China's feudal autocracy for thousands of years, experienced many dynasties, there have been many emperors, in order to strengthen the rule, maintain their own dominance, each dynasty has its own laws and requirements, for those who break the law, the imperial court will establish corresponding punishment, light cane punishment, heavy execution.
There are many kinds of death penalties in ancient China, the most commonly used is beheading, although many rulers have implemented benevolent government, the death penalty is extremely strict, because the use of the death penalty often will cause public resentment, over time will lead to riots, so generally are people who have committed serious crimes, will be sentenced to death, and the decision to sentence the death penalty must also be reviewed layer by layer, in addition to the institutions that specialize in the trial of criminals, and finally to the emperor to see, it can be seen that the death penalty review is very strict.
In the TV series, in addition to those who can be killed on the spot for rebellion, we most commonly say "ask for beheading after autumn" when the emperor issues an edict to deal with the death penalty, why wait until after autumn to ask for beheading? This is a question for many of us. In fact, the ancient execution time was chosen after the autumn because this time is the time when all things wither, and the criminal dies at this time, indicating that he obeys the will of Heaven, and life also withers at this time.
In addition, we often hear "three hours of execution at noon", why choose three o'clock at noon, which is also exquisite, three o'clock at noon is the most prosperous time of the day, the ancients believed that yin and yang clashed, prisoners dying, resentment, resentment for yin, yin fear of yang, execution at the peak of the sun, can avoid unjust souls for chaos in the world.
The above two requirements for dealing with the death penalty, inevitably some superstitious meaning in it, for death row inmates, the government also has a practice, that is, before the death penalty is beheaded, it will give the prisoners the last meal, commonly known as the severed head meal, since ancient times there is a saying, "people will die, their meals are also abundant", for the people who will die, the government will try to let him leave the world with dignity. Although there are penalties for beheading, some governments also believe that the whole body should be left for prisoners, so they will require the servants to behead them, but not to cut off all their heads.
According to historical records, some dynasties attach great importance to the severed head meal, so many death row prisoners have a very rich meal, but if you think about it, how can you be in the mood to eat this rice bowl when people are about to die? Therefore, this supper is just a consolation given to the prisoners by the government in order to show its benevolence. But why, however, is it that during the severed head meal of a condemned prisoner, the jailer usually puts a piece of raw meat in the bowl? Do you eat raw meat before you die? It's not just superstition.
This strange custom originated in folklore, where legend has it that after death, people will be reincarnated, and between reincarnations, they must pass through the Nai Ho Bridge, drink a bowl of Meng Po soup, and forget the past before they can reincarnate. The person who cooks Meng Po soup is called Meng Po, she has a fierce big dog next to her, if you want to cross the Nai Ho Bridge safely, you must feed the dog and invest in a good family in the next life. So this piece of raw meat, in fact, is fed to the dog, with this piece of meat, the dog eats happily, and the person crossing the bridge is smooth.
Come to think of it, this practice of the jailer is still for the sake of the prisoner, in ancient times the prisoner ate a severed meal before the execution, if there was no piece of raw meat, the prisoner might still make a big fuss, and if there was raw meat in the bowl, the prisoner would be grateful to Zero, this piece of raw meat was even more pleasing to the eye than the big fish meat.
To this day, there will also be a piece of raw meat on the table of many people's homes during the New Year's Festival, which is used to entertain various gods and goddesses and bless their families with happiness and happiness. To say that the guillotine is also to let the prisoners die with a little dignity, and this piece of raw meat is just to pray for a good vision.