The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1881-09-18

4 mentioned. The mand2rins. not be-
Ing allowed to hold Office IN their
own province, are seldom suffic tlv
acquainted with the id ON of lie
2 countries where they are placed. and
need an interpreter whenever they
n I'VE TO address man of the lower
c.aSS. The judges question was
translated to the prisoner. who
raised his head little which had
sunk upon his breast, and casting
at the judge look like wild beast,
replied In AT insOlent tone that ne
had heard speak of him. "Do you
know him? Have you had any deal
lngs with him ?" Il have heard
speak of him." L do not know him"
Elbow can that be, when this man re-
manned a long time in your boat.
| DO you persist in uttering a false
hood? speak the truth. 10 you
know Ly-fang?" 81 have heard
speak of him. l dc not know him ?"
The prefect took up from the ia
bic a piece of bamboo wood and
threw 1t into the middle of the
court. A figure was marked upon
1t, which pointed out the number of
blows the prisoner was to receive.
one OF the executionerS picked it up,
examined the figure and cried in a
chahtlng StJne Fifteen blows" thai
is TO say, The criminal would receive
thirty, for the eXecutiOnerS always
double the number ordered by the
Judge, and this, multiplied by tn
number of the eXecutiOners, fur
n'Shed a frightful total. There was
immediately stir in the assembly;
all eyes were fixed with eager curl
OSlty, sometimes on the miserable
prisoner, sometimes ON the execu-
TONERS. Many smiled and arranged
| themselves a little more convent
emily on their seats like people
about to witness something inter
eStlng. The eXecutlOnerS took their
places and soon the body of the
criminal was swinging and tn ming
about under a shower of blows.
while he uttered terrible shriekS
and his blood spirited out on all sides
and ran down the rattans, redding
the naked arms Of the eXecutioners.
1t was impossible to endure such a
spectacle longer, and we asked one of
| the officers of the court who had re-
NAMED with us, whether there was
not any way of getting out without
crossing the hall. He urged us,
however, strongly to stay to the end
| of the trial in order to see, he said,
how they managed to unbend the
prisoner. But we had seen quite
enough, and the officer had the COM
plaisance to lead us back through a
long corridor to the gate, where our
palenquinS were waiting. This
criminal was a famous kOuan-
kOuen, said the officer, and he left
us. 1t would not be easy to give a
correct translation of this word
kOuan-kOuen. 1t is given in China
to race of bandits who make it d
sport and matter Of pride to defy
the laws and the magistrates and
commit all kinds of crimes. To give
and receive wounds with cOmpOsure,
to kill others with the most perfect
GOODNESS, and to haye no fear of
death for yourself, this is the
sublime idea of the kOuall kuuen
These men are very numerous in
China; they form societies among
themselves and stand by each OtIeI
with lmmoveable fidelity. Some few
live alone, and they are the mos
ferociOus. They regard it as IN
worthy of their Yalor TO have an a.
soclate Or any support whatever
and they rely On nothing but thu
energy of their own characters. The
audacity of these man is incompara-
BILE; the most eXtraYagant and u /
clOus crimes seem to have for them
an irresistible attraction. Some
times they will even go and de
nounce themselves to the magis
trates from a motive of pride. Tn.
confess all their crimes and furnish
the most irresistible proofs, and de-
mand condemnation and then whei
all preparations have been made ant
when. according to Chinese law, the
confession of the culDrit is neceS-
sary, they deny all that they have
said, and endure with incredible
lstoicism ali kinds of torture.
1t might really be thought they
took pleasure in having their
limbs mangled provided only thai
they could enrage the mandarins
and defy the laws. Sometimes they
succeeded in bringing their judges
into difficulties and even getting
them dismissed from their offices;
and this is their greatest triumph.
In all towns of China you find nu-
merous collections of little PAM
phlets which form in some measure
the judicial records and causes cele-
bres of the empire. They contain
dramatic biographies of the most
famous kouan-kOuen, land as they
cost but a few sapcckS, they are
eagerly bought and read by the
people.-Abbe H1tc's JoatTneythrOtgh