Seeking the collection of ancient death penalty in China

In ancient China, the heaviest punishment for criminals was death penalty, also known as capital punishment. Before the Warring States period, he was called the Great King. In the pre-Qin period, the main methods were burning, laparotomy, boiling, pickling, slaughtering, chopping, burning, exhausting and cooking. Especially in the cruelest year.

During the Warring States and the Qin Dynasty, there were chisels, boiling, threats, car cracks, slaps, beheadings, waist cuts, and abandonment of the market. In the early Han dynasty, it was mainly about cutting waist, abandoning the market and beheading.

In the Northern Wei Dynasty, there were four categories: beard, beheading, solitary (beheading) and abandoning the city, which were later changed to beheading, beheading and strangulation. Northern Qi and Northern Zhou Dynasties remain unchanged. In Suihe, the death penalty was beheaded and twisted. Sui law was generally used in the Five Dynasties and Song Dynasty, and it was not recorded in the law for another year. At the beginning of Liao dynasty, there were cliff throwing, shooting ghost arrows, five cars, cockroaches, throwing guns and so on. The Jin Dynasty suffered from brain damage. In addition, the extrajudicial torture of feudal dynasties never stopped, and clubbing, peeling and drowning were common.

Lingchi is also called "Lingchi", commonly known as "Qie". The report said: "If in the middle of the year, the law is inch by inch, the body is torn to pieces, and then its potential is broken, while the woman is secluded and closed, letting her viscera die, her limbs are untied and her bones are broken." It means that in, the method is to cut a hole in the whole body with a sharp knife and chop up the meat with one knife, so that the whole body has no complete skin. Male castration and female claustrophobia all refer to castration. Gut it out and kill it. After decomposing the body, chop up the bones. It is recorded that the prisoner "has bones on his body, but his mouth and eyes are particularly moving, his heart touches his heart, and the sound of moaning is endless." In other words, only the bones are left on the victim, and his mouth and eyes are still moving; The liver and heart were dug out, and the groans of pain didn't stop.

Lingchi began in Song Renzong, and was used more and more after Xining. In the Southern Song Dynasty, it was publicly listed as the death penalty in the legal category of Yuan Tiao in Qing Dynasty. This is the most cruel death penalty in the history of China, but the methods of execution in different dynasties are different. "History of Song Dynasty Criminal Records" said: "It was the best method at that time to chop off its branches in the middle of the year." Therefore, the festival is also called cutting, cutting, inch cutting and so on. The so-called "a thousand pieces" refers to the end of the year, that is, zero knives to kill the living. What you have is a word "slow". As early as the Southern and Northern Dynasties, there was this criminal law. Beginning in the Five Dynasties, New Year's Day was regarded as a formal punishment and an extra-legal punishment.

According to Lu You's note: "There are many reasons for the five seasons, and there are not enough regular laws, so there are only special laws. Exhausted, the breath is not exhausted, the liver and the heart are connected, and the audio-visual still exists. " In the Five Dynasties, some people realized that the punishment of the year number was too cruel and advocated abandonment. For example, in 946 AD, Yan said that the death penalty should only be beheaded and twisted, and "people who cut people's skin with short knives" should be prohibited. Shi Zhonggui, the second emperor at the end of the Jin Dynasty, ordered that the annual salary system would no longer be used.

At the beginning of the founding of the Northern Song Dynasty, the punishment of year number was still prohibited. The criminal law promulgated by Zhao Kuangyin stipulates that beheading or strangulation should be adopted for felony, and there is no year. Zhao Hengshi, the official to Yang Shouzhen, inspected Shaanxi, supervised the arrest of thieves and arrested the first few thieves. He asked the court to execute them later to punish these evil people. Zhao Heng ordered the prisoner to be escorted to the yamen, punished according to law, and not allowed to enter for one year. When Zhao Xu arrived, Ling Chi was officially listed as one of the condemned prisoners. "General Examination and Punishment System" said: "Before Zhaoling (Zhaozhen Mausoleum), although killing thieves was fierce and powerful, it was never used lightly. Those who were busy in prison during Xifeng period and who spoke crazy English were all punished by this punishment. " For example, in 1075, Zhu Tang, a native of Yizhou, sued Liu Yu, a mission ambassador and medical officer of Yuyao County, Yuezhou, and the court ordered the court to hear the case. As a result, Li Feng and Xu Ge, the observing magistrate of Liu Yuhe Hezhong House, were both executed by Ling Chi.

In the Southern Song Dynasty, the cases of Qingyuan Law more clearly listed the death penalty names of year in, beheading and strangulation, which lasted until the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In the Song Dynasty, the title of the year was commonly known as cut. The original word "cut" is "*", that is, the word "bone" has removed the word "moon" (meat) and is shaped like a human skull. Shuo Wen Jie Zi explains that it thinks that "removing human flesh and setting bones" is exactly the meaning of zero knife to cut people. The word "cut" is also called "another". In the Ming Dynasty, the section "The meaning of a word begins with a word" in Volume 18 of Zhu Guo's Fan Tong Sketch said: "In Zhenyuan, the Xuanwu mutiny will lead to another city." And notice the other, that is, the word "cut" also. It can be seen that the meaning of "cut" has long been clear, but in the Song Dynasty, it became synonymous with the year and became more widely known.

This situation is also common in novel description. Wang Po, who instigated Pan Jinlian to kill Wu Dalang, was sentenced to "appropriate death penalty" by Dongping magistrate Chen, and then wrote: Wang Po was taken out of prison and ordered by the office. After reading the surrender of the imperial court, he wrote a guilty card and drew a crouch. Then he pushed the woman onto a wooden donkey, four long nails and three ropes. Dongping magistrate sentenced her to one word: "chop!" Sit up and put it down; Break drums and gongs; Offenders are led from the front, and they are urged after stirring the stick; Raise two sharp knives and shake a paper flower; Take it to Dongping House and eat it in your heart.

Because imprisonment was widely used in the Song Dynasty, when people retaliated against their enemies, they also hacked people to death like the official imprisonment. For example, in Chapter 41 of Biography of Water Travel, Li Kui jy abridged Huang Wenbing's description: "Today you want to die quickly, but your master wants you to die slowly!" Then cut a sharp knife from the leg first. If you pick it, you will cook it on a charcoal fire in front of you. Cut a piece and bake it. When there was no movie, Huang Wenbing was cut. Li Kui jy cut his chest with a knife and took out his heart for all the heroes to see.

From the two paragraphs in the Water Margin quoted above, we can see the general situation of Ling Chi's execution in the Song Dynasty, which is basically consistent with the practice of "Ling Chi breaks his branches first, that is, judges his words" in the History of Song Dynasty and Criminal Records. Ling Chi in Liao Dynasty was officially named as the criminal name. "Liao History Criminal Records": "Death penalty belongs to strangulation, beheading, year-end".

The laws of the Ming dynasty did not pass through the year, but entered the big high. There was an end-of-year clause in the Qing Dynasty's "Great Love Code", and 1906 was deleted. The feudal rulers of past dynasties used the titles to deal with people who committed so-called "ten evils" such as "rebellion", "rebellion", "great rebellion" and "rebellion against all evils". In the Yuan Dynasty, the death penalty was beheaded without hanging, and it was also stipulated that people who committed the most heinous crimes could be executed in a hurry. The annual sentence in the Yuan Dynasty was similar to that in the Song Dynasty. For example, in Yuan Zaju's "An Earth-shattering Wrongful Case", his father did not have a chapter to judge the unjust case, and pronounced: "(Zhang Lver) poisoned his grandfather and raped a widow, and agreed to take him to the city of Cao in the year of, crucify him on a donkey, and execute him with 120 knives." This is the same as how Wang Po was killed in the Water Margin, and they all had to be crucified with wooden donkeys. This wooden donkey is probably a wooden shelf on which the prisoner can be fixed, so that the prisoner can't move when cutting. The punishment of "riding a donkey" is different from that of ancient female prisoners who colluded with adulterers to harm their husbands. The zaju "Dou Eyuan" points out the number of knives that should be cut more clearly than "Water Margin".

The laws of the Ming dynasty also clearly stipulated that 2008 was one of the death sentences. "Daming Law * Criminal Law" contains: "Rebellion: anyone who conspires against the country is called seeking danger; Treason refers to the destruction of ancestral temples, mountain tombs and palaces. But the conspirators, regardless of their first offense, were all executed in the middle of the year. " Car cracks are also called "snap", "snap" and "snap". That is, the head and limbs are tied to five carriages respectively, so that five horses can run at the same time and tear their bodies.

In the Zhou Dynasty, there was a penalty. "Zuo Zhuan Gong Xuan Eleven Years": "Kill Xia Zhengshu and bury chestnuts." Shang Yang was cracked by a car during the Warring States Period. This cruel punishment was later used by more tyrants. Qin Shihuang cracked Lao Ai. Ma Yuanyi, the other side of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Sun Hao cracked Zhang Jun in the Three Kingdoms. There were cracks in the Northern Wei, Northern Qi and Northern Zhou Dynasties. Sui law abolished secession, but Emperor Yang Di resumed secession of Yang Xuangan. After the Tang Dynasty, this kind of punishment was basically unnecessary. Only the criminal record of Liao History says, "Those who commit fornication and misconduct will be killed by five cars." This kind of death penalty is usually used at the end of the rule.

After dismembering the body, the torture of hanging in public was also called Gu, Bo and Pan. Zhang Tu Ji: "Those who kill thieves and spies", "Those who kill the king's relatives, take care of them". It was also called death in the Qin Dynasty. In the second year of Emperor Han Jingdi (BC 148), he was abandoned in the market, and he was not allowed to use it unless he was a demon. After the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the orthodox law disappeared, but the rulers of past dynasties still applied it outside the law. In the 19th year of Yuan Shizu to Yuan Dynasty (A.D. 1282), Wang Zhu and others, who led most people, were killed and returned to the bureaucratic Ahema. In the Ming Dynasty, such felonies as "rebellion" and "treason" were often punished. According to the criminal law of Ming Dynasty, "Zhao Sui, the thief in the later period, is equal to the city, and the winner peels six skins". Palace punishment is an important extra-legal punishment in ancient China.

Fixed killing: drowning. Qin Jian wrote: "People with sore throats are guilty and will be killed." That is, if a leper commits a crime, he will drown in the water. There was no fixed killing rule after Qin dynasty, but it was found in the punishment of drowning people. For example, Cao Wei's "pollution", Northern Wei's "sinking" and Song's "flooding". Targeted killings may be the least used death penalty.

Abandon the city: execute the death penalty in downtown and show the body to the public. Book of Rites: "Punish people in the city and abandon them to the public." Qin Fa: "Those who dare to speak occasionally about poetry and books abandon the market". After the Qin Dynasty, the death penalty was executed by abandoning the city. Cut off your head and hang it on a wooden pole for public display. Historical Records of the First Qin Emperor: At the beginning of the Emperor, Lao Ai made an insurrection and suffered a great defeat. His disciples "beheaded twenty people." The car cracked and died, and the ancestors died. "The Han dynasty inherited the Qin system and used beheading for rebellion and rebellion, such as Emperor Gaozu's" Owl resistance, vote for X Yangcheng ". Zhang Fei in the Jin Dynasty said in the Preface to Law: "Those who behead are evil, those who behead are guilty, and those who abandon the city are guilty. "In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Liang Luda was the culprit; Chen Tong; The Northern Wei Dynasty and the Northern Zhou Dynasty also had the punishment of beheading. Sui destroyed it. In Ming and Qing Dynasties, beheading was applied to robbery. Slaughter condemned prisoners and humiliate them. In the Qin dynasty, he was beheaded after being punished and humiliated; The Jin dynasty was "killing the living and killing the dead"; At this time, it is "burying the dead for slaughter." In the 16th year of Wanli in Ming Shenzong (AD 1588), there was a Slaughter Ordinance. Those who murdered grandparents and parents slaughtered their bodies. In the Qing dynasty, it was extended to all those who killed their elders, grandparents, husbands and their parents. Later, it was extended to the case of robbers. Anyone who was beheaded or killed in prison was slaughtered. Abolished in the late Qing Dynasty.

Caesarean section, like "cutting the heart", is a kind of extra-legal torture. In the fifth year of Song Renzong (AD 1038), when suppressing the national uprising led by Guangxi Ou Xifan, he killed Ou Xifan and others with the torture of "laparotomy" and "sputum".

The death penalty for beheading prisoners was also called "desperate" in the Han Dynasty. It was first seen in Zhou. "Interpretation of Personal Names and Funeral System": "When pecking, the head is cut, and the bow is cut." The Qin Dynasty had beheading, waist cutting, execution in Han and Wei Dynasties, the Southern Jin Dynasty, the Song Dynasty, the Northern Wei Dynasty, the Northern Qi and Northern Zhou Dynasty, the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the Five Dynasties, the Song Dynasty, the Liao Dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty, the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Thus, beheading was the most common death penalty in ancient China.

The punishment of strangling a person sentenced to death with silk, rope, etc. Or hanged. Stranding can protect the whole body, so it is light. There is hanging every week. Hanging, as a legal punishment, first appeared in the Northern Qi and Northern Zhou Dynasties. After the Jin and Wei Dynasties, they abandoned the market and stayed. The Sui Dynasty defined the death penalty as beheading and strangulation, followed by the Tang Dynasty. From then on, except Yuan Dynasty, other dynasties listed hanging as the main punishment until the end of Qing Dynasty.

Stick killing, also known as "stick killing" and "beating to death", is a punishment for killing people with wooden sticks and bamboo boards, and it is also an extrajudicial torture in ancient China. Mainly aimed at court officials.

The death penalty is one of the five major punishments in ancient China, and the other four are all punishments. The ruling class in ancient China used five methods of punishment for criminals. The record of five punishments was first found in Shangshu Shunshu: "Five punishments corvee". "The emperor said," Hao Tao is a savage and cunning man, while bandits and thieves are treacherous. If you are a judge, you will be punished by five kinds and three kinds. " "Big Mo Yu": "You are a scholar and know five punishments to teach five religions." The Mohist Classic also records that he once asked: "Heaven punishes the guilty, and five punishments are used. Is my words feasible? " Yu said, "a woman will do what she says." The specific names of the five punishments are as follows: Mo, Mo, Mo, Gong and Da Bi; The words "grinding", "grinding", "attacking", "gouging out" and "killing" are found in four lines. When the five punishments originated, there are different opinions.

According to documentary records and archaeological excavations, China entered the class society from the Xia Dynasty, established a slave-owner dictatorship and began to be punished. Han Yingshao's Custom Pass says: "Yu Xia initiated corporal punishment". "On Mandarin Lu Yu" said: "Yesterday, I built a group of gods on Huiji Mountain, and when the wind came, I was afraid to kill them." It shows that Yu has begun to punish Fang Feng for being late. "Zuo Gong Six Years" records: "There is chaos in the summer, and I am afraid of being punished." Records of Criminal Law in Hanshu also said: "After Yucheng was Yao and Shun, the punishment was made by virtue." There is no textual research on the specific circumstances of the penalty in the Xia Dynasty, while the penalty in the Zhou Dynasty is slightly finer than that in the Xia Dynasty. Mozi, Mozi, Gong, Mozi and Darby are recorded in ancient literature and Oracle Bone Inscriptions.

According to Zhou Li and Qiu Guan, the penalty system in the Western Zhou Dynasty is recorded as follows: "The penalty post is the method of taking charge of five punishments, including pleasing many people, 500 crimes of ink, 500 crimes of humiliation, 500 crimes of palace, 500 crimes of gouging out and 500 crimes of murder". This is the situation at the beginning of the week. When Ji Manchu arrived, due to the sharp class struggle, the contradictions within the ruling class further intensified, so he ordered Fu Hou to "modify the punishment" and decided: "Ink punishment should be thousand, thirty punishment should be thousand, thirty punishment should be five hundred, castration should be three hundred, and severe punishment should be two hundred." Five punishments go to three thousand. " This revision has added 500 articles, but the system of five punishments has not changed. According to the literature, five kinds of punishments were widely used in the Western Zhou Dynasty, namely, the last punishment, the last punishment, the public punishment, the severe punishment and the severe punishment. At the beginning of the Western Han Dynasty, in order to develop production, increase labor force and ease class contradictions, feudal rulers, proceeding from consolidating the dictatorship of the landlord class, announced the abolition of corporal punishment and replaced it with shackles and sticks.

Although corporal punishment was not really abolished at the end of Han Dynasty, the traditional five-punishment system since Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties has begun to change. The feudal landlord class realized from their ruling experience that it is more beneficial to let criminals continue to work even if they are punished than to simply cut off their limbs and skin. Therefore, since the Han Dynasty, there have been constant discussions about the abolition and resumption of corporal punishment in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and the original five punishments have been revised repeatedly. By the end of the Northern Qi Dynasty, five punishments had been determined: flogging, beating with a stick, humiliation (later imprisonment), drifting and death. In the Sui and Tang Dynasties, when the feudal system was highly developed, the five punishments of the end, the end, the public, the end and the great punishment were finally replaced by the five punishments of Fu, Zhang, Tu, Liu and Die. This is a major change in the history of China's ancient criminal system. This change marks that the ancient penalty system in China has entered a more civilized stage from the barbaric stage. The new five-punishment system was maintained until the Ming and Qing Dynasties.