History can't bear to look at the complete collection

Chapter 93 Cruel Punishment 4
The Six Major Tortures of Prisoners in the Song Dynasty
Chapter 70 of "Water Margin" No.[-], the jade unicorn Lu Junyi was framed by the housekeeper Li Gu. He was stabbed with a forty-spine stick and matched with Salmonella Island.On the way, he was framed by an official and almost lost his life. If Yan Qing, the house slave and prodigal son, hadn't acted in time, Lu Junyi would have died in Huangquan.Most of the elements in the novel are fictitious, but the Salmonella Island mentioned here is a real place.

The so-called Salmonella Island is now Changdao County, Penglai City, Shandong Province.From the Five Dynasties to the Yuan Dynasty, this island has been used as a prison. Prisoners often die here.Those who survived by luck will be tortured in a bad way, so this Salmonella Island is a purgatory on earth, and the prisoners basically go to the gate of hell when they go there.

In the Song Dynasty, although Shamen Island had fertile land, beautiful scenery, and well-developed agriculture and fisheries, the government did not vigorously develop tourism and agriculture, but instead devoted itself to reforming through labor.It is recorded in "History of the Song Dynasty. Criminal Law Records": "Salmon Daozhai, the one with the most heavy responsibilities, is next to Lingbiao, and next to neighboring states for three thousand miles."

It means that criminals are placed according to their degree of crime. If the crime is relatively minor, they will be sent to a labor camp not far from home. If the crime is a little serious, they will be sent to a labor camp farther away. But when a capital crime is committed, it will be sent to this Salmon Island to be punished.

In the Song Dynasty, labor camps were not called labor camps, but prison camps.This is also reflected in "Water Margin". When Wu Song was dispatched from Dongping, Shandong Province to Mengzhou, Henan, he was placed in the prison camp of Mengzhou.This so-called prison camp is similar to the structure of modern prisons. Prisoners are confined within four high walls for forced labor. They will be released after serving their sentence. If anyone wants to sneak away, the jailers will shoot arrows. Shoot the fleeing prisoners with random arrows.

There is also such a "prison camp" on Salmon Island, called "Sramezhai".The owner of the Shamen village, the so-called warden, likes to abuse prisoners very much. According to "History of the Song Dynasty?According to the "Biography of Ma Mo", during the Xining period of Emperor Shenzong of Song Dynasty, Li Qing, the head of the Shamen Village, was a typical tyrannical maniac. His daily pleasure was to torture and kill prisoners. More than 700 prisoners were killed, basically killing one a day.It can be seen how cruel this person is.

Killing is not the most vicious thing, but the most vicious punishment is the punishment he formulated. The jailers on Salmon Island are the most proficient at torturing prisoners in disguise. Their daily job is to rack their brains to figure out how to torture prisoners in different ways. "Song History. Criminal Law Records" and "Rong Zhai Four Strikes" recorded some methods of prison management personnel's abuse of prisoners at that time, which were very cruel and could not bear to be recalled.

First, long-term detention.

Prisoners in ancient times often used shackles to control their mobility, but the shackles were heavy and heavy. Usually, according to the regulations, there was a time limit for wearing the shackles, but the prison guards on Salmon Island often let prisoners wear heavy shackles for many years. Heavy physical work, even sleeping and eating can't be taken off.After a long time, the prisoner's neck bone will be deformed, the wrist bone will be broken, and some iron chains will grow into the prisoner's flesh, which is extremely painful.

Second, they are not given food or drink.

According to the provisions of volume 29 of "Song Xingtong", the prison "should give food but not give it, and the staff will be given [-] rods."But on Salmonella Island, this humane advocacy was forgotten. If the prisoners here annoyed the jailer, they would be denied meals until they starved to death.

Third, feed the prisoners sawdust.

This is a very wicked punishment. The sawdust and water are mixed together, and the prisoner is forcibly poured into the stomach. The sawdust is difficult to digest, and the prisoner will have abdominal distension, unbearable pain, and finally die tragically.

Fourth, stone cloth bag.

Fill the sack with stones, and then use the sack to beat the prisoner. In this way, the prisoner who was beaten to death does not have any wounds on the surface, and all of them are internal injuries. Jailers often use this method to deal with disobedient prisoners.

Fifth, feed the loach.

The so-called loach is actually to put a very small fishhook into the stomach of a small fish and let the prisoner swallow it alive. Bleeding to death.

Sixth, nail into the steel needle.

This is the most dehumanizing punishment. The shoulders of the person to be executed are massaged to relax their muscles, and then the entire thick steel needle is inserted into the prisoner's Jianjing point until it is submerged in the body and cannot be seen.This will make the prisoner unbearably painful and difficult to raise his arms, but the jailer will also require him to do strenuous labor activities. If the prisoner cannot perform labor, he will be punished and beaten as a matter of course.

There are many villains on Salmon Island, and the prisons are always overcrowded. In order to reduce the burden, this also makes the court turn a blind eye to the torture of prisoners on Salmon Island, and ignore it.

These six punishments were once very popular on Salmonella Island in the Song Dynasty, and later they were used by later generations to study and quote. The reason why the Dongchang, a major secret service agency in the Ming Dynasty, developed so many tortures can not but be said to have absorbed the experience of the predecessors. experiences and lessons.

(End of this chapter)