A chilling archaeological discovery sent shockwaves through the scientific community: a 2,500-year-old skeleton bearing the marks of a brutal amputation. Buried deep beneath the earth in China, this relic unveiled a horrifying aspect of the ancient Chinese society’s barbaric punishment system.
Unearthing the Past’s Brutality
In 2024, at the archaeological site of Liyang in Jiangsu Province, China, researchers made a startling discovery: two sets of human remains dating back 2,500 years bearing signs of a gruesome punishment.
What particularly caught the attention of scientists was that both sets of remains had their right shin bones abruptly severed. This discovery unveils a chilling aspect of ancient Chinese society’s legal system and cruel punishments.
Signs of a Brutal Past
The skeletons — along with objects such as copper belt hooks, stone tablets and pottery — were excavated from an ancient graveyard in Henan province. Both skeletons were found inside two-layered coffins in graves with north-south orientation, possibly indicating high social status.
Both individuals were missing the bottom fifth of one of their legs; one skeleton was missing part of the left leg, and the other was missing part of the right. The lower ends of the remaining lower-leg bones (tibia and fibula) showed signs of healing and bore no cut marks. These findings hint at deliberate and skilled slicing and proper wound care, according to the study.
The researchers analyzed the skeletons with several methods, including computed tomography (CT) scans and radiocarbon dating. They found that the bones belonged to men who lived around 550 B.C., during the Warring States Period, when the Eastern Zhou dynasty (770 to 256 B.C.) held sway over the region.
At the time of his death, the man missing part of his left leg was 40 to 44 years old, while the one without part of his right leg was 45 to 55 years old. The men’s wounded tibias and fibulas had healed by fusing together and forming a bony bump, and lacked cut marks indicative of repeated blows from a clumsy job.
Harsh Punishments in Ancient China
Based on the men’s social status and the Zhou penal code, the researchers suggested that the most plausible explanation for the missing legs was the yue punishment method.
Yue, or punitive amputation, was practiced in ancient China beginning in the Xia dynasty (2100 to 1600 B.C.) and was abolished by the Han dynasty in the second century B.C. The Zhou penal code prescribed punitive amputations for myriad felonies, “including deceiving the monarch, fleeing from duties, stealing, and so on,” Wang said. On some occasions, it could also be a “reduced” punishment, in lieu of the death penalty, to “reflect leniency,” he said. The right leg was amputated for crimes deemed more serious than the ones warranting left-leg amputation. The excruciating pain, coupled with the permanent disability and social stigma, served as a severe deterrent and a public spectacle of humiliation.
The practice of amputation continued to exist in China for centuries before being abolished in 167 BCE under the reign of Emperor Han Wen Di (180-157 BCE) during the Han Dynasty (202 BCE – 9 CE).
However, it seems that this tradition was not entirely eradicated, as archaeologists have discovered skeletal remains from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) with both legs amputated. Other cruel punishments for lesser crimes were also prevalent during the Western Chu period, including tattooing the word “criminal” on the face of individuals, mutilation, or cutting off the noses of offenders.
The discovery of the 2,500-year-old skeleton with its legs chopped off sheds light on the brutal realities of punishment in ancient China. This grisly find serves as a stark reminder of the unforgiving nature of justice systems of the past, where severe punishments were meted out for various offenses. The severed legs of the skeleton not only reveal the physical trauma endured by the individual but also offer insight into the societal norms and values of ancient Chinese civilization
