Chinese Life in the Tibetan Foothills/Book 3/Punishment of prisoners upon prisoners
Punishment of prisoners upon prisoners. San ch‘ia ssǔ hsing (三卡私刑). These are illegal punishments meted out by resident criminals upon those who are put in for the first time or have no money to satisfy the claims of the little world within the four walls.
T‘uan ts‘ang (團倉) is to extort the entrance fee on entering gaol. The newcomer pays for a feast or else he will have to suffer unspeakable indignities and will not be allowed his turn in the receiving of pawned goods in the government gaol.
No one who has not paid up, or got someone to promise to pay for him, will be allowed to worship the gaol god, pai yü shen. On worshipping he has to give wine, pork and money all round according to his ability. The gaol god has an interesting history; he is declared to have been a district magistrate, who, out of pity, allowed all the gaol-birds to go home for the new year festivities on the condition that they all returned within three days; but on the expiry of the time, as no one turned up, he himself went into gaol and died of grief, and was afterwards deified as the gaol god.
The beginning of trouble, for one who has not paid the gaol fine, is to be beaten with a straw mat to the front of the gaol god, and if the money or the promise of it is not given, he is beaten unmercifully with a club. Next, the poor novice is tied up in an attitude like the ling kuan idol, a fierce, overawing attitude; his naked body is then wound round with paper which is tied on with string; this is set fire to and his whole body blistered more or less. This is termed melting the ling kuan.
He is also lifted high in the air and beaten on the bare body with bamboo strips or stinging nettles, yün tuan hsien shêng (雲端顯聖), exalting his holiness.
Again, all the lice, bugs, fleas, and other vermin that can be caught are let loose on his person and every other kind of filth which can be collected is all thrown on him. The unfortunate prisoner is bound with his nose over the manure bucket for a whole night.
A hollow bamboo or old sleeve of a garment is filled with filth from the manure pit, the novice is laid on his back and bound, while the other prisoners occupy themselves with blowing this on to the eyes, nostrils, and mouth of the helpless wretch, ch‘ui wu tu wu (吹唔嘟唔). In the morning he is bound in the outer court of the prison and the filth of the prison cells poured over him.
Again, his hands and feet are tied to a pillar and the hair fastened to a cross beam in the roof; in this position he has to stand the whole night. This is ying ko chia (鸚𪃿架), the parrot's perch.
He is stripped naked and hung up by a rope under the arms with the tips of the toes just touching the ground; he is then whipped by the company and his body swings from side to side like the wind bending the willow, ta fêng pai liu (打風擺柳). Or he is stripped and suspended by a rope round the waist, about three feet from the ground, and beaten; the body thus suspended resembles and is called a duck swimming in water, tang hu ch‘uan (蕩湖船), to rock the lake boat. The novice is suspended from the roof by the four limbs in a small cell; he is then rocked from one side of the cell to the other, when different parts of the body get driven against the walls.
He is bound hand and foot and blindfolded, a red-hot goblet is then placed on the head; this is called wearing the iron hat.
He is put in a butt of dirty water with his hands and feet tied, with his nose and mouth above water. This is called soaking the water-gourd, p‘ao shui hu-lu (泡水葫蘆).
To tie up the novice at the door for the night and forbid sleep or rest is called sticking up scrolls, t‘ieh tui-tzŭ (貼對子), and to be hung up by the hair for the night with hands and feet bound is to be the guardian door god, pa mên shên (把門神).
To bend one leg at the knee and bind it in that position with one arm stretched over the head and the other straight out, and then to tie the hair to a beam overhead is hanging up the military god of wealth, tiao wu ts‘ai shên (吊武財神). Hanging up by the armpits and flogging represents the civil god of wealth (交財神).
In all there are said to be seventy-two kinds of these punishments, the inventions of a degraded humanity. Many of these cannot be learned by enquiry, while others are unfit for publication.