‘Worst execution imaginable’ as criminals slowly sliced until they die | World | News

Known as ‘death by a thousand cuts’ or ‘slow slicing’, this chilling method of execution was used in China, and the name barely scratches the surface of the horrors it entailed.

Until its prohibition in 1905, criminals across China, Vietnam, and Korea could be sentenced to Lingchi, a form of torture resulting in a slow and agonising  death. Convicts would have their body parts meticulously removed with a knife over an extended period until they eventually succumbed.

This gruesome method of execution was reserved for the most brutal of  crimes, including treason. Despite being outlawed due to its extreme brutality, references to its uniquely torturous methods have cropped up in various forms of media.

The horrifying procedure typically involved binding a prison to a wooden frame, often in public view. The executioner would then begin to cut flesh from the body in a variety of ways, not limited or specified by Chinese law, allowing them to alter their technique at will.

The punishment not only inflicted one of the most excruciating deaths imaginable but also served as a form of public humiliation. The torment continued even after death, with the lifeless body left hanging for all to see.

The horrors didn’t end there; some reports suggest that the victims’ flesh may have even been sold as medicine post-mortem.

Moreover, it’s believed that the official punishment of death by slicing could have also involved bone chopping and subsequent cremation after the body parts were severed one by one.

A chilling historical photograph from China depicts the execution of Wang Weiqin in 1904, a former official who murdered two families. His gruesome end took place at the execution ground at Caishikou, Beijing, as the harshest form of punishment for treason and grave crimes against the family.

As savage as this method was, it did not discriminate based on gender, with both men and women sentenced to death by slicing. One particular case stands out, as reported by the Beijing publisher the Peking Gazette in 1879 – a woman and her lover were both punished after they murdered her father-in-law.

It was suspected that he was about to reveal their affair, leading them to kill him to protect their secret. However, due to the stringent anti-adultery laws, their own lives were put in jeopardy. She was executed by lingchi, while her husband was subjected to public humiliation using a device known as a cangue, a traditional method used to shame him for failing to control his wife.

Several other individuals are recorded as victims of lingchi, including Cao Jixiang, a former high-ranking eunuch who served under the Emperor and was executed for leading a military rebellion. Another supposed victim was Yuan Chonghuan, a renowned general during the reign of the Chongzhen Emperor, following an alleged attempt to rebel.