There is a sentence in the "Theory of The Hidden Husband, Shigong" that "rewards and punishments are strict, and the materials of governance are also." "As early as ancient times, when people began to live in groups, there was a system of reward and punishment. In order to maintain the collective relationship and the power of the ruler, reward the meritorious and punish the guilty, which is to distinguish between reward and punishment. With the advent of the feudal monarchy, punishment has become more and more diverse, but the unchanging one is the death penalty.
In ancient times, the most common death penalty was the head of the thief, a capital punishment for those who committed serious crimes. The convicted people basically had no possibility of rehabilitation, so people at that time set up a "guillotine meal" for death row prisoners out of consideration for human nature, adhering to the folk saying "eat enough to go on the road" as the last psychological comfort for prisoners. But what people don't know is that when death row prisoners eat guillotine meals, the servants will put a piece of smelly raw meat in the meal, and the prisoners will still eat with relish.
Since ancient times, countless thinkers and literati have used their words to prove that death is not terrible. "Man is inherently dead, or as light as a feather, or as heavy as Tarzan." The pursuit of ambition and character has long diluted the fear of death. Moreover, there are often folk legends about death, and the death is only to come to Huangquan Road to start the next life, so that people are more calm about death.
In the punishment, most of the death penalties are used to make up for his mistakes with his life, but the human heart is flesh, and no one can completely ignore the execution. The "guillotine" as a consolation for the soul appeared.
As early as the Spring and Autumn Period, in the third year of the reign of King Zhuang of Chu (610 BC), King Zhuang of Chu had to execute a large number of rebels after quelling the rebellion of the Yong state. But considering that this may leave the people with the image of a tyrant, it is unpopular. So he gathered all the death row prisoners together and gave them a sumptuous dinner party, after which they were executed, thus showing their generosity and benevolence, which was the earliest origin of the "severed head meal", and this method was also imitated by later generations.
The "guillotine" was implemented in every dynasty and was defined as a must-have process that could not be neglected. The first is to show the benevolence of the emperor, but to respect the end of life, in line with folk traditions. It was not until the Song Dynasty that the "severed head rice" began to produce some deterioration.
Due to the wealthy treasury, the Song Dynasty was extremely generous to the "severed head meal", according to the historical records, the imperial court at that time provided a quota of 5,000 yuan for prisoners to choose, according to the "New Biography of Yue Fei", "400,000 yuan with 100,000 silver and 5,000 gold folded" 5,000 yuan is now about equivalent to 1,500 yuan, which can be described as a fruitful time.
Naturally, this high quota attracted the attention of various corrupt officials. So they intervened in this share, and after several twists and turns, they could finally present to the prisoners, probably only some rudimentary meals.
As the deduction became more severe, the dish eventually became the cheapest piece of raw meat. Now that you're a prisoner on death row, why care what happens to them after they finish eating? Raw meat was much cheaper than the dish, which produced more deductions from the jailers, and the court knew nothing, and since then unwritten rules have been formed in the prison.
However, there are also different sayings about raw meat. According to the legend of Meng Po, after people die, the soul will come to the mansion to drink Meng Po soup to open the next life. However, Meng Po raised a fierce dog without meat, and if the soul who came to drink the soup did not carry meat, it would be bitten by it and become incomplete, then it would not be able to safely cross the NaiHe Bridge and be reincarnated smoothly.
Therefore, the jailers and government officials who are born in the folk will also place a piece of raw meat for the death row prisoners out of humanitarian considerations, hoping that they can be reincarnated smoothly, so that they can also reduce some of the sins of these jailers.
The "guillotine" is not exclusive to our country, but is regulated in prisons all over the world. Out of humanitarianism and religion, they prepared the "Last Supper" for these death row inmates, so that they could reap the good results and the prisoners could die safely and gratefully.
Punishment is a necessity for the sake of strict discipline and the rectification of the atmosphere, so that society and the collective can develop in a good direction. The law is an important existence to improve the system together with the punishment. No matter when and where, each of us needs to abide by the law, only in this way can we continue to live a good life and continue to feel the beauty of the world, without experiencing the taste of the "guillotine".