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According to relevant historical records, this kind of costume drama does exist in the scene of beheading, and it is not deliberately arranged by the director. So the question is, why did the ancient Chinese like to watch the beheading? Don't they feel scared and nauseous?
In fact, the onlookers of executions are driven by people's curiosity, and the more depressed the people who live, the more they like to watch exciting things such as beheading. In ancient times, there was a lack of information and closed public opinion, and most of the crimes against death row prisoners were hearsay, and the people were cloudy, good things did not go out, and evil things spread thousands of miles. At that time, ninety-five percent of the people could not read a single character and had no other cultural life. Most of the notices of those in power were not leaked around the city, and some literate people read out the contents and only knew a little bit about it.
Therefore, if there is a notice of beheading and killing, it is like a propaganda advertisement, and the civilians in the city rush to tell each other, just like watching a big drama, the merchants and traders set up stalls in advance to take advantage of the opportunity to make money, and most of the civilians in the city are to watch the hilarity. The crimes committed against the executed persons are known from the notices, and the other merits and demerits are not known. Even more people who have been delayed, the people do not know their merits.
And when the masses come to see the killing, there is a preconditionary consensus, that is, the people who are killed are all the most evil criminals, and they come to clap their hands and applaud, throw vegetable leaves, and spit on them, which are all righteous acts. While watching the brain shell, you can also preach morality and justice, why not enjoy it? What's more, in addition to watching the liveliness, there are also many people who want to eat human flesh and eat human blood steamed buns! According to historical records, after the death of the late Ming general Yuan Chonghuan by Ling Chi, the people were all vying to eat his flesh!
While watching the hilarity, the ancients also felt stimulated in their hearts. This kind of stimulating stuff has a strong psychological repressive and relieving effect. Its mechanism of action chain is as follows: enter the stimulating atmosphere, the adrenaline rises to see the moment of the stimulation scene, various stress elements will rise to the peak, people are extremely nervous, the head lands, the mood gradually subsides, and the person will feel comfortable. This set of body reactions, as comfortable as running 500 meters, but does not have to run as hard. Now there is no "beheading", but instead "roller coasters", "horror movies", "car accident scenes". (If you like all of the above, it means that your life is a bit stressful.) )
In fact, in ancient times, it was more evil, and killing people were in the most lively part of the city. For example, the execution ground in Beijing is in the West Market outside Xuanwu Gate, surrounded by shops and business travelers. In ancient times, killing people, there are also the habits of "violent corpses" and "owl heads", the former is to put the corpse without a brain shell in place for a few days, and the latter is to put the head of the death row prisoner in a small wooden cage and hang it high (mostly hanging on the city gate, the head of the thief is often a repeat offender, and the head is hung for several years or even more than ten years to play a warning and deterrent effect).
Ancient killings were also known as "abandoned cities". The market refers to the market, so what is "abandonment"? It turns out that it is related to a saying that in ancient times, killing people was "the son of heaven and his subjects forsaking it together." Killing people in the downtown area is a form of "co-abandonment", that is, to let the people come to see, which is equivalent to holding an on-site meeting of legal education. It can be said that public executions are the most extreme ritualized display of human cruelty to justice. The so-called ritualization is for people to legally observe, and it is allowed or even encouraged by the government. Moreover, when the election was made after the autumn, on the one hand, the killing atmosphere of the autumn was taken, and on the other hand, the people were busy with farming, and there were many talents to see.
Finally, the editor would like to say that public killings, crowds watching, and collective revelry are not unique phenomena in China, and this is true in any country. When King Louis XVI of France was beheaded, the entire execution site was crowded with people. There were also many people with handkerchiefs ready to stain the blood of the king, and the French Saint Joan of Arc was also burned at the stake, and there were many onlookers!
It can be said that the issue of beheading in the crowd is a worldwide problem in ancient and modern China and abroad, and it is not a special case of ancient China. As long as it is a killing, especially an official execution, as long as it is not a secret killing, there will be a "grand situation" of "scrambling" and "sneaking a sneak peek". This was true in ancient times, and it was also true in foreign countries. The reason is very simple, that is, curiosity, people also have the factor of looking for excitement in the subconscious, not not afraid, not disgusting, but curiosity and stimulation have the upper hand. After reading it, most people will actually feel uncomfortable.
Well, today's sharing ends here, and we'll see you next time