Readers who like to watch costume dramas must know that ancient punishments are varied, and unlike modern punishments, they are more inclined to torture prisoners to achieve a shocking effect, and they are two-way torture of spirit and body. Therefore, many punishments in ancient times were established with reference to this logic, first mentally crushing prisoners, so that they "could not survive, and could not die", especially exile was the most torturous physical and mental.
▲ Qing Dynasty prisoners
According to historical records, exile originated in the late period of clan society, and Gonggong was exiled to Youzhou by Emperor Yao. With the development of history, the legal system has become more and more perfect, and exile during the Sui and Tang dynasties has been officially included in the criminal law. One might say that exile is worth more than capital punishment? Exile may not seem painful today, but in ancient times it was one of the most feared punishments for criminals. In fact, those sentenced to exile in ancient times preferred capital punishment to exile.
▲ Painting of scenes of clan social life
Although the places of exile of criminals have varied throughout the dynasties, they are generally exiled to remote and barren places. For example, in the Song Dynasty, most criminals were exiled to the Liangguang and Hainan regions, and during the Qing Dynasty, most criminals were exiled to the northeast region outside Shanhaiguan, and those who committed serious crimes were exiled to Ningguta. When the exiled prisoners arrive at their destination, they have only two choices: either to join the army to defend the frontier or to reclaim the wasteland, but either way they will be miserable. Since transportation in ancient times was not as developed as it is now, all exiled prisoners had to walk thousands of miles on foot with shackles and suffered a lot of torture. Therefore, many criminals will choose to commit suicide when they learn that they have been sentenced to exile, because they know that exile means that they can only live in remote areas for a lifetime, and their bodies and minds will be subjected to endless torture.
▲ Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers escorted criminals stills
What is puzzling, however, is that the ancient servants were unusually enthusiastic about escorting exiled prisoners, especially women prisoners. From the costume drama, it is not difficult for us to see that when the servants escort prisoners, they must always follow them, even if the better ones have a prison cart to sit, but after sending the prisoners, the servants also have to return to the same way. From this point of view, even if modern people with convenient means of transportation are afraid that no one is willing to do such a drudgery of boating and caring, so why should the servants scramble to escort the exiled prisoners? In Ziyuan's view, there are three main reasons.
▲ The Qing Dynasty servant played by Imago
First, escorting prisoners is more comfortable than working normally. During the Qing Dynasty, the military service was not within the official system, and belonged to the non-staff personnel, known as "unlearned". Therefore, their status in the yamen is not high, not only the work is very hard, but also the salary is not high, there is almost no rest time, early in the morning, they have to participate in the promotion, interrogation, execution of punishment, arrest of prisoners and other activities, but also to help the old man in the yamen to run errands. In contrast, going out to escort the exiles can be regarded as a fat difference, after all, the emperor of the mountain is far away, he is not regulated outside, everything is decided by himself, and the salary can still be taken, why not enjoy it?
▲ Qing Dynasty female prisoners
Second, escort prisoners can get more money than normal wages. As we all know, most of the exiled prisoners are the dependents of heavy courtiers who have committed serious crimes, and they are all families who are not rich or noble, and in order to prevent the prisoners from deliberately making it difficult for the prisoners on the road, the families of the prisoners will naturally take out rich money to bribe the prisoners, so that the servants can take more care of the prisoners on the road. It has to be said that this is also a social reality. Since the servants were non-staff personnel, and the salaries were paid by the zhixian or the prefect out of their own pockets, their salaries were not high, and the money given by the prisoners' families was much higher than their salaries in Yamen for a year. In particular, the families of female prisoners, in order to prevent female prisoners from being violated by the servants on the way, often stuff more red envelopes, so the servants will be more active in escorting female prisoners.
▲Old photos of qing dynasty carriages
Third, escorting exiled prisoners is actually more comfortable than going to work. Compared with the current business trip, all the expenses are public expenses, and the servants can take the opportunity to improve their food. More importantly, most of the exiled people were originally rich and powerful people, who were delicate and could not withstand the suffering of exile, and their families generally provided carriages and servants to avoid their torture on the way. In this way, the escort servants naturally enjoyed the blessings of the prisoners and could ride in the carriage when they came and went. In this comparison, it is clear that the benefits of escorting exiled prisoners outweigh the disadvantages, and the servants are naturally willing.
Resources:
"Shangshu Lü Punishment", "Examination of Ancient Chinese Punishment"