Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1857-06-11

PSu"i 0ouo vi Cnlna Is arranged under
no less than fifteen hundred and fifty-seven
neads The punishments are barbarous and in
discriminating in the extreme For treason,
not only the criminals but their families are
punished. Mandarins are degraded, stripped
OF their riches, forced to do menial Offices. or
bambooed.
The manner of administering justice in
CHINA is exceedingly summary. For the ac-
cused thefe is scarce any protection. The Or
binary tribunals have but one Judge. The
accused remains on his knees during the entire
period of his trial. IF witness dspleases the
mandarin who acts as judge, he also is whipped
and cuffed till his answers are more in accord
ance with his HonorS opinion of the case.
Thieves and rioters-as dsturbers of the
natural and quiet order of things-are very
severely punished in China Fines, the bastin-
ado blows on the face with thick pieces of
leather, the cangue or porable pillory the iron
cage. in which the unfortunate prisoner is con-
fined in erouching position, perpetual exile,
and death by strangulaton or decapitation-
these are the various grades of punishment in
| ficted
1t may be curious to glance for moment
at few of the Chinese laws. The Celestials
are great office-seekers. They must at one
time have carried the matter to excess, per-
haps worried to death some poor Emperor
According to law at present in force, it is
considered reasonable to send tc the Emperor
any recommendation of a third person to office
or honors. Death is the punishment for such
otfense. Also, it is punishable offense to
use in any address the name of the Emperor,
or to throw stones at the Imperial residence,
| or to assume the Imperial name The bamboo
cleanses of these offences The bamboo too,
is applied to the judge who has rendered a
mistaken verdict. But death is the portion of
that official who has iby accident )seaIed
mandarns letter wrongly.
For fear that, after all the existing and
prospective laws and sub-laws, there should
still be cases which not even Chinese wis
dom could foreSee, the following law is enact
| ed.
Whoever shall observe a line of conduct
which offends propriety, and which is contrary
to the spirit of the laws ersn aeithowt any spc-
c1at attractions Of any Of their enactneats, shall
| be punished with forty blows or eighty if the
| improperly be very great"
| Of course this includes every body and
| there is therefore, no case in which manda;
rim may not consistently administer the BAN,
boo, to the extent of at least from forty to
eighty blows.
To contumaciOuS witnesses and to suspected
robbers the Chinese officials are severe. Nj.
| Hue one day on the road to Pekin. met a
! party OF soldiers, with an officer at their head
escorting a number of carts, in which were
| literally piled up a crowd of Chinese who
were uttering horrible cries Says he: I'VE
were seized with horror on percevng that
eonynlsi's s....srsatures were nailed by the
6aiid to the plankS of the cart satellite
whom We interrogated replied with frightful
GOODNESS "We'ye been routing out nest of
thieves. We had not chains enough to secure
ALL and were thus obliged to contrive some
plan to prevent their escape. So you see we
nailed them by the hands" This fellow
thought it very ingenious contrivance.
The Celestials regulations concerning mar
riage are very strict 1t is forbidden to mar
ry during "the period set of mourning" the
death of father or mother 1t is forbidden to
marry person bearing the same name or one
guilty of crime, or musician or an actor, or
widow, whose former husband has distinguish
Ell hims If The inevitable bamboo is tie
punishment for transgres sions of these laws
Parties safely married, who cannot agree to-
gether, may separate. Divorces are also grant
ed for the following causes sterility, immO-
rality, contempt of the husbands father or
mother, propensity to SANDER or theft, jeal-
ous temper, or habitnal i'll health A man is
allowed to have but one wife by law, and the
law Furnishes him with eighty blows of the
bamboo for every ADDITIONAL wife he brings
home. The secondary wives-of whom there
are a great plenty-have no rights whatever
The children of the legitimate wife wear no
mourning for them at their death. But if
they should omit the mourning dress upon the
demise of their own mother, the inevitable
| bamboo would be administered The China
man takes care to use all the liberty left him
by the innumerable laws His legitimate wife
h. dare not put away eXt ept for causes spc l.
fed above His additional wives the law does
not recognize, and he therefore treats them as
he pleases
Robbers are tortured One of the modes
OF torture is this The culprit is suspended by
the wrists and heels to two ropes hanging from
the ceiling of the court ROOM His body is
thus thrown into the form of a bow. Beneath
stand executioners, with rattan canes and
stout leather straps These are applied with
might and main to the body vibrating above.
Parricdes are subjected to the torture OF
the knife This is inflicted thus The execu-
toner takes out at random, knife, from a
basketful of these Instruments. Each knife
bears the name of some portion of the body
This portion is cut off, and another knife
drawn out. The victim sometimes fingers
long under horrible tortures
Next to the bamboo in frequency of appli-
cation is the camgue, or walking pillory, OF
which representation is given with this ar
ticle. This is heavy wooden frame, divided
into two parts but connected at one side with
a hinge, and (when shut up) fastened on the
other side by screw or bolt. In the centr'
of this frame is hole e." semicircular
piece is cut out of the internal sides of each