Caishikou Execution Grounds
 Execution of Boxers at the execution ground. | |
| Simplified Chinese | 菜市口法场 |
|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 菜市口法場 |
Caishikou Execution Grounds (traditional Chinese: 菜市口法場; simplified Chinese: 菜市口法场; pinyin: Càishìkǒu Fǎchǎng), also known as Vegetable Market Execution Ground,[1] was an important execution ground in Beijing during the Qing Dynasty. It was located at the crossroads of Xuanwumen Outer Street and Luomashi Street.[2] The exact location is under debate today. However, contemporary sources and photographs put it across from the Heniantang Pharmacy (Chinese: 鶴年堂藥店).[3]
Executions were usually carried out at 11:30 AM.[4] On the day of the execution, the convict would be carted from the jail cell to the execution grounds. The cart stopped at a wine shop named Broken Bowl (Chinese: 破碗居) on the east side of Xuanwu Gate, where the convict would be offered a bowl of rice wine.[5] The bowl would be smashed after it was drunk. During the executions of infamous convicts, it was common for a large crowd to gather and watch. The torture death by a thousand cuts was also carried out at the execution ground.[6]
The Catholic bishop Alphonse Favier wrote about the execution ground in the 1890s:[7]
The convicts, on their knees, are executed one after the other, their bodies carried to the dump, their heads hung in little cages on a tripod frame made of poles. Passerby can view the bloodless heads, their huge, terrified eyes half eaten by magpies and crows that peck through the rungs; each queue trails down to the ground; dogs look on and stand on their hind legs trying to get to them
— Alphonse Favier, Péking: histoire et description
Notable individuals executed at Caishikou
Most of these executions were carried out by beheading with only specific crimes being punished by death by a thousand cuts.
- Zhu Yousong, or Hongguang Emperor, the first emperor of the Southern Ming Dynasty.
- Zhu Changfang, a member of the royal family of Southern Ming Dynasty.
- Zhu Cunji (朱存極), Ming dynasty Prince of Qin (秦王)
- Zhu Shenxuan (朱审烜), Ming dynasty Prince of Jin (晉世子)
- Zhu Youzou (朱由棷), Ming dynasty Prince of Heng (衡王)
- Zhu Ciyue (朱慈爚), Ming dynasty Prince of Chong (崇王)
- Zhu Youli (朱由櫟), Ming dynasty Prince of De (德王)
- Zhu Cikui (朱慈煃), Ming dynasty Prince of Ji (吉王)
- Zheng Zhilong, father of Koxinga.
- Jahangir Khoja, East Turkic Uyghur rebel leader. (Death by 1000 cuts)
- Six gentlemen of the Hundred Days' Reform, including Tan Sitong and Lin Xu.
- Xu Jingcheng, Qing diplomat, during the Boxer Rebellion.
- Qixiu (启秀), Manchu pro-Boxer official
- Zhong Renjie (鍾人傑)
- Lin Fengxiang (林鳳祥)
- Li Kaifang, Taiping rebel
- Li Hanjie (李漢傑)
- Yang Rui (杨锐)
- Yang Shenxiu (杨深秀)
See also
References
- ^ H. Y. Lowe (1942). Stories from Chinese Drama. Peking Chronicle Press.
- ^ Henriot, Christian; Yeh, Wen-hsin (2012). Visualising China, 1845-1965: Moving and Still Images in Historical Narratives. Brill Publishers. p. 66. ISBN 978-9004233751.
- ^ "Decryption of Caishikou autumn execution: prisoners before the execution to eat big cake sauce elbow". dailynews.sina.com. 2009-11-27. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04.
- ^ The time was 午時三刻 in old Chinese timekeeping, which corresponded to 11:30AM. "Anecdote of beheading and execution in ancient China". China Times. Archived from the original on 20 August 2015.
- ^ "Beijingers of the Past Seen in Photos (part three)". beijingtouragency.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 23 Aug 2015.
- ^ Chan, Shelley W. (2011). A Subversive Voice in China: The Fictional World of Mo Yan. Cambria Press. ISBN 978-1604977196.
- ^ Associate Professor of History Timothy Brook; Professor of History and Republic of China Chair Timothy Brook; Timothy Brook; Jérôme Bourgon, Gregory Blue, Associate Professor of History Gregory Blue (15 March 2008). Death by a Thousand Cuts. Harvard University Press. pp. 285–. ISBN 978-0-674-02773-2.
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