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Text: Xiao Hei
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introduction
In ancient times, there were thousands of punishments, and people of different social status would choose completely different ways of death. For the people at the bottom, jumping into the river and other ways of dying are the most common, but for the feudal aristocracy, death not only has to leave their own remains, but also "die decently", that is, no scars can be seen on the body.
Therefore, hanging and dying is no longer considered an "advanced" way to die, so those who want to die a decent way will choose another way: swallowing gold.
(Gold)
1. Is swallowing gold swallowing gold?
In addition to being seen in various literary works, it can also be seen in official history books, and the eunuch Zhang Min of the Ming Dynasty died by swallowing gold.
This incident happened in the period of Ming Xiaozong Zhu Youji, Ming Xiaozong loved Wan Guifei very much, and let it go, but who would have thought that after the death of the only son of Ming Xiaozong and Wan Guifei, he was jealous, and no palace maid and concubine were allowed to conceive the dragon species.
(Drama)
This incident aroused strong disgust among the palace maids and eunuchs, so after Ji's pregnancy, everyone was helping Ji hide it. It wasn't until Ji's children grew up that Zhang Min, as one of the heads of the eunuch group at the time, risked his life to inform him of this when he saw that Ming Xiaozong was depressed because of his childlessness.
In the end, although the child survived, Ji died tragically in the palace, Zhang Min knew that time was short, and he also chose to swallow gold and die: "Min is afraid, and he also swallows gold to die", which shows that swallowing gold and dying was one of the recognized suicide methods at that time.
Strictly speaking, the "gold" when swallowing gold in ancient times was completely different from the gold that everyone is in contact with now, and the gold that everyone is exposed to now is "cooked gold" that has been refined through multiple processes. However, the refining technology in ancient times was not mature enough, so the gold at that time was actually "raw gold".
(Minerals)
According to the "Compendium of Materia Medica", it is recorded that "poisonous gold is raw gold, and it is handed over to Guangshan stone, and it is red and poisonous", and the gold that has not been refined by scientific processes also contains a large number of toxic metals inside, so it can easily poison people.
However, in addition, "gold" has different meanings in ancient times, and it is often used to refer to metal currency, for example, in Pu Songling's "Three Rules of the Wolf", it is written: "When the wolf skin is expensive, it is more than ten gold, and Tu Xiaoyuyan", so "gold" cannot be simply interpreted as gold.
So will Swallow Gold really die?
(Golden Cake)
2. The reason for swallowing gold and dying
As for the cause of death by swallowing gold, there are three main aspects, namely suffocation, toxins and injuries to internal organs.
Whether it is real gold or metal coins, the texture itself is very hard, and it is easy to get stuck in the throat during swallowing, and then suffocation. This is actually one of the most common means of suicide, and in addition to "gold", some smaller metals can be used to commit suicide.
In terms of toxins, gold does not have to be refined many times, and it will contain a large number of toxic minerals, such as lead, mercury, chromium, etc., which are present in gold. If a person swallows such gold into his stomach, the toxins in the metal will quickly enter the human body, and they will die of poison in a few days or half a year, and it is difficult to cure.
(Shengjin)
In fact, not only gold, but also the elixir taken by many emperors and nobles in ancient times also contained a large amount of toxic metals, so they still could not survive under the treatment of a large number of imperial doctors.
As for visceral injuries, it is easier to understand, the internal organs of the human body are very fragile, some sharp foods may scratch the esophagus, stomach, intestines, etc., in the era of no surgery, visceral injuries are also difficult to treat, and will die quickly.
From the above situation, it can be seen that the death of swallowing gold is completely established, so the question is, why did the ancients choose to swallow gold instead of other ways to commit suicide?
(Zhu Youjiao)
3. The reason for choosing to swallow gold
As one of the ways of suicide and punishment, swallowing gold is not only more painful, but also the "cost" is relatively high, and it is not suitable for ordinary people.
Therefore, it can be judged that swallowing gold and dying is actually one of the "special" ways of death for the aristocracy, in order to distinguish it from ordinary people and reflect the face and status of the aristocratic class.
No matter what form of "gold" it is, it is not accessible to ordinary people, and although gold was also a common currency in ancient times, it rarely appeared in the market.
(Gold Nuggion)
Not to mention gold, even silver rarely appears, like all kinds of literary works and film and television dramas, there are dozens of taels of silver at every turn, which is simply a fantasy in real history, because most people still use copper coins.
Therefore, as ordinary people, swallowing gold and dying is a way for them to commit suicide that they dare not even imagine. For the aristocracy, choosing to swallow gold and die can be understood as: luxury before death, perhaps in their opinion, this is the most "face-saving" way to die.
At this time, some people may ask, instead of choosing the more painful swallowing gold and dying, then why not choose the top poison, so that the death is even more painless, and there are no scars to see after death, which is also very decent.
(Swallowing gold and dying)
The reason why such an idea appeared is because many people have been misled by costume film and television dramas. On the one hand, although ancient poisons were common, there were too few poisons that could really be colorless, tasteless, and death painless.
For example, Hedinghong, which often appears in film and television dramas, requires the use of a large number of precious medicinal materials, and has a strict refining system, even if it is not easy for high-ranking officials and nobles to obtain such poisons.
On the other hand, suicide by poison is actually very painful, and most people who die from poisoning will go through a long and painful process of death before they die, such as paraquat, which cannot be solved by modern medicine.
(Modern Gold)
People who take paraquat die for at least five to ten days, and in this process, the patient is worse off than dead, and the pain is far less than if they choose to swallow gold.
epilogue
Swallowing gold and dying is a special product of the feudal period, and it is one of the more preferred ways of suicide by the aristocracy, but swallowing gold and dying is basically a choice of suicide, and there are very few as a punishment. After all, punishment also has to consider the cost, if killing a person requires a piece of gold, the court will also have a lot of pressure.
(Ancient Poison Bottle)
However, we can learn some warning from swallowing gold, that is, hard, angular and indigestible things should never be eaten, especially those with metal components, which are real poisons for the human body.
Once swallowed, there is no effective treatment unless it is surgically removed within a short period of time.
(Edible Gold)
Resources
百度汉语.列传·卷一_诗词. [OL].
Han Cheng Guoxue, Compendium of Materia Medica (Jinling), Vol. VIII, Jinshi Department. [OL].
Ancient Poetry Network." When the wolf skin was expensive, it was more than ten gold, and he slaughtered Xiaoyuyan. "Appreciation of the whole poem. [OL].