China's development process is full of ups and downs and evolution, among which the period of feudal rule lasted for more than 2,000 years. In this long historical process, each generation of emperors regarded the maintenance of feudal rule as the most important task.
In order to maintain imperial power, the ruling class also developed various punishments.
In ancient times, the Shang Dynasty used to implement cannon branding punishment, and during the period of Emperor Wu of the Great Zhou Dynasty, he invented the urn to invite the monarch into the urn. However, these punishments were not primarily used to punish the offender.
The real major punishments include beheading, beheading, and lingchi. Beheading and decapitation may seem similar, but there are subtle differences. You may have heard that the head of a criminal is quickly cut off at the moment of beheading, but many people have doubts about the veracity of this statement.
So, is this claim true? Is there an authoritative corroboration?
When a person's head is cut off, and the body is still conscious, will he feel that the body has turned around, or has the head left the body? Since ancient times, punishment has been an important part of the development of human society.
During the Xia Dynasty, there were five major tortures: ink punishment, slashing punishment, slashing punishment, palace punishment, and Dapi. Most of the punishments of the Shang and Zhou dynasties were variants of the five punishments of the Xia dynasty. During these dynasties, many new forms of torture were derived.
However, with the rise of the idea of benevolence, these cruel punishments were gradually abolished.
Beheading in the death penalty, as the most severe punishment, has been used by successive dynasties. However, there is not much literature in our country about whether the beheaded person still feels it.
Still, we can find some clues from other similar scenarios. For example, during the festive season, every household kills chickens and sheep. Many people will see that poultry and livestock, after fatal injuries, struggle for a period of time and even have vital signs in the last moments of life.
For example, after the chicken is killed, when the blood in the body has not dried up, it will keep flying and fluttering; And after sheep, pigs, cattle and other livestock are cut off, the body and head will not immediately lose their vital signs, and there will be some movements.
All of this shows that vital signs are felt while they are still there.
Lavoisier, the European scholar, once made a shocking move to verify the existence of consciousness in a short period of time after death. Lavoisier, who participated in the Revolution and was sentenced to death, made a crazy decision the day before he went to the guillotine.
He gave all his savings to the executioner who was about to execute him, and asked him to see if his eyelids would blink after his head was cut off.
If the brain is still functioning, the eyelids will blink naturally; Conversely, if the eyelids don't move, then the brain stops working. It was also the first time he had heard such an idea for the executioner, who had thought that Lavoisier was trying to bribe him with the money and thus free himself.
Lavoisier's true intentions, however, were beyond his imagination. This moved the executioner so much that he gladly accepted Lavoisier's request. All this shows that the greatness of great men lies not only in their wisdom and perseverance beyond ordinary people, but also in their love and dedication to science, which is incomparable to ordinary people.
Just imagine, at the last moment of life, who could have thought of this?
Lavoisier went to his death with all his heart, and although the execution ceremony was held as usual, he had no fear. As the executioner prepared for execution, Lavoisier's eyelids began to flicker incessantly, blinking eleven times in total.
This blink lasted for about half a minute, and then Lavoisier's head stopped moving. This scene is reminiscent of yesterday's promise.
Although Lavoisier showed signs of life within half a minute of being beheaded, this does not prove that he was still conscious. Some objected, pointing out that Lavoisier's blinking was irregular, most likely not out of subjectivity.
Because Lavoisier's head has been cut off, the brain, which is the nerve center of human activity, has been severed. Thus, Lavoisier's eyelid activity may be unconscious.
In scientific research, Lavoisier's eyelid twitching is thought to be an autonomic physiological response rather than being consciously controlled. Similar phenomena can happen to us as well, but do we really understand them?
The severe pain of a head chopping off may cause the body to make involuntary movements, but the brain itself may not be damaged and still be able to maintain some awareness. However, this problem has not yet been scientifically verified by medical means.
Although we are not yet sure whether a person is still conscious after death, we can speculate on whether a person is still conscious after being beheaded based on current scientific research. We know that when a bullet penetrates a person's skull and enters the brain tissue, it will instantly cause a heavy blow to the brain tissue, which is different from the previous decapitation.
However, just as a person who is shot in the head during a war is certainly not conscious, we cannot be sure that a person is still conscious after being beheaded. Despite this, Lavoisier's experiments showed that people were able to survive for a period of time after being beheaded.
With the progress of civilization and the evolution of the times, human beings have gradually abandoned those cruel methods of punishment. Now that the death penalty has been abolished in many countries, even the most serious offenders are not at risk of execution, but at best imprisoned for life.
Moreover, even such criminals can sometimes get the opportunity to have their sentences commuted, which undoubtedly makes our society more harmonious and just.