The Five Punishments (Chinese: 五刑; pinyin: wǔ xíng; Cantonese Yale: ńgh yìhng) was the collective name for a series of physical penalties meted out by the legal system of pre-modern dynastic China.[1] Over time, the nature of the Five Punishments varied. Before the time of Western Han dynasty Emperor Han Wendi (r. 180–157 BC) they involved tattooing, cutting off the nose, amputation of one or both feet, castration and death.[2][3] Following the Sui and Tang dynasties (581–907 AD) 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

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The earliest users of the Five Punishments are believed by some to be the Sanmiao Clan (三苗氏). Other sources claim they originated with Chiyou, the legendary creator of metalwork and weapons and leader of the ancient Nine Li (九黎) ethnic group. During the subsequent Xia dynasty (c. 2070 BC – c. 1600 BC), Qi of Xia, son of Yu the Great, the dynasty's founder, adopted the Miao's punishments of amputation of one or both feet (yuè 刖), cutting off of the nose (yì 劓), chiseling (zhuó 琢), tattooing the face or forehead (qíng 黥) 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 (1600–1046 BC) and the Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC). The "Five Punishments for Slaves" were abolished during the reign of Emperor Wen of Han following a petition from a female subject Chunyu Tiying (淳于緹縈), and replaced by the "Five Punishments for Serfs".

The Five Punishments 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.[4] All ordinary citizens were subject to these punishments.[5] These punishments were for men. The number of crimes to which the punishment was applicable is listed next to each one.[6]

The Five Punishments 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:[15]

The scale of the remittance payments can be gauged from the fact that at the era of the Qianlong Emperor (1735–1796), the average wage of a construction laborer in Zhili Province was 0.72 wén or 0.6 troy ounces of silver per day.[17]

These punishments were applied to women for the same crimes as committed by men.[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ^ Chen, Ivan (1908). "Chapter XI". The Book of Filial Duty.
  2. ^ Fu, Zhengyuan (1993). "Law as punishment". Autocratic tradition and Chinese politics. p. 109. ISBN 0-521-44228-1.
  3. ^ "Marquis of Lu on Punishments (吕刑)". Retrieved August 25, 2010.
  4. ^ International Comparative Literature Association. Congress, Elrud Ibsch, Douwe Wessel Fokkema (2000). The conscience of humankind: literature and traumatic experiences. Rodopi. p. 176. ISBN 90-420-0420-7. Retrieved 2011-01-11.((cite book)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ United States. Foreign Broadcast Information Service (1979). Daily report: People's Republic of China, Issues 223-232. Distributed by National Technical Information Servicei. p. 78. Retrieved 2011-01-11.
  6. ^ Qian Sima; William H. Nienhauser (1994). The grand scribe's records, Volume 1. Indiana University Press. p. 69. ISBN 0-253-34021-7. Retrieved 2011-01-11.
  7. ^ Tom Metcalfe (2022-05-23). "Ancient Chinese woman faced brutal 'yue' punishment, had foot cut off, skeleton reveals". livescience.com. Retrieved 2023-02-20.
  8. ^ Garant Uitgevers N.V.; J.C.P. Liang; A.S. Keijser (2003). Modern Chinese II: Reading and Writing. Garant. p. 116. ISBN 90-5350-714-0. Retrieved 2011-01-11.
  9. ^ Zhen Zhang (2005). An amorous history of the silver screen: Shanghai cinema, 1896-1937. University of Chicago Press. p. 335. ISBN 0-226-98238-6. Retrieved 2011-01-11.
  10. ^ A.F.P. HULSEWE (1955). remnants of han law. Brill Archive. p. 127. Retrieved 2011-01-11.
  11. ^ Philip R. Bilancia (1981). Dictionary of Chinese law and government, Chinese-English. Stanford University Press. p. 366. ISBN 0-8047-0864-9. Retrieved 2011-01-11.
  12. ^ Dorothy Louise Hodgson (2001). Gendered modernities: ethnographic perspectives. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 250. ISBN 0-312-24013-9. Retrieved 2011-01-11.
  13. ^ William Theodore De Bary (1993). Waiting for the Dawn: A Plan for the Prince : Huang Tsung-Hsi's Ming-I-Tai-Fang Lu. Columbia University Press. p. 262. ISBN 0-231-08097-2. Retrieved 2011-01-11.
  14. ^ a b Paul Rakita Goldin (2002). The culture of sex in ancient China. University of Hawaii Press. p. 76. ISBN 0-8248-2482-2. Retrieved 2011-01-11.
  15. ^ Bodde, Derk, and Clarence Morris, Law in Imperial China: Exemplified by 190 Ch'ing Dynasty Cases (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1967), pp. 76-77.
  16. ^ a b c d e Yonglin, Jiang (translator) (2005). Da Ming Lu (大明律) (1397). ((cite book)): |first= has generic name (help)
  17. ^ Databases on Materials, Wages, and Transport Costs in Public Construction in the Qianlong Era
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