The eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty mostly came from humble backgrounds, and Zhang Jikai was no exception.
Some astute readers might have noticed upon first seeing the name Zhang Jikai—using "Ji" in his name indicates that he was the youngest in his family.
And when poor families were out of options, selling their children, they usually started with the youngest...
Zhang Jikai was sent into the palace at an age when his memories of his relatives were still vague and became a eunuch.
Thus, his upbringing... both physically and psychologically, was quite unlike that of ordinary people.
It goes without saying that physically, because he was castrated before puberty, he was, in a sense, better off than those who were castrated in their teens or even later.
