Page:Chinese Life in the Tibetan Foothills.djvu/104

 BOOK III—POLITICAL

CHAPTER I.

(刑法), hsing fa

I. Punishments not involving death (活刑), huo hsing.

Ch'ih (笞), to beat with the small bamboo rod. This rod is about three feet long, and one inch wide, and is applied to the thighs over a space of about six inches. A few thousands of strokes may be given till the thigh bone is made bare. This punishment is inflicted mostly upon the thief. Scholars or dignitaries are exempt from this humiliation. A permanent scar is made which officials make a point of examining when investigating a case. The runners are sometimes bribed by friends to lay on lightly, or reduce the number of blows, or beat the ground. This is a parental form of correction and the prisoner has to thank the magistrate for inflicting it. Tartars, as the conquering race, were exempt from this punishment.

The heavy bamboo, chang (杖), about 4 feet long and about 4 inches wide, sometimes made of wood and at other times of bamboo. The punishment meted out varies from 80 to 200 blows. This chastisement is generally to the disobedient and unfilial. The prisoner is bound and held down while being beaten. Another kind of beating is called t‘ou hsing (頭刑) or mao pan (茅板). The instrument used is a large bamboo split in two halves and not polished in the least; a pile of bricks is made, over which the prisoner is bent and this instrument of correction applied to the buttocks. A few tens of blows may be sufficient to cause death. Li pi chang hsia (立斃杖下) means to die under the bamboo.