Among the ancient punishments, there is a unique "laughing punishment", which may sound mild and harmless, but in fact it is a kind of gruesome torture. Not only is there no bloody scene in this kind of punishment, but the victim will even die in laughter. How is this "gentle" punishment applied, and what cruel secrets does it hide? Let's find out.
The origin and spread of laughter
As an ancient form of punishment that seems to be mild but is actually cruel, the origin of laughter can be traced back to ancient Rome. At that time, the Roman Empire spread across the European continent, and its legal system and penal methods were also spread and enforced over a wide area with the conquest of armies.
The earliest records of laughing punishments date back to the writings of the Roman historian Polybius in the 2nd century BC. Describing the judicial system of the time, he mentions a form of punishment that "tortures criminals with the tongue of a goat." This seemingly bizarre practice is actually what later generations called "laughing punishment".
In the second century C.E., the Roman jurist Guy also made a detailed record of laughter in his legal code. He described the entire process of the execution and listed it as one of the "unnatural death sentences". Thus, although laughter may seem mild, it was seen as a severe form of torture at the time.
With the spread of Roman culture in Europe, laughter gradually appeared and spread in other parts of the continent. In the 5th century AD, this form of punishment even spread to the far east - China. According to historical records, the court of the Northern Wei Dynasty began to use laughter punishment to punish court maids who made mistakes.
In the centuries that followed, the use of laughter in China gradually expanded. In the Tang Dynasty, not only the court adopted it, but even the people began to use this kind of punishment. According to historical records, some local officials at that time also began to follow the practice of the court and use laughing punishment in order to extract confessions and punishment.
It can be said that laughter, as a form of punishment originating from ancient Rome, has spread and developed from Europe to Asia after nearly a thousand years of spread and development, and has become a widely popular torture method. It is no less brutal than other horrific punishments, but it is particularly disturbing and gruesome because of its apparent "mildness".
The execution process of laughing punishment
Although the laughter punishment sounds gentle and harmless, the process of its execution is gruesome. The process is divided into several strict steps, each of which is crucial, and the slightest negligence can lead to the failure of the execution.
First of all, it is the preparation of the victim's feet. Executioners would have the victim soak their feet in thick salt water for a long time. This step may seem simple, but it is the key to the execution. The purpose of the soak is to make the skin on the soles of the victim's feet extremely soft and convenient for subsequent licking. If the soaking time is not enough, the skin does not reach a sufficiently soft level, and the goat's tongue will not be able to perform as well as it should.
Once the feet are ready, the body of the victim is immobilized. Since the victim will involuntarily struggle violently during the laughing torture, several wrestlers need to tie him firmly with ropes to make him unable to move. In some places, the practice is even more brutal, with the victim's limbs being pulled apart and fixed to the torture rack.
When everything is ready, the official execution can begin. At this time, a large goat was led. The executioner will smear the soles of the victim's feet with sweet substances such as honey and syrup to attract the attention of the goats.
As soon as the goat begins to lick, the sufferings of the tortured begin. It may be difficult for ordinary people to imagine how a goat's tongue can cause so much pain to people. But in fact, the surface of the goat's tongue is densely packed with small spines, like small hooks. When they continue to lick the soft soles of the victim's feet, they will cause a sharp stinging sensation on the soles of the feet.
At first, the victim will only feel a little itchy and even can't help but laugh out loud. But as time went on, the pain intensified, and the laughter changed tone. The laughter gradually turned into a groan of pain, followed by a heart-rending scream.
Some tenacious torturers grit their teeth and persevere, but most find it difficult to endure such torture. Their cries soon turned into faint gasps until they were completely silent. The executioner will stop the execution at this time, because most of the victims have already died, ending a life of suffering.
Laughter may seem mild, but it is actually extremely vicious. It not only brought great physical pain to the victims, but also caused great mental damage to them. At the end of his life, although there was still a smile on the face of the victim, he was already tortured physically and mentally, which was nothing less than a silent accusation.
A new discovery of laughing punishment
With the passage of time, people's understanding of laughing punishment is also deepening. In recent years, new discoveries in some ancient medical books have given us a deeper understanding of this seemingly mild but cruel punishment.
According to a Ming Dynasty medical book, the key to the reason why laughter can make people die in laughter is that it causes a series of physiological reactions within the human body. The medical book describes it like this: "If you laugh too much, your muscles will be full of bones, your blood will surge, and your heart will be on fire." ＂
This passage reveals the fatality of laughter. When the human body laughs excessively, the muscles of the whole body will move violently, just like a large gymnastics activity. This strenuous exercise will cause the body's internal qi and blood to surge violently, and the load on the heart will also increase sharply.
It is conceivable that if a person suddenly starts to exercise vigorously while at rest, will the heart and respiratory system be able to withstand it? Not to mention that the "exercise" in laughter is continuous, and there is no way to breathe and recuperate.
Another Song Dynasty medical book gives a more straightforward explanation of the cause of death by laughter: "If you laugh, your lungs will swell, and if your lungs distend, you will suffocate." This directly points out the cause of death of laughter - suffocation.
When the human body laughs to a certain extent, the lungs will be filled with air due to violent contractions, reaching a state of limit. But at the same time, laughter can also prevent normal breathing and prevent fresh air from entering the lungs. As a result, the lungs will become "swollen", which eventually leads to hypoxia and suffocation.
In addition to the above two reasons, laughter can also lead to other complications that can lead to death. For example, vigorous muscle movement during laughter may cause spasms and even cause muscle tears and bleeding, and the muscles in the throat may also spasm and block the trachea when laughing to the extreme, which can also cause suffocation.
It can be seen that although laughter punishment seems "mild" on the surface, it is actually a kind of gruesome torture. It exploits the weakness of the human body's physiological response, and triggers a series of internal physiological abnormalities through external stimulation, which eventually leads to the death of the torturer.
This kind of cruel means hidden under laughter and laughter is nothing less than a kind of humiliation and destruction of human nature. It not only destroys the physical body of the victim, but also inflicts great mental torture, making people still smile distorted at the end of their lives, how cruel is this irony?
The purpose and function of laughter
Although it seems to be mild and harmless, it was widely used in various occasions in ancient times, and its purpose and role also changed with the changes of the times.
Originally, laughter was introduced as a way to carry out the death penalty. Compared with beheading or hanging, laughter is more "humane". The tortured person does not feel severe pain before dying, but leaves the world in laughter and laughter, free from physical torture.
However, this seemingly "gentle" way of death punishment actually hides great cruelty. Laughing torture takes advantage of the weakness of the human body's physiological response, and triggers a series of internal physiological abnormalities through external stimulation, which eventually leads to the death of the tortured. It can be said that the laughter torture inflicted great mental torture on the victims, making them still distort their smiles when they are dying, how cruel is this irony?
Over time, the role of laughter was gradually developed, and it was no longer limited to executions. By the Han Dynasty, laughter began to be widely used in the court as a means of punishing errant court maids.
According to historical records, the Han court often used torture to punish court ladies who made mistakes. However, this practice often leaves scars on the body of the palace maids, affecting their appearance. In order to avoid this situation, the palace began to use laughter.
By controlling the timing and degree, laughter can bring unbearable pain to the palace maids, but it will not leave any scars on them. What's more, this kind of punishment will make the palace maid terrified of it afterwards, for fear of being tortured like this again. It can be said that laughter punishment not only punished their bodies, but also destroyed their spirits.
In addition to the imperial court, laughter was also used by some local officials as a means of extorting confessions by torture. Because of the seemingly "mild" nature of the punishment, officials used it as a "humane" method of torture to force prisoners to confess their crimes.
However, it is not so much "humane" as a disguised form of mental abuse. Under the torture of laughter, the tortured person often chooses to confess his crimes, just to get rid of this endless suffering. It is conceivable how many innocent people were inflicted endless suffering at that time.
In general, laughter was originally introduced as a means of execution, but its role was gradually expanded to become a means of punishing court ladies and extorting confessions by torture. Regardless of the purpose, laughter torture brings great pain to the victims, destroying not only their physical bodies, but also their spirits.
The brutality of laughter and other tortures
In ancient times, laughter, although seemingly mild and harmless, was no less cruel than other horrific forms of torture. Compared with the bloody scenes, laughter torture gives the victim greater mental torture, and this cruel method hidden under laughter is tantamount to a kind of humiliation and destruction of human nature.
If we compare laughter with other forms of torture, it is not difficult to see that the difference between them on the surface is obvious. For example, Ling Chi is an extremely cruel form of punishment. During the execution, the body of the victim will be cut off one by one, and the whole process is extremely bloody and unbearable to look at.
But in the process of implementing the laughing punishment, there was no such bloody scene. The surface of the victim's body is intact, and even on the verge of death, he still has a smile on his face. On the surface, laughter seems to be more "humane" than Ling Chi.
However, this is not the case. Although the laughing punishment does not have a bloody appearance, it takes advantage of the weakness of the human body's physiological responses, and triggers a series of internal physiological abnormalities through external stimulation, which eventually leads to the death of the tortured. It can be said that the laughter torture inflicted great mental torture on the victims, making them still distort their smiles when they are dying, how cruel is this irony?
In contrast, although Ling Chi was bloody and brutal, at least the tortured person was able to face the threat of death, rather than being forced to die in laughter. From this point of view, the cruelty of laughter is not necessarily lower than that of Ling Chi.
Look at another kind of torture - sinking. This form of punishment sounds very simple: the victim is thrown into the water and drowned. But in fact, the pain of drowning is unimaginable to ordinary people. The victim struggled in the water, which continued to pour into his nose and mouth, and his lungs gradually filled with water, and a feeling of suffocation arose.
This painful process may be more straightforward and cruel than laughing punishment. But from another point of view, laughing punishment gives the victim more mental devastation. They had to twist their smiles on their deathbed, and this ironic way of dying was understandably mentally torturous.
It can be said that although laughter seems "gentle" on the surface, it is actually a cruel method hidden under laughter. It not only destroys the physical body of the victim, but also inflicts great mental torture, making people still smile distorted at the end of their lives, how cruel is this irony?