We often see that in ancient times, when executing prisoners, there were three conditions that were often used, such as three o'clock in the afternoon, but also to push out the noon gate, and the general time of execution would be placed after the autumn, in fact, in the Chinese dynasties, the execution of prisoners did not have to follow the above customs, and not everyone had such a level, generally only people who committed great adultery and great evil could enjoy such a treatment.
In ancient times, ordinary prisoners, especially death row inmates throughout the country, may not enjoy the noon treatment, generally are caishikou to ask, why choose caishikou, naturally also because there are more people in this place, ancient Chinese feudal society in order to maintain the ruler, establish a certain authority, so deliberately choose to execute prisoners in places with many people, while causing deterrence to the common people, is their inexplicable respect for imperial power can be feared.
In fact, if we have been to the Forbidden City in Beijing, we can know that the Noon Gate is actually a door into the Palace City, as the most important passage in and out, the emperor naturally will not be stupid enough to kill people at his own doorstep, the reason why we left such a habit began in the Ming Dynasty.
Some ministers of the Ming Dynasty said that if they accidentally angered the emperor, they would be pushed out of the noon gate, but at this time it was not beheading, but the court staff, the so-called court staff, that is, the official's clothes were peeled off, the public big ass, in many film and television dramas we have also seen, and this punishment method, for the readers, is actually an insulting thing, and the court staff has become a more severe punishment than beheading after the development of the Ming Dynasty, the Jiajing Emperor because of the ceremonial incident, It has set a record of killing 17 people at one time, which shows that playing the board is not something that anyone can afford.
Since the noon gate is not the place of beheading, then there is only one place left, Caishikou is actually the place where prisoners were executed in the Qing Dynasty, and it was only popular from the Qing Dynasty, and the most famous six gentlemen in history were also recorded in caishikou, and even onlookers also recorded the scene at that time, and its bloody cruelty.
And the time of execution is mostly in the autumn afternoon three o'clock, as for the autumn is actually the autumn equinox in the twenty-four solar terms, after the ancient Han Dynasty, the rulers generally stipulated that the death penalty could only be carried out in the autumn and winter periods, and the Han Dynasty Confucian master Dong Zhongshu once recorded: celebration is spring, reward is summer, punishment is autumn, punishment is winter. Adapt to the changing seasons. And the choice at three o'clock in the afternoon, refers to the noon at twelve o'clock, at this time most of the people are sleepy, so the prisoners in the beheading, often can also be less painful, plus at this time the yang rises, due to feudal superstitious thoughts, it is generally believed that when the yang rises, the dead people can not even do the ghost, can only go down to reincarnate in peace, so according to such a habit.