Lingchi
A Chinese execution method involving slow slicing of the body.
Last updated
Agence Rol. Agence photographique (commanditaire) · Public domain
Lingchi was a legal punishment of dismemberment that appeared in Chinese law codes from the 10th century onward.[1] The term first designated a penalty in the Liao dynasty's treatise on punishments.[1]
Quick Facts
- Type
- Execution method
- Region
- China, Vietnam, Korea
- Period active
- c. 900 – 1905
- Used for
- Treason
- mass murder
- patricide
- matricide
- murder of master or employer
- Also known as
- Slow slicing, death by a thousand cuts (incorrectly)
Facts from the source article.
What the cited sources add
Bourgon explains that the term originally meant the gradual leveling of a burial mound, then came to signify the beginning of institutional decline.[1] Bourgon states that lingchi was always an exceptional penalty, contrary to the spirit of ordinary law, and was denounced by scholars from its appearance until abolition.[1] The term lingchi probably derived from a word in the Khitan language that had a similar sound.[1] During the Southern Song dynasty, Lu You submitted a memorandum opposing lingchi, contending that it undermined benevolent governance.[8]
Carpeaux's account of the Fou-tchou-li execution was likely fabricated, as an examination of Chinese judicial archives reveals that Carpeaux invented the execution decree.[9][10]
References
- Bourgon, "Turandot: Chinese Torture / Supplice chinois", CNRS, 11 February 2004. facts only, no text reused. turandot.chineselegalculture.org
- Wikipedia, "Lingchi" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: National Digital Cultural Network (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Lingchi" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Elkins, "The Object Stares Back: On the Nature of Seeing", Simon and Schuster, 1996 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Lingchi" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Shen, Jiaben. Ji Yi Wen Cun – Zou Yi – Shan Chu Lü Li Nei Zhong Fa Zhe ( ).; Zhao, Erxun, "Draft History of Qing", 1928; Bourgon, "Turandot: Chinese Torture / Supplice chinois", CNRS, 11 February 2004 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Lingchi" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bourgon, Jérôme, "Event: Execution by lingchi of pseudo-Fu-zhu-li - ID10", Chinese Torture – Supplices Chinois; Bourgon, "Event: Execution by lingchi of pseudo-Fu-zhu-li - ID1", Chinese Torture – Supplices Chinois; Bourgon, "Event: Execution by lingchi of pseudo-Fu-zhu-li - ID1", Chinese Torture – Supplices Chinois; Sohu (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Lingchi" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Jimo Cultural Network, 2006; Hongwu Emperor; Wen Bing; Shizhen; Liu; Suzhou Magazine, 25 May 2007; Gu; ; UDN, 25 January 2010 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Lingchi" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Translations of the Peking Gazette 1879.", HathiTrust (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Lingchi" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bourgon, "Abolishing 'Cruel Punishments': A Reappraisal of the Chinese Roots and Long-term Efficiency of the Xinzheng Legal Reforms", Modern Asian Studies, October 2003, p. 858 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Walker, "Journal: coup de grâce (#1)", VA. facts only, no text reused. va.com.au
- Wikipedia, "Lingchi" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Walker, "Journal: coup de grâce (#1)", VA (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Lingchi (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in History of Imperial China
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Lingchi (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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