Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-08-22
CHINESE LAW COURTS
PRISONERS CONSIDERED GUILTY
TILL THEY PROVE OTHERWISE.
Horrible TOrtures That Accom-
paRy the
Trial.

THE mode in which trials are conducted
| In China is startling to all who live In lands
where trial by jury is adopted. Trials. In
Chinese courts of law are conducted by tor
| ture. This is carried on to such an extent
that people at home can scarcely be ex-
pected to give credence to an account of
| the atrocities Of the mandarins in their en-
deavors to punish vice and to maintain vir-
tue AS in England, however before the
seventeenth century, torture, although &C
tGally applied by the administrators of jus
tice, is not the law of the land. The courts
in which trials are held are open to the
general public; but the cruelties for which
they are notorious have left them as gen.
eral thing deserted by visitors, so that they
are now practically courts of Justice with
closed doors. In former times, moreover.
1t was usual on the day of the commission
to afffx on the outer gates of the yamen u
calendar or list Of the cases to be tried and
of the prisoners names. This custom has
long been dis lsed. and the calendar is now
placed on pillar in one Of the inner courts
of the yamen, where, of course, there is no
chance of Its attracting public attention.
THE judge when conducting trial sits
behind a large table, which is covered by
| red cloth. The prisoner is made to kneel
in front of the table, as a mark of respect
to the court, by whom he is regarded as
guilty until he is proved to be innocent
The secretaries, Interpreters and turkeys
stand at each end of the table, no one be-
ing allowed to sit but the Judge. At the
commencement of the trial the charge is
as in an English court of justice, read
aloud in the hearing of the prisoner, who
is called upon to plead either guilty or not
guilty. AS it Is thing for Chinese
prisoners-mercy being conspicuously alb
sent In the character of their judges-to
plead guilty. trials are very numerous.
During the course Of a trial the prisoner is
asked a great many leading questions
which have tendency to criminate him.
Let me describe few of the simplest
modes of torture. The upper portion of the
body of the cuiprit having been uncovered,
each of his arms-he being in kneeiing
posture-is held tightly by a turnkey, while
a third beats him most numerically be-
tween the shoulders with a double cane.
Should he continue to give evasive answers
his jaws are beaten with an instrument
made of two thick pieces of leather, sewn
together at one end. and in shape not I'M
like the sole of a slipper. Between these
pieces of leather is placed a small tongue
of the same material to give the weapon
elasticity. The force with which this i'm
plement Of torture Is applied to the jaws
of the accused is in some instances so great
6s to loosen his teeth and cause his mouth
to swell to such degree as to deprive him
for some time of the powers Of mastication.
Should he continue to maintain his inno-
cence a turnkey beats his ankles by means
of piece of hard wood which resembles
a school boys ruler, and is more than
foot long. Torture Of this nature not infre-
quently results IN the ankle DoheS peihE
broken.
Should the prisoner still persist in de-
claring his innocence, a seVerer mode OF
torture Is practiced. This may be regarded
as a species of rack. A large heavy tres
sci is placed in perpendicular position and
the prisoner, who Is in kneelfng posture,
is made to lean against the boards OF It,
His arms are then pushed backward and
stretched under the upper legs OF the tres
sci. from the ends of which they are sus-
pended by cords passing around the thumb
of each hand. His legs are also pushed
backward and are drawn, his knees sdil
resting on the ground, toward the upper
legs of the tressel, by cords passing around
the large toe Of each foot When the pris-
oner has been thus bound, the questions are
again put to him. and should his answers
be deemed unsatisfactory the double cane Is
applied with great severity to his thighs.
Il have known prisoners to remain in this
position for considerable time, ana the
qu!vering motion of the whole frame, the
piteous means and the saliva ooZng freely
from the mouth, afforded the most tncon-
testable evidence of the extremity OF the
torture Upon being released from the
rack they are utterly unable to stand. Ihey
are therefore placed In baskets and borne
by coolies from the court of justice, faiseiy
so-called, to the house of detention on re-
mand.
an the course of few days they are
once more dragged out to undergo another
examination Even this torture occasion
ally fails in extorting a confession or quit
In all such cases another still more cruel
torture is enforced. The prisoner is made
to knee1 under a bar OF wood, six English
feet In length, and is supported by two up
right pillars posts OF the same Waterial.
When the back of his neck has been placed
| Immediately under 1t, his arms are extend
ed along the bar and made fast by cords.
In the hollow at the back of his knee joints
Ia laid a second bar Of equal dimensions,
and upon this two men place themselves.
one at each end, pressing 1t down by their
weight, upon the joints of the prisoners
knees, between which and the ground
chains are sometimes passed to render me
agony less endurable. This bar Is occa-
sionaliy removed from the inner part of
the prisoners knee joints in order that 1t
When in this latter position the same
amount of pressure is applied to it. with
the view Of stretching the ankle joints. 1
have twice witnessed this mode Of tortur
Ing culprit, and Its severity on both occa-
sions painfully evident.
1T would be wrong to say that no wit
nesses are examined In Chinese court of
justice. 1t Is occasionally possible to see
witnesses under examination before these
dark tribunals. But as witnesses are also,
in some instances, subjected to torture. 1t
is a matter of no ordinary difficulty for
foreigner who is ignorant of Chinese to dis
tiaguish which of the two unfortunate men
kneeling before the judgment and receiving
castigation is the prisoner and which is the
witness. | remember a case of murder in
the court of the Namtion district of Can
ton, where two men-father and son-named
Kan Wye and Kan Tai-chu, were called
upon to bear testimony against the prisoner
at the bar. They persistently declared that
they were altogether ignorant of the cir
cumstances of the case. This ignorance was
regarded by the court feigned, and they
were accordingly beaten and detained in
custody. The father and son were fire.
quently examined after this. and on each
occasion they were severely beaten for the
tardy manner in which they gave their
evidence. This harsh treatment proved,
after few months. more than the
could endure, and he died in the prison.
The relatives Of the surviving prisoner, who
had attained the ripe age of seventy years,
fearing, of course, that IL his detention in
Jail were much longer continued he also
would die irf prison, interceded with the
viceroy for his liberation. The effort proved
fruitless, and in the course of few weeks
from the time the petition was offered to
the viceroy and few days after he had
received another severe fogging for de-
clarfng that he was unable to give any
evidence, the old man also died in prison"