Five Punishments

The Five Punishments (Chinese: 五刑; pinyin: wǔ xíng; Cantonese Yale: ńgh yìhng) was the collective name for a series of physical penalties meted out by the legal system of pre-modern dynastic China. Over time, the nature of the Five Punishments varied. Before the Western Han dynasty Emperor Han Wendi (r. 180–157 BC), the punishments involved tattooing, cutting off the nose, amputation of one or both feet, castration, and death. Following the Sui and Tang dynasties (581–907 AD), these were changed to penal servitude, banishment, death, or corporal punishment in the form of whipping with bamboo strips or flogging with a stick. Although the Five Punishments were an important part of Dynastic China's penal system, they were not the only methods of punishment used.