What torture was there in ancient times?

Among all kinds of cruel punishments in ancient China, the most inhuman one was AD. Lingchi, formerly known as Lingchi, originally meant the gentle slope of the hill. Xunzi said, "Three feet on the shore, you can't board empty cars." A mountain, let the negative car climb. What is this? The year has arrived. "It means that the car can't be pulled up on a three-foot steep slope, but because the slope is gentle, the car can be pulled to the top of the mountain. Later generations took Ling Chi as the name of punishment, only taking its slow meaning, that is to say, putting people to death at a very slow speed. In order to reflect this "slow" intention, it is to cut off a person's meat one by one until the meat is almost cut, and then cut off his head by caesarean section, thus killing the prisoner. So the year is also called cutting, cutting, inch cutting and so on. The so-called "thousand pieces" refers to the year. Ling Chi's punishment lasted until the end of Qing Dynasty. After the Reform Movement of 1898, the Qing court was impacted by various internal and external contradictions and had to follow the trend and carry out some reforms on traditional disadvantages. In the thirty-first year of Guangxu (1905), Shen Jiaben, the minister of the Ministry of Justice, was asked to delete severe punishments such as Ling Chi, and the Qing court allowed him to play them, and ordered laws such as Ling Chi, beheading and slaughter to be "deleted forever, and all laws were changed". From then on, the inhuman torture of Ling Chi disappeared from the code and was replaced by beheading.

Tear a man with five chariots

When writing about someone's tragic death in novels of Ming and Qing Dynasties, they like to use such a cliche: disciplining him to "die worse than Li Cunxiao in History of the Five Dynasties and Peng Yue in Hanshu". Li Cunxiao, formerly known as An Jingsi, was the adopted son of King Li Keyong of the State of Jin in the late Tang Dynasty. Li Cunxin was forced to rebel because of his slander. Li Keyong captured him, took him to Taiyuan, and split the car in the city. Peng Yue was a founding hero in the early Han Dynasty. Liu Bang took Lv Hou's advice, executed him for treason, and wiped out his clan with 1 When it comes to car chopping punishment, people are pale, which shows that this is an extremely cruel punishment in ancient times. The so-called car crack is to tie a person's head and limbs to five cars respectively, put on horses and pull them in different directions, thus tearing the person's body into five pieces, so it is called car crack. Sometimes when this kind of punishment is executed, five cows or five horses are directly used to replace the car, so the car split is commonly called five cows or five horses.

be beheaded

Decapitation was one of the means of executing the death penalty in ancient times. There were various names of death penalty in the pre-Qin period, such as chopping a car, beheading and killing, but beheading at that time was not beheading, but cutting the waist. During the execution, the prisoner's body fell on the "corpse" and the executioner cut off his waist with a huge axe (see the book "Cutting the waist"). Therefore, the word "chop" takes "car" as the radical, which means the same as the fork of the car killing people. The radical is "Jin", that is, the weight of the axe, which means that the axe is used instead of the knife when executing. Before the Qin Dynasty, some people put their heads to death, which was called "murder". After the Qin Dynasty, "decapitation" gradually extended to murder in a broad sense, and the punishment of decapitation was called decapitation. Like other executions, the place of beheading is usually in the city. Most of them are from the Spring and Autumn Period. Any prince or famous scholar-bureaucrat who beheads his head will be outside the court, such as the noon gate of Bianjing (now Kaifeng) in the Northern Song Dynasty and the noon gate of Beijing in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Any beheading of ordinary death row prisoners is carried out in the market, which is the meaning of "punishing the people in the city and rejuvenating the public and abandoning them" in the Book of Rites. For a city, the execution place is sometimes fixed and sometimes not fixed. In the Qing Dynasty, people were killed in Beijing, usually in food markets. According to legend, in the Qing Dynasty, people in Suzhou were often executed in busy streets at dawn. When the citizens knew that they were going to kill people in this street, they all paid the executioner in advance. If anyone fails to pay or underpays the education fee, the executioner is going to execute in front of his shop, and the family will feel very unlucky.

Cut sb.' s waist in half and put him to death

In the stories described in Bao Gong's novels and operas, Bao Gong executed the sinner with a tiger-headed copper shovel. When he was executed, the sinner was laid flat under the open shovel mouth, and the shovel was divided into two parts from the waist. For example, Bao Gong killed Grandpa Four in Chenzhou, Xu Chen Shimei in Kaifeng, and later killed his nephew Bao Mian. Of course, these stories are just based on legends, and the facts have not been verified. However, this practice of killing people has existed since ancient times, which is one of the execution methods of the ancient death penalty-waist cutting.

fruit peel

Peeling, these two words are creepy, and their cruelty is no less than that of the past. This punishment is not included in the formal death penalty. But it has been used many times in history, and it is also recorded in history books.

Hot bronze column torture

At the end of Shang Dynasty, Zhou Wang's favorite concubine, da ji, was vicious and grumpy and seldom laughed. Zhou Wang tried many ways to please her, but da ji seldom smiled. One day, Zhou Wang saw an ant climb onto a hot copper bucket. The little ant's feet were burnt, so he couldn't climb any more. He just rolled around and struggled there and found it interesting. He thought that if people were burned, the miserable struggle would definitely look better. Therefore, Zhou Wang had people make squares out of copper, simmer coal underneath, burn the copper squares red, and let the guilty prisoners walk barefoot on them. The prisoners screamed in pain, and some people fell from the square and fell into the fire and were burned to death. Da ji saw this scene and grinned happily. Zhou Wang was overjoyed. Later, I often branded people with copper plaids to make da ji laugh. Many people were branded or killed.

Castration (as a punishment)

In ancient China, the origin of castration was quite long. There is evidence that there was the consciousness and behavior of castrating male genitalia at the latest in Yin and Shang Dynasties. At that time, castration may have cut off the penis and testicles at the same time The castration technology in Qin and Han dynasties was relatively complete, so pay attention to the nursing measures such as windproof, warmth and rest after castration. At that time, the place where castration was performed was called the "Silkworm House". In the biography of Han * Zhang Anshi, Yan Shigu noted: "Anyone who raises silkworms wants it to be warm and early, so hiding fire is a secret room." The new corruption punishment is also a stroke, which needs to be completed in the secret room, because it is called silkworm room ear. "Roughly the same explanation can be found in Li Xian's note in Ji of Emperor Guangwu of Han Dynasty. The so-called "castrated people are afraid of the wind and need warmth, so make a fire storage room like a silkworm house, because it is famous. "When castrating women, vaginal suture is needed. Sewing vulva, also known as locking vulva, is to sew up a woman's vulva with a needle and thread. This kind of castration, because it is extremely despicable and obscene, is generally not used in officialdom, but it is very popular among the people. Husbands are willing to use this method to deal with wives who have an affair with their husbands, while jealous women deal with handmaids who have an affair with their husbands. In "Jane Xuan Ji" written by Chu people, there are similar records, such as "pouring garlic in the shadow of a servant girl and sealing it with a rope" and "locking it with a cone and throwing the key in the well". It is said that there is an ancient building "Sewing Yin Lou" in Bozhou, Anhui Province. This strange name probably comes from this kind of folk punishment.

Implied punishment

Cuo, one of the ancient criminal laws in China, also called Cuo, is a kind of torture device in ancient China, which refers to cutting off the left foot, right foot or both feet of the prisoner, usually referring to cutting off the kneecap of the prisoner.

splice

Insert a needle in the nail seam, which is commonly used by female prisoners.

bury alive

Burying alive is a common means in war. Because it's labor-saving and fast. Buried alive during the war, all prisoners of war were told to dig their own holes. Sometimes the prisoners are killed first and then pushed down, but when time is not enough (or bullets need to be saved), they are pushed down directly and covered in the back. Torture in China has existed since ancient times. But I haven't heard of any celebrity who has been punished like this. Even more ruthless, people will be buried upright in the soil, only one head will be exposed, and then abuse will begin.

poisonous wine

Among the ancient poisons in China, "zhenniao" is the most famous poison, and this idiom comes from it. Often used in the case of death. Stick punishment

That is, stake punishment. What I'm talking about here is stick punishment, not hitting people with sticks. The stick punishment mentioned here is to take a stick and insert it directly into a person's mouth or anus. The whole stick sank into the stomach, which made people die miserably. There is no record of this kind of punishment in the official history, but it is mentioned in Jin Yong's novel Chivalry, and this kind of torture is dubbed "laughter". For this kind of punishment, the encyclopedia of19th century defined it as "one of the creations that brought human cruelty to the extreme". The execution method is to insert a stake into the prisoner's body, the most common is to insert it into the anus and let him die. According to the diameter of the stake, sometimes the anus is opened with a dilator or cut with a knife in advance, and then the executioner inserts the stake and nails it with a hammer. In some areas, after the stake is inserted 50-60 cm, the executioner will erect the stake and insert it into the first dug pit, so that the stake will match the prisoner's own weight and go deeper and deeper until it passes through the armpit, chest, back or anus. Under normal circumstances, prisoners who are so "repaired" often have to endure torture for more than three days. Stake punishment was particularly popular during the pro-Christian war in Europe. 1669 In Piedmont, Italy, Delatour, the daughter of a nobleman, died naked. A group of executioners marched holding her high, claiming that the body was their flag. 1958, the uncle of the king of Iraq was sentenced to the stake for homosexuality. He chose this punishment because he "likes to stuff things in his ass".

Cut open the stomach

At the end of Shang Dynasty, Zhou Wang was indeed the most tyrant. He not only created inhuman punishments such as branding and cooking, but also set a precedent for ministers to cut their hearts by laparotomy. At that time, the famous courtier Prince Bigan saw that Zhou Wang had no choice but to think that as a courtier, he should do his duty to assist the monarch, so he called a spade a spade and angered Zhou Wang. He said, "I heard that a saint has seven holes in his heart. Is your heart like this? " So he ordered the soldiers to catch Beagan, cut open his stomach, take out his heart and see if he knew anything. 1 Shangshu Taishi said "cut the heart of a saint", Zhuangzi Stole the Foot said "cut the heart by fighting", Zhuangzi Guo said "cut the dragon by fighting" and Xunzi Zheng Lun said "cut off" and cut open the pregnant woman's stomach alive, taking out the fetus and seeing it as a male. These acts are really outrageous. It is said that when eagles, vultures, vultures and other raptors peck at animals, the first place they bite is their eyes. They peck the eyes of wild animals with sharp beaks, and the wild animals can't effectively resist when they lose their sight. Then the raptor put his mouth into the anus of the beast, pecked out the first three or two times of the large intestine and dragged it out. Animals have been stripped of their intestines, and they are more powerless to resist, so raptors can eat their meat with confidence and boldness. Archery is a common weapon in ancient wars. If you shoot someone with an arrow in non-war time, it is a cruel torture.

Shenhe

During the Warring States Period, when Wei Wenhou of Wei was in power (446-396 BC), the three elders of Yedi (now Linzhang County, Hebei Province) and Ting Yi colluded with witches to collect money, pretending to marry Hebo, and every year they chose their daughters to sink into Zhanghe River. After serving the imperial edict, Ximen Bao saw through the witches' plot, played along and threw witches and people into the river. This well-known story "Ximen Bao Joe sent Hebo's wife" illustrates the fact that people were drowned in the river during the Warring States Period. The people, the court and the witch played tricks and took the opportunity to make profits, so that innocent girls were killed. Ximen Bao used wisdom and strength to fight poison with poison, which saved the local people from great harm.

seashore

Today, people are already familiar with hanging. In modern world history, many revolutionaries were hanged and sacrificed heroically. This kind of hanging is not a modern product. It has a long history in ancient China. During the two years of mourning for Qi Huangong in Zuo Zhuan, if he is guilty, he will be strangled. Du Yu commented, "Strangulation is the reason why he strangled the characters." In other words, strangulation means something that can hang people, such as a rope or a belt. Before that, people had hanged themselves as a way to commit suicide. For example, when Jin Xiangong was in China, Prince Shen Sheng was persecuted by Li Ji and hanged himself in Xincheng (now Quwo) in 656 BC1February. Nowadays, scholars generally believe that hanging is a punishment to punish people, which began with the record in Zuo Zhuan's two years of mourning for the public.

Clear surface

Mianmian is the ink punishment, the first of the five punishments in the Zhou Dynasty. The implementation method is to tattoo words on a person's face or other parts of the body, and then apply ink or other pigments to make the tattooed words become permanent marks. Compared with "Mo", "Gong", "Meng" and "Kill", it is obviously the lightest. But this kind of punishment will also hurt the skin and even the bones and muscles, and it can't be concealed when it is applied to obvious parts of the body, which not only causes physical pain, but also causes great mental humiliation. So this book also lists it as one of torture.

Tongue cutting

According to legend, during the Yongjia period of the Western Jin Dynasty, a Buddhist monk from Tianzhu (now India) came to China, where he would perform a tongue-breaking stunt. Before the performance, he opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue for the guests to see. Then he cut his tongue with a knife and there was a river of blood on the ground. He put half his tongue on a plate and showed it to the public. Everyone was amazed. After a while, he put his tongue in his mouth, paused for a moment, and then stuck out his tongue for people to see. The tongue grows well, just like before. According to legend, when Tang Wenzong came of age, there was a famous monk in Zhao Di (now Hebei). The court summoned him three times, but he refused to go to Beijing. In a rage, the literati ordered the monk's tongue to be cut off and thrown into the fire to burn to ashes. The monk made a golden tongue and put it in his mouth. Every day, he recites the scriptures as usual. Therefore, people call him a monk with golden mouth.

Chaiwan

In ancient torture, cheating officials were stripped naked and sent to a pit full of scorpions and poisonous snakes. This torture comes from the following story (Shen Feng Romance): One day, Zhou Wang and da ji hosted a banquet on the deer platform, and 3,600 palace concubines gathered under the deer platform. Zhou Wang ordered them to take off their skirts, sing and dance naked and make fun of themselves. Zhou Wang and da ji booze and laugh on the stage. Only seventy-two concubines in the later period of Duke Hou of Jiang hid their faces and wept, refusing to dance and sing naked. Da ji said, "This is your official daughter who is with Queen Jiang. After hating the king for killing Jiang, I heard that she was plotting a rebellion in the dark to murder the king! I didn't believe it at first, but now I see that they dare to disobey the king's orders. It seems that the rumors of rebellion are true! They should be severely punished so that others will not dare to rebel! " Zhou Wang said, "What is severe punishment?" Da ji said, "In my opinion, we can dig a hole 50 feet deep and 50 feet wide on the ground in front of the Star Tower, then throw snakes, scorpions, bees and stings into the hole, and then throw these maids into the hole to bite hundreds of bugs. This is called basin punishment. " Zhou Wang was overjoyed, and immediately made a A Qiu basin according to da ji's words, and threw the seventy-two maids into the pit together. At that time, there was a sad wailing in the pit. Zhou Wang laughed: "If it weren't for the queen's clever plan, we wouldn't have killed this traitor!"

cook

In ancient times, it was a kind of torture, that is, putting prisoners in a large iron pot or cauldron filled with boiling water and hot oil to cook or kill them. It is also called cooking punishment, pot cooking and cauldron cooking.

The act of cutting, tearing, pulling and twisting the body into many parts.

The "five punishments" of ancient torture, commonly known as "unloading eight pieces", are quite similar, but there are still subtle differences. The original meaning is beheading, gouging out, chopping hands, gouging out eyes, cutting ears and one, that is, "cutting eight pieces". Generally, after killing people, the head, hands and feet are cut first, and then the trunk is cut into three pieces. Now it refers to dividing the whole thing into several small pieces.

Chop punishment

Chop people into meat paste, and some even make broth to drink.

In addition, there are flogging (cutting off the nose), wearing chain mail (that is, leading the way through the chest clavicle with wire, which is a common means used by the Kuomintang "returning home group" to deal with peasant association cadres during the Agrarian Revolution and the War of Liberation) and so on.