#253 - Ming 38: Manchus, and Pirates, and Rebels, Oh My!
The History of China
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The Death of Yongchong Huan
The Lingqiu was commonly and quite wrongly translated as death by slicing into 10,000 pieces. The punishment did not require the condemned to remain aware or even alive for much of it. In traditional Confucian belief, the body was the ultimate gift given to one by their ancestors. Any tampering of it, therefore, right down to the cutting of hair or fingernails, was considered a breach of filial piety. At that point, the flesh of the condemned was typically taken by the gathered crowd and get this either eaten outright or else sold and turned into medicinal ingredients. any remnants, such as bones, would have likewise been chopped up, cremated, and then scattered.
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