. Pictorial history of China and India; comprising a description of those countries and their inhabitants. fortunate victim. Filial disobedience is considered a crime next in atrocity to murder, andis punished by the bastinado, and severe beating with bamboos of varioussizes. The modes of torture are manifold; but those most generallyadopted are the rack, and gradual roasting before a slow fire. By thepenal code, mandarins are empowered to apply torture for the purpose ofextorting a confession of guilt; but the same law provides ample punish-ment for an abuse of this power, and exempts all cla
. Pictorial history of China and India; comprising a description of those countries and their inhabitants. fortunate victim. Filial disobedience is considered a crime next in atrocity to murder, andis punished by the bastinado, and severe beating with bamboos of varioussizes. The modes of torture are manifold; but those most generallyadopted are the rack, and gradual roasting before a slow fire. By thepenal code, mandarins are empowered to apply torture for the purpose ofextorting a confession of guilt; but the same law provides ample punish-ment for an abuse of this power, and exempts all classes of mandarins,those above seventy and below^ seventeen years of age, from its penalties. Assault and iheft are both punished by an attenuating and slow torturecalled the Can-gue, or wooden collar, which is inflicted for various periodsof duration. At sunrise each morning, the criminals are led forth from thecommon prison with their wooden collars, fitting closely to the neck, uponwhich is affixed a description in writing of the offence for which the wearer 16 242 CHINA, HISTORICAL AND Puiiisliment of tlie Wooden ColUir. is pufTering; and thus they remain exposed to public view until sunset,when they are conducted back to tlie prison for the night. It is painful towitness the attempts made by these poor wretches to carry on a communi-cation between their hands and their heads, using enormous toothpicks andearpickers, for the respective objects for which they were made. Banishment is continually adopted ; when for life, the exiles wife andfamily are sent with him to the frontiers as slaves to the Tartar who are sentenced for shorter periods, are condemned to work forthe period of punishment in the imperial salt-works. The traffic in ojjium, or the use thereof, is punishable most severely bylaw; a man detected in smoking opium is put to the torture, until he givesup the name of the person from whom he bought the poison, and each per-son through who
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Keywords: ., bookauthorsearsrob, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1850, bookyear1851
