Page:Chinese Life in the Tibetan Foothills.djvu/109

Rh The neck is clasped tight and the frame is so large that food cannot be conveyed to the mouth; the criminal soon collapses and, with the fall, the neck is generally broken.

Death by strangling is called chiao hsing (絞刑). Three posts are fixed into the ground. To the centre one the criminal is tied, a rope with a running noose is put round his neck, and then one man pulls at each end of the rope, two strong pulls; the rope is then fastened to the side posts; then the doomed man gets a heavy kick in the abdomen and the breath is driven from his body by the rectum. This is most frequently administered to soldiers for breach of military laws.

To cut off the head of a person worthy of death after death has come from other causes, or to cut the corpse limb from limb, is called, chua shih (抓屍).

In the punishment called ch‘êng kan ch‘êng jen (秤桿秤人), to weigh a man on the scales, huge iron clamps are driven into the ribs on both sides of the backbone and a rope is attached. The unfortunate man is then raised over a cross beam to the height of about 8 or 10 feet from the ground, where he hangs suspended face downwards, and may live for two or three days.

The family of a rebel, whether official or civilian, is exterminated and his goods are confiscated. This is called wa kên tuan miao (挖根斷苗), or chu tsu (誅族).

Another punishment is to nail the living door god, ting huo mên-shên (釘活門神), that is, crucifixion. The criminal's hands and feet are nailed to a door or cross. The nails are made red-hot and driven through the palms of the hands and the front of the foot. Hot nails are used to staunch the bleeding. A hole is made through the back of the cross through which the queue is put to keep up the head. Sometimes the head is held up by nailing the skin on either side of the neck. The wretch may live two or three days unless he can bribe the yamen runners, through his friends, to give him a dose of opium. He is raised so high that a large crowd of people can stare at him. This punishment can be inflicted without reference to a superior officer, as it does not mutilate the body.