Nine exterminations (Chinese: 株连九族, 株連九族, Pinyin: zhū lián jiǔ zú, literally "continuous elimination of nine tribes"; also known as 族誅 zú zhū "family execution" and 灭族, 滅族 miè zú "family extermination") or execution of nine relations was the most serious punishment for a capital offense in Ancient China.[1][2][3] Typically associated with offenses such as treason, it involved the execution of all relatives of an individual, which are categorized into nine groups. The occurrence of this punishment is somewhat rare, with relatively few sentences recorded throughout history. There were also variants of the punishment found in ancient Korea[4][5][6] and Vietnam (the most prominent example being the family of Nguyễn Trãi)[7].
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The punishment by nine exterminations is usually associated with tyrannical rulers which have reigned throughout Chinese history, who were prone to use inhumane methods of asserting control (compare with lingchi, or "death by ten thousand cuts"). The first written account of the concept is in the Classic of History, a historical account of the Shang (1600 BC – 1046 BC) and Zhou (1045 BC – 256 BC) Dynasties, where it is recorded that prior to a military battle, officers would threaten their subordinates that they would exterminate their families if they refused to obey orders.[8]
From the Spring and Autumn period (770BC – 403BC), there are records of exterminations of "three tribes"[2] (Chinese: 三族, see section below). A notable case where under the State of Qin, lawmaker Shang Yang had his entire family killed by order of King Huiwen of Qin,[9], while he himself was sentenced to death in 338 BC by being fastened to four chariots and pulled apart, an ironic occurrence as it was Shang Yang who formulated such a punishment into Qin law in the first place, being commonly recorded as a lawmaker who used excessive punishments.[10][11]
During the Qin Dynasty (221 BC – 207 BC), punishments became even more rigorous under the first emperor of the unified China state, Qin Shi Huang (259 BC – 210 BC). In order to uphold his rule, strict laws were enforced,[12] where deception, libel and the study of books (see Burning of books and burying of scholars) became punishable by familial extermination.[1] This increase in tyranny only helped to speed up the overthrow of the Qin Dynasty.[8] The Han Dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD), although it inherited the concept of family execution, was more moderate in inflicting such severe punishments. In many cases, the Han Emperor would retract the sentence, and so family executions were much rarer than under the Qin Dynasty.[13] During the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907), the family punishment was not abolished, but it was only applied to those who plotted against the rule of the Emperor. By this time, the penalty had become more regulated and different; from the Tang Code, the sentence involved the death of parents, children over the age of sixteen, and other close kindred, and was only applied to the offenses of treason and rebellion.[1][14]
From the Ming (1368 – 1644) and Qing (1644 – 1912) Dynasties onward, the extent to which those within the family were exterminated was increased. Under the Hongwu Emperor (r. 1368 – 98), those committing rebellion and treason were punished by having their parents, grandparents, brethren (by birth, as well as "sworn brothers"), children, grandchildren, those cohabitating (living with) with the criminal regardless of surname, uncles and the children of brethren put to death, as well as death themselves by lingchi.[15][16] The number of sentences during the Ming were higher than that of the Tang,[17][18] due to the policy of "showing mercy beneath the sword" (Chinese: 刀下留情), while females were given the choice to become slaves rather than to be killed. A rare case was Fang Xiaoru (1357 — 1402), whose students and friends were also executed as the 10th family by the Yongle Emperor (r. 1402 — 1424), the only case where the "ten exterminations" were carried out. The punishment by family extermination during the Qing Dynasty was a direct imitation of the regulation under the Ming.[19]
The abolishment of the punishment by nine exterminations under the Qing occurred in 1905, where the punishment was officially repealed by the Qing government. The punishment by nine exterminations was never adopted by the Republic of China nor the People's Republic of China.
The punishment involved the execution of close and extended family members.[3][20] These included:
Confucian principles also play a major role in the outline of the punishment; regarding the killing of children, such an act is disapproved by Confucian ethics, under the Mencius "offspring is not a sinner" (Classical Chinese: 罪人不孥) principle, and so children under a certain age are often exempt from death.
A rare case regarding familial extermination was that of Fang Xiaoru, whose students and friends were also executed as the 10th "group" by the Yongle Emperor, thus being the only recorded case of the eradication of "ten groups" of relations of a criminal.
There are different interpretations regarding the concept of group punishment in ancient times. Typically seen as an inhumane method of upholding rule, where innocent family members are killed for the crime of a relative, the punishment also acts as a deterrent against offenses such as treason, rather than as a punishment itself. As family members have the obligation to maintain the wellbeing of their family, such a punishment would prevent individuals from committing acts of treason. The punishment is also related to the ancient cultural tradition that the action of one shames the whole family, according to the works of Confucius and his disciples, so that in the case of an act of treason, by tradition the family bears the burden of punishment.
In Ancient times, there were nine different relations (or guanxi) in which an individual had with other people, which were referred to as the "family" or "tribe" (Chinese: 族) during that period.[21] These relations, under Confucian principles, were bonded by filial piety, which meant that because members of a family remained strictly loyal to one another, they were responsible for crimes committed by any member. It also provided the argument that the entire family would be responsible in supporting each other in the case of a rebellion against a ruler.
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