But as far as beheading is concerned, few people know that ancient executioners would rather chop people with a blunt knife than sharpen it to make it easier to chop people. Why is this?

In many contemporary costume film and television works, in order to express the tense plot and speed up the development of the story, beheading and beheading scenes often appear.

But in fact, it is impossible for beheading scenes to be so frequent in real history.

You must know that in ancient times, beheading of prisoners was not decided by local officials. It had to be approved by the emperor himself.

For the emperor who had many things to deal with, the memorials from the ministers and the people's livelihood and conditions across the country had already made people extremely busy. Except for routine matters and the criminal's heinous crime, no official would trouble the emperor with such matters.

Therefore, ministers are often very strict in selecting criminals who really need to beheaded. Once it is found that a good person has been wronged later, the person in charge of the case will be held accountable.

As far as beheading is concerned, few people know that ancient executioners would rather chop people with blunt knives than sharpen them so that they can be chopped more smoothly. Why is this?

Regarding this point, we have to start with the profession of executioner.

The Legend of the Executioner

In costume film and television works, executioners are often played by people who look more fierce and strong.

But in fact, not all executioners in history looked like this.

You must know that since the emergence of executioners, this profession has almost become a legacy. No one can judge what their descendants will look like, but it is unrealistic to say that every generation is very strong.

Not only that, the knife used by the executioner also needs to be judged based on the actual dynasty.

In many beheading plots, the executioner uses a large ring knife. However, the earliest traceable prototype of this kind of knife only appeared in the late Qing Dynasty , and it was not mentioned in the novels before the Qing Dynasty. and such tools.

It can be inferred from this that this kind of knife should be a folk knife from the late Qing Dynasty. If the background of the film and television works is the Qing Dynasty, there is nothing wrong.

But if it appeared before the Qing Dynasty, this would be completely divorced from reality.

Of course, people can also regard this behavior as the pursuit of art. After all, few viewers will be confused about what kind of knife the executioner uses.

However, it should be noted that when the punishment of beheading was actually carried out in ancient times, the executioners needed to go to the temple to ask for a knife, instead of just picking up the knife from home and going to "work", and then waiting to go home after "get off work" rest.

Sharpen the knife or not

So why did the executioners in ancient times prefer to chop people with blunt knives rather than sharpen them to give people a good time?

In fact, the decision whether or not the knife needs to be sharpened has always been in the hands of the executioner.

As for whether the executioner can sharpen his knife, there are several theories circulating among the people.

First of all, the reason why the executioner cannot sharpen his knife is that although the executioner is essentially just a profession, this profession takes human life after all.

Although the crimes committed by many prisoners are outrageous and deserved, there is still a lot of psychological pressure for executioners who often kill people.

Under such circumstances, many executioners will think that beheading is their job and the order is given by their superiors, which has nothing to do with them.

But if you sharpen the knife, you will become an "accomplice" to murder.

Although this logic seems difficult to understand, for some executioners who believe in ghosts and gods, it is indeed feasible to alleviate their sins by not sharpening their swords.

Secondly, for some executioners who have been working for most of their lives, they no longer care whether they will go to hell after death.

Whether the execution knife should be sharp or dull depends on the decision of the prisoner's family.

As mentioned before, the knife will be placed in the temple and invited. If the prisoner's family wants to give the prisoner a happy life, the knife will naturally be sharpened.

But if the prisoner’s family does not show any “expression”, then the executioner will use the knife directly no matter what.

At that point, it will be of no use even if the prisoner’s family members regret it.

The last theory is that many officials knew exactly what the person who was about to be executed had done, and specifically asked the executioner to use blunt knives.

To give a simple example, there were rumors among the people that when Empress Dowager Cixi announced the execution of Tan Sitong and others, she secretly ordered the executioners to use blunt knives to let the people know the consequences of going against the Qing court.

However, it can also be seen from here that when the country's rulers can only use such despicable methods to intimidate their own people, the late Qing regime is already over, and it is only a matter of time before it is overthrown.

As time went by, after the late Qing government announced a series of reforms in 1905, the criminal law of beheading was finally abolished and replaced by firing squad.

The executioner who once frightened countless people has since disappeared in the long river of history.