In the "Hanshu Kong An Guo Biography" of the Western Han Dynasty on the mainland, it is mentioned: "Palace, fornication punishment, male cutting, women claustrophobia, the punishment of second death."
That is to say, in the ancient mainland of China, there was a "palace punishment" used to punish men and women for having an affair: men would be "cut", women would be "claustrophobic", how cruel is this palace punishment second only to death?
Palace punishment was widely used in ancient times
According to legend, "palace punishment" appeared in distant antiquity, first to punish improper relations between men and women, and later it was widely used.
During the Warring States period, Meng's son persuaded the King of Qin to "rule the country with benevolence and righteousness", and the King of Qin was angry and sentenced him to "palace punishment". During the reign of Emperor Wen of Han, Emperor Wen of Han considered this punishment too cruel and abolished the "palace punishment" and other corporal punishments, and it was not restored until Emperor Jing of Han.
During the reign of Emperor Wudi of Han, the use of "palace punishment" was already very common, used to punish some ministers who spoke inappropriately. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the rebel was to be "condemned by the Nine Tribes", and his relatives and friends were inevitable, but for the minor family members of the rebel, the "palace punishment" would be used, and the death penalty was exempted.
By the time of Emperor Wen of Sui, "palace punishment" was abolished by Emperor Wen of Sui outside the criminal law. In later dynasties, "palace punishment" did not appear in criminal law until it was restored in the Ming Dynasty.
What is "claustrophobia"
Kong Yingda, a famous economist in the early Tang Dynasty, who was the thirty-second grandson of Confucius, once explained "claustrophobia" as follows: "Closed in the palace, you cannot get out." This means: to keep a woman in a secret room for a long time, so that she cannot have contact with men in the outside world.
But in fact, in the future, "claustrophobia" has long been not like in ancient times, simply imprisoning women, but will destroy women's physiological organs, fundamentally prevent further affairs.
Mr. Lu Xun mentioned the fear of ancient women "claustrophobia" in his "Miscellaneous Discussions After Illness": "Claustrophobia" is by no means locking women up or sewing up organs. After looking up the information, I had to be surprised.
So, how cruel is the "claustrophobic" method that surprised Mr. Lu Xun so much?
According to records, the common method of "claustrophobia" for ancient women was "starving". "Stain" means beating, and during the "starling", a person holds a mallet and beats the female prisoner's abdomen and chest until the "uterus" is prolapsed.
However, the method of using "claustrophobic" in ancient mainland China is not different.
Ancient accounts of women being "claustrophobic"
In the Qing Dynasty, Chu Ren recorded in the "Jian Gong Collection": "Pound garlic and take concubines in the yin, and sew them with ropes". This book tells the story of a Confucian student who became friendly with his own maid in the early Qing Dynasty:
In the early Qing Dynasty, there was a Confucian in the city of Bozhou, and he got along with the maid he served in his family, but was later discovered by Confucian's wife, who was very angry and jealous, and in order to punish the maid, she mashed garlic cloves, stuffed them into the maid's pussy, and then sewed them up.
The maid was so punished that she was so distressed that when the neighbors heard about it, they sued the Yamen. When the official heard this, he was furious and immediately arrested the "jealous woman", preparing to "treat her body with her human ways."
Yamen called a tanner and asked him to take a hammer and a rope and other objects to sew up the "jealous woman's" pussy. Confucian thought that this would really ruin the family's reputation, so he pleaded with the official master. The official said: Our gate tower has collapsed for a long time, and if we can repair it, we will spare this "jealous woman".
When Confucian heard this, he went home and sold his property, did his best to hire craftsmen, etc., and finally repaired the gate tower. Since then, this gate tower has been nicknamed "Sewing Tower" by locals.
Chu Renquan also said in the "Ji Gong Collection": "Drill it with a cone and lock it, and abandon the key to the well."
It is said that during the Shunzhi period, an official in Changzhou City had a relationship with the milkmaid in the mansion, and later was learned by the official's wife, so she ordered someone to use a hammer to nail out two holes in the "lip" of the milkmaid, and then locked it with a lock, and the key was thrown into the well.
After that, the granny was crying out in pain all the time, tearing her heart and lungs, and the others could not stand it, so she invited a coppersmith who opened the lock, and he opened the lock with an iron bar. This matter spread throughout Changzhou City, and people also gave the official master's wife the nickname "Lock Secret Grandma", which was extremely ironic.
Although the above are all cases from ancient folk, and are not different from the "claustrophobic" punishment in the palace, they are similar in nature, nothing more than some inhuman means, the destruction of ancient women.
It can also be seen that the torture of "claustrophobia" is not only widely used in the imperial court, but also in the homes of the gentry, and its methods are diverse, whether it is "sewing" or "locking", it is also a derivative of "claustrophobia".