How long does it take to cut off the heads of 33 people? For the executioners of the Qing Dynasty, it took less than 3 minutes.
As we all know, since the establishment of the legal system of the Qin Dynasty, successive dynasties have their own criminal law punishments, although the specific content and implementation methods are different, but the same is the strict criminal law content and cruel punishment system, which also serves the ruling class to maintain the ruling power and consolidate the ruling position.
Among them, under the influence of Qing Palace film and television dramas, the most familiar to the public should be the beheading system of the Qing Dynasty. This cruel punishment was recorded by a foreigner, a few words, but it shows the ruthlessness of the rulers and the indifference of human nature under this system.
The brutal beheading system
Among the many tortures in the Qing Dynasty, beheading was not the most cruel, but it was the most common, and it could even be described as a common thing.
There is a characteristic of the Qing Dynasty's executions, that is, it is necessary to publicize them, that is, the prisoners who will be sentenced parade through the streets to show the public, declare the crimes in public, until they are escorted to the execution ground and executed in public under the watchful eyes of the people, and even the execution ground is mostly selected in the crowded vegetable market.
The reason why the government did this was mainly for two purposes; first, to warn the people not to violate the criminal law, otherwise the end of his day would also fall to the ground like a death row prisoner on the field.
Second, to shock the people, the onlookers witnessed such a bloody and cruel picture, and their hearts will inevitably produce fear, and they will also fear the ruler even more.
Beheading is a "common thing" for the people in China, but it is shocking for foreigners who see this scene for the first time.
With the end of the Qing Dynasty, the door was forced to open to the outside world, and more and more foreigners came to China to do business, and they were full of interest in everything in China, and they also recorded the Chinese society in their eyes in various forms.
Among them, a foreigner living in Guangzhou City was very curious about beheading, so he came to the execution site by chance and witnessed a cruel scene.
The first time to watch the beheading scene, 33 people were beheaded in less than 3 minutes
In July of the first year of Xianfeng, the government posted a notice saying that 34 rebels would be beheaded in public tomorrow. After seeing the notice, the foreigner decided to go to the scene the next day to watch.
The next day, foreigners arrived at the scene early, and the area around the execution ground was crowded with people who came to see the 34 prisoners executed.
Soon, the servants took the prisoners to the execution ground and made them kneel down, their faces forced to the ground, and did so so that the prisoners' necks were fully exposed, so that the executioner could cut off the head with a knife.
It is worth mentioning that of the 34 prisoners, the leader had to execute Ling Chi, while the other 33 were all beheaded by an executioner, and they were lined up in a row, with their heads all facing in one direction, making it easier for the executioner to manually hand.
When the execution began, the executioner, with a knife in both hands, cut off the prisoner's head. The foreigner once described the picture he saw this way: "The prisoner's head fell to the ground along with the corpse, and the facial features twisted and moved for a while, which was shocking. ”
And the executioner cut off the heads of 33 prisoners in less than 3 minutes, which is amazingly fast. Just when the foreigner was amazed at the speed of the executioner, a scene that shocked him even more appeared.
The executioner's knife was still dripping blood, and the crowd of onlookers not only did not have a look of fear, but even went forward to collect fresh blood, thinking that this would cure the stubborn disease.
At the end of the execution, the foreigner had spoken to the executioner, and he was very curious about how they had practiced such a calm and calm psychological quality that they could not shake their hands at all.
Executioner: A ruthless profession
In fact, the executioner who cut off 33 heads in less than 3 minutes looked no different from ordinary people, not the kind of burly appearance, except for the fierce and sharp eyes, it seemed difficult to associate it with the ruthless executioner.
Foreigners also learned in their conversations with the executioner that the original executioner was only a temporary job, and every time a person's head was cut off, he would get a certain amount of remuneration, and the treatment was very good.
Of course, the profession of executioner is not as easy as imagined. They were trained very rigorously before they were actually executed, first with food, then with livestock, until they were skilled in knife skills and stable in their mentality, so that they could be a qualified executioner.
Although they are vicious prisoners, and no one can cut off their heads without any fluctuations, hesitation and dare not make the prisoners more miserable. Therefore, the most basic quality of the executioner is: indifference and determination, the ability to give up all fear.
Also because this profession is not something that ordinary people can do, according to historical records, the executioner's income is very rich, and a one-time salary can be worth the half-year income of ordinary people.
With the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the beheading system was abolished, and the profession of executioner came to an end.
An insensitive society, a ignorant spectator
Needless to say, the penal system of beheading was the dross of feudal society, and with the demise of the feudal dynasty, this inhuman punishment was abolished.
But through this beheading system and some of the beheading scenes recorded in the past, people truly see an insensitive society and an ignorant and ignorant people.
For the rulers, the punishment of beheading was only to consolidate the power of the ruling class, without the slightest consideration of how inhuman such punishment was, and in this way it was a blatant deterrent to the people.
And people who often watch beheading scenes will become indifferent to life over time, even insensitive.
The writer Mr. Lu Xun once described the beheading scene in the article: "The old bolt also looked over there, but only saw a bunch of people's backs, and their necks were very long, like many ducks, pinched by invisible hands and lifted upwards." ”
They seem to just want to see the "hilarity", so they are not only not afraid of such a bloody scene, but "full of enthusiasm". In the face of the cruel death of life, although it is a guilty person, this excitement and non-rejection are all about the absurdities of that society.
In order to consolidate their own power, the rulers of feudal society persecuted the people's ideas, the uncivilized people's wisdom, the ignorance of the people, and the indifference between people...
These are the drawbacks of feudal society, and they are also the sorrows of feudal society. Fortunately, backwardness has become a thing of the past, and with the complete disappearance of the feudal dynasty, all kinds of feudal systems full of shortcomings have been abolished. Nowadays, the people's wisdom has been enlightened, and most people no longer have the mentality of ignorant and lively, and they have more respect and reverence for life.
brief summary
Looking back, feudal society has been declared over for hundreds of years, and now it is a society full of civilization and harmony, even if we know that the pain of the past will not happen again, but the torture of that era is still shocking.
History has never lacked bloodshed and sacrifice, and it has also made us who live in peace years cherish everything that is not easy to come by.
In today's era, the bottom line of the law cannot be touched, but the legal theory has humanity and pays more attention to the maintenance of human nature. And the people also get along in a kind way. Living in such a society, in addition to gratitude, we must also strive for life and make our own contributions to society.
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