The criminal laws in ancient China were extremely harsh, and Ling Chi was the most brutal and unkind. This inhumane torture is regarded as the maximum punishment imposed on felons who endanger the rule of the State. There is no shortage of tragic cases in history that were killed by Ling Chi, but a bizarre incident that occurred during the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty is particularly eye-catching. A Beijing bandit Kang Xiaoba offended the Empress Dowager Cixi because of his humble mouth, and was sentenced to Ling Chi's bad luck. What waves did the fate of this scoundrel cause it? When he died, what kind of tenacity and perseverance did he show? All mysteries will be revealed in this dramatic tragedy.
The origin of torture
The punishment of Ling Chi has a long history, as early as the Tang Dynasty. According to reports, An Lushan once killed a large number of civil and military officials by chopping during the "Liyang Mutiny". Subsequently, Ling Chi became a torture torture carried out in accordance with the law by the Liao, Western Xia, Jin, and Yuan dynasties, and sentenced to death a felony who endangered the rule of the state. By the Ming Dynasty, this punishment became more standardized, and the Ming Dynasty legal code specifically referred to "living chopping" to death, distinguishing it from other tortures such as burning and Ling Chi.
Despite the norms of the Ming people, the cruelty of Ling Chi's punishment is still outrageous. It is recorded that the executioner first cut off a piece of meat from the chest of the criminal and threw it into the sky as an offering to the heavens. He then used a special heavy knife to cut off the flesh of the criminal's flesh from the head until his life was dying. In order to prevent the prisoners from turning their eyes at him, the executioner also cut off a piece of meat to cover his eyes. Such inhumane methods are tantamount to treating people as if they were slaughtered animals.
The Qing Dynasty inherited this torture from the Ming people, seeing it as the ultimate punishment for the most heinous crimes. Unlike the Ming people, the Qing people were very superstitious, believing that the severed flesh could release extremely heavy yin qi, so they deliberately requisitioned blood-stained swords from the battlefield to suppress yin qi. These knives are different from the ghost knives used by ordinary executioners, they are sharper and more powerful, and they are more terrifying when applied to the flesh.
At the beginning of the establishment of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, many meritorious ministers and generals from both the government and the opposition were subjected to Ling Chi for committing serious crimes of "fighting against different parties". However, in the Yongzheng Dynasty, this criminal law began to be gradually reduced, and it was completely banned in the later period of Qianlong. During the Jiaqing period, the self-contained Qing court once reinstated some of the cruel criminal laws, including Ling Chi, until the Guangxu "New Deal" was permanently abolished. However, at the last moment, this capital punishment also staged an absurd farce.
Kang Xiaoba's criminal journey
Kang Xiaoba, whose real name is Kang Jinghai, lives in Kangzhuangzi Village, Tongzhou. When he was young, he was passed on to a family in Donghuangzhuang, and then changed his surname to Kang. When he was still young, he fell into the grass and fell into the grass, made a living by looting, was fierce and aggressive, and killed many innocent civilians.
During the Guangxu period, Kang Xiaoba was active in the Beijing-Tianjin area and became notorious. His only skill was a six-shot revolver, which was a remarkable weapon for its time. It is said that he snatched the gun from the British minister, and it is also rumored that it was the trophy he took from the Western devils when he fought with the Boxers. In any case, with this gun, Kang Xiaoba has done a lot of evil, and he has done all kinds of evil.
Once, Kang Xiaoba went to a barber shop to get a haircut. Towards the end of the treatment, he overhears another customer and the barber slandering him behind his back, saying that he will not die well in the future. Kang Xiaoba was furious when he heard this, and after the haircut was finished, he immediately took out his gun and killed the two people on the spot. For another innocent customer who has not yet had a haircut, Kang Xiaoba frightened, if you want to live, shut your dog mouth for me, and don't chew your tongue when you go back.
The murder was like hemp, which made the court angry, so he ordered a wanted person. But the fast catchers in the yamen are all incompetent, and once they see Kang Xiaoba's gun, they will only make promises, but let him get away with it repeatedly. In the end, the pursuit was fruitless many times, and the imperial court had to invite Liu Weixiang and Xiao Haibo, two big hunters with strong martial arts, to come and suppress them.
The two big catchers were really clever, they found someone who had an old acquaintance with Kang Xiaoba, falsely claimed that Kang's mother was sick, and tricked Kang Xiaoba to go to Donghuangzhuang. When Kang Xiaoba entered the house, the two led people to surround him and arrest him alive. The court ordered him to be executed, and Kang Xiaoba could have died a happy death, but who would have expected that he would make an arrogant move, angering Cixi Lafayette, and finally being tortured by Ling Chi.
Teasing Cixi's arrogant words and deeds to her face
After Kang Xiaoba was arrested, the Criminal Department quickly made a verdict: he was sentenced to death for his crime and arrogance. At this time, the government and the opposition had already been in turmoil, the New Deal reform was in full swing, and Ling Chi and other old punishments were waiting to be abolished. Kang Xiaoba should have died happily under the New Deal.
However, shortly after the verdict was handed down, the Empress Dowager Cixi suddenly said that she would personally "interrogate" the famous bandit in the capital, citing the arrogance of his crimes and the concern of his people. The ministers of the court did not dare to slack off, so they escorted Kang Xiaoba to the Forbidden City, and set up a special case field outside the Kunning Palace, which was tried by Cixi.
There is not much record of the interrogation, but Kang Xiaoba's words and deeds during the trial are widely circulated because of his brazenness and fearlessness. It is said that as soon as Kang Xiaoba saw Cixi and the others, he laughed uncontrollably and shouted: "Look which female mouse caused such a big battle!" Do you just want to see the appearance of the puff? When Cixi heard this, she was furious, and she scolded him for his ignorance and fearlessness, and made him kneel down before her and plead guilty.
Who knew that Kang Xiaoba didn't care, and swaggered in front of Cixi under the obstruction of the palace people and eunuchs, and insulted Cixi and other women, and his words were filthy. He gritted his teeth and said: "I, Kang Baye, am a grass people bandit, I look down on you Jinluan Guishi, take advantage of the dog emperor's breath, take advantage of the chaos of the court, and do all the things of intrigue!" Wait and see, if I die, my soul will haunt you! ＂
In the face of such arrogant and rude words, all the civil and military officials present were angry, and some people couldn't help but be rude. Seeing this, Cixi changed color, and immediately drank the order: Vain posture, so rude! In that case, I will be with you and be punished by Ling Chi!
The brutal implementation process of Ling Chi punishment in the Qing Dynasty
After Cixi ordered Ling Chi's punishment, the government and the opposition were shocked. Since the Qing government ordered the permanent deletion of Ling Chi in the 31st year of Guangxu, this capital punishment has not been seen for a long time. It is really unbelievable that a small bandit should be repeated now.
What is different from the past is that due to the influence of the new policy atmosphere, Ling Chi has made some adjustments after all. The traditional Ling Chi punishment involves first cutting off a piece of meat from the criminal's chest and throwing it into the sky to sacrifice to heaven and earth. However, this time, Cixi decreed that meat should not be cut for sacrifice, as a sign of civilization and enlightenment.
In the early morning of October 16, the torture chamber had already been set up. The weather is gloomy and heavy rain is approaching in Gyeonggi. On the streets of the Royal Garden of Dongzhimen, there have been countless idle people who have gathered to watch the excitement. Kang Xiaoba was escorted to the execution ground, and under the support of many fast arresters, his demeanor was still calm.
The execution site was made of improvised wooden planks and surrounded by red tassel ropes. At 6 o'clock in the morning, the executioner took the lead in stripping Kang Xiaoba's clothes with a special military flag knife, revealing hideous scars all over his body. When the executioner saw this, he couldn't help but feel sorry for himself: with the flesh and skin on this person's body, I am afraid that even a third of it will not be able to be cut.
Soon, the executioners began to torture. First, he used a special "saber" to cut off two pieces of meat on Kang Xiaoba's cheeks, intending to cover his vision and prevent him from being angry. However, Kang Xiaoba was not moved at all, but mocked loudly: "Is this the skill of the executioner? Why don't you just pull my eyes out and forget it! ＂
When the executioner heard this, he was furious, so he stopped covering it and cut off the flesh directly from the head with a heavy knife. The incision was extremely blunt and heavy, and every inch of blood-drenched flesh was cut off, and it was a mess all over the place, which made it unbearable to look at directly. And Kang Xiaoba didn't say a word, closed his eyes tightly, and acted as if nothing happened. Soon, the head, face, chest, back, and limbs were all removed, and Kang Xiaoba, whose flesh and blood were blurred, was only a red body.
Finally, the executioner walked in front of him and stabbed him in the heart with a heavy knife, only to see Kang Xiaoba slowly open his eyes, stare around, open his mouth and be speechless, and he was speechless on the spot. When the onlookers saw this, they all changed color and hurriedly fled the scene......
Kang Xiaoba's tenacious scene before his death
Kang Xiaoba's tenacious performance when he was tortured by Ling Chi shocked everyone present. He never let out a groan of pain from beginning to end, and was strong until the last breath of his life.
When the executioner cut off two pieces of flesh from Kang's cheeks to block his view, Kang did not show the slightest fear or pain. On the contrary, he ridiculed the executioner's "craftsmanship" for being too poor, and provoked in front of everyone: "That's all there is to it? Let's just gouge out my eyes! ＂
In the face of such wild and fearless words, although the main executioner Chen was secretly horrified, he still continued to execute as usual. When Chen used a heavy knife to cut off the flesh and skin of Kang Xiaoba's face, Kang Xiaoba still closed his eyes tightly, his face was not afraid, and he was unconscious. Soon, the flesh and skin of its head, face, chest, back, and limbs were all stripped off, revealing a bloody body with open skin and flesh, which was unbearable to see.
Seeing that Kang Xiaoba was still silent, Chen decided to take the last resort. He walked up to Kang Xiaoba and stabbed him violently with a heavy knife at the heart. However, unexpectedly, at this critical moment, Kang Xiaoba slowly opened his eyes and stared at everything around him!
The surrounding catchers and the audience all had palpitations when they saw this. They saw that Kang Xiaoba's eyes were wide open in intense pain, the whites of his eyes were bloodshot, and his eyeballs seemed to burst out of his sockets. He stared at the crowd in front of him, his fierce and helpless eyes, as if he wanted to devour all his lives alive.
Under this strange and distorted gaze, Kang Xiaoba opened his mouth with difficulty, as if he wanted to say something. Unfortunately, the sharp pain in his temples had reached its limit, and he only had time to let out a short "uh" sound, and he died in an instant.
end
When the crowd saw this scene, they were all terrified. Some people say that it was Kangba's last cry; Some people also say that it is clearly cursing the world. But no matter what, Kang Xiaoba's stubbornness and tenacity before his death, which did not stop until the last moment of his life, made all those who witnessed it palpitate and will not forget it for a long time.