China: 'Death of a Thousand Cuts' - An 1858 illustration of the torture and execution of a French missionary in China by the slow slicing method. 'Slow slicing' (pinyin: língchí, alternately transliterated Ling Chi or Leng T'che), also translated as the slow process, the lingering death, or death by a thousand cuts, was a form of execution used in China from roughly 900 CE until its abolition in 1905. In this form of execution, the condemned person was killed by using a knife to methodically remove portions of the body over an extended period of time.
![China: 'Death of a Thousand Cuts' - An 1858 illustration of the torture and execution of a French missionary in China by the slow slicing method. 'Slow slicing' (pinyin: língchí, alternately transliterated Ling Chi or Leng T'che), also translated as the slow process, the lingering death, or death by a thousand cuts, was a form of execution used in China from roughly 900 CE until its abolition in 1905. In this form of execution, the condemned person was killed by using a knife to methodically remove portions of the body over an extended period of time. Stock Photo](https://c8.alamy.com/comp/2B00XA0/china-death-of-a-thousand-cuts-an-1858-illustration-of-the-torture-and-execution-of-a-french-missionary-in-china-by-the-slow-slicing-method-slow-slicing-pinyin-lngch-alternately-transliterated-ling-chi-or-leng-tche-also-translated-as-the-slow-process-the-lingering-death-or-death-by-a-thousand-cuts-was-a-form-of-execution-used-in-china-from-roughly-900-ce-until-its-abolition-in-1905-in-this-form-of-execution-the-condemned-person-was-killed-by-using-a-knife-to-methodically-remove-portions-of-the-body-over-an-extended-period-of-time-2B00XA0.jpg)
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'Slow slicing' (pinyin: língchí, alternately transliterated Ling Chi or Leng T'che), also translated as the slow process, the lingering death, or death by a thousand cuts, was a form of execution used in China from roughly 900 CE until its abolition in 1905. In this form of execution, the condemned person was killed by using a knife to methodically remove portions of the body over an extended period of time. The term língchí derives from a classical description of ascending a mountain slowly. Lingchi was reserved for crimes viewed as especially severe, such as treason and killing one's parents. The process involved tying the person to be executed to a wooden frame, usually in a public place. The flesh was then cut from the body in multiple slices in a process that was not specified in detail in Chinese law and therefore most likely varied. In later times, opium was sometimes administered either as an act of mercy or as a way of preventing fainting. The punishment worked on three levels: as a form of public humiliation, as a slow and lingering death, and as a punishment after death. The latter as to be cut to pieces meant that the body of the victim would not be 'whole' in a spiritual life after death.