Lingchi punishment first appeared in the Five Dynasties, and was officially named Liao Dynasty punishment. Since then, Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties have stipulated it as a statutory punishment, which is the most cruel death penalty.
This criminal law is mainly used to punish some of the ten evils, such as rebellion and rebellion. During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, if parents or in-laws, sons killed their fathers and wives killed their husbands, it was also a felony against ethics and morality, and they were sentenced to death. But later, in order to suppress the peasants' resistance, those who failed to pay taxes on time were also punished by late death, which was particularly prominent during the Ming Taizu period.
Ling Chi's punishment is cruel. Generally speaking, it means to cut off pieces of human flesh. There are also differences in execution methods in past dynasties. Usually cut eight knives, first beheaded, then cut hands and feet, then cut the chest and abdomen, and finally beheaded. But it's actually more than eight knives. There were 24 knives, 36 knives, 72 knives and 120 knives in the Qing Dynasty. Twenty-four knives are: one or two knives to cut eyebrows, three or four knives to cut shoulders, five or six knives to cut chest, seven or eight knives to cut elbows, ninety knives to cut the part between elbows and shoulders, eleven or two knives to cut leg meat, thirteen or four knives to cut leg belly, fifteen knives to stab the heart, sixteen knives to cut head and seventeen or eight knives to cut hands.
In actual implementation, most of them were Liu Jin, an evil eunuch of the Ming Dynasty, who was chopped for three days * * * 4,700 knives. By 1905 Guangxu, the penalty of year in was abolished.
Execute by dismembering the body
Ethnic minorities in Asia and the Middle East especially like this kind of punishment. The key to this punishment is to scatter the human body until death.
The Persian Empire divided the rebels into four parts. When the ancient Romans dealt with female prisoners, they cut off their breasts first, and for male prisoners, they cut off their genitals first. When the ancient Greeks cut meat, they had to add the procedure of deboning, which made the prisoner look like a doll filled with sawdust. But compared with China people, other ethnic groups are rough. China people have developed this year to its peak, making it a stunt. At the beginning of the execution, the executioner will skillfully cut out the Adam's apple of the prisoner to prevent him from shouting. Then quickly bleed to dress the wound. The first part is the back, and the meat cut by each knife must be only the size of a fingernail. To kill an adult, you must use 3357 knives, and the knives must bleed and lose meat. It should be glued to it with a large white porcelain plate for the audience to appreciate and get appreciation. If the prisoner dies before the specified number of knives, the executioner will be laughed at by the audience and may lose his job.
A Brief History of Torture in China
In the 20th century10s, "Lingchi" became famous in Europe because the photos taken by French soldiers in 1904 and 1905 were edited into postcards. However, torture was abolished in April 1905. In France, In the Year of Death is regarded as the ultimate representative of "torture in China", which inspired countless writers and artists, even until 1960 George Battier's photo collection was published, and these photos were later redrawn by Chen Jieren. These images symbolize China, its history and civilization, and similar styles continue to influence westerners today.
Since the beginning of the 20th century, "mid-year" has become the most typical penalty in China's penalty system. However, the fact is just the opposite: the year of the year is very different from the ancient punishment and should belong to the modern punishment. Although the word "nian" first appeared in the tenth century, it was not formally incorporated into the criminal law until the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Neither the penalty itself nor its name probably originated in China. In addition, in 1905, Shen Jiaben, a legal historian, wrote a letter, demanding the deletion of capital punishment such as Ling Chi, which is also one of the arguments. After all, "in that year" did not conform to the legal spirit, penalty characteristics and application methods of our country, and looked more like the punishment type of "special law". Of course, this special law belongs to the emperor's judicial system and is recorded in the Yuan Law. However, careful observation shows that setting an incorrect penalty violates the normal legal spirit. Scholars have always called it cruel and inhuman punishment from its establishment to its abolition.
In, it was a punishment of dismemberment, which included cutting off and separating limbs. Photographs taken in the late Qing Dynasty show the real "eight knives" execution. Eight knives, the executioner used a basket of numbered sharp knives: the first knife, cutting the chest (all from the left and other parts below); The second knife, cut the biceps; The third knife, thigh; The fourth knife and the fifth knife cut the arm to the elbow; The sixth knife and the seventh knife cut the calf to the knee; Eighth knife, first knife. After dismemberment, the remains of the body were put into a basket and the head was publicly displayed indefinitely. This is the practice in the late Qing dynasty, commonly known as "sixteen knives", "thirty-two knives" and "three hundred and sixty knives" ... but we don't know if these figures really exist or are just imaginary numbers. The "knife" in the Ming Dynasty means cutting and "excessive", and the number is accumulated, and the execution time is prolonged. 15 10, eunuch Liu Jin was sentenced to "flogging" for three days on suspicion of plotting a mutiny, but died the next day. This is a special case. Eunuch was hated to be put to death and was sentenced to the heaviest crime. "History of Ming Dynasty" never mentioned that Liu Jin was punished in the middle of the year, but "died in the city", which belongs to the form of "abandoning the city" and clearly stated that he must be publicly executed.
It is not easy to distinguish the "year-end" from other similar punishments and understand the practice of "year-end" before the Qing Dynasty. When we further explore the origin of this punishment, clearer relevant information becomes less and less. We must first distinguish: on the one hand, these punishment practices include dismemberment; The appearance of the word "year after year" shows the legitimacy of criminal law interpretation.
If we look at the chronicle of the ancient criminal law, we can find many cases in which generals and officials were cut in history, and the scariest details can be associated with the kitchen menu. After reading these historical episodes, I am confused about the origin of "Year". Of course, there are two ways to behead a corpse: when the so-called "death penalty" is used, the corpse is completely cut off, the prisoner becomes the meat of a cannibal, and the enemy can have a big meal in his own hall; On the other hand, the "mid-year" punishment is the opposite. After the body is dismembered, the human body shape can still be recognized and displayed in the market afterwards. In addition, there is a basic difference: the case of "Guo" punishment is extremely rare and unique, and historians carefully keep it as a cruel and terrible tyrant example. Although these cases are horrible, they are all anecdotes, and may even be just stories. On the contrary, from the end of 1 1, "mid-year" is a widely known and frequently executed punishment, not just anecdotes or legends, but a truly shocking historical fact.
We have also found many similar "years of imprisonment" to punish rebellion and rebellion. For example, in 6 13, Emperor Yang Di sentenced the rebels to dismember, pierce arrows and exterminate the country. Similarly, the Sui Dynasty also deleted corporal punishment from the Sui Law. This kind of punishment is not only used in judicial trials, but also in wartime, and it is real. Almost every dynasty can see similar punishment, which is usually called "punishment" or "solution", so it is often associated with: the word "year of the year" does not apply to a dismembered corporal punishment, but is only used in court legal decisions. All the key issues are to understand: how to use extreme methods in special cases and occupy a place in the code, so it becomes a perfect "crime" in law, and judges can often use it to sentence.
Origin and mysterious names
The word "Ling Chi" first appeared in Criminal Records of Liao History and was named as a kind of corporal punishment. This noun is very mysterious. Undoubtedly, it is a combination of Chinese characters and Qidan language.
We can find almost the same nouns in the past dynasties, but the first word most often appears next to the word "fu" as "spirit"; "Ling" means hill; The word "late" cannot be interpreted as "late" in modern Chinese, but a verb of "spreading" or "scraping". Specifically, "Lingchi" can refer to a gradually flattened or flattened mound, which means a mound and the collective burial of a clan. However, the historical records of some dynasties are symbolic: "Mausoleum", earth dikes along slopes or canals, represent systems and laws, and delimit national boundaries; "Late" means the sinking and collapse of the border. So "the year of the year" means the beginning of decline, and effective measures must be taken to prevent the system from crashing. Therefore, this term is not directly related to the penalty system, and it was not used until the Liao Dynasty to refer to a kind of corporal punishment. There are some differences in writing (people find that writing is "lasting" rather than "late"), and the word "ling" next to the word ice becomes more commonly used than the word "ling" next to the character. There are also two ways to write in the history of Song Dynasty, but since Yuan Dynasty, only the second way can be found, that is, the word "Ling" next to the word "Bing", and it will always only be used as an explanation of punishment. Ancient Chinese characters only appeared in ancient books, and later people no longer adopted them. From then on, "revenue" is only the name of corporal punishment, and a few knowledgeable people will remember its meaning.
What the hell happened? Certainly, it was originally a noun in the Khitan language, and its pronunciation is very close to the Chinese character "Niannian". It was a kind of corporal punishment used under the regime of the Khitan Liao Dynasty, which may be to cut a bound prisoner with a knife. After much consideration, the term was fixed to refer to this kind of corporal punishment in Liao Dynasty, which ruled China.
For China scholars who study the reform of the penalty system, this kind of penalty is savage and its terminology is obscure. Although it does not belong to the "five punishments" system, it obviously has Chinese characters. However, it is not only a way of execution in barbarian areas or foreign dynasties, but also an increasingly frequent, systematic and irregular method, which spread from Song Dynasty to Yuan Dynasty and from Ming Dynasty to Qing Dynasty. China in these dynasties, like the dynasties established by prairie people, has been passed down continuously. Zhu Yuanzhang, who first fought against the Great Khan of Mongolia and later became Ming Taizu, promulgated "Da Gao", and punished all kinds of crimes, especially the corruption of officials, with the penalty of "the middle of the year", even if the amount of property was no exception.