Chinese Torture Chamber 满清十大酷刑

I have just finished watching the TVB drama named [The Life and Times of a Sentinel] (紫禁惊雷) yesterday. Quite a nice drama although I got bored at the beginning but once you know why things happened such way then it started to be quite exciting and interesting.

Wanna read about its synopsis please visit HERE.

I'm not here to share about this drama. I'm here to share about the execution of punishment or penalty originated from ancient China. Why am I suddenly interested in those things? Because there's one scene in the drama where the prisoner was sentenced to death by a type of penalty called 凌迟 (ling chi). I always hear about it from drama but to be honest I have no idea on how it's performed.

I tried to search for info on the internet and found out it's such a cruel penalty! And I'll share ten of the penalties here. I'll ask little Peary to demo as well. XD

1. 凌迟 ling chi (Slicing)

To suffer the prisoner to the fullest, this is performed alive and it requires the prisoner to die only after being sliced with an exact numbers of slicing. It started from feet, and usually it requires 1000 slicing. This means that the prisoner has to be sliced for 1000 times before he/she is allowed to die. If the prisoner die before 1000 slices then the executor will be punished as well.

凌迟的目的是要让犯人受最大的痛苦，因此不但是活的时候施刑，还要求受刑人必须身受多到以后才死。每次凌迟要由两个人执行，从脚开始割，一共要割一千刀，也就是要割下一千片肉片才准犯人断气。而据说犯人若未割满一千刀就断了气，执行人也要受刑。

2. 梳洗 shu xi (Grooming)

This is not the usual grooming as the word means. This is a very harsh penalty where the prisoner will be treated with hot boiled water at first and then the human flesh will be combed down using an iron brush.

这里说的梳洗并不是女子的梳妆打扮，而是一种极为残酷的刑罚。它指的是先用开水浇人，再用铁刷子把人身上的肉一下一下地梳洗下来，直至肉尽骨露，最终咽气。

3. 剥皮 bo pi (Skin Peeling)

It's started from the spine, separate the skin from the muscle slowly with a knife. The terrible thing is that the prisoner will only die after one day. At first, it's executed after the prisoner is dead but it turns out to peel the skin alive after that. =.=

剥的时候由脊椎下刀，一刀把背部皮肤分成两半，慢慢用刀分开皮肤跟肌肉，像蝙蝠展翅一样的撕开来。这样被剥的人要等到一天多才能断气。最难的是胖子，因为皮肤和肌肉之间还有一堆油，不好分开。最早的剥皮是死后才剥，后来发展成活剥。

4. 俱五刑 ju wu xing (All Five Punishment)

Head, feet, hands, ears are cut off and the eyes are gouged out. Normally performed after the prisoner is dead.

把砍头，刖，割手，挖眼，割耳朵，即“大卸八块”，通常是把人杀死以后，才把人的头，手脚剁下来，再把躯干剁成三块。

5. 烹煮 peng zhu (Cooking)

The prisoner is placed in a big urn which is surrounded by red-hot charcoal. Basically it means to 'cook' the prisoner.

用一个大瓮，四周堆满烧红的炭火，再把犯人放进去。再顽固不化的人，也受不了这个滋味。

6. 车裂 che lie (Torn Into Five)

The prisoner's head and limbs are tied with ropes, and pulled by five horses towards five different directions, and torn the person into five sections.

即“五马分尸”。受刑人的头跟四肢套上婶子，有五匹快马拉着向五个方向急奔，把人撕成五块，因为作为头是最先掉的，其次是双臂，等只剩双腿连着躯干的时候，拉力会拉断其中一条腿，躯干就会留在另一条腿上。

7. 刖刑 yue xing (Cut Off The Feet)

Some people say that the parts below the knees are cut off, and some say to cut off the feet, and some say to cut the knee. The third saying is more reliable. In short, it's similar to amputation.

有人说是把膝盖以下都砍掉，有人说是把脚砍掉，也有人说是把膝盖骨削掉，而第三个比较可信。总之，刖刑是一种类似截肢的酷刑。

8. 宫刑 gong xing (Castration)

First, the penis is tied up with a rope so that the blood circulation is disturbed and the cells will die eventually. Then, the part is cut off with a knife. Then, ash is used to cover the wound and a feather is inserted into the urethra. A few days later, the feather is removed, and if the person is able to excrete urine out of his body, then it's a successful castration.

首先要拿绳子把小弟弟绑起来让血液不流通，自然坏死，后拿利刃一刀子割掉。割掉了以后拿香灰一盖，止血，还得拿根鹅毛插在尿道里。等过了几天把鹅毛拿掉，如果尿得出来，阉割就算成功了。要是尿不出来，那个人就算废了，大概最后会死于无法排尿而膀胱爆裂吧。

9. 腰斩 yao zhan (Waist Cutting)

The prisoner's waist is cut into two sections by an ax. Most of the main organs are located in the upper body, therefore the prisoner will not die immediately.

腰斩，顾名思义，就是行刑者用重斧从犯人的腰部将其砍作两截。由于腰斩是把人从中间切开，而主要的器官都在上半身，因此犯人不会一下子就死，斩完以后还会神志清醒，得过好一段时间才会断气。

10. 缢首 yi shou (Hanging)

Chinese people's hanging uses a bow string to kill. The criminal's neck is set on the bow, and the executioner began to spin the bow. The criminal is getting less air and finally dead.

中国人的绞刑是用弓弦缢杀。就是把弓套在受刑人脖子上，弓弦朝前，行刑人在后面开始旋转那张弓，弓越转越紧，受刑人的气就越来越少，最后终于断气。

That's all the ten penalties originated from ancient China. And I'm really glad that those cruel penalties do not exist anymore except the hanging. At least it's not executed so often and easily nowadays.

THANK GOD!

P/S: Now only I realize I spent 5 hours and 30 minutes for this post. O.O
And all the info is from HERE. =)