The History of the Eunuch

Zheng Ha was castrated and made into a eunuch in the early 1380s. This was not an uncommon thing during this period, the practice of making eunuchs out of boys and young men went back over a thousand years. Zheng Ha would be given to the family of Judea, who governed in Baping, the name later changed to Beijing, on the northern frontier of the empire. He would fight beside the prince, learning the arts of war and the skills of leadership. By the 1390s, he would play a significant role in the campaigns against the Mongols.