Ancient society emphasized The power of the monarch is divinely granted . The power of the ruler cannot be questioned. In order to strengthen the rule and shock people, all dynasties have established strict punishment systems. In addition to the imprisonment, exile, beheading, etc. we know, there are several very cruel criminal laws, such as the dismemberment of five horses. These methods are recorded in historical books, almost all of which violate the imperial power. Only those who violate the taboos will be subjected to particularly cruel punishments. However, there is also a punishment method in history. Five horses are not given at all to be dismembered, and there are many people who die in this punishment, but there are few records. They are only mentioned in "Huainanzi·Shushan Xun", "Han Shu·Criminal Law" and "Records of the Grand Historian: Biography of Lian Po and Lin Xiangru". This is the punishment of cooking, which is even more cruel than the "Ten Tortures of the Qing Dynasty".
may listen to the name, and you can guess it. This is a punishment for putting prisoners into a large pot filled with boiling water and hot oil, and a large cauldron to be boiled or fried to death. The large pot of cooking people was called a cauldron or a wok in ancient times. They are all made of copper or iron. The difference is that the cauldron has three feet and the pot has no feet. According to historical records, when the ancestor of Zhou Xibo was imprisoned in Wuli, Xibo's son Bo Yikao was hostage in Yindu and served as a coachman for King Zhou. King Zhou put Bo Yikao in a large pot and gave it to Xibo. Xibo didn't know it was human flesh soup, so he ate it. King Zhou proudly said to others: "Who said Xibo was a saint? He didn't know that he had eaten his son's meat soup!" This is the earliest example of cooking people in ancient times.
The punishment for cooking is very perverted, but it was often used in ancient times. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the Zhou Dynasty declined and the princes fought in a melee, and the legal system did not stipulate. At that time, the monarchs often used the cooking method. During the Warring States Period, there were many examples of cooking people. Among them, people are more familiar with the story of Leyang sipping Zhongshan soup. Leyang was a general in Wei State and led his troops to attack Zhongshan. Leyang's son was in Zhongshan at that time. The king of Zhongshan cooked Leyang's son to death, made meat soup and sent someone to give it to Leyang, and told him clearly that this was his son's meat. Le Yang sat in the military tent, took the meat soup and drank a large cup, expressing his determination to attack Zhongshan unshakable, and soon destroyed Zhongshan Kingdom.
During the Qin and Han Dynasties, cooking was commonly used. Shang Yang's reform of increased corporal punishment, and cooking the wok was stipulated as one of the methods of execution of death penalty. During the late Qin Dynasty, both Liu and Xiang loved to use cooking torture. After the Han Dynasty, the torture of cooking people did not disappear. After the Sui Dynasty, the death penalty officially stipulated by the Criminal Law promulgated by the court was only shang, behead, lingchi, etc., but cooking has always been used as an informal punishment. In the early Southern Song Dynasty, Qin Hui was dictatorial and harmed loyal and kind-hearted. He also used the punishment of cooking people. In ancient times, all the princes also used this method to deal with political enemies. The reason why historical books did not record it was probably because the rulers themselves knew that this method was cruel, and they were afraid of leaving a cruel impression on later generations. Historians might be afraid to be vented and punished.
Reference materials: "Huainanzi·Shushan Xun", "Han Shu·Criminal Law", "Records of the Grand Historian·Biography of Lian Po and Lin Xiangru"
