As we all know, beheading, which is the use of sharp tools such as knives or axes to cut off the head of a prisoner, was the most common form of death in ancient China.
From the perspective of time, the punishment of beheading appeared as early as the Shang Dynasty and continued until the end of the Qing Dynasty, which was a kind of capital punishment for prisoners and a deterrent to society.
So, why do beheadings generally choose to be beheaded after autumn, and why do they also choose three o'clock in the afternoon? Is there any special significance to this time? Today, let's talk about this topic.
What kind of felony would be sentenced to beheading
In ancient times, "beheading" was a major crime, not all serious crimes would be beheaded, and only acts of endangering the state such as rebellion, great rebellion, disrespect and bullying would involve the crime, and crimes that seriously infringed on the life, property and reputation of others such as murder, theft, rape, embezzlement and defection would also be sentenced to beheading.
Of course, the most serious ones are often not only beheaded, but also the Lian family, and even the nine clans. During the period of Qin Shi Huang, Jing Ke attempted to assassinate the King of Qin and was executed by Ling Chi, and his seven clans were all exterminated, and during the Ming Dynasty, Fang Xiaoru refused to recognize the legal status of the Yongle Emperor and was sentenced to ten clans.
Some special crimes, although they do not involve murder or rebellion, are also punished by beheading because they violate certain taboos or harm certain interests.
During the Ming Dynasty, Yang Jisheng was beheaded by Emperor Chongzhen because of his letter to impeach Wei Zhongxian, and his head was sent to Dongchang for Wei Zhongxian to insult.
In some film and television dramas, we see that the beheading of the ancients is very simple, but in fact, the procedure is very complicated. Since the Han Dynasty, mainland law has advocated "prudent punishment", and the death penalty must not only be reported to the central court, but even the time of imprisonment and beheading must be placed after the autumn.
This is reflected in the movie "Jiupin Sesame Official", choosing to ask and behead after the autumn can give the prisoner enough time to appeal, and it can also give the yamen enough time to review, so as to avoid killing the wrong person and causing an unjust case.
In addition, killing people in autumn is also in line with the laws of heaven, the ancients said that "celebration is spring, reward is summer, punishment is autumn, punishment is winter", that is to say, it is best to punish criminals in autumn or winter, and choosing autumn to carry out the death penalty is also in line with people's Xi and customs.
In ancient times, murder was not for the sake of killing, but mainly through such means to deter others, and after the autumn, everyone was almost busy with a year's work and had plenty of time to pay attention to these things, and choosing to execute felons at this time could serve as an example.
In ancient times, why did you choose to ask at three o'clock in the afternoon?
In ancient times, the day was divided into twelve hours, and each hour was divided into eight quarters, each of which was about 15 minutes.
Noon refers to the hour between 11 o'clock and 13 o'clock, and 3 o'clock in the afternoon refers to the exact hour of noon, that is, 11:45 o'clock.
We all know that the earth is not due south or north, and there is a certain angular deviation from the sun's rays, and three quarters in the afternoon is the time of the day when the sun is at its peak, and the shadow of the sun hanging high on the ground in the middle of the sky is the shortest during this period.
What is special about this point in time? It still needs to be understood from the traditional Xi of the ancients. The ancients followed the laws of nature, believing that murder was a yin thing, and although the person who was killed deserved it, the ghost should be dealt with by the officials of the underworld, and should not affect the operation of the yang world.
The best thing is "yang energy", so when the yang energy is at its peak, the execution can suppress the ghosts and dare not appear.
At the same time, the vigorous yang energy dilutes the yin energy of the murderer, so that the ghost does not come to haunt him, and the ghost will always come to haunt the judge of the sentence and the executioner.
As mentioned above, the main purpose of the ancient execution was to "kill chickens and set an example for monkeys", generally between 11:45 and 12 o'clock at noon, it was not too late or too early, people from ten miles and eight towns would come to watch one or two, and it could be discussed as a topic afterwards, which could play a good role in publicity.
Although the prisoners in ancient times did not deserve sympathy, they still had a human nature, and they should also treat such people with kindness, and three o'clock in the afternoon is the time when the prisoner's mental state is relatively low, and the head will not feel pain when the person falls to the ground in the drowsiness.
The process of decapitation in ancient times
In addition to the cumbersome selection of the interrogation process and the time of beheading, the process of beheading in ancient times was also very complicated.
First, the government will inform the prisoner and his family of the time and place of the execution, so that they have a chance to say goodbye and leave room for bribery and intercession. In some dynasties, the wife of a male prisoner would be accompanied by him in prison the night before the execution, in order to preserve his bloodline.
Before the execution, the executioner had to sacrifice to the god of prison and the magic knife to bless the successful completion of the task, and also smeared chicken blood on the face to break the soul and prevent being haunted by the unjust spirit, which has a similar effect to the above-mentioned "yang qi breaking evil".
After the prisoner is brought out of prison, he will not be escorted directly to the execution ground, usually parade around the street, and then choose the city center or the city gate and other places with a large flow of people to behead him.
Upon arrival at the execution site, the prisoner and the escort check the identity of the prisoner to prevent impersonation or mismatching, and then read out the prisoner's charges and verdict to make the offender aware of his guilt. After all the preparations are completed, the executioner will get a "fire lot" from the prison guard, and then the execution can be officially carried out.
The prisoners were tied to wooden stakes, their hands tied behind their backs, ropes around their necks to prevent movement, and knives were raised and knives were used to cut off the heads of prisoners.
Generally, the people who can become executioners are more skilled people in Shili and Eight Townships, because decapitation is also a technical job.
Some executioners can cut off the neck bone, trachea, and major arteries with a single knife, but there is still flesh and skin in the throat that has not been cut, and it is considered half a whole corpse, which is called "skin knife".
A knife cuts off the entire neck and separates the head, and the knife edge is relatively clean and clear, which is called a "clean knife".
If you encounter some bad skills, the prisoner will suffer a lot, after all, it hurts to cut the body with a knife, let alone such a cruel thing as beheading.
After the beheading, the prisoner is confirmed to be dead, and then the executioner returns the fire sign to the prisoner on behalf of the prisoner, after which the body and head are taken away and handed over to the prisoner's family in order to return to the roots.
Of course, for a person who has committed a heinous crime or a special prisoner, their head will be disposed of, such as hanging outside the city gate or discarding it in the wilderness, so that they cannot keep the whole body after death, which is also a punishment for the prisoner after death.
In general, ancient decapitation was not as simple as we think, the process was cumbersome, and each procedure represented a different meaning behind it.
What do you think differently about this?