凌遲

I must say when I wrote the blog yesterday, I had not heard of the story of that Islamic lady recently being stoned to death.

Yes, that's horrible. But, is it the most brutal way of killing someone?

No, we have something better: slow slicing (凌遲).

For those not familiar with Chinese culture, slow slicing is a meticulous way of execution. In essence, the condemned person was killed by using a knife to systemically remove portions of the body over several hours - or sometimes days. (Alas, I'm not referring to some orthopedic surgeon who chops off the toe of a patient one day, has below-knee amputation the day after, and above knee amputation a few days later.) The Chinese term, pronounced as língchí, derives from a classical description of ascending a mountain slowly. In most of the cases, the person would be tied to a wooden frame and the entire process is open to public.

You may ask: What's the difference between throwing stone and slicing?

Substantial. Although the former is also open to public, there is usually no onlooker - everyone is an active participant and takes part in the process of execution. In slow slicing, there is a cheering crowd but only one - usually the officer employed by the government - holds the dagger. Even in the case when the person to be executed is a public enemy, the manic audience would just take part by eating the flesh chopped out - usually raw.

And, as a result, when the so-called criminal is subsequently proved to be innocent (for example, Yuan Chonghuan [袁崇煥]), everyone could still claim their hands are clean.

What an ideal method for a people of coward.