In ancient China, people used a variety of methods to murder or punish others, one of the common methods was the use of poison, and poison was one of the ancient and deadly options.
The plover is a bird slightly larger than an eagle, with purple and black plumage and a red beak hanging from its long neck. Legend has it that the reason why the plover is so poisonous is that it feeds on poisonous snakes, and the venom of the poisonous snake penetrates into all parts of the plover, making its muscles, internal organs, and even feathers poisonous. It is said that the droppings of the birds can corrode stones, the plants near their nests will wither and disappear, and even the creatures in the water will become extinct because of their drinking water. The toxins contained in this bird have been used in ancient poisoning methods. Li Shizhen even recorded in the "Compendium of Materia Medica" that the powder of the beak of the bird can be used for the bite of a poisonous snake, but once ordinary people eat the meat or internal organs of the bird, they will die immediately. Soaking the bird's feathers in wine makes a deadly poisonous wine, the so-called wine of the bird, a little bit of which is enough to kill a person.
As a means of murdering people, the history of poison can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period in China. According to historical records, in 656 BC, Li Ji, the favorite concubine of the Jin Kingdom, used poison to try to murder the crown prince. She poisoned the wine and put poisonous weeds in the flesh in an attempt to put the prince to death. However, fortunately, the crown prince did not drink the poisoned wine, but was discovered by the prince in time, and sacrificed the cup of poisoned wine, and finally exposed the conspiracy of Li Ji. Since then, wine has become a common means in ancient ** cases and has been frequently used.
During the Han Dynasty, poison was even more popular in society, and Lv Hou and others frequently used liquor to ** political enemies or opponents. For example, Empress Lü's treatment of Zhao Wang Ruyi and Liu Fei used the ancient poisoning method of wine. Liu Fei almost died because of Empress Lü's poisonous schemes, and Empress Lü also used poison methods many times when he usurped the throne of the Han Dynasty. By analogy, Wang Mang also used poison when he seized the throne of the Han Dynasty, poisoned Emperor Ping of Han, and then made his nephew Ziying the emperor.
The lethality of poison made it a common choice in ancient murder cases. It has been recorded that once people get poisoned in their mouths, they will die in a very short time. The treatment of the old minister Zhou Ben by Li Yi, the ancestor of the Southern Tang Dynasty, is a vivid example. In order to eliminate Zhou Ben's influence, Li Yi gave Zhou Ben a glass of wine at a banquet in an attempt to put him to death. However, Zhouben's vigilance allowed him to manage to avoid this danger and eventually defuse the crisis.
With the change of history, people began to oppose the use of poison as a cruel method. In the story of the envoy of the Chu State, he mortgaged all the chariots and horses in order to destroy the wine, and this act of kindness was seen as a sign of benevolence. The court of the Jin Dynasty also explicitly banned the use of poison, and some ancient documents even mentioned the explicit prohibition of the use of poison. However, even after the ban on the use of poison, people continued to use other poisons, the most common of which were poisons such as arsenic.
In ancient times, poison was used as a means of harming people until the Ming and Qing dynasties. Ruan Dacheng's daughter Ruan Lizhen was poisoned to death due to the jealousy of Fujin, while Zhu Yuanzhang had witnessed the power of poison. Under Zhu Yuanzhang's rule, a cook was hunted down for a crime, and he eventually chose to commit suicide by taking poison, a tragic situation that allowed Zhu Yuanzhang to understand the power and effects of poison.
With the development of science and technology and the progress of society, people today rarely hear stories about poison anymore. The ancient bird has long been extinct and has become a symbol of history. However, poison has left a deep trace on this ancient method of harming people and has become a part of ancient Chinese culture that cannot be ignored.