Five penalties

The Five Punishments (五刑) was a collective name for the types of punishment that were imposed before and during the time of the Chinese Empire . Over time, certain forms of punishment have been abolished or changed.

The Five Sentences, while an essential part of the penal system, were not the only form of punishment.

origin

According to some sources, the first to impose the five sentences are believed to be the Sanmiao clan ( 三苗氏 , Sān Miáo shì ). Other sources claim that they go back to Chi You ( 蚩尤 , Chī Yóu ), the legendary creator of metalwork and weapons and leader of the ancient Jiu Li ( 九黎 , jiǔlí ) ethnic group . During the subsequent Xia dynasty (approx. 2070 - approx. 1600 BC), Qi , son of Yu the Great (founder of the dynasty), took on the following Miao punishments:

Tattooing the face or forehead ( 黥 , qíng )
Amputation of one or both feet ( 刖 , yuè ),
Cutting off the nose ( 劓 , yì ),
Shredding ( 琢 , zhuó )

and other types of punishment.

Tattooing, amputation of the nose or feet, removal of the sexual organs and death became the five main forms of the punishment system of that time - from the Xia dynasty, the Shang dynasty (1600-1046 BC) and the Zhou dynasty (1046-256 BC) through. The "Five Punishments" were abolished during the reign of Emperor Han Wendi as a result of a petition by the female subject Chunyu Tiying ( 淳于缇萦 , Chúnyú Tíyíng ) and replaced by the "Five Punishments for Slaves".

The Five Punishments in Ancient China

Aside from the death penalty, the other four sentences given to slaves / serfs were designed to damage their bodies in such a way that they should be marked for the rest of their lives. All ordinary citizens were subject to this punishment. These punishments were for men. The number of crimes to which the punishments were applicable is shown in the list below.

墨 , Mò - "Indian ink", whereby the lawbreaker was tattooed on the face or forehead with indelible ink, or 黥 , qíng - "to brand". (1,000 crimes)
劓 , Yì , with the lawbreaker's nose cut off. (1,000 crimes)
刖 , Yuè or 膑 / 臏 , bìn during the Xia Dynasty ( 斩趾 , zhǎnzhǐ ) and the Qin Dynasty, included the amputation of the left or right foot or both feet. Other sources claim that this punishment included the removal of the kneecap, ostensibly the reason for the name of the military strategist of the Warring States Period Sun Bin 孫臏 / 孙膑 , Sun Bin - "Sun (surname) + kneecap". (500 crimes)
宫 , Gōng or 淫刑 , yínxíng , 腐刑 , fǔxíng or 蚕室刑 , cánshì xíng , with the genitals of male lawbreakers removed. The penis was removed and the testicles cut off and the criminal was sentenced to work as a eunuch in the imperial palace. Gōng was sentenced to the same crimes against men and women, namely adultery, "slovenliness" or promiscuity. (300 crimes)
大辟 , Dà Pì - "great law", the death sentence. Execution methods were:

Cut into four parts ( 分为戮 , fēn wéi lù - “divide up kill”); Cooking while alive 烹 , pēng - "to cook"; Quarter (tearing off the head and limbs by attaching them to carts 车裂 , chēliè ; heads 枭首 , xiāoshǒu ); Execution and display of the criminal's body in the local public market ( 弃市 , qìshì ); Strangling ( 绞 , jiǎo ); and slow dismemberment ( Chinese 凌迟 , Pinyin língchí - " Lingchi "). Other methods of execution were also used. (200 crimes)

Five penalties in imperial times

From the Sui dynasty (581–618), the five punishments took on the form they were supposed to maintain until the end of the imperial era. The following is a list according to the criminal law chapters of the Ming annals.

Rod blows (Chī, 笞)

There were five grades, ranging from 10 to 50 strokes, with rods of predetermined thickness, on the buttocks .

Beatings (zhàng, 杖)

Corporal punishment was given in five degrees, from 60 to 100 strokes, with a stick of a given thickness, on the legs and buttocks.

Deportation for forced labor (Tú, 徒)

Forced labor could also be imposed in five degrees, each in combination with a corporal punishment:

1 year of forced labor and 60 beatings
1.5 years of forced labor and 70 beatings
2 years of forced labor and 80 beatings
2.5 years of forced labor and 90 beatings
3 years of forced labor and 100 beatings

Banishment (Liú, 流)

The person concerned was banished to a certain distance from his hometown (data in Li (about 500 meters); compare table of Chinese units of measurement for different dynasties ). This form of punishment, combined with corporal punishment, had three degrees:

2000 Li distance and 100 beatings
2500 Li distance and 100 beatings
3000 Li distance and 100 beatings

Death (Sĭ, 死)

There were generally two types of death penalty , strangling and beheading .

swell

Frank Münzel: Criminal law in ancient China according to the criminal law chapters in the Ming Annals , O. Harrassowitz, 1968

Individual evidence

^ International Comparative Literature Association. Congress, Elrud Ibsch, Douwe Wessel Fokkema: The conscience of humankind: literature and traumatic experiences . Rodopi, 2000, ISBN 90-420-0420-7 , p. 176 (accessed January 11, 2011).
↑ United States. Foreign Broadcast Information Service: Daily report: People's Republic of China, Issues 223-232 . Distributed by National Technical Information Servicei, 1979, p. 78 (accessed January 11, 2011).
^ Qian Sima, William H. Nienhauser: The grand scribe's records, Volume 1 . Indiana University Press, 1994, ISBN 0-253-34021-7 , p. 69 (accessed January 11, 2011).
↑ Garant Uitgevers NV, JCP Liang & AS Keijser: Modern Chinese II: Reading and Writing . Garant, 2003, ISBN 90-5350-714-0 , p. 116 (accessed January 11, 2011).
^ Zhen Zhang: An amorous history of the silver screen: Shanghai cinema, 1896-1937 . University of Chicago Press, 2005, ISBN 0-226-98238-6 , p. 335 (accessed January 11, 2011).
↑ AFP HULSEWE: remnants of han law . Brill Archive, 1955, p. 127 (Retrieved January 11, 2011).
^ Philip R. Bilancia: Dictionary of Chinese law and government, Chinese-English . Stanford University Press, 1981, ISBN 0-8047-0864-9 , p. 366 (accessed January 11, 2011).
^ Dorothy Louise Hodgson: Gendered modernities: ethnographic perspectives . Palgrave Macmillan, 2001, ISBN 0-312-24013-9 , p. 250 (accessed January 11, 2011).
^ William Theodore De Bary: Waiting for the Dawn: A Plan for the Prince: Huang Tsung-Hsi's Ming-I-Tai-Fang Lu . Columbia University Press, 1993, ISBN 0-231-08097-2 , p. 262 (accessed January 11, 2011).
↑ Paul Rakita Goldin: The culture of sex in ancient China . University of Hawaii Press, 2002, ISBN 0-8248-2482-2 , p. 76 (Retrieved January 11, 2011).

[1] International Comparative Literature Association. Congress, Elrud Ibsch, Douwe Wessel Fokkema: The conscience of humankind: literature and traumatic experiences . Rodopi, 2000, ISBN 90-420-0420-7 , p. 176 (accessed January 11, 2011).

[2] United States. Foreign Broadcast Information Service: Daily report: People's Republic of China, Issues 223-232 . Distributed by National Technical Information Servicei, 1979, p. 78 (accessed January 11, 2011).

[3] Qian Sima, William H. Nienhauser: The grand scribe's records, Volume 1 . Indiana University Press, 1994, ISBN 0-253-34021-7 , p. 69 (accessed January 11, 2011).

[4] Garant Uitgevers NV, JCP Liang & AS Keijser: Modern Chinese II: Reading and Writing . Garant, 2003, ISBN 90-5350-714-0 , p. 116 (accessed January 11, 2011).

[5] Zhen Zhang: An amorous history of the silver screen: Shanghai cinema, 1896-1937 . University of Chicago Press, 2005, ISBN 0-226-98238-6 , p. 335 (accessed January 11, 2011).

[6] AFP HULSEWE: remnants of han law . Brill Archive, 1955, p. 127 (Retrieved January 11, 2011).

[7] Philip R. Bilancia: Dictionary of Chinese law and government, Chinese-English . Stanford University Press, 1981, ISBN 0-8047-0864-9 , p. 366 (accessed January 11, 2011).

[8] Dorothy Louise Hodgson: Gendered modernities: ethnographic perspectives . Palgrave Macmillan, 2001, ISBN 0-312-24013-9 , p. 250 (accessed January 11, 2011).

[9] William Theodore De Bary: Waiting for the Dawn: A Plan for the Prince: Huang Tsung-Hsi's Ming-I-Tai-Fang Lu . Columbia University Press, 1993, ISBN 0-231-08097-2 , p. 262 (accessed January 11, 2011).

[Paul_Rakita_Goldin_2002_76-10] Paul Rakita Goldin: The culture of sex in ancient China . University of Hawaii Press, 2002, ISBN 0-8248-2482-2 , p. 76 (Retrieved January 11, 2011).