Five Punishments


The Five Punishments was the collective name for a series of physical penalties meted out by the legal system of pre-modern dynastic China. Over time, the nature of the Five Punishments varied. Before the Western Han dynasty Emperor Han Wendi, the punishments involved tattooing, cutting off the nose, amputation of one or both feet, castration, and death. Following the Sui and Tang dynasties, these were changed to penal servitude, banishment, death, or corporal punishment in the form of whipping with bamboo strips or flogging with a stick. Although the Five Punishments were an important part of Dynastic China's penal system, they were not the only methods of punishment used.

Origin

The earliest users of the Five Punishments are believed by some to be the Sanmiao Clan. Other sources claim they originated with Chiyou, the legendary creator of metalwork and weapons and leader of the ancient Nine Li ethnic group. During the subsequent Xia dynasty, Qi of Xia, son of Yu the Great, the dynasty's founder, adopted the Miao's punishments of amputation of one or both feet, cutting off of the nose, chiseling, tattooing the face or forehead and other types of punishment. Tattooing, amputation of the nose or feet, removal of the reproductive organs and death became the main five forms of the punishment system during this period. From the Xia Dynasty onwards through the Shang dynasty and the Zhou dynasty. The "Five Punishments for Slaves" were abolished during the reign of Emperor Wen of Han following a petition from a female subject Chunyu Tiying, and were replaced by the "Five Punishments for Serfs".

In ancient China

Apart from the death penalty, the remaining four Punishments for Slaves were designed to bring about damage to their bodies that would mark them for life. All ordinary citizens were subject to these punishments. These punishments were for men. The number of crimes to which the punishment was applicable is listed next to each one.
  • Mò, also known as qíng, where the offender would be tattooed on the face or forehead with indelible ink.
  • Yì, where the offender's nose was cut off without anesthesia.
  • Yuè, also known as bìn during the Xia dynasty and zhǎnzhǐ during the Qin dynasty, involved amputation of the left or right foot or both. Other sources claim that this punishment involved removal of the kneecap, which is claimed to be where the name of Sun Bin, a Warring States period military strategist, comes from. A recent study of a female skeleton found in 1999 revealed her to be the oldest corpse found with evidence of yuè.
  • Gōng, also known as yínxíng, fǔxíng or cánshì xíng, where the male offender's reproductive organs were removed. The penis was removed and testicles were cut off, and the offender was sentenced to work as a eunuch in the Imperial palace. Gōng for men was applied to the same crime as Gōngxing for women, namely adultery, licentious or promiscuous activity.
  • Dà Pì, the death sentence. Methods of execution were quartering, or cutting the body into four pieces ; boiling alive ; tearing off an offender's head and four limbs by attaching them to chariots ; beheading ; execution then abandonment of the offender's body in the local public market ; strangulation ; and slow slicing. Other methods of execution were also used.

    In Imperial China

During the Western Han dynasty, tattooing and amputation were abolished as punishments and in subsequent dynasties, the five punishments underwent further modification. By the Sui dynasty, the five punishments had attained the basic form they would have until the end of the imperial era. This is a brief survey of the five punishments during the Qing dynasty:
  • Chī, beating on the buttocks with a light bamboo cane. During the Qing dynasty, bamboo clappers were used instead. There were five degrees of chī:
  • * 10 lashes
  • * 20 lashes
  • * 30 lashes
  • * 40 lashes
  • * 50 lashes
  • Zhàng, beating with a large stick on either the back, buttocks or legs. The five degrees of zhàng were:
  • * 60 strokes
  • * 70 strokes
  • * 80 strokes
  • * 90 strokes
  • * 100 strokes
  • Tú, compulsory penal servitude with five degrees of severity:
  • * One year of penal servitude plus 60 strokes of the large stick
  • * One and a half years of penal servitude plus 70 strokes of the large stick
  • * Two years of penal servitude plus 80 strokes of the large stick
  • * Two and a half years of penal servitude plus 90 strokes of the large stick
  • * Three years of penal servitude plus 100 strokes of the large stick
  • Liú, exile to a remote location with return to one's place of birth being forbidden. There were three degrees of severity:
  • * 2000 lĭ plus 100 strokes of the large stick
  • * 2,500 lǐ plus 100 strokes of the large stick
  • * 3,000 lǐ plus 100 strokes of the large stick
  • Sĭ, death penalty. Following the Sui and Tang dynasties there were generally two options: hanging or decapitation. From the Song dynasty onwards, slow slicing along with beheading were also used. The death penalty could be remitted on payment of 42 guàn in copper cash.
The scale of the remittance payments can be gauged from the fact that at the era of the Qianlong Emperor, the average wage of a construction laborer in Zhili Province was 0.72 wén or 0.6 troy ounces of silver per day. It takes 160 years of wage from such a worker to pay for remittance of a death sentence.
The following punishments were applied to women for the same crimes as committed by men:
  • Xíngchōng, where the offender was forced to grind grain
  • Zǎnxíng, also known as, squeezing of the fingers between sticks
  • Zhàngxíng, beating with wooden staves
  • Cìsǐ, forced suicide
  • Gōngxíng, sequestration or confinement to a room. Punishment for licentiousness or adultery. Gōngxing for women was applied for the same crimes as the gōng punishment for men.