In ancient Chinese society, there were many feudal customs. Among them, the " slaughtered white duck " in Guangdong is even more famous for its cruelty. So what exactly is "white duck killing", and who is suffering from it? Mr. Boshi is here to introduce it to you.
What is "white duck"?
Chen Qiyuan was born in the famous Chen family in Haining. The family has been prominent for generations. Not only was his father Chen Ao an official in the court, he also served as the magistrate of Zhili Zhizhou, Nanhui, Qingpu , Shanghai and other counties until he was 62 years old. He just resigned and lived in Wulin. Because father and son had a wide network of friends and had served as middle- and lower-level officials for a long time, they had seen a lot. Chen Qiyuan wrote all these things in his notebook "Notes of Yongxianzhai".
In "Notes of Yongxianzhai", Chen Qiyuan described something his father told him. His father once tried a murder case, and the arrested murderer was only sixteen years old. When inspected the victim's body, he found that there were dozens of wounds on the body, which could not have been caused by one person. Moreover, the "murderer" was thin and it seemed impossible to kill the deceased.
But when he was interrogated, his confession was eloquent, and it was exactly the same as what was recorded in the case handling documents. It sounded like he knew it by heart. Chen Qiyuan's father didn't believe it was the young man in front of him, so he tried to enlighten him. Finally, the young man cried and complained. It turned out that he was "killed as a white goose". So what is "killing the white goose"? It means being a "scapegoat". After some powerful people commit crimes, in order to escape legal sanctions, they usually find someone to cover them. And these top sponsors are almost all lower-class people from poor families.
For example, the 16-year-old boy in this case was sold to a rich man by his parents for a few taels of silver. Before goes to jail, someone will train them and memorize the case verbatim. Some parents will also morally kidnap their children and ask them to make sacrifices for the family. Therefore, even if these people know that they are being blamed, they will not have any resistance. Because for them, being born into a lower-class family means they will die sooner or later. If you don't die of exhaustion in the landlord's field, you will die in the mouths of poisonous snakes and beasts. It doesn't matter if he dies in prison.
How is the white duck caused?
Chen Qiyuan’s father originally thought he could overturn the boy’s case, but in the end he was overjoyed. Because he discovered that when the case was retried, the young man resumed his previous confession and said nothing about being wrongly accused. In the entire court, except for him, almost no one paid attention to whether the young man was guilty or not. The parents of the teenager even hope to convict their son early so that they can successfully get the other half of the "bonus".
The number of cases of "white duck killing" is highest in Fujian, Guangdong and other provinces. According to historical records: " There are many murderous cases in Zhang and Quan prefectures in Fujian. Rich households kill people and give a lot of money to the poor to kill them. Although there are honest officials, they often suffer from their disadvantages. The so-called "zaibai" "Duck" also. "The local officials either turned a blind eye to this matter or were complicit in it. Even if there are honest officials who want to reverse the case for innocent people, it will be very difficult. Because even the victims have acquiesced in this matter, no matter how hard they try, their efforts will be in vain.
Why are "white duck killing" incidents so frequent in coastal cities such as Fujian and Guangdong? The main reason is that the clan power in these areas is huge and armed fighting is frequent. There will definitely be deaths and injuries in armed fighting. Whenever this happens, the heads of some clans will look for the common people at the bottom to take the blame. And local public security involves the performance evaluation of local officials. In order to increase their official positions in the future, they will try their best to conceal and omit reports. During the Qianlong period, he repeatedly reprimanded local officials for such illegal behavior, but they still continued to prohibit it. Have you ever seen the "white duck killing" incident? Welcome to leave a message in the comment area.
