Tracing back to the source, Chinese prisons originated from Cong Ji in the Xia Dynasty, also known as “Ji cong”. Spine, the plant name, also known as “wild jujube tree”, is mostly born in the mountains and in the wild. It has small green flowers, oval leaves, and many thorns on the stems. After autumn, the branches are aging, and the thorns are harder and sharper. In order to punish prisoners of war and slaves, the slave owners cut jujube trees on the mountain, woven them into a wall, and trapped the prisoners among the silk spines. “They tied them with Huizhou ink and placed them on the thorns.” In the Shang Dynasty, the prison gradually developed into a “prison”. “ShuoWenJieZi” is translated as “in prison, i.e. to prevent the slaves from escaping, the slave owners bound the slaves with ropes and enclosed them in the” prison “, so as not to escape. Later, it developed into” painting the ground as a prison “. It means painting the ground as a circle and sitting in a circle as a prison. It is said that King Wen of Zhou would calculate the eight trigrams, and prisoners could not cross the circle. This applies only to ordinary criminals, and important people are held separately. King Wen of Zhou was imprisoned in Jiangli City, Tangyin, Henan Province, and has now become a tourist area. Most of the prisons in the Zhou Dynasty were called “round earth” and “building a wall on the surface of earth, its shape is round”. Also known as prison, it means to make prisoners think about their mistakes behind closed doors and turn evil into good. In the spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period, the prison was called “Pangpang”. “Pang” and “Pang” are two legendary animal names. Because their shapes are often painted on the prison door, the prison is called “Pang”. In fact, “Pangpang” is a kind of prison, and most of them are stone chambers. Gou Jian, the king of Yue, was a stone chamber, a prison in the state of Wu. The prisons of the Qin Dynasty were gradually divided into central prisons and local prisons. Both Lisi and zhaogao were imprisoned in Chengyang prison.
After the washing of wind and rain, the tempering of years and the romance of history, the prison was gradually refined in the Han Dynasty, that is to say, the place where criminals were imprisoned was gradually called “prison”, which began in the Han Dynasty; The refinement and classification of prisoners began in the Han Dynasty; The establishment and management of prisons, as well as the punishment and labor of prisoners were put on the agenda since the Han Dynasty. According to historical records, during the Western Han Dynasty, there were many prisons in counties and counties. There were about 2000 prisons in the country, including 26 prisons directly under the capital. They mainly imprisoned generals and ministers, county and county chiefs, concubines in the palace, rogues, murderers and robbers. In addition to the development of prison specifications, systems and management in the Han Dynasty, the prison management strategies of the Han Dynasty also gradually took shape, such as “honoring officials”, that is, prison guards should not abuse or beat guilty officials; “Ode system” means tolerance, that is, the elderly and pregnant women shall not be punished; “Call the prisoners and record the prisoners”, that is, the prisoners feel wronged and can do the above; There are also “giving medicine for illness”, “listening to his wife in prison”, “returning home from prison” and “probation for pregnant women”, which have basically laid the foundation for China’s prisons.
Tingwei prison imprisons political prisoners
“The imperial court, pingye, is responsible for prison management, which is the ancient name.”, “Wei” is the name of the military attache. Because the military attache and the prison officer are jointly controlled, it is called “Wei” as the officer of the prison. Tingwei imperial prison is a prison managed by Tingwei according to the emperor’s will. It mainly imprisons generals, ministers, Royal relatives and relatives.
Zhou Bo, a famous general of the Han Dynasty, led his troops to defeat Xiang Yu. He made many military achievements. He also conspired with Chen Ping to kill Zhu Lu and made Liu Heng emperor. However, after his seclusion, he was accused of rebellion. Emperor Wen arrested him and imprisoned him in Tingwei imperial prison in the capital. Zhou Bo was honest and lack of culture all his life. Facing the cold wall and iron wall, he was helpless. Later, at the instigation of the prison guards, he dared to spread a book to the Empress Dowager and let his daughter-in-law and the princess of Emperor Wen testify. Only then did he survive his death and resume his official duties. Although old Zhou escaped from prison, young Zhou Yafu was not spared. Finally, due to the “crime of rebellion”, he was imprisoned in Tingwei imperial prison and died of hunger strike.
According to historical records, during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the trend of imperial edicts became more and more fierce, and all those who had different political views and attempted to go astray were sent to prison. The vast majority of them were cases handed over by the Emperor himself, and the number of prisoners reached more than 70000. In addition to Tingwei imperial prison, there are Shanglin imperial prison, ruolu imperial prison, Sikong imperial prison, etc. Liuan, the king of Huainan, was imprisoned in shanglinzhao prison after being denounced for their rebellion with Zhonglang Wu Mou.
Yongxiang yeting prison for female prisoners
If we trace back to the most female prison in China, it should be Yongxiang. Yongxiang is a long and narrow alley in the palace. At first, it was the place where the palace maids and concubines were located. Later, with the deepening of the court war, Yongxiang became a prison for the female criminals in the palace. Among the numerous female prisoners held in Yongxiang, the most famous and persecuted is Mrs. Qi, Liu Bang’s beloved concubine.
Mrs. Qi is as beautiful as a flower. She is good at singing and dancing. She is easy-going and is deeply loved by Liu Bang. After Liu Bang’s death, Mrs. Qi suffered unprecedented persecution. LV HouXian first ordered him to be imprisoned in Yongxiang, stripped of his hair, put on shackles, put on prison clothes, and punished chunmi. Because of her excessive thinking of her son, Mrs. Qi created a “spring rice song”. Who knows this song, which originally thought of children, has opened the prelude to tragedy. Empress Lu gave a vicious order to execute Mrs. Qi’s son, King Zhao Ruyi. She also abolished Mrs. Qi as a “human being”, cut off her hands and feet, dug out her eyes, smoked her ears with medicine, and made her mute. She also imprisoned Mrs. Qi in a cave where there was no sunshine all day and tortured her to death. Mrs. Qi was tortured. Even empress Lu’s son Huidi thought that this was not a human thing.
In the Han Dynasty, the management of yeting Shao prison was gradually standardized, and yeting decree, an official institution specialized in women prisoners’ prison, was set up. Shao prison in yeting was named as a prison for criminals. In fact, most of them were victims of political and court struggles. Even, he was wrongfully imprisoned. After Li Ling failed to resist the Huns, all his family members were imprisoned, and his mother was imprisoned in Baogong prison.
At the end of the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, on the one hand, he established Mrs. Gou Yi’s son as the crown prince, and on the other hand, he put Mrs. Gou Yi into yeting imperial prison for no reason. Later, the minister was puzzled and Emperor Wu told the reason. “The son is young and the mother is strong. If you live alone, won’t you have sex?” In this way, Mrs. Gou Yi spent the rest of her life in prison.
In the Han Dynasty, in addition to Yongxiang and Baogong, women prisoners’ prisons also had violent rooms, which belonged to the yeting order. The violence room is a place to detain and punish guilty palace maids, queens and dignitaries. After they were punished, they mainly made quilts for royal clothing. Because the bleached and dyed gauze must be exposed to the sun, it is named “exposure room”.
Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty was lecherous. In addition to the three palaces, he collected more than 6000 palace maids. The empress was dissatisfied with this. Later, she was provoked by Xu Guiren. Emperor Huan abandoned the empress, beat people into violence, and died of depression.
A prison that punishes palace prisoners
Silkworm room, originally meant to be a place for raising silkworms, but why do you associate such a leisurely place with a terrible prison? Because the silkworm room was originally afraid of the wind, and the people who were tortured by the palace were also afraid of the wind. They also need to shelter from the wind and keep warm like the silkworm room, so they made the silkworm room into a prison.
In the Han Dynasty, there was a sericulture department, which was responsible for the management of palace prisoners. Criminals who are subjected to palace punishment are those whose husbands cut them off and women close their wombs. This kind of punishment existed before the Han Dynasty, but it was the first time that a department was set up to manage and punish and detain such prisoners separately.
From the perspective of punishment, palace punishment is second only to the death penalty, but physically and mentally it will be a great devastation and humiliation. Many of these prisoners would rather accept the death penalty than the palace sentence, but some prisoners are forced to accept it for their career, future or family.
Sima Qian, a famous historian, angered Emperor Wu by the words of the defeated general Li Ling, and arrested him and sentenced him to death. According to the law at that time, money could be commuted, and Sima Qian could be exempted from the death penalty or accept the palace punishment. However, Sima Qian had no money. Fortunately, his “Royal grace” was vast. Sima Qian had no money and was not executed. Instead, he was sentenced to “Palace punishment”. In this way, in order to “historical records”, Sima Qian still endured humiliation and completed the praiseworthy masterpiece “historical records” in the silkworm room.
A prison in which generals and bodyguards are held by the northern army
Bedroom, signed Shaofu in Han Dynasty, with prison. It mainly detains army generals and their related personnel. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the general Guanfu was imprisoned in his room because he offended the prime minister Tian Jie.
The northern army was an engineer who guarded the capital in the Han Dynasty. It was mainly responsible for guarding the Changle palace. Due to the heavy waiting task and the important geographical location, a prison was set up in the army, called “northern army prison”, to hold guilty soldiers or officials who disobeyed the emperor in the above letter, “the army handed over buses and filled the northern army”. Yang Yun, the grandson of Sima Qian, once served as the Duke of Pingtong and the general of qianzhonglang. He was frank and talented, but he was also a bit arrogant and extravagant. He also wanted to find fault with others and even framed them. Therefore, the Manchu court was disgusted with him. He was repeatedly denounced. Later, he was sentenced to be imprisoned in the northern army prison and beheaded as a crime. However, the emperor, mindful of his talent, removed him from his official position. Demoted to the common people.
Yang Yunli, who lost his rank, should be clean, but with his own industrial and political network, he kept meeting guests, making money and showing off. So someone accused him of no repentance and caused the solar eclipse in the sky. After hearing this, the emperor was very angry and ordered Yang Yun to be imprisoned again. Later, when he was copying his family, he found that Yang Yun’s letters to others were disrespectful. Then the emperor ordered the beheading. All other officials who were better than Yang Yun were dismissed and punished.
A local prison that punishes local ruffians
The tiger’s den is a kind of dungeon. It is built underground, that is, a cave is dug underground. It is most feet deep. There is a stone slab at the exit, and the hole is guarded. The ventilation capacity and living conditions in the tunnel are extremely poor. Because it looks like a tiger’s mouth, it is named “tiger’s Den”. It belongs to a local prison in Chang’an County, also known as “Chang’an prison”. Most criminals who are punished in tiger’s Den “come in standing and go out lying down”. The social personage also talks about the “tiger prison” and is soft on the legs.
During the reign of emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty (Yongshi) and the Yuan Dynasty, the emperor ignored the government, and the city of Chang’an was full of wolves, raiding homes and plundering houses. The criminals were repeatedly forbidden and acted boldly. Some outlaws regarded killing officials as a joke. They are equipped with red, black and white projectiles for people to touch. Touch the red one and kill the military attache; Touch the black to kill civil servants; Touch the white one. If the killer is killed by an official, go to preside over the funeral.
In this case, the imperial court had to transfer Yin Shang to the capital. As soon as Yin Yong took office, he built a dungeon named “tiger’s Den”. Then, according to the reports from the masses, those who have evil deeds, have no registered residence, wear strange clothes, and carry knives and weapons are all captured and sent to prison. Yin Shang personally went to court one by one. Except for a few acquitted, most of the criminals were imprisoned in the tiger’s den. Due to the overcrowding and poor ventilation, most of the prisoners suffocated in the prison. At that time, the incident was very shocking, and the public security situation immediately improved significantly.
In the Han Dynasty, most of the dungeons were local prisons set up by individual counties and counties, mainly to punish those hooligans, rogues, murderers, arsonists, roadblocks and robbers. The conditions of detention in the dungeon are poor, but it is difficult for prisoners to escape. Due to the darkness, poor ventilation and dirty air in the prison, the prisoners are crowded and their lives are not guaranteed. Many prisoners are in danger of life. Therefore, all criminals shudder at the dungeon for fear of falling into it.