What are the methods of execution of the death penalty in the world from ancient times to the present day

The death penalty is a phenomenon that has existed in human society for a long time. There are different ways of capital punishment in the history of various ethnic groups and countries. Often see people say, ancient China is not humane, very cruel. Some people also cite the ancient Chinese "cannon branding", "lynching" and other means of torture, as if the Chinese people since ancient times have a penchant for cruelty, therefore, specially organize some information, listing the death penalty since ancient times to the present day in all parts of the world.

I. Death by animals.

For example, with poisonous snakes, or with pythons; and with elephants to trample to death, or let the elephant trunks of people thrown up many times to fall to death; and with horses dragged to death and so on. Involved in the death of many animals, cattle, camels, wild boars, goats, raptors, crows, lizards, insects, rodents and so on; Ancient Rome there is also a way to put people and monkeys, roosters, dogs, cats, snakes into a bag, tie the mouth, thrown into the water and drowning, and there are all kinds of beasts of prey. With beasts of prey will be bitten to death in ancient Rome is very prevalent, and is the whole population to watch the festivals, gladiators and the nature of the same. Such beasts included lions, tigers, leopards, bears, hyenas, wolves, and common dogs, and the beasts were generally starved for a time before the execution, so that the animals were close to fury. This type of punishment continued in Europe until the 5th century, and some Europeans estimate that about 100,000 Europeans were sentenced to death and then eaten by animals before the 5th century.

France, England, Holland used to popularize a kind of punishment, the prisoner will be stripped naked, stomach back buckle a pot, inside into the rodent such as rats, outside the pot heating, rats afraid of drilling, biting through the prisoner's stomach, drilling into the prisoner's abdomen, deep into the internal organs.

Ancient China with animal death, in addition to the five horses, the other way only vague records, mostly in the historical records are not very clear ancient times, for example, the use of poisonous snakes, only seen in the Shang Dynasty, the latter is not recorded. The use of poisonous snakes, for example, is only found in the Shang Dynasty, but not in later records.

Two, cut throat.

Unlike beheading, there was no separation between the head and the body after the throat was cut. It is a unique penalty in ancient Rome, even called "Roman punishment", but in ancient Rome, it is not the main means of capital punishment, but a simple means, because it is difficult to become a festival of revelry. In ancient Rome, the main means of capital punishment was the festive, ornamental and animalistic means mentioned above. The main instrument used to cut throats was the dagger, and the ancient Roman short sword also worked well. During the ancient Roman period, up to 18,000 people were executed by cutting their throats at one time. Ancient Romans were sometimes too much trouble, after the victory in the war, for the defeated side will also require prisoners of war collective cut their own throats. Later, more European weapons used long swords, cut throats gradually not be used, but in the battlefield, this means still often appear.

Slitting throats is less common in China, and is not found in official history or law; it is usually found in civil lynching or criminal activity.

Third, disembowelment.

This punishment exists all over the world, including China. It evolved into a ritualized form of suicide in Japan.

After the Reformation in Europe, between Catholics and Protestants, it was often practiced. The brutality of disembowelment was similar everywhere, such as dragging the intestines a dozen meters away, removing internal organs, etc. In ancient China, there was a kind of punishment specializing in plucking out the heart, which should be counted as a kind of disembowelment. However, after the North and South Dynasties, it is not recorded in official history.

Four, throwing.

Throwing the prisoner from a high place, such as rocks, towers, city walls, churches and so on. Throw down below also have different preoccupations. Ancient Rome, ancient Greece like to fall on the rocks; Egypt will be thrown down in the crocodile group, Persia will be thrown down on the sharp rocks; medieval Europe and will be thrown down on the forest of spears. In modern Europe, people were also thrown from helicopters to death. This punishment is still practiced in modern times because it can easily be disguised as an accident. This kind of punishment is not found in the records of official history in China, and may have existed, supposedly as a lynching.

Fifth, starvation punishment.

This kind of punishment includes no food, no water, and is often accompanied by other punishments as well. Moreover, the amount of food and water the prisoner had to drink could be controlled to prolong the slow death.

In Europe, there was a "starvation mask" that was worn with an iron tongue shoved into the prisoner's mouth, preventing him from eating. Another form of starvation in Europe was to insert an iron "terror pear" into the prisoner's mouth that could be opened and closed to prevent the prisoner from making a sound. Some of the "terror pears" have spikes inside, or can be turned, in order to destroy the prisoner's throat. Of course, the use of the "terror pear" was not limited to the mouth, but could also be used in the anus or vagina of the prisoner. The most horrific method of starvation was to give the prisoner a small amount of food to keep him alive, then smear his body with milk and honey, which, along with the prisoner's own feces, attracted a large number of flies and parasites until countless maggots entered the still-living prisoner's body and caused death. This punishment was recorded as extending for 17 days. The Nazi concentration camps were the ultimate example of mass mass starvation.

There may have been starvation in ancient China, but again, it is not recorded in official history, nor is it found in the law, and it would have been a form of lynching. As for satiation, it doesn't seem to be in Chinese historical records.

Sixth, prison cages.

Cages are particularly narrow containers used to imprison prisoners, usually accompanied by other punishments, such as hunger and thirst. This punishment has long existed in Europe and Asia. Prison cages are usually hollowed out and permeable inside and out. Cages were used more often in medieval Europe because the Church disliked bloodshed, but loved exhibition. People were kept in cages and hung in public ****ing places, with bone-chilling cold or scorching sun, plus hunger and thirst, until the prisoner died. In Europe there were times when prisoners were hung for a long time after death, until the body was thoroughly decomposed.

Alexander the Great of Ancient Greece was so fond of this method that a very small cage became known as "Alexander's Cage," or "the little girl.

In Chinese history, cages were generally used as a temporary means of holding prisoners, and less often as the ultimate means of execution.

Seven, imprisonment.

Imprisonment is somewhat similar to the cage, the difference being that the cage is smaller and can be moved, while imprisonment is more spacious but fixed. However, imprisonment is often in very poor conditions, such as caves, dungeons, etc., is a long-term punishment for felons. This type of punishment existed in ancient Greece and was often used by the Church in medieval Europe, and it was often used in conjunction with starvation and other means, ultimately resulting in the death of the prisoner. Incarceration in Western society means complete abandonment by society, for example, incarceration in a cave will also block the entrance to the cave. The United States now has specialized black houses in its prisons, which should be considered a variant of incarceration, but the purpose of such black houses is not to cause death, but to punish.

Imprisonment also exists in China, but again, it is rarely used as the ultimate means of execution, and is often only a means of restricting liberty, usually with poor food.

VIII. Crucifixion.

This kind of punishment is very famous, the earliest is not invented by the Greeks and Romans, but, Europe will be this kind of punishment rose to an unprecedented height. The cross in addition to the common Jesus was tortured the kind of shape, there are box-shaped, X cross-shaped, T-shaped. Other shapes of crosses appeared mainly because some people thought that prisoners could not enjoy the same way of death as Jesus. The crucifixes were used by nailing the hands and feet of the prisoner to a frame, or by tying them with ropes and letting them die slowly. Prisoners were either nailed on their heads and feet like Jesus, or they were nailed on their heads so that they could die faster. Some experts have pointed out that crucified prisoners did not die of starvation, thirst, or bleeding to death, as is commonly thought, but suffocated to death. Experts explained that after being crucified, the contraction of muscles led to chest compression and eventual death. In ancient Rome, up to 6,000 people were crucified at the same time at one time, covering both sides of an entire road.

Crosses were used less in Europe later because of Jesus, but were used more by the Nazis. This type of punishment is not found in China.

9. Buried alive.

This punishment is common around the world, including China, where it is most often done by burying in the ground.

Some say that the history of Rome began with live burial. Burial alive developed later in France and Germany, for example, when people were pushed into wells and the wells were buried. For a time in medieval France, it was considered unseemly to hang women, so burying them alive became one of the specialized punishments for women. After the Qin Dynasty in China, burying alive was no longer a legal option, but only a lynching.

Ten, stake punishment.

This kind of punishment is found in Asia and Europe. The so-called stake torture is to nail people to a huge stake, usually from the anus inserted, serious from the mouth through. The prisoner is either lying down or sitting, as well as hanging upside down and horizontally. In addition to inserting the stake along the torso, there are also stakes inserted horizontally.In the 19th century, the French replaced the pointed stake with a rounded one, not to reduce the pain of the prisoner, but to slow down the time of death. In addition to wooden stakes, bamboo and iron rods were also used, and the King of England used to use red-hot iron rods. In the case of female prisoners, this type of punishment involves the insertion of a stake or other instrument of torture through the vagina. In Chinese history, this kind of punishment is not found in historical records.

Eleven, flayed alive.

Flaying alive does not need much explanation, everyone can understand. This punishment is found in Asia and Europe. The practice in India is to roast on the surface of the body with a small fire, and then peeled. Ancient Greece and Rome also had this punishment. It was less common in medieval Europe, but it was documented. Flaying is sometimes not easily distinguished from capital punishment. For example, in Persia and Europe, there is the practice of artistic skinning of human beings, some skinned into thin bands of rings, some skinned into long strips, and so on. In modern times the Nazis have also collected human skins, or made crafts from them. In China, pure flaying occurs very rarely, the most recent records are from the early Ming Dynasty in the 14th century, and it is not a legally prescribed punishment. Close to flaying alive is what is known as lynching, of which more later.

XII. Dismemberment.

Different from lynching, lynching is a small piece of cut off, dismemberment is a large piece of chopped off. Beheading is not included for the time being. This punishment exists all over the world and is also found in China.

The tools used for dismemberment are usually knives and axes. Sometimes dismemberment does not necessarily mean taking a life, such as chopping off hands or feet, ears, nose, male genitals, etc. alone. The Napoleonic Code also provides for this type of punishment.

The ancient Chinese practice of splitting a person's body into five horses is also considered a form of dismemberment, but there are also European punishments that involve splitting the bodies of animals such as cows and horses. In ancient China, there was also the car-cracking and waist-beheading which were all in this category of punishment. This also existed in European history, but the tools were different. After the North and South Dynasties, there was no more car-cracking, and waist-beheading continued until the Song Dynasty, after which it was not an official law. Dismemberment is no longer used in China since the advent of lynching.

Thirteen, lynching.

Ling chi is the cutting off of parts of the body in small pieces until death. Many people think that ling chi is unique to China, in fact, wrong, Europe, the Middle East have ling chi, and, in terms of ling chi appeared in China, ling chi is by no means a Chinese invention. There are several ways of saying that ling chi appeared in China, one is to say that it appeared in the period of the Five Dynasties, but this statement is provided by the people of the Song Dynasty; the second is to say that it appeared in the Song Dynasty, and the third is to say that it appeared in the Yuan Dynasty. These are supposed to be the emergence of the term "lynching", which is different from the emergence of the means of "lynching". The term "lynching" originally had nothing to do with the death penalty, meaning that the mountain was getting higher and higher. It was later applied to capital punishment, originally meaning a slower death for the prisoner. However, when the term first appeared, it was not necessarily the method that has come to be known. It was during the Yuan Dynasty that the now accepted method of "lynching" appeared.

Chinese lynching has been much publicized in the West because of some special practices, such as the size of each cut, the total of more than 3,000 cuts***, and the time extension of several days. Unlike Europe, China abolished lynching at the end of the Qing Dynasty, a little later compared to Europe, and thus became evidence of barbarism. However, lynching has existed in Chinese society for only 600 or 700 years, much shorter than the history of Europe and other countries of more than 2,000 years. I hope that those who have read this passage will in future advise certain people not to keep on talking about the Chinese lynching, which is by no means the cruelest in the world.

Fourteenth, broken body punishment.

Shattered body punishment is the body irregularly crushed, a common method is to use a large wheel, will be tied to the wheel on the rotation, next to or on the ground with nails, knives and other things. In ancient Rome, broken body punishment is sometimes called "rake punishment". Sometimes the person was tied to a rotating disk, sometimes the person was immobilized. In addition to the multi-toothed rake, ancient Rome also used a single-toothed hook. Incidentally, there was a law in ancient Rome. Ancient Roman law, which stated that virgins could not be sentenced to death, was not brightly intended. In order to circumvent this law, the executioner in ancient Rome was given a special treatment, before the execution can rape the female prisoner, the record, there is a 7-year-old girl suffered such an end.

There were similar methods of body-shredding in ancient China, but they were earlier, not recorded after the Shang Dynasty, and did not use specialized instruments. In later times, there were still such punishments, usually just with a knife, such as hacking to death with a messy knife or something like that, but none of them were formalized laws.

Fifteen, grinding punishment.

Grinding is the use of wheels, stone wheels, grinding wheels and other round heavy objects will be crushed to death. Europe's milling punishment is either to install a lot of spikes or nails on the wheel and run over the person, or first shallowly inserted in the person full of nails, and then run over with a huge round stone. This type of execution was a showpiece in the Roman Coliseum. Ancient Greece, ancient Rome, another kind of crushing punishment is to use two heavy wooden discs, the prisoner in the middle, sometimes the inner side of the wooden discs are also equipped with nails, and then by the animal dragged to turn, this is a combination of crushing punishment and broken body punishment. The aforementioned execution with elephants can also be regarded as the mill punishment. Later, in Europe, a kind of "pinch stick punishment" was developed, which utilized the principle of leverage to pinch people to pieces. Until the end of the 19th century, this kind of punishment was still used in France. Another development was the clubbing of the prisoner's head.

These types of crushing were also practiced in China, but not very often, and were generally lynchings rather than legally mandated punishments. The most common form of torture in China was the wheel grindings, which were basically not as fancy as in Europe.

Sixteen, fire.

Torture by fire was also practiced in ancient China, but it was far less colorful than in Europe. Of course, in the Code of Hammurabi, the earliest legal instrument of mankind, it is listed as one of the three major punishments of fire. Therefore, fire punishment was not necessarily invented by Europeans. Fire was also prevalent in ancient India. Europe, on the other hand, in the ancient Greek era, there was fire, and since then, Europeans have shown a wealth of imagination on fire, especially in the Middle Ages, the means of fire is spectacular, and even the burning materials used in the fire and the placement of the woodpile have meticulous regulations.

Seventeen, roasted and scorched punishment.

Baking and scorching torture is the use of small fires, which is different from the fire torture. Fire is only with firewood and other burning materials, while the grilled and roasted torture will also use different metal instruments. The ancient Chinese "cannon branding" belongs to this category. However, roasts and burns in ancient China were also less plentiful and longer than in Europe.

Ancient Greece had a copper bed specially for barbecuing prisoners; Ancient Rome used a special iron frame; this iron frame was later adopted by the Middle Ages; the Middle Ages will also be hanging prisoners on the fire on the slow barbecue, or will be inserted into the brazier on the barbecue; also thrown into the prisoners in pre-boiled boiling water or grease; there is a love of the art of the tyrant, will be placed in a marble basin of five prisoners, and then poured into the dissolved tin water and lead water, cooled down, and then threw into the water, and then thrown into the water. tin and lead water, cooled and made into a sculpture; medieval Europe, frying pans were commonly used, prisoners in a cauldron mixed with oil and water, was slowly cooked by a small fire; Spain also has a special oven.

Baked and roasted punishment in other Asian countries are also a lot of China, in addition to the famous "cannon branding" in the Shang Dynasty, cooking and other penalties in the Han Dynasty, there is no

eighteen, sawing.

Sawing and dismemberment is somewhat similar, the difference lies mainly in the tool. This kind of punishment first appeared around the Mediterranean Sea, and later spread to Greece and Rome. Sawing is documented in the Bible.

Sawing can be done between the legs or at the waist. Sawing was done with metal saws and thick ropes.Sawing still existed in France and Spain at the end of the 18th century. It was also used by the Nazis. However, there is no record of this kind of punishment in Chinese history.

Nineteen, arrow torture.

This type of punishment is relatively simple, using a bow and arrow to shoot to death. It is found in China and around the world.

Twenty, penetration punishment.

It is the use of a long sharp instrument to penetrate the human body. Technically, archery is also considered penetration punishment, but penetration punishment is more diverse.

The earliest penetration torture appeared in the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, the Carthaginians in a large wooden barrel on the inside of the nails, the prisoner into the barrel, and then rolling barrel. The Greeks and Romans used more javelins for penetration. Some penetration punishments involved piercing the prisoner with a long sharp instrument and displaying it on a pole, sometimes several pierced prisoners could be secured to one pole. There were also long, thin cylinders, just large enough for a man to stand inside, which could be opened and closed, and into which long spikes were driven on the outside of the cylinder after the prisoner was placed inside. This type of penetration was still used in European countries in the mid-19th century. In contrast to China, there were similar punishments, for example, during the Qin Dynasty, when holes were cut into the skulls of prisoners, but there are no records of such punishments after the Qin Dynasty. In terms of the speed of death, the Qin dynasty through the sentence of the prisoner died faster, less pain, than the European through the sentence appears to be "merciful" a little

21, poison

Poison this way also arose in the Mediterranean region, the famous thinker of ancient Greece, Socrates died in this punishment. This way of death has since been used often, but most of them are extrajudicial means of death. Poison was also used in ancient China, but it did not become official law.

Xxii. Hanging.

Hanging was created in Italy during the Middle Ages and later spread to Europe. The general way of hanging punishment is to cut the prisoner's hands behind his back, use a rope to bind the prisoner's wrists, and then hoisted up to a pole or rack, and then suddenly release the rope, so that the prisoner is free to land. However, this landing does not hit the ground, but stops suddenly in mid-air. This punishment often dislocates the prisoner's arm. In the execution of this punishment, weights are sometimes tied to the ankles of the prisoner, which can cause dislocation of the thighs. If the suspension was very heavy, it could also cause the prisoner's abdomen to split open, and there was a case in Sweden in the late 18th century involving the hanging penalty. The judge was unable to decide who the two suspects were, so he let the two prisoners roll the dice, and the one with the smallest number of points was sentenced to death, while the one with the largest number of points was sentenced to hanging, and the one who was sentenced to hanging didn't die. Hanging adjusts the weight of the ankle suspension according to the severity of the offense, so that 40% of hanged victims survive.

The punishment appeared briefly in China in the 18th century and was brought by Westerners.

Twenty-three, whipping.

Flagellation existed all over the world, and was especially more prevalent on the Mediterranean coast, and later spread throughout Europe. Flogging can be light or heavy, but it is also often used to carry out the death penalty. In ancient Rome, lethal floggings were often carried out with lead balls or bones tied to the whip. The English loved flogging, and after whipping a prisoner to the skin, they would immerse the prisoner in seawater or vinegar. European countries whipping difference is the whip, some whips are hollow, filled with lead; some in the tip of the whip hanging on the weight; some in the whip is equipped with spikes; some are metal chain whip; some in the tip of the whip is equipped with a spider web of spikes and so on. Flogging was abolished in Europe around the middle of the 19th century. But after flogging was removed from the list of means of capital punishment, it was not removed from the list of means of punishment. Flogging was still used in the United States in the early 20th century. Whipping remained as a means of punishment in the United Kingdom until the 1970s. Whipping, which is still used in Singapore, is also a holdover from the British colonial period.

China had a brief history of flogging during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and also during the Sui Dynasty. Other dynasties rarely used flogging.

Twenty-four, rod punishment.

Baton punishment is not exactly always used for capital punishment. Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome have rod punishment. Later European countries, the United Kingdom to use the rod torture time is shorter, France is often used, until the 19th century, the rod in France is still a means of death. Rodding was sometimes used in Europe with a wolfsbane.

Baton punishment is also called caning in China, but mostly simple sticks are used. This type of punishment has been used in China for a long time. The earliest records appeared in the Qin Dynasty and continued until the Qing Dynasty. However, caning was not always used to carry out the death penalty in all dynasties; in most cases, it was just a brutal spanking.

Twenty-five, wheel punishment.

Wheel punishment was born in late ancient Rome, is a variation of dismemberment punishment. It tied the prisoner to a wheel and used spinning and pulling to cause dismemberment of the body. This type of punishment was not finally outlawed by Britain and Germany until the mid-19th century. This brutal punishment was one of the archetypes of crowd-pleasing in Europe, as it allowed for a flat wheel to be fastened to a high post or platform. a 17th century account shows that the youngest person executed on a wheel in Europe was under the age of one. This punishment was not recorded in China.

Twenty-six, tearing off limbs.

The punishment of tearing off limbs is also a kind of dismemberment punishment, but the punishment of tearing off limbs uses natural force and dismemberment uses human force. Strictly speaking, the ancient Chinese punishment of splitting a horse into five parts and splitting a car can also be regarded as the punishment of tearing off limbs. This kind of punishment is commonly found all over the world. In ancient Greece and Rome, the punishment of tearing off limbs sometimes used trees, bending two trees to close together, fixing them first, and then tying the hands and feet of the prisoners to the two trees, and then loosening the ropes of the two trees, and the force of the tree trunks bouncing away on their own caused the dismemberment of the prisoner's body. The punishment of tearing off limbs was adopted by many European countries in the Middle Ages, and the tools used were mostly horses. There was an account in France in the 17th century where more than 7,000 people gathered around a tearing off of a limb, after which the people seized the dead man's pieces of meat and entrails and shared them. Europe did not abolish this punishment until the 18th century. China stopped using the punishment of tearing off limbs after the Song Dynasty.

Twenty-seven, strangulation.

Strangulation is also known as strangulation. Unlike hanging, strangulation uses external force, while hanging uses the prisoner's own gravity. Strangulation exists in many parts of Asia and Europe. In some European countries, strangulation has evolved into hanging. The prisoner sits in a special high-backed chair with his neck in an iron chain, which is connected to the back of his neck by screws; the prisoner's larynx is cut off by a few turns of the screws, and then a protrusion in the back of the chair shatters the prisoner's cerebellum. This punishment existed in Europe until the 1970s. Strangulation has long existed in China as well, but it is not a legal means of capital punishment, and China does not go to the same lengths to hang people as the Europeans.

Twenty-eight, hanging.

Hanging is one of the most common death penalties, seen in countries around the world and in all periods of history, and it remains legal in many countries to this day. Of the various types of capital punishment, hanging is the simplest, a rope with a live knot. In Europe, hanging was generally the punishment used for commoners, while beheading was used for nobles. In some places, the prisoner was hanged with his whole body in a bag, and also with a hood. In Europe, hanging was the most common method of executing children. For children under the age of 13, the rope for hanging is not placed around the neck, but under the armpits. England was the country that hanged the most children; the last child hanged in England in 1833 was only 9 years old because he stole ink. Of course, British law also stipulates that children over the age of 7 can only be sentenced to hang. This British tradition is now being carried on by the United States, where the law can still execute juveniles today.

In the late 19th century in the UK, most hangings were followed by an autopsy, and there were many instances of the "hanged" coming back to life. There was even an incident in which a dead prisoner escaped with the help of the coroner who was supposed to dissect him.In the mid-20th century, the custodian of the Royal College of Surgeons in London confirmed that in 36 autopsies of hanged bodies, the hearts of six people still beat for seven hours after execution, and two others for five hours. In order to avoid this, in 1942, British law stipulated that if such a case was encountered, the person had to be hanged again for another hour. Austria, on the other hand, took the precaution that hangings had to be carried out for the full three hours. The British hangman who carried out the hangings was described as "the best in the world".

Hanging is usually a rope around the neck, but there are also hooks; the ancient Romans also hanged hair, or hanging genitals; such hangings in medieval Europe is also a lot of; and hanging ribs; and upside down hanging feet.

Ancient China's hanging also existed for a long time, but are hanging neck, rarely like the Europeans to play a myriad of tricks.

Twenty-nine, striking a stone.

It is the beating to death of a man with a stone, and it is probably one of the oldest punishments. It appeared in the Mediterranean and Middle East before the Bible was formed. Ancient Greece and Rome used this punishment to deal with special crimes, such as adultery, which is more similar to the Islamic world. It was also used in Europe in the Middle Ages. The characteristics of this punishment is that it does not need a special executioner, the prisoner tied to the square and other places, many of the crowd threw stones, and ultimately killed the person. This is the best example of a collective orgy of murderous activity in Europe, everyone satisfied the bloodlust, the desire to kill. After the 16th century in Europe, this kind of punishment was no longer common. It is still practiced in a few countries to this day.

China has never had such a penalty. In a more far-fetched way, crowds of people would throw garbage and the like at the condemned prisoners on their way to the execution ground, but it was never a means to death, and ultimately it was up to the executioner.

Thirty, drowning punishment.

Drowning punishment is drowning. This punishment is found in many countries. The Mediterranean region adopted this punishment very early. Ancient Rome's drowning penalty often in the prisoner tied to a heavy body, or the prisoner in a bag, thrown into the water; France and Germany often prisoners drowned in the swamps; medieval Europe in the execution of some infectious diseases, but also the use of this method. Drowning was still practiced in some European countries well into the 20th century.

Drowning has a European variant called waterboarding, in which the prisoner is given a large amount of water, sometimes dirty water, vinegar, or wine, and is prevented from urinating, so that eventually the prisoner is bloated with water and dies. Another type of waterboarding involved freezing the prisoner to death in ice water.

In ancient China, drowning was no longer practiced after the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and waterboarding was not.

XXI. Beheading.

Beheading, like hanging, has long been common throughout the world. The greatest difference between these two punishments in China and in the West is that the objects to which they are applied are reversed. In China, beheading was mostly used for commoners, and hanging was mostly used for dignitaries, because the Chinese did not like to die without a body. The British aristocracy believed that it was shameful not to die by the sword, and its martial militancy was expressed in the death penalty.

Chinese executioners, when executing a beheading, demanded that it be done with a single cut, otherwise the executioner would look unprofessional. In the words of the condemned, it is to give a pain, and in modern terms, it is to reduce the pain of the prisoner. And in the West it is not uncommon to see a dozen or twenty or thirty cuts; there are also examples of people whose heads were not cut off and who continued to live for three days. Therefore, in Europe there is the phenomenon of tipping the executioner. Perhaps formally this reason, Europe later used the guillotine, guillotine instead of the executioner.

It is said that the earliest guillotine appeared in ancient Persia. The earliest "guillotines" in Europe were used to kill animals. The guillotine used for the execution of human beings underwent many changes in Europe, each time with technical improvements. The guillotine has been called many things at different times, such as the national razor, the gas window, the tiger window, the bicycle, the paper cutter, and so on.

The common guillotine of modern times was designed by two French doctors during the French Revolution with the idea of equality and humanism for all. France's first guillotine manufacturing budget is more than 50,000 taels of silver, and finally spent more than 8,000 taels of silver to manufacture. In order to grab the business of manufacturing guillotines, different manufacturers competed to undercut the offer. Since then, guillotine technology has been improved many more times in France. This mechanical device was used in France for 200 years and officially abandoned by 1981, a **** beheading nearly 10,000 people, an average of one per week. Interestingly, the guillotine played a huge role in France, but was never named in the code. This phenomenon also occurs with executioners. Though state employees, executioners are not civil servants and do not appear on the government payroll. Quite a facade.

The guillotine is also accepted in a few other countries. There are no guillotines in China.

Thirty-two, shooting.

The death penalty began to appear in Europe after the appearance of the musket. It is thought to be an extension of the ancient "arrow execution". Because the first muskets were more expensive, early executions by firing squad were reserved for special people, including soldiers. Because of the poor quality of early bullets, many people had to be executed with many guns at the same time. The most recorded execution in Europe was a firing squad of 50 men, firing twice in unison,**** 100 rounds to kill a prisoner. Later, it was pointed out that it was too expensive to spend the bullets, and the old European method of execution was revived.

Shooting is now the method of execution used in the vast majority of countries around the world, with some countries retaining other methods alongside shooting.

Developed from the gun execution, there is also the gun execution, Russia, France, Afghanistan, the United States have been; in Europe there is also dynamite punishment, the gunpowder will be filled into the prisoner's body, such as the anus and vagina, and then detonated; Europe there is also gasoline punishment, so that the prisoner to drink a large amount of gasoline, through the mouth of the fuse will be stretched to the prisoner's stomach, ignition causes the prisoner's body to explode. Europeans are not very good at figuring out how to kill people.

Thirty-three, poison gas.

Modern chemistry technology provides the means of killing. Hitler's Nazis used to use it on a large scale. Only the United States still uses it in the world today.

XXIV. Electrocution.

When new technology comes along, it is quickly applied to capital punishment, and electrocution is one example of this.

The great inventor Thomas Edison always believed that the population should be provided with direct current electricity. In an effort to devalue alternating current as a competitor, Edison pushed for the invention of the alternating current electrocution chair, with the goal of proving that alternating current could cause a person's death. Hilariously, Edison himself also advocated for the abolition of the death penalty. Although Edison ultimately failed to defeat AC's competitors, electrocution was accepted into U.S. law. After many experiments using prisoners, Edison and others eventually set the voltage at 1,780 volts. The first person to be executed by electrocution was a woman. After subsequent experiments and adjustments, the technical standard for electrocution in the U.S. is now 1900 volts and 7.5 amps, but it also goes up to 2500 volts.

Thirty-five, injection torture.

Mechanical advances brought the guillotine; the invention of electricity brought electrocution; chemistry brought the gas penalty; the combination of medicine and chemistry and brought lethal injection, known as the mildest form of capital punishment. This form of capital punishment first arose in the United States and is now accepted in a number of other countries, including China.

The United States now has the largest number of methods of capital punishment in the world, *** five. The US is also the only modern country that has so many legal death penalty methods. America is awesome at everything.