Why is the execution of death row in ancient times often carried out in autumn and winter, so what is suitable for spring and summer?

We often see such scenes in TV dramas. The ancients committed crimes and should be put to death according to the law, but the officials who ruled him were not in a hurry to kill the prisoners, but kept saying? Ask after autumn? .

Why didn't ancient prisoners have to wait until autumn and winter when they were sentenced to death? Since criminals can be executed in autumn and winter, what is suitable for spring and summer?

Ask after autumn? The word originated from The Book of Rites? Monthly order, which records:? The cool wind is coming, the dew is falling, cicadas are singing, and eagles are sacrificial birds, so they can be slaughtered and reused. ? It means that when the autumn wind comes, when the cicadas are singing in the early Millennium, the eagle will sacrifice the birds it has caught to heaven, and then start killing, that is, it can execute the prisoners. The earliest recorded execution in autumn and winter in history was in Zuo Zhuan and Zuo Zhuan? Xiang gong said:? Punishment in autumn and winter? This also demonstrates the earliest execution time in autumn and winter in history.

As for the exact time of execution in autumn and winter, most of the ancients chose after the autumnal equinox, mainly influenced by Dong Zhongshu, a great scholar in the Han Dynasty? Harmony between man and nature? Influenced by the ideas of.

Dong Zhongshu thinks? The king matches the sky, which means his way. There are four times in heaven, and the king has four governments. If the number of four governments is four times, it is common. Heaven and man are similar. Celebrate spring, enjoy summer, punish autumn and punish winter. ? Since the king was chosen by heaven, his four behaviors of celebration, reward, punishment and punishment should be adapted to the four seasons. Celebrate in spring, reward in summer, punish in autumn and execute the death penalty in winter.

Besides, autumn and winter are the seasons when trees wither and everything withers, which symbolizes the cold. The execution of prisoners conforms to the feeling of the cold of heaven and earth, so autumn and winter execution is the best. Dong Zhongshu's? Harmony between man and nature? Thought was sought after by emperors in Han Dynasty, and formed a specific system in Han Dynasty. Su Zongxiao Zhang Di Ji "Zhao said:? Kings live and die, keep pace with the times, just right. ? Later, the execution time of the death penalty was changed to one month in beginning of winter, and more executions were carried out in later generations? Ask after autumn? Most of the practices came from the Han Dynasty.

But why should the execution in autumn and winter be chosen after the autumnal equinox instead of beginning of autumn?

This is mainly because the ancient emperors sacrificed the moon in the autumn equinox. According to the Book of Rites? The son of heaven springs in the morning, the sun rises and the moon falls in autumn. Asahi dynasty, dusk of the moon. ? In ancient times, offering sacrifices to the sun and the moon was as important as offering sacrifices to the heavens and the earth, so it was impossible to punish before offering sacrifices to the moon, otherwise bloody activities would be carried out before offering sacrifices to the moon, which was not conducive to the safety of the country and people.

Besides, you can't kill anything on the autumnal equinox. There is a saying in "the order of a thousand dollars":? On the day of the autumnal equinox, don't kill, don't use torture, don't hang curtains on the house, don't mourn, don't get drunk. A gentleman should fast and be quiet and introspective. ? You can't kill people, scold subordinates and children, have sex, mourn, see a doctor, and of course you can't get drunk, but you should spend it in silence and introspection.

However, although most of the dynasties in this period executed prisoners, they also had their own flexibility. For example, in the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the criminal law was not implemented after the autumnal equinox, but postponed to the season between the first frost and the winter solstice.

Tang, Song and Ming dynasties all chose to implement it after the autumnal equinox. It is recorded in the Prison Officer Order of the Tang Dynasty that the death penalty shall not be executed from beginning of spring to the autumnal equinox? In the Tang dynasty, people couldn't kill anything until after the autumnal equinox. However, apart from seasonal taboos, the death penalty was not allowed to be executed on individual days in the Tang Dynasty. For example, the first month, May and September are broken, and killing is not allowed on the first day, eighth, fourteenth, fifteenth, eighteenth, twenty-third, twenty-fourth, twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth of each month.

However, for some criminals with serious crimes, there is a decision not to wait for time. In the late Tang Dynasty, the method of never waiting for time was adopted for some prisoners who committed major capital crimes. However, in the Qin dynasty, where the law is strict, there is no such thing as timely execution, and execution can be carried out all year round.

Autumn and winter are suitable for implementation, and spring and summer are naturally suitable for these two seasons.

Spring is generally divided into Meng Chun, Midspring and Ji Chun, that is, the first month, February and March of the lunar calendar.

Tang Dynasty poet Bao Fang's "Like Jiangnan? From Meng Chun? In spring in the south of the Yangtze River, wild leaves are as big as money. Snow is full of plum trees and green robes are like fields. ? It describes the seasonal scene of Meng Chun in the south of the Yangtze River. In Meng Chun season, it generally includes beginning of spring and beginning of spring. On that day, the monarch usually takes his ministers to the suburbs to worship spring. In Meng Chunyue, the son of heaven also regarded offering sacrifices to the gods as an auspicious day, that is, offering sacrifices to heaven in order to pray for a bumper harvest in the new year.

In mid-spring, the emperor offered sacrifices to the cold gods and ancestral temples, and even ordered all households not to burn trees, and prohibited excessive fishing and shrimp catching, and advocated recuperation. In Ji Chun, the ancient government banned excessive hunting and cutting down trees. At this time, women should devote themselves to sericulture and reeling, which is quite a bit of what we now mean by sustainable development.

Summer is also divided into three seasons, namely Xia Meng, midsummer and the last month of summer, which also represents April, May and June of the lunar calendar.

Since Xia Meng, even in summer, ancient summer has been a busy season. What is in the lotus of the Ming Dynasty? On that day in Xia Meng, heaven and earth began to meet, and everything was wonderful? This record means that the growth and harvest of crops began in the long summer. And in the Book of Rites? There is another sentence in the monthly order:? On the day of the long summer, the son of heaven personally led the three princes, nine ministers, governors and doctors to welcome the summer in the southern suburbs. Reward, reward, seal princes, celebrate gifts, and everyone is happy. ? Therefore, in the long summer solar terms, the ancient kings all raised their courtiers.

Among several solar terms in summer, the peak season is the busiest period in ancient times, and it is the most vigorous in summer solstice, so we should pay more attention to health preservation. Ji Kang's On Health Care mentioned health care from summer solstice: it is more appropriate to adjust your breath and meditate, often like ice and snow in your heart, and your heart will be less hot. You can't turn heat into heat and then turn it into heat. ? Is that what we're talking about now? Calm, cool and natural? Have the same effect.

The weather was hot in summer, and the ancients ate more cold food. Carving watermelon lanterns has become the favorite pastime of the ancients, and the solar term in summer is the hottest time of the year. Activities such as lotus viewing, lotus picking and boat delivery in Zhejiang are also deeply loved by the ancients.

Spring Festival, Summer Reward, Autumn Punishment and Winter Punishment have different activities in different seasons. The ancients also know the truth of moving in time and respecting the laws of nature, which is worth learning.

Text: Rachel

References:

1 On Ji Kang's health care during the Three Kingdoms period

2 "Book of Rites" Dai Sheng in the Western Han Dynasty

3 "Prison Officer Order" in Tang Dynasty

The text was created by the team of History University Hall, and the pictures originated from the Internet and belonged to the original author.