Bare Sticks and Naked Pity : Rhetoric and Representation in Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Capital Case Records
Journal: Crime Histoire et Sociétés
Year: 2014

This article examines the rhetoric and representation of Chinese capital case records from the eighteenth century, when, as part of a far-reaching crackdown on violent crime, the use of capital punishment was extended to crimes committed by 'bare sticks', a common term for the underclass of crime-prone males. Adopting a strategy to suppress crime that combined 'criminal profiling' with the presumed deterrent power of capital punishment, Qing emperors presented serious challenges to the judicial