Dismemberment by five horses: Difference between revisions
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==History== | ==History== | ||
Although mutilating forms of punishment were abolished under {{wiki|Emperor Wen of Han}} in 167 BCE,<ref name="Lewis 2007">Lewis, Mark Edward. (2007). "Law". ''The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han''. Cambridge, MA: Harvard | Although mutilating forms of punishment were abolished under {{wiki|Emperor Wen of Han}} in 167 BCE,<ref name="Lewis 2007">Lewis, Mark Edward. (2007). "Law". ''The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han''. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, pp. 227–252</ref> ''chelie'' was still used as late as the 8th century by the [[Yan]] state established by ''[[jiedushi]]'' [[An Lushan]] in [[An Lushan Rebellion|rebellion]] against the [[Tang dynasty|Tang]]. In 757, the famous court musician [[Lei Haiqing]] was forced to perform in [[Luoyang]] for Lushan, who had crowned himself as Emperor Xiongwu (雄武皇帝). Haiqing dared to play songs implicitly lamenting the calamities that had befallen the Tang, a snub that was not lost on the Emperor, who furiously ordered that he be dismembered by five horses.<ref name="Dynasty Finale" /> | ||
==Appearances== | ==Appearances== | ||
Revision as of 20:44, 2 April 2023
Dismemberment by five horses (五馬分屍), or chelie (車裂, lit. 'chariot-splitting'),[1] was an execution method used in ancient China that involved tying horses or chariots to the condemned's four limbs and neck and then violently pulling them apart by having the horses set off in different directions.[2] Prior to the Han dynasty, it was one of the various methods that fell under the death sentence, the fifth and last category of punishments,[1] and it was analogous to quartering in medieval Europe, save in five pieces instead of four.[3]
History
Although mutilating forms of punishment were abolished under Emperor Wen of Han in 167 BCE,[4] chelie was still used as late as the 8th century by the Yan state established by jiedushi An Lushan in rebellion against the Tang. In 757, the famous court musician Lei Haiqing was forced to perform in Luoyang for Lushan, who had crowned himself as Emperor Xiongwu (雄武皇帝). Haiqing dared to play songs implicitly lamenting the calamities that had befallen the Tang, a snub that was not lost on the Emperor, who furiously ordered that he be dismembered by five horses.[2]
Appearances
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1
Five Punishments on Wikipedia
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Assassin's Creed: Dynasty – Final Chapter: Assassination
- ↑ Dismemberment on Wikipedia
- ↑ Lewis, Mark Edward. (2007). "Law". The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, pp. 227–252