private School

Prince Zai Tao’S Mansion

1.Arriving in the Capital

2.The Imperial Uncle

3.Loss ofthe Pigtail

4.The Restoration

5.Leaving Zai Tao

The Forbidden Citv

1.Entry into the Palace

2.ChiefEunuch Ren

3.High Consort Duankang

4.The Theatrical Troupe

5.Death ofEmperor's Mother

In the Red Walls

1.Head Eunuch Mu

2.The Accounting Office

3.Constant Learning

4.palace ofGreat Benevolence

5.Stories and Anecdotes

6.The Emperor's Wedding

7.Dispersal ofEunuchs

Serving the Imperial Couple

1.The Empress

2.Palace ofGathering Elegance

3.Languishing in Seclusion

4.The Capricious Emperor

5.nle Emperor's Secrets

Sunset in the Forbidden City

1.The Empress’s Birthday

2.The Expulsion

3.The Northern Mansion

4.Back at Home

Temple of Prosperity

1.Eunuch Sanctuary

2.Myriad Fates ofEunuchs

3.White—CloudTemple

4.Tales about Cixi

House Servant

1.Xiaode Zhang

2.Yao Mengshan

3.Prodigal Sons

Manchukuo

1.“New Capital”

2.Team ofOrderlies

3.Puppet Emperor

4.Visitors to the Palace

5.A Brutal Beating

6.Back at Home

Some Turbulent Years

1.An Amicable Japanese

2.Zha Qi'er

3.Silver Fish and Purple Crabs

4.Death ofChert Zechuan

Communist‘lhkeover

1.Temple ofGreat Bounty

2.L0rd Guall's Temple

3.People’s LiberationArmy

4.”Big Landlord”

After Liberation

1.An Investigation and a Lawsuit

2.The Fate ofXiaode Zhang

3.Back in the Temple ofProsperity.

4.Quarrels and Fights

Life in the New Society

1.Narrow Escape

2.A Forum ofEunuchs

3.TheGreatTurbulence

4.Homecoming in Disgrace

The Final Years

1.The Last Eunuch ofChina

2.Revisiting the Forbidden City

3.Peaceful Old Age

4.Secrets to Longevity

Gravestone in Silence