Title: Castration - Wikipedia
Headings: Castration
Castration
Contents
History
Africa and the Middle East
Europe
Myth
Slavery
Punishment
Modern era
China
Non-Han peoples
Korea
Vietnam
Americas
Iran
Modern trafficking
Prevention of crime
Criticism
Music
Religion
Hinduism
Christianity
Judaism
Islam
Others
Medical consequences
Psychoanalysis and literary theory
Chemical castration
Animals
See also
References
Bibliography
External links

Content: It may have arisen in the Neolithic period in response to animal husbandry, rising populations and population specialisation. Castration was frequently used for religious or social reasons in certain cultures in Europe, South Asia, Africa, and East Asia. After battles, winners sometimes castrated their captives or the corpses of the defeated to symbolize their victory and seize their "power". Castrated men — eunuchs – were often admitted to special social classes and were used particularly to staff bureaucracies and palace households: in particular, the harem. Castration also figured in a number of religious castration cults. Other religions, such as Judaism, were strongly opposed to the practice. The Leviticus Holiness code, for example, specifically excludes eunuchs or any males with defective genitals from the priesthood, just as castrated animals are excluded from sacrifice . Eunuchs in China had been known to usurp power in many eras of Chinese history, most notably in the Later Han, late Tang and late Ming dynasties. In ancient times, castration often involved emasculation or the total removal of all the male genitalia.