Dulcey's Mindfulness

Ursula has a sad story but also somewhat easier story than other slaves.  Reading it made me think about how life could have been if I didn't grow up in the time and place that I did. There is so much opportunity in the Bay Area, while not always easy, I wasn't born into slavery. Ursula, on the other hand, was born into slavery as her mother was a slave. She was more fortunate than other slaves, being born into a wealthy aristocratic family and by age 8 (my daughter's age), she was sent to live in another home with religious values. She was definitely a slave, taking care of her owner's personal needs, and cooked, cleaned and took care of those that fell ill. Due to the wealth of her owner, she was able to elevate herself among the other slaves. However, things took a dramatic change, when in 1642, she almost died by falling into a well. Given this event, Ursula decided to change her ways and give up the lavishness of her lifestyle and stopped wearing the nice clot...

Good evening friends, Thought I would discuss what I found a bit unnerving and a bit shocking as I had never even heard of this before. It's called becoming a eunuch or being castrated. I actually felt a bit sad with the reading as it seems so foreign to remove one's genitals. In the case of Zheng He, this was not by his choosing.  Born in 1371, Zheng's roots were from Central Asia. His dad and grandfather were Muslims and had also made the pilgrimage to Mecca.  His father was killed resisting forces of the Ming dynasty.  He was taken prisoner at the young age of 11. It's unbelievable to me that the Ming dynasty would castrate a young boy. I mean what horror he must have experienced. It's written there was a long history of this practice and over one million eunuchs served the Chinese emperor. Is this like castration for horses and they felt men would obey their rulers if they lost their manhood? While it seems odd, there were several men who voluntarily gave up...