Judicial (and domestic) Corporal Punishment in China

Deaths caused by the lash were not rare in ancient China, especially during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), when the lash had become a frequent punishment for officials who provoked the emperor.

During the regime of Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, at least five senior officials were beaten to death.

"The use of the lash by emperors on official reached its peak during the Ming Dynasty," the writer said.

Such a phenomenon seems to confirm a view shared by some historians who have argued that the Ming Dynasty may have been the darkest period in China's imperial history.

Under a number of succeeding emperors, there were similar reports of the emperor sentencing whole groups of officials to the lash for various reasons. In 1518, due to a dispute at court, a total of 146 senior officials were severely lashed, resulting in 11 deaths. Later, in a similar case, of 134 officials punished, 17 died.

The lash was finally abolished as a penalty during the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), when China launched a campaign to imitate Western ways, developing industry and modifying laws. The lash was eliminated from the list of criminal penalties in 1909, two years before the end of the Qing Dynasty and the termination of China's imperial system.

However, flogging the buttocks did not die out in family education.

The writer of "The Dignity of the Buttocks" said that, as a way to educate children, the punishment existed for quite a long time in Chinese families.

"However, the difference between flogging today and in ancient times is the disappearance of the special instrument," he said.

"A broom or even hands are now common substitutes for the ancient lash."