One of the most common punishments in costume dramas is spanking ( ). The most commonly used line is "Twenty rods". So when did the rod penalty become popular in ancient times? Who invented the rod penalty? Today, Xiaoxin will explain these two questions to everyone.
Question 1. Why is spanking popular?
Chinese medicine believes that the human body has hundreds of acupuncture points, which are distributed in various parts of the human body, except for the buttocks. There are basically no acupuncture points on the buttocks, so that spanking is the least likely to kill a person; secondly, there is meat on the buttocks, which is convenient for post-processing. Rod punishment can punish the prisoner without hurting the root cause. Therefore, in ancient times, spanking was regarded as the first choice for torture.
followed by the influence of Confucian . Since " ousted hundreds of schools , only respected Confucianism ", Confucianism has been the only favorite of the emperors of the past dynasties. The Confucian gradually became popular under the official propaganda. It is a shameful act to be naked in public, let alone take off your pants and touch the board. Ancient officials used this method to humiliate criminals and cause great psychological harm to the prisoners. In addition, physical injuries such as cane torture were applied to achieve the purpose of interrogation, and at the same time played a role in emulating others.
After talking about why spanking is popular, let's talk about who invented spanking?
The cane punishment (spanking) originated from the gauntlet (chī), one of the ancient five punishments.However, the scope of this gauntlet is relatively wide, and it can be hit on the buttocks, back or thighs. Moreover, the use of gauntlet means that the crime committed by the prisoner is lighter, or the punishment is reduced after the sentence is commuted, so basically there is no situation of killing a person. It is worth noting that the current gauntlet is still carried out in 16 countries, but the instrument used is a whip, also called .
The gauntlet was completely turned into a rod torture (spanking) in the Western Han Dynasty Hanwen Emperor period.
According to legend, during the Emperor Wen Dynasty of the Han Dynasty, in order to better govern the country, he began to collect policies to govern the world. He ordered people to put a big tripod on the street of Chang'an, and posted a notice to tell the people in the capital that as long as someone has a good idea for governing the country, they can write their ideas on the bamboo slips and put them in the tripod. Once adopted, there will be Reward. As a result, Emperor Hanwen obtained many good strategies for governing the country and also selected a large number of talents.
However, one day the Emperor Hanwen received a very special bamboo slip. The characters on the bamboo slip were very distorted, and it was not written by an adult. Moreover, the bamboo slips did not write any strategies for governing the country, but only wrote a story: a centurion in the Han Dynasty army was punished for making a mistake, and as a result of the punishment he was cut off with a foot. But all the needs of this hundred households depend on him alone. Now that he is disabled, this family is finished. So the child (girl) in this family begged Emperor Han Wen to abolish the corporal punishment and change it to other punishments that do not harm the fundamentals. After reading the bamboo slips, Emperor Wen felt very reasonable, so he called a group of ministers to discuss the matter. In the end, with the approval of most of the courtiers, Emperor Wen abolished the “five punishments” during the Qin period and set another five punishments, the new five punishments. It stipulates that as long as it is not a crime of rebellion (rebellion, murder, etc.), corporal punishment cannot be used, and this new criminal law is later used-rod punishment, and it stipulates that only spanking can be used.
In fact, the torture did not replace the gauntlet,Both of these have existed at the same time for a long time, and they are not a punishment. Sui and Tang Dynasties 10 to 50 strokes are gauntlets, and 60 to 100 strokes are rods. Therefore, the gauntlet is lighter and the rod is heavier. After the Han dynasty, not only the buttocks, but also the back can be beaten.
The real spanking only started from Song Dynasty , and from then on, the gauntlet and the cane were not separated much. The Song Dynasty’s reform of the rod penalty was subversive. When the rod penalty was first promulgated, there was no need to take off the pants, but from the Song Dynasty, because the Song Dynasty has the particularity of "not having a doctor." The gang of scholars felt that since they would not be sentenced, there was no need to show their face to others. In line with the principle of "watching the excitement and not being afraid of big things", they reformed the torture. Only then can the torture have to take off their pants, regardless of men and women. The inattention of scholars in the Song Dynasty hurt later generations of scholars.
Ming Dynasty In the period of , the old man Zhu Yuanzhang didn't care about "not being a doctor", so scholars would be expensive? He is not used to those scholars in the court. Zhu Yuanzhang was not only sentenced to a doctor, but he couldn't get it on credit now. If you were sentenced, you had to fight immediately, so there was also a . This penalty was brought to the extreme.
The so-called imperial staff is to take off their pants and spank in front of hundreds of civil and military officials in the imperial palace. It is estimated that these important officials of the Ming Dynasty can hate the scholars of the Song Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, as long as the emperor wanted, no one could run away. It is said that during the Jiajing emperor, there was a spectacular sight of hundreds of people spanking outside the palace.
The skills of playing boards were also developed from the Ming Dynasty. By the middle of the Ming Dynasty, those eunuchs who were often responsible for boarding had developed good skills.As long as the officials who are beaten have money in place, they often seem to be beaten very hard, but they are actually very light. It is said that after "heavy hitting" 20 boards, they will be able to get out of bed and play the next day. In the same way, if the money is not in place, and there is a festival with the nobles of the DPRK, a few boards will be able to let the skin become fleshy. After playing 20 boards, it will be hemiplegia , or death on the spot.
up and down, the skills of board-making in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties became more sophisticated. "Go up with the dragon's tail, go down and turn over the python", the board was picked up, raised high, lowered low, and hit obliquely. Click on the left, click on the right, and hit the middle on the third hit, and the skin will be broken in three hits. Moreover, the officer in the lobby and the officer in charge of beating people have secret codes, for example, pull down and beat! Then this board is just a symbolic hit, only hurting the skin and not the muscles and bones. But if you say pull it down, hit it hard! Then this board may have to be wounded and bloody. What's more serious is, if you say, pull it down, hit me hard! Then this board is terrible, ranging from hemiplegia to death on the spot! Playing the board to collect money was regarded as an open secret in ancient times, and it was regarded as a reward for the servants and the officials.
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