Characteristics of Criminal Law in Shang Dynasty

The guiding ideology of the legal system in Shang Dynasty was further developed on the basis of the legal concept of "heaven" punishment in Xia Dynasty, and more emphasis was placed on the role of "god", especially the ancestor god. Under the influence of this concept of destiny, businessmen are very superstitious about ghosts and gods. The king claimed to be the son of God, that is, "Xia Di" was also called the son of heaven. Therefore, wizards, historians and other divination clergy played an important role in the social life of Shang Dynasty. From the divine view of kingship, the laws of Shang Dynasty were also formulated in the name of "Heaven" and "God", such as "Many crimes were committed in Xia, and the destiny died." "I'm still assisting a person, causing the scourge. Here you are! I don't believe in anything. I don't eat. If you don't keep your vows, there will be retribution and unforgivable. " Smash summer in the name of heaven.

1, death penalty

(1) Slaughter: It means to humiliate people alive and then behead them.

(2) Branding: that is, oil is applied to the copper column, and charcoal is added to heat it, so that the guilty person walks on it and will soon be burned in charcoal.

(3) Chop criminals into paste.

[Ling Jiuhou] This case happened at the end of Shang Dynasty. Jiuhou has a beautiful daughter "in love", but Jiuhou's daughter doesn't like prostitution. Zhou Wang was very angry and killed Jiuhou's daughter. Nine Hou was implicated and executed by Zhou Wang. After the execution, he was chopped to pieces.

(4) Pickling: drying the criminals into dried meat.

[Fu Ehou] This case happened in the last years of Shang Dynasty. E Gong had a dispute with Zhou Wang because he was dissatisfied with the Jiuhou case, and was executed by Zhou Wang. After the execution, he dried the meat.

(5) rudder: rudder. That is, punishment, killing the offender himself and his descendants, is equivalent to the clan punishment of later generations.

(6) Core cutting

2. Corporal punishment

(1) Ink punishment, in which characters are engraved on the offender's face or forehead and smeared with ink.

(2) The punishment of flogging and nose cutting.

(3) the measure is the punishment of breaking the foot. Others say it's flogging and patella resection.

(4) Castration, that is, the penalty of destroying the criminal's reproductive organs, thus damaging its function. Castration was originally applied to fornication, so it is also called fornication. Castration is a severe punishment next to the death penalty.

Five punishments for slaves: Mo, Mo, Mo, Gong and Da Bi.

3. Imprisonment

The punishment of imprisoning a criminal and making him work.