It is no matter of wonder that the woman confessed her husband’s guilt, for the face is sometimes beaten with a hard leather strap until the jaws are broken, and the whole of the lips fall from them. In all probability she was quite as guilty as her husband, so that she was not altogether deserving of pity.
Decapitation is always conducted with much judicial solemnity, and, as a rule, is restricted to certain seasons of the year, when large batches of criminals are executed. There are, however, occasional exceptions to the rule. The instrument employed is a sword made expressly for the purpose. It is a two-handed weapon, very heavy, and with a very broad blade. The executioners pride themselves on their skill in its management, and, in order to show their powers, will draw a black-ink line round a turnip, and sever it at a blow, the cut never passing on either side of the line. Before a man is admitted to be an executioner, he is obliged to prove his ability by this test.
The criminal is carried to the place of execution in a bamboo cage, and by his side is the basket in which his head will be removed. He is pinioned in a very effective manner. The middle of a long and thin rope is passed across the back of his neck, and the ends are crossed on the chest, and brought under the arms. They are then twisted round the arms, the wrists tied together behind the back, and the ends fastened to the portion of rope upon the neck. A slip of paper containing his name, crime, and sentence is fixed to a reed, and stuck at the back of his head. See [illustration No. 1], on page 1451.
On arriving at the place of execution, the officials remove the paper, and take it to the presiding mandarin, who writes on it in red ink the warrant for execution. The paper is then replaced, a rope loop is passed over the head of the culprit, and the end given to an assistant, who draws the head forward so as to stretch the neck, while a second assistant holds the body from behind; and in a moment the head is severed from the body. The head is taken away, and generally hung up in a bamboo cage near the scene of the crime, with a label announcing the name and offence of the criminal, and the name of the presiding mandarin by whose order he was executed. In some places these heads are unpleasantly numerous. In many cases the rope and assistants are not employed.
There is even a lower depth of degradation than mere beheading. This is called “cutting into small pieces.” Before striking the fatal blow, the executioner makes long but not deep cuts on the face and in all the fleshy parts of the body, taking care to avoid the chief blood-vessels, so that when the culprit is released by the loss of his head, he may enter the next world not only without a head, but with scarcely any flesh on his bones.
The last of the punishments which will be mentioned in this work is that of sawing asunder, a punishment which of late years has been but rarely inflicted, and we may hope is dying out, though in reality it does not cause nearly as much pain to the sufferer as many of the minor punishments. The mode in which it is performed may be seen from an anecdote related by Mr. Fleming, in the work which has been already quoted. There was a distinguished Imperial officer named Sun-kwei who was taken prisoner by the rebel leader Kih-yung. Knowing the ability of his prisoner, the rebel leader offered to spare his life on the condition that he would accept a command in his army. Sun-kwei flatly refused to do so, saying that as he was defeated he must die, for that to take service against his emperor was impossible. Bribes, threats, and promises were of no avail, and at last Kih-yung ordered his prisoner to be sawn asunder.
The executioners began to exercise their dreadful office, but with all their endeavors could not make the saw enter the body of their victim, who only jeered at them for their ignorance in not knowing how to saw a man asunder. At last Sun-kwei was good enough to instruct them in their business. “You dead dogs and slaves,” said he, “if you would saw a man asunder, you should compress his body between two planks; but how could you know it?” The men followed his advice, and sawed him and the planks asunder at the same time, he never relenting, but scoffing at them to the last moment.
It is with some reluctance that I describe, however briefly, these horrible scenes, but to pass over them would be to omit some of the most characteristic traits of this strange people. Those who know the Chinese nation will be aware that I have touched the subject very lightly, and that the most revolting modes of punishment have not been, and for obvious reasons cannot be mentioned at all.
Although the mandarins are generally hated by those over whom they are placed, there are exceptions to the usual rule, and men are found who resist the temptation of extorting money from the people,—a temptation which is rendered the stronger because a mandarin who can report that his district has paid a very large sum into the Imperial treasury is sure of promotion, and if he has “squeezed” a large tribute out of a district that previously had paid but a small sum, he may almost reckon on obtaining the coveted peacock’s feather, with all its privileges.
When an honest and kind-hearted mandarin vacates his post at the expiration of his term of office, the people subscribe to present him with an umbrella of state, called “The Umbrella of Ten Thousand of the People.” It is made of red silk and satin, with three rows of flounces, and bears upon it the names of the chief donors written in golden characters. When he takes his formal leave of office, the umbrella is carried in procession by his attendants, and he is followed for a certain distance by those who presented it.