Emperor Shun was one of the Three Emperors and Five Emperors in the ancient period, he inherited the Yao Emperor and the lower Qi Dayu, attached importance to agriculture, conquered the Three Miao, and laid the foundation for the establishment of the Xia Dynasty. In recent years, with the development of archaeology, even many experts and scholars believe that the Xia Dynasty was not the first dynasty in Chinese history. In the ancient pre-Qin books such as "Han Feizi", the Yu Dynasty established by Emperor Shun is recorded.
There is no more archaeological evidence for the history of the Yu Dynasty, but Emperor Shun's historical exploits are great enough. According to the Records of History and the Book of Shang, Emperor Shun appointed Dayu to control the prehistoric Flood, creating a thriving homeland for the Chinese nation. He also appointed Gao Tao to create the oldest law, the Penal Code, in which the "Elephant Punishment" is said to have been invented by Emperor Shun himself. The world's earliest code, hundreds of years before the ancient Babylonian Code of Umunamu, has been used in feudal society for more than 3,000 years.
According to the "Records of History", during the reign of Emperor Yao, there was no formal legal system in Huaxia, and the chiefs mainly relied on morality to govern the world. During the reign of Emperor Yao, there were only two punishments recorded in the annals, one was the exile of the rebellious Gonggong clan, and the other was when Zhu Rong executed the failed carp in Yushan. After Emperor Shun succeeded to the throne, with the development of society and the expansion of the ruling area, it has become inappropriate to rely on the traditional customs of the tribe to govern the world.
The "Criminal Code" created by Gao Tao adopts the governance method of "combining punishment and education, combining leniency and severity", coupled with his own fair handling, selflessness of the Grand Duke, and the great rule of the world during the Shun Emperor period, Gao Tao was also respected by later generations as the "God of Prison". The so-called pictograms in the Penal Code are not elephants used to execute prisoners. "Elephant shape" refers to the meaning of drawing patterns, which are the depiction of patterns on the body and face of prisoners as a sign of humiliation.
In ancient times, the Chinese tribesmen were simple and simple, and there were very few out-of-the-ordinary evil deeds. They saw the body as a gift from the gods, and "fame" was the basis for survival in the tribe. The humiliating measure of "elephant punishment" actually means that the punishment is quite serious, and many people would rather die than be publicly humiliated by "elephant punishment". Therefore, during the shundi period, the effect of "elephant punishment" was very obvious, and it was the most common punishment.
"Elephant Punishment" has always been used in the early Xia Dynasty, because social concepts have changed, Xia Qi has modified the "Elephant Punishment" and become more stringent. According to the "Records of History", Xia Qi created 500 kinds of large punishments and thousands of small punishments. The "elephant punishment" has changed from the original way of painting with paint to "diced face" and "sashimi", and even severe punishments such as "shrew punishment" and "palace punishment". "Creezing" is to use a sharp object to engrave a pattern on the face, and "sluging" is to cut off the nose.
In the 2500 years after the Xia Dynasty, the humiliating punishment of "dictating" has been very popular. By the Time of the Northern Song Dynasty, prisoners were required to be marked on the face during exile and distribution. Many of the good men of Liangshan in "Water Margin" have suffered from this kind of punishment, which was actually developed from Emperor Shun's "elephant punishment". It is effective because in the traditional concept of the ancients, "the body hair skin is subject to the parents", tattoos, tattoos, tattoos belong to "filial piety". There is still a time limit for imprisonment and distribution, and the shame of the piercing face will accompany it for life.
Interestingly, in modern society, ancient humiliating punishments such as tattoos and tattoos have become a popular fashion. Believe it or not, you see young people all over the street, many of whom have tattoos on their bodies. The tattoo shops on the street have also become a profiteering industry. If the inventor of the "Elephant Punishment", Emperor Shun, traveled to modern times and saw this scene, he did not know how to cry and laugh.