As the blood of the Chinese shed by men of other lands, the Chinese shed their own blood and threw lives away with the belief of a better future. This technique first was exercised in the Qin Dynasty and was passed down, dynasty to dynasty, until the Qing Dynasty. Lingchi, commonly known as Death by a Thousand Cuts, created its name through its gruesome history during China’s reign.
From the Qin Dynasty, Lingchi went into practice for acts of high treason, mass murder, and patricide or matricide. This method considered cruel in the fact that Confucianism would encourage an intact body while this way of torture would separate the victim’s body into pieces with a knife. Another philosophy, legalism, encouraged harsh punishments such as Lingchi. Lingchi was later ingrained into Chinese culture due to the influence of legalism in the Qin dynasty.
The Han, Tang, and Song dynasty all were influenced by the Qin and its ways, despite the less cruel punishments. Lingchi stayed as a part of the Chinese government for a prolonged period of time as a result of Legalism. Lingchi was widely used by Qin Er Shi but was used less and less by other dynasties as China progressed in its history[1]. The last two dynasties known for using this method were the Song dynasty and the Liao Dynasty.
127 our experts are availableright now
Abolition movements began in the Song dynasty and continued on until the Qing Dynasty when it was abolished. During the Five Dynasties, one act, Shi Jingtang, banned the use of Lingchi but was temporary. When used in China and Taiwan, executioners used daggers with a blade called the Demon Head Blade. One victim, Liu Jin, was a well-known victim because he was a high ranked eunuch who later stole a large amount from the government. He was charged for treason since he deliberately plotted against the emperor, later to be killed by Lingchi.
Another victim was Yuan Chonghuan. He was a strong political leader in the Ming Dynasty but was charged for collusion with the enemy despite little evidence and was killed by Lingchi. The consort of an emperor, Consort Duan, also fell victim to this torture method. She was charged with going against the palace and was killed by Lingchi. A forth well-known victim of Lingchi was Zheng Zheng. He was charged for smuggling and was ordered to be killed by Lingchi. His meat was later sold by the executioner. Several victims, not only men, fell to this way of torture and spread from China to places as far as Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. This method was exercised by the Japanese and Koreans later on when it lost its favor and was not as commonly used in China.
Death by a Thousand Cuts was used a lot because of its capability to scare the public after large crimes. Lingchi was used often by emperors to kill families of enemies, punish large crimes, and scare the public. It was exercised against several officials, threatening other government officials to work according to the emperor. This, as one of the main styles of punishing all large-scale crime, decreased the number of punishable acts such as treason due to psychological reactions such as PTSD from witnessing graphic actions and pure fear.
Also, this crime was often performed in public to frighten the public so that crimes would lessen. Thus, the effect of Lingchi and how it, on most occasion, would successfully frighten the public appealed to several emperors in medieval China. Several Chinese Emperors focused generally on the positive side of Lingchi, unaware of the damage it could also cause.
Lingchi, despite its usefulness in decreasing crime rates, had opposition, decreased population, was inconvenient to clean up, has taken the lives of those who were falsely accused, and promoted random disturbing acts. In the Qin dynasty, Legalism, the official philosophy accepted by the Qin, encouraged harsh punishments, one being Lingchi. When the punishment became more widely used by the second emperor, Qin Er Shi, more opposition arose. Although this method wasn’t the only reason why rebellion arose, the misusage of Lingchi by Qin Er Shi contributed to the hate accumulated by the harsh government.
Later, in the Song Dynasty, abolition movements began appearing. The idea continued and spread through each dynasty until finally abolished by the Qin. Meanwhile, emperors during medieval China continued to ignore the abolition movements, despite how the opposition slowly grew. Lingchi also was used to kill several people. At the beginning of its usage in the Qin dynasty, several officials were slaughtered by this gruesome torture method. Although the style of torture is a prolonged way of killing a person and this method didn’t kill large numbers, such as hundreds or thousands, this still did kill several people and left people with psychological issues after witnessing the process.
Also, knowing that citizens would get PTSD and other psychological issues from witnessing torture, it is safe to assume that executioners do get psychological issues from torturing or have started with them, which may have affected the people in Chinese communities close to the government. Lingchi’s indirect effect on the population may cause a decrease in population in that murder would be a result of the psychological issues from witnessing torture or torturing.
On top of a decrease in population, Lingchi has been known for creating messes. When it comes to cutting flesh off a person’s body, there tends to be some kind of mess left behind. Cleaning up removed limbs, flesh, and heads are often portrayed as inconvenient, making this torture method less delightful, especially after it is done. Lingchi has also taken lives of officials who may have been unrighteously accused of treason. Several people were killed by Lingchi with little evidence, which not only emphasizes all the issues previously but it causes massive pain to victims who may have not even deserved it, such as Yuan Chonghuan.
Also, Lingchi promoted random disturbing acts such as the selling of flesh of the victims. Although it is unknown why this was allowed or what reasons the flesh was used, the idea of selling human flesh is a disturbing image. This may have been a result of insanity, but motives on acts like this are unclear. Zheng Zheng’s execution was known for this act, making it unusual and more disturbing compared to the other executions, especially executions done in the Ming dynasty. Lingchi has proven itself, not only a minor inconvenience but another reason for empires to fall.
Lingchi has proven itself much more negative than positive throughout its history. Its only cause works as a double-edged sword in that it causes insanity and fear. Although the government may be able to compromise those who lose their grip on sanity, this doesn’t improve its state when it comes to positivity. To capture those who go insane also require a large workforce that would punish the insane with Lingchi, which would recreate the cycle once more. Lingchi had opposition since the beginning, with the Qin, and later had greater opposition in the Song until the Qing Dynasty.
The hatred given to this inhumane method of torture further proves how negative Lingchi is. Despite how it was used less in some dynasties, the fact that this method was not banned and, in some cases, encouraged, made this method more upsetting to the people. Also, the disturbing mess Lingchi leaves behind is a lot more difficult to clean up, especially compared to other methods of torture, especially western ways.
This method did have less blood, but the removal of flesh from a body is still more difficult to clean compared to a decapitated head. False accusations and random acts of insanity have also resulted from Lingchi. This damages the general population by killing people despite their innocence and causing people to do disturbing things. Lingchi, despite its somewhat positive side depending on viewpoint, has proven itself negative, and in some cases, completely unnecessary.
From the Qin dynasty when it was first used to its lasting days in the Qing dynasty, Lingchi has made its mark on every dynasty. Being used to kill several officials in the Qin and Song dynasty to being used to kill less than ten in other dynasties, the range in the number of victims varied, but their pain was always the same. The gruesome history created by Lingchi has imprinted itself amongst the several records of ancient and medieval China.
