HOW IT IS DONE IN CHINA.

Evening Star, Issue 10901, 8 April 1899, Page 1 (Supplement)

HOW IT IS DONE IN CHINA.

']' foJHiiir.kiArf^'ohmaio^raiiiltefe~. & sWA Mceoutwns,v,fls a PSHK* f2si™K» wtiy wn Vao, m tbii ad Apt iave him: —- j A few days since the "mailed envelope" ! arrived from the capital, -and all the world I of Yachou knew that the Tiour was at hand, but no one could tell man of his impending doom. The prefect, on redocujgjenl;, kept it hidden for two Jays, according to custom, and no one was to'know ofcits arrival./ But it was J At pfl^tb>iminal's - to nwjpMe W-the: l *Vent, and Sg?r no ' S» w/>uld .tell the . ipan „he must , die' . within three & Slays, T >yet/ folfowing the" order of things, they prepared' an elaborate feast, andf invited Jum to eat, thus eon- - veying by action the intelligence denied by word. On the morning of the third day the. prefect sent th£ letter to the magistrate, who immediately set -about the unsavory task. The "runner" opened the prison door and said to the man: "Congratulations, your hour has come,", hearing which the custom to be followed is very minute and strict. The criminal must take his bow to the prison god, and then be arrayed in the garments prepared for execution. Escorted by soldiers and twq mandarins, the , procession filed but of the west gate, and in less than three hours from the receipt of the letter by the magistrate everything was ready Sot the.stroke,- In this.casje, as-the .man was; a military 8.A., ttod fov eefiedof nteans, a red rug tym to kaeilJipon, and hisi till: and (fcneubine were*here to do hiakobsisance ni, view «f of fcalf the male £op\ila#sv£f;£he«ity, Shg> ■ .expiated, so far as. man can, hw erinfe "committed in winter morning two years ago. Three strokes were re-quired-to finish the sentence, and then m sight of everyone, the wife and concubine rushed forward, seized "the. new-fallen head, and stitched it to the quivering neck. The body was then properly robed, ana a gorgeous procession formed, and it was borne to the family home in. great state. Immediately after the execution the executioner threw off his robe, specially worn for the occasion, and hastened to the temple of the city god, crying: "God of .the city, I didn't kill him; it was the magistrate ; but before this cry had well died away +he magistrate's chair, swiftly borne, was ;et down in tho temple court, incense was lighted before the city's guardian god, md the magistrate, with deep prostrations, :aUed out: "It was not I who killed him, but heaven."