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758 book IX those who are above eighty and below ten years of age, neither imprisonment nor torture is allowed even if their crimes deserve death. What is needed in their cases is to secure many witnesses.” Since Vicious Punishment Was Intended for Criminals like Robbers, It Should Not Be Recklessly Administered to the Common People. There are two kinds of vicious punishments. The first is reckless beating [nanjang ], and the second is leg-screw torture. According to sources, this leg-screw torture was also called hyŏpgon. Reckless beating has already been abolished and is now not in use even for the interrogation of robbers; leg-screw torture, on the other hand, still survives. Thus it happens that when the magistrate is angry, he recklessly uses it on his subordinates, including clerks and slaves in the yamen . Since the practice of this torture violates the law and causes disrespect among the people, nothing is more serious than this in its consequences. (It is known that once a commoner is put through this torture, he is permanently disabled and thus is incapable of offering sacrifice to his father all his life.) King Yŏngjo left a royal instruction as follows. In the olden days General Yi Wan tortured his servant for stealing eggs in his house even though he saw a crow snatching away eggs. In that way he received a confession from the servant and used it as his warning against committing wrongdoings. After that incident the use of inhumane torture such as leg-screw torture and reckless beating was strictly prohibited except in the case of theft through violent means. CHAPTER : COMPASSION FOR PRISONERS Since the Prison Is a Hell in This World, the Sufferings of Prisoners Must Be Looked After by Those Who Are Benevolent. All the pains and sufferings to be endured in the prison cannot be fully described . If only major ones are mentioned, there are generally five kinds: first, sufferings from the implements of punishment attached to the body; second, extortion by prison officials; third, sickness; fourth, cold and hunger; and fifth, the hardship of long confinement. These five major sufferings serve as a main stalk out of which countless sufferings branch out. It is a pity that a convict on death row is made to go through all these sufferings despite the fact that he is condemned to die; it is a pity that a criminal charged with a minor offense is also made to undergo the same kind of sufferings despite the fact that his crimes are not serious; and it is also a pity that an innocent person unfairly charged with a crime is made to suffer all these troubles because of his bad luck. How can he who is magistrate of the people not pay attention to this problem? Administration of Justice 759 Placing a Sword around the Neck of a Convict Is a Punishment Instituted in Later Age, Not the Law of the Former Kings. The Autumn Ministry with the Overseer of Penal Affairs in Rites of Zhou stated: “The prison guards who oversee the prisoners restrain them by employing gu manacles, gong manacles, and shackles if their crimes are serious; shackles and gu manacles if their crimes are less serious; and only gu manacles if their crimes are trivial. In the case of members of the royal family, only gong manacles are used, and in the case of those with official titles, only shackles.” Xu Shen in his Analytical Dictionary of Characters [Shuowen] stated: “The manacle is designed to report to Heaven, and the shackle to report to Earth.” Zheng Zhong said, “The manacle [gong] means fastening both hands into a piece of wood.” (The gu manacle means fastening the two hands into two separate pieces of wood.) Zheng Xuan said, “What is fastened on the hands is called gu, and what is placed around the feet zhi.” (Jiashu and Qiu Wenzhuang called gong, gu, and zhi “three woods” [sanmu, ୔ᮄ].) “Life of Sima Qian” in the Book of Han recorded: “The general of Weiqi wore red clothes, and his limbs were fastened with three woods.” “Life of Fan Pang” in the Book of the Later Han recorded: “Fan Pang and others were all fettered with three woods, and their testicles were bared on stone stairs.” “Life of Song Youdao” in the History of the Northern Dynasties recorded: “When Song Youdao was imprisoned, the prison guard tried to remove the cangue from his neck; declining the favor, Song said...

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