In ancient times, the ritual of "kneeling" was very common, usually kneeling to the sky, kneeling to the ground, kneeling parents, in addition, seeing people higher than their own rank, such as court officials, princes and nobles, all need to kneel.
If you encounter these people and your kneeling practice is not regular, it may invite the scourge of death, so people have to kneel.
However, what makes people curious is that when ancient prisoners were beheaded, they would also kneel very obediently, it stands to reason that people are going to die, is it possible that they are still afraid of these officials, and why should they consciously kneel?
In fact, there are three reasons for this, which make prisoners dare not kneel, nor can they not kneel.
Hierarchy runs deep
First, kneeling becomes "instinctive"
Successive emperors, in order to stabilize the rule of the central government, have been strengthening the management of the hierarchy, including various etiquette regulations, such as kneeling, kowtowing and other forms, gradually becoming a means for emperors to rule.
With the passage of time, the hierarchy has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and the ritual of kneeling has a clear symbolic meaning.
When commoners saw court officials, princes and nobles, no matter how old or young, they had to kneel to them, otherwise it would be considered contempt for the law and disrespectful to them.
Over time, the common people have developed a habit of kneeling when they see someone higher than themselves. And these prisoners who have been sentenced to death are not only to kneel, but also to kneel respectfully.
Perhaps they have been enslaved for a long time and have long lost the desire to resist, or perhaps it is due to habit, as prisoners with no human rights, the moment they enter the official palace, they must kneel to be judged, kneel to be punished, and until they are dragged to the beheading platform, they must also kneel and wait for death.
Kneeling, along with feudal rites, has become an instinct, or a conditioned reflex, for them.
Fear of death
Second, the fear of death
Generally speaking, criminals sentenced to beheading are the most heinous criminals, and after sentencing, they will be locked up in dark and damp prisons.
For the sake of safety, every prisoner is arranged in a relatively hidden and dark place to cut off their desire to escape, living in such a harsh environment for a period of time, even if you are a hot-blooded iron man, you will be breached the first line of defense of the psyche.
In addition, we often see "Autumn Aftermath" in TV series, and this so-called "Autumn Queen" refers to after the autumnal equinox.
Prisoners in the gloomy prison, counting their death countdown, this is like a double torment of spirit and body, beheading is actually an instantaneous thing, so many people are afraid not of death, but of the process of waiting for death.
After being in prison for so long, the prisoners' psychology has reached the brink of collapse, coupled with a long period of insufficient nutrition, their bodies have become very weak.
By the time of the beheading, the prisoners had been tortured to the point of losing their minds, so they would only obey the executioner's orders, and with just one "kneel", they would kneel obediently.
The most important thing is that when people face death, their legs will be soft because of fear, and even kneel on the ground because they are unstable to stand, and few people can see death as home, so when they really want to cut off their heads, they will still kneel down because they are afraid.
Fear of harming your family
Thirdly, and most importantly, prisoners fear that they will affect their families.
Since the Zhou Dynasty, China has had a "joint sitting" system, one person commits a crime, the whole family will suffer, especially during the Qin Dynasty, the "joint sitting" system is more stringent, if you choose to cover, then everyone is the same crime.
It is said that it is not bad for the family, but in ancient times, "joint sitting" has become an extraordinary means adopted by rulers to maintain their status.
If the prisoner has not committed some unforgivable heinous crime, his family will generally not be implicated, but if the prisoner refuses to cooperate in the execution process, his family will be punished.
Committing the crime of beheading is already faceless to see the ancestors and ancestors, and if it still involves his own relatives, it is even more unforgivable.
Therefore, in the face of such a harsh punishment, the prisoners had to accept the arrangement of fate, and could only honestly kneel on the guillotine and confess their guilt.
It can be seen from this that the reason why prisoners obediently knelt down and confessed their guilt was because they were in a feudal society and had no choice but to do it.
In the thousand-year-long oppression, the people have no human rights to speak of, and in the face of those in power, they can only bow down and subconsciously use the way of kneeling to express their respect.
Such habits created the servility in the bones of the ancients, so that feudal thinking could bind their bodies and bind their souls.