In China, male castration of a person who entered the caste of eunuchs during imperial times involved the removal of the whole genitalia, that is, the removal of the testes, penis, and scrotum. The removed organs were returned to the eunuch to be interred with him when he died so that, upon rebirth, he could become a whole man again. The penis, testicles and scrotum were euphemistically termed bǎo (寶) in Mandarin Chinese, which literally means ‘precious treasure’. These were preserved in alcohol and kept in a pottery jar by the eunuch. In China the practice of using castrated men as guardians of the emperor’s Inner court began over 2,000 years ago. Aside from the emperor, eunuchs were generally the only men allowed in the inner courtyards of the palace, where the women and harem lived.
Famous Chinese Eunuchs
Cheng Ho, or Zheng He, was born in Kunyang, Yunnan province, China, in 1371. He was captured and sent to the Chinese army in 1382 where he helped Chu Ti become Emperor Yonglo of the Ming Dynasty. In thanks, he was made Grand Imperial Eunuch and his name was changed to Zheng He. He headed a series of naval expeditions all over the Indian Ocean. Zheng had diplomatic, scientific, and commercial goals, while travelling farther than any other admiral in history at the time. He visited more than 35 countries during his voyages. Zheng took more than 100 ships and about 28,000 men in his Grand Fleet. The largest vessels were longer than all of Columbus’ ships put end to end. By the seventh and last voyage, Zheng had been to east Africa, the Persian Gulf, Egypt, and Ceylon. He set up diplomatic relations in all the countries he visited and received tribute. When in Ceylon, Zheng helped restore the legitimate ruler to the throne. In Indonesia, the fleet defeated a powerful Chinese pirate who was later brought back to China for execution. Zheng’s voyages not only established Chinese trade routes throughout Asia and Africa, but also established China as the dominant power and most technologically advanced culture in the known world. He died during a trip home from India and China banned all further expeditions.
Li Lianyang accumulated vast influence as the, favorite eunuch of the Empress Dowager Cixi, who climbed from a concubine third-grade to become ruler of China for 40 years in the.19th century. Li headed an Imperial staff of thousands of cooks, gardeners, laundrymen, cleaners, painters and other eunuchs, who were classified in a complex hierarchy of 48 separate grades. Though eunuchs were generally illiterate, Li Lianyang, could read enough to wield influence over officials.
Sun Yaoting was China’s last imperial eunuch died at 93 in 1996 in a Beijing temple after a life spanning the end of an dynasty and a Communist revolution. Only months after his family had him castrated in1911, the Manchu Dynasty, which had ruled China since the early 1660s was overthrown. Mr. Sun continued to serve Pu-Yi, for a decade. The parts removed, called the ‘precious,’ are prepared and kept in common pint jars, hermetically sealed, and placed on a high shelf. Should a eunuch be promoted he has to show the ‘precious’ to the chief eunuch or he cannot obtain his rank. When he dies, they are placed in the coffin and buried with him, because he wishes to be as complete as possible when departing into another world to allow reincarnation as a whole man. During the Cultural Revolution, Mr. Sun’s family destroyed his ‘precious’.

Drawn while on the Great Plains, among the Sac and Fox Indians, the sketch depicts a ceremonial dance to celebrate the two-spirit person.
Gay Native Americans call themselves Two-Spirits and have historically been considered a third sex, though they did not suffer castration, which was not common in the Americas.  Two-Spirit People is an English term that emerged in 1990, out of the third annual inter-tribal Native American/First Nations gay and lesbian conference, in Winnipeg, to describe Native Americans who fulfill one of many mixed gender roles found traditionally among many Native Americans and Canadian First Nations indigenous groups. The mixed gender roles encompassed by the term historically included wearing the clothing and performing the work associated with both men and women.
 A direct translation of the Ojibwe term, Niizh manidoowag, “two-spirited” or “two-spirit” is usually used to indicate a person whose body simultaneously houses a masculine spirit and a feminine spirit. The term can also be used more abstractly, to indicate presence of two contrasting human spirits (such as Warrior and Clan Mother) or two contrasting animal spirits (which, depending on the culture, might be Eagle and Coyote); however, these uses, while descriptive of some aboriginal cultural practices and beliefs, depart somewhat from the 1990 purposes of promoting the term.
Prior to western contact, many American Native tribes had third-gender roles. These include “Berdaches” (a derogatory French term for genetic males who assumed a feminine role) and “Passing women” (genetic females who took on a masculine role). The term Berdache in not a Native American word; rather it was a European definition covering a range of third-gender people in different tribes. Not all Native American tribes had Transgender people.
These individuals are often viewed as having two spirits occupying one body. Their dress is usually a mixture of traditionally male and traditionally female articles. They have distinct gender and social roles in their tribes.
Two-spirited individuals perform specific social functions in their communities. In some tribes male-bodied two-spirits held active roles such as: healers or medicine persons, gravediggers, undertakers, handling and burying of the deceased, conduct mourning and sexual rites, conveyers of oral traditions and songs, nurses during war expeditions, foretold the future, conferred lucky names on children or adults, wove, made pottery, made beadwork and quillwork, arranged marriages, made feather regalia for dances, special skills in games of chance, led scalp-dances, and fulfilled special functions in connection with the setting up of the central post for the Sun Dance.
In some tribes female-bodied two-spirits typically took on roles such as: chief, council, trader, hunter, trapper, fisher, warrior, raider, guides, peace missions, vision quests, prophets, and medicine persons.
Two-spirit people, specifically male-bodied (biologically male, gender female), could go to war and have access to male activities such as sweat lodges. However, they also took on female roles such as cooking and other domestic responsibilities. It is obvious from the list above that Two-Spirits carried out many of the most important tasks of the tribes.
For more information about Two-Spirits, please visit TWO SPIRIT: GBLT INDIAN NATION.  It is a very interesting article.