The differences between European Lingchi and Chinese Lingchi

At the end of the 20th century, Westerners began to view Chinese executions no longer as legal punishment, but as meticulous and exquisite displays of extreme pain. In a Turandot-like atmosphere, through the ambiguity of abuse, China's judicial trials, criminal laws and this country made it impossible for them to understand it in this way. In terms of expression, this is indeed a meaningful change. Since the 18th century, China's laws and governance style have been consistently cited as examples of "Oriental monarchy," but few scholars have argued that Chinese human nature loves cruelty. When rational thinking and analysis of works are gradually conquered by image data, people's opinions also begin to change. In the 19th century, a large number of photographic images appeared in the West. With the help of photography and modern mass communication technology, photographs were naturally very popular in the 1900s. We believe that the cruelty of the Chinese people actually relies mostly on the impression of "déjà vu" (déjà vu), and emotional stereotypes are more deeply rooted in people's hearts than prejudices passed down by word of mouth.

In order to analyze the causes of the so-called déjà vu, I tried to trace these images back. My understanding is roughly as follows: (1) China's execution pictures awaken the visual impression (or deja vu) of Western culture's deep-rooted worship of martyred Christians. (2) This iconography structures people's interpretation of execution punishment in China, and then adds this expectation to how the punishment should be displayed, what kind of message and impression should be conveyed, etc., all of which are enough to form a certain "necessary procedure" ” demand conditions. (3) The failure to realize such expectations - due to the lack of "necessary elements" or the presence of "excessive elements" - has caused people to feel anxious about the inhumanity and cruelty of executions in China and deepened their original expectations. impression.

In French or other Latin languages, this kind of "necessary procedure" has a more common term called supplice (Translator's Note: Hereinafter directly translated as "torture") (Note 1), due to the lack of relevant terms in English For the corresponding vocabulary, I will use the French word "torture" as an "interpretive framework" to explain Westerners' inner comments on Chinese-style torture, even though there is no special name in their mother tongue to construct this concept. I tried to highlight China's weight on this issue, focusing on the following three aspects: legitimacy, religion, and "visibility." Raw visual data will be used to show how images of torture frame interpretations, and will be combined with several real-life photographs documenting executions in China, before introducing bloody riots. In the book's illustrations, Chinese punishments have their "necessary procedures," and these detailed elements can be compared with torture patterns. Finally, I will cite evidence about Western discussions of Chinese torture, introduce these torture patterns, influence Westerners' perceptions, and the rhetoric that stigmatizes "Chinese-style cruelty."

Among them, Figure I-1: "Public Execution". This is a common feature of the historical scene of all penal systems, and I remember that the ritual of public executions in Europe was preserved until the end of the nineteenth century (Note 2). However, the urban public gradually became unhappy and disgusted by this, and then a wave of protests was set off, which pushed public executions to more remote and desolate places and existed in name only. All grades of cruel torture and punishment were either eliminated or abolished, and almost completely disappeared by the end of the eighteenth century. Since then, compared to Europe, China has not only maintained public executions, but also has various torture techniques preserved from the ancient penal system, which are highly visible in wealthy big cities.

Foreigners often see execution displays in China's big cities, and even see heads hanging high at busy market intersections. Beijing's Caishikou Execution Ground is notorious for its disgusting display of heads. The head in the cage gradually rotted away, and the eying dogs lingered greedily below (Note 3). Westerners' new appreciation for the spectacle of gore, coupled with China's boasting of displays of physical punishment, may explain their longstanding impression of China as a country with legitimate violence. However, many other countries also implement similar punishments, and some even still use the dismemberment punishment that China explicitly declared abolished in 1905. So how do we explain that only the latter is described as a country with "exquisite cruelty"? In all aspects, "cruelty" refers not only to the factors of publicity and frequency of executions, but also to the same spirit and intention. Cruelty cannot be regarded as a fact, but rather an atmosphere of expression.

The images of public executions are horrifying, but people ignore its other meaning: executions are legal in China. It is not only promulgated by judicial authorities, but more importantly, judges follow the standards set by the code. There has been no execution code in Europe since the end of the 18th century. Even Foucault defended the cruel punishment in classical Europe, saying that it was "a legitimate criminal law that requires professional skills and cannot be compared to illegal rage (Note 4)." In fact, the effectiveness of punishment relies on visual effects, allowing criminals to suffer the same pain through symbolic actions, such as "mirror penalties" (Note 5). Because they did not establish comprehensive penalty standards. Europe has opened up torture, allowing judges to freely use their ingenuity (Note 6). China not only formulates a criminal penalty code for executions, but also deliberately emphasizes compliance with the rules during the execution process. "Torture" in Europe mainly depends on the whims of monarchs and law enforcement officials, but they are similar to Chinese punishments in that they apply inhumane laws in a split second.

The other three pictures do not have similar situations in China. Before examining China, we first understand the Western picture more accurately. For example: Figure I-2: Executing the "Punishment Spectacle". No long explanation is needed, except to emphasize how precise the word "spectacle" is. For anyone who seriously interprets this word, it is believed that special devices should be used. First, there is a defined stage, usually isolated and elevated with supports. It also requires the performance of actors who change their character and enter the role of a model of atonement. Good performances also require plot design - a visual narrative story of "heroic success", shaping the process and ending of a calm sacrifice, and arranging symbolic interludes during the period: claiming to be willing to die as a Christian, kissing the executioner's feet, etc. The plot is adapted by experts, a religious congregation dedicated to the "regia degli supplizi" (kings of torture), who use a variety of props and tricks to help transform victims into martyrs (crown of thorns, etc.). Execution displays in Europe have many similarities to street theater miracle plays.

Figure I-3: A trial of redemption. Humane punishment is only a tangible part of the process. Although the sentence has been pronounced and sealed with signs of pain and repentance, the outcome can be invisible. The miraculous and severe sufferings endured in the visible world will be milder and faster in the coming invisible afterlife. Cruelty and suffering are therefore not accidental, but are based on practical needs, whereby they are ordered to perform the role of the show. A "good" executioner must perform extremely brutally, inflict the most severe pain, and help the victim obtain salvation in the afterlife; conversely, a good torturer must show all signs of suffering in order to fulfill his mission of becoming a Christian martyr or suffering God. tasks (Note 7). From then on, a bizarre "showdown" image formed between the executioner and the tortured. The executioner actually behaves not as a servant of the law, but as an enemy of crime, who must resist and destroy crime in the course of the battle, deploying all signs of divine ferocity. The executioner's competitor is not necessarily the victim himself, but the body that instigates him to sin. Therefore, the soul of the victim must unite with the executioner, and finally thank the executioner for saving him from sin.

Figure I-4: A highly ritualistic collective religious event. The ultimate purpose of all executions is to create or resuscitate a strong sense of political empathy among all involved. The spectacular installation makes the death penalty easily identifiable, turning it into a purifying performance of mercy. In a brief but passionate moment, individuals are melted into an ideal Christian community. In this sense, torture is a legitimate punishment that translates into the Mass. This kind of collective compassion relies on three basic elements: the executioner's cruelty, the victim's suffering and repentance, and the combination of both to inspire public sympathy. The ritual is arranged to melt these three elements - cruelty, pain and compassion, and sublimate them.

Generally speaking, European executions strongly evoke collective instincts through visual stimulation, focusing on symbolism, simulation, and purification. The aesthetics of their devices are more than rhetorical. Torture can not only be "performed live" like a drama, but can also be reproduced through various image methods (drawings, prints, oil paintings, etc.). Moreover, these aesthetic expressions interacted with each other: the conception of the stage installation was first influenced by paintings of the martyrdom of Christ, which themselves influenced later artists. The meaning of law is deeply rooted in the complex of "penal art". Regarding the latter, Edgerton has a clear introduction in his book on penal images in European art: "The absurdity associated with it, I will fully demonstrate that between the thirteenth and seventeenth centuries, painters, sculptors, architects Teachers, lawyers, judges and police officers - enforcers of art and law - cannot practice their respective disciplines without mutual influence." Why this type of "interaction" does not occur in China will be the main issue examined in this article.

2. Visual evidence of executions in China

Western historians rarely use visual documents as sources of evidence. Most contemporary images are only used as illustrations of ready-made evidence. In the history of criminal law, Images of punishment rarely appear, and even in most graphic essays, such images are only sporadicly linked to historical facts or research from relevant periods. On the contrary, or indeed as a supplement, images of Chinese punishments appear in large numbers in non-scientific books, providing biased commentary on China's brutal nature.

From now on, I will use photographs and penal portraits as historical references, which means analyzing the sources and characteristics of the documents in as cross-referential a manner as possible. It is almost necessary, then, to observe and comment on the purpose of the visual document itself, rather than simply seeing it as an illustration of a presupposed argument. My intention is that by observing various images, we can verify whether executions in China are different from the "torture" images interpreted by Europeans. Significant differences, then, should show differences of expression, which themselves should reveal a different spirit of the law.

Our first document is a set of twelve snapshots taken with a stereoscopic glass lens. The theme is about the death penalty at Lingchi, so it looks very uncomfortable.

During France's Belle Epoque, such photos entered the realm of spooky folklore, often accompanied by lewd comments. Photos of executions taken accidentally were published with ambiguous comments, but this set of photos was taken by another photographer. Although the set of photos I used was marked "1908 Guangzhou Bay (located in Guangdong)", after careful analysis of the plate, it was actually taken in Beijing, probably at the end of 1904, and the "Lingchi" number was abolished in April 1905. months ago (Note 8). The victim was a celebrity named Wang Weiqin. Around 1901, he killed a family of twelve, including women and children (the youngest was nine years old). Therefore, he was sentenced to the most severe punishment of "killing three people or more than one family member (involvement)".

For now, let's forget about these special backgrounds and just focus on these images.

It takes a great deal of rational strength to ignore understandable feelings of rejection or fascination and to continue with our comparative studies. The photographic medium produces a special fascination, and historians interested in using photographic documents as research material must overcome this difficulty. After overcoming the first level of rejection, you can quickly gain valuable knowledge. When comparing the above-mentioned torture patterns, four major differences in execution punishment in China can be cited:

Difference 1: "The lack of any scaffolding or stage." There are no clear boundaries around the execution of the victim in the market, and onlookers The victim can touch the victim up close.

Difference 2: "There is no plot, no role." Ordinary public executions do not intend to establish the meaning of so-called actions or words. The executioners always appear serious and calm on the execution ground. They do not need to play roles; they complete A duty, the same goes for the torturer, who, while still alive, shows no signs of suffering that we might expect.

Difference 3: "No religious background" and no performance of any kind. Only the victim, the executioner and the execution assistant perform their duties during the execution. No one imposed any meaning or intention on the execution.

Difference 4: "There is no public, no community." Of course, there were many onlookers on the execution ground, but there was no separation from the "performance". There was no clear boundary between the entire performance, assistance, and environment, and there was no control over the performance. Executions generate consensus and integrate individual witnesses into the public. Therefore, the crowd does not behave like a "public" that collectively expresses sympathy, hatred, or agitation (Note 9).

More specifically, one can wonder what a Chinese onlooker felt when he or she witnessed an execution. Invisible among the unorganized crowd, he only saw fragmented fragments. Although he was side by side with the execution assistant, he did not have enough distance to gaze at a unified and self-cohesion "spectacle". The spectacle needs a simple and easy-to-understand story. Plot, complete with meaningful words or gestures. He has no emotions, is not guided by a special stage hand, he is too busy watching intently and processing the powerful impressions of his eyes to produce any expression of emotion. Regarding the attitude of the onlookers, we will discuss it later. But notice for now that they did not show emotion by accepting the invitation to execute the protagonist. Unlike European executioners who are required to show cruelty, Chinese executioners never show a cruel attitude. They carry out executions calmly, which stands out. Compared with some perceptual commentators who interpret it as "ambivalent mercy", the victims do not. Opportunity to express pain, sadness or remorse. Screams, cries, and any confessional words or actions accompanied by pain were staples of public executions in Europe. We have no way of verifying it, but recurring narratives prove that Chinese torturers longed for silence in response, such as covering it up with louder noises or cutting off their vocal cords (Note 0). Since executions in China are not spectacles and their participants are not public groups, the main figures of the executions are not required to act.

European execution performances were strongly religious in inspiration or intent. Chinese religion is not unconcerned with punishment as proof of the manifestations of hell in China. Like the Cheng wang parade custom, the Hell Judge symbolizes the law enforcer and leads hundreds of believers who pretend to be sinners. Some of them are shackled, and some have bamboo thorns on the back of their heads, praying that they can be forgiven for their worldly sins. This must prove that general religions have strong symbolic meaning and moral influence on the death penalty. However, the execution itself lacks a discernible religious character, as witnessed by the narrator and the photographs. We can clearly see the only exception: the unusual appearance of Buddhist monks burning incense at Wang Weiqin's Lingchi scene in Figure II-2.

However this exception teaches us that "in addition" to executions, there were also performances of private worship. There is no indication that the victim or others around him must have spoken or acted piously, meditated on religious statues, or intended to "breathe" religious meaning into the execution. So even if religion occasionally appears, it exists only in the background, not in a teaching role for sufferers, perpetrators, or priestly helpers. China did not have the Christian European convention of gatherings, and the European public and officials intended to turn the entire execution into a religious ceremony. China's executions have never been controlled or transformed by religion and have always remained secular events.

Looking at the torture patterns, China's executions seem like a bloody chaos. Only by reconstructing its traditions and special texts can the mystery be solved. The tight confusion between crowds and executions seems to stem from the very old idea of ??"abandoning the market." The modern interpretation of this term is "public execution" or "death penalty", but the literal meaning is: "discarded into the market", which may be closer to the records of ancient times. More serious criminals will leave people torn into pieces (or burned, beaten to death, etc.) and take away their belongings. A further tradition in history may be that the law enforcement officer personally or through an agent cut the criminal's body into thousands of pieces in public, and the criminal's body was exposed in the street or on the city wall. These are the most basic elements of execution punishment. This "punishment of the masses", as Niidau explains it based on the German word biblical stoning, is very similar to the common death penalty arena in Europe. This may still be unproven, however, what is more interesting is how this hypothesis, called the "primitive strata", was transformed and hidden, and still remained in the execution rituals of later generations. In Europe, the astonishing auxiliary apparatus of torture was able to transform the nature of popular violence into public sympathy, brutally transform the executioner's character, and sanctify the suffering of the tortured. Rigorous academic research now proves that the ancient spirit is still passed down through the execution of quartering by five horses in public in the streets or in the countryside. When Westerners encountered executions in China, they were reminded of the lack of auxiliary mechanisms for torture, which cruelly reminded them of the collective violence of primitive punishments. Now they still stubbornly ignore the fact that execution punishment in China has its "necessary procedures."

3. "Necessary procedures" for executions in China

Surprisingly, executions seem to be a common scene in daily life, but visual images in China are not common. It may be due to the evolution of Chinese painting. However, what I want to explain is that the "non-spectacle" characteristics of executions also affect its lack of scaffolding, stage and "spectacle-like perception", thus hindering image expression, or at least artistic expression for the broad public (note q ).

As a result, the visual elements that are sufficient to reconstruct the "necessary procedures" of executions in China are lacking, fragmented, and not much is known. Figure II-3 is an excerpt from the manuals published by local officials around 1900: "Illustrated Explanations of Criminal Laws" and "Illustrated Explanations of Crimes." They included a series of notices, originally posted at crossroads, informing ordinary people when a law had been broken or what crime had been committed. Specifically, the "picture" of the announcement describes a punishment, while the "said" lists the "name" of the crime and the method of punishment. The following illustration illustrates the "Lingchi crime" as: "murder, execution of grandparents and parents" and so on.

The main impact of these illustrations is how they systematically implement China's "necessary procedures", which can be summarized as follows:

1. The context: execution is a punitive power within the social structure , through the symbolism of certain basic elements: (1) legal authority - under a huge canopy or canopy, accompanied by prison officials and public servants; (2) participating people - become a small group of all generations; (3) The execution itself - there is the victim and the executioner. (Figure Ⅱ-4)

2. Teaching method (Pedagogy): People watch the execution quietly, and the elders point to the execution ground to teach the younger ones. The main focus of concern is as stated in the opening chapters of these works: pointing out that these pictures help "father teach and inherit children" and so on.

3. Indifferent and incorporeal: The expression without emotion is quite prominent in the characteristics of the scene. No matter the executioner, the guards, the people, or even the victims, there was no excitement or smile at all. Moreover, the body was just like a weightless statuette, and even the most severe wounds would bleed almost nothing. (Figure II-5)

4. Readability: The picture has no other intention or meaning. It only uses a sketch to illustrate the criminal law, and the text is inscribed above the illustration or on the opposite page. The elements of all these images have been chosen to convey the message of the law.

The "necessary procedures" for executions in China raise two levels of problems: The first level is that executions are regarded as media. Their role, the message they want to convey, and their means are all used as media. the medium used. The second level is about the mutual influence of aesthetics and law. Under the artistic complex of European criminal law, Chinese image expressions also use aesthetic equipment, which needs to be compared with Europe.

Regarding the first question, the most critical concept is "readability": the execution penalty is the only embodiment of legal information, emphasizing the equivalence between the "name" and "punishment" of the crime. Condensed in concise sentences. All punishments require the presence of readable text to ensure the legality of the punishment. There is relevant evidence in the photos and descriptions in the novel. For example, all torturers must carry bamboo thorns on their backs, with their names, judges, charges and punishments written on them. These marks can also be seen in the religious parades mentioned above, or in executions as mentioned in the famous novel "Water Margin" (note w).

Exemplary of perfect transparency, legal messages illustrate other characteristics. All words are "indifferent" without emotion. For example, Chinese artists cannot express suffering or cruelty, which is inexplicable.

Whoever painted the second illustration should be able to use the rich imagery of Buddhist hellish punishment. In fact, he should have done it, if the object depicted had aroused a sense of terror in the people. But the key point is that the people in power adopt a calm approach, and the behavior of magistrates, executioners, and guards specifically reflects the principle, that is, when trying cases or executing executions, "a good judge should not show anger or laughter." The participating people are completely Do not be frightened, obey the precepts of the law, and do not make noise. The same method is applied to all the destruction of the body, and in this typical diagram there is no attachment of emotion or permission to obscure the official message to the people: "Where justice is done, there will be a punishment suitable to the crime".

Moving here to the second point above, regarding the aesthetics of these plates. The background scenery, text inscriptions, and scene layout all clearly have a sense of beauty. However, it is the beauty of corruption. When we look at this young woman, she stares at the severed limbs with a slight smile, and details such as the "three-inch golden lotus" appear at the ends of the severed limbs. , reminiscent of obscene things (note e). The study of aesthetics seems strange, sometimes even sinister, because it does not express the "natural" emotions of the situation. (Figure Ⅱ-6) Here, "natural" only means "conforming to the conventions of Western penal art complex." Rather, "natural emotions" bring to life the archetypes of torture - cruelty, pain and pity.

Perhaps abstract inference can clarify the cross-cultural curiosity of the West when it comes to purely Chinese paintings, that is, China exports watercolor paintings, which are produced by Chinese painting workshops in Guangdong to supply the West There is a growing demand for "typical Chinese" scenes. From the eighteenth century onward, Western merchant travelers and fleets brought back porcelain and curios, as well as watercolor paintings depicting landscapes, customs, trade, clothing, and even punishments. In fact, out of curiosity, Westerners have provided us with more image data of executions in China from nearly a hundred years ago than from Chinese art from a thousand years ago. It also shows the transformation process of Chinese executions into conforming to torture patterns, which can predict the popularity of photography later.

Here are three (Pictures II-7, II-8, II-9) landscape pictures using Western interpretation techniques. Although the idea of ??exoticism is cliché, we still return to the topic. I will point out the Westernized symbols, but not go into detail:

(1) Focus on the cross: When glancing at the photo, you will see that there are three upright brackets forming the cross of Lingchi's punishment. In fact, the use of such mechanisms could preclude the use of weapons or interrupt executions. It provides testimony (refer to Isabella Bishop's quotation below), and paintings have made Western Europeans repeatedly and compulsorily introduce the cross in Chinese punishments, mostly showing Christian backgrounds (note r).

(2) Redemptive Torment: Two pictures focus on the common showdown between the executioner and the tortured. The social and institutional content of the execution penalty from multiple perspectives (judiciary, public servants, participating citizens) is completed and offset. Execution ceased to be a scene of social life and became a form of physical torture, closely following the now-familiar triangle of cruelty, pain, and pity, revealed in the third image.

(3) Tangible, painful and bleeding bodies: These three pictures highly express the general tendency of watercolor painters to depict ghastly decapitations and dismembered bodies with strong colors and meticulous detail.

Quite different from the non-realistic silhouettes of Chinese paintings, the corpse lying on the ground has a sense of weight, and the shadows emphasize the muscles, reminiscent of the martyrs of the Renaissance and Baroque. Fortunately, their Greek heroes were anatomically eliminated, they To win