刖: to cut off the foot as punishment

刖 yuè

noun
: to cut off the foot as punishment

Imperial five punishments (五刑 wu3 xing2) of feudal China, up to Han times:

1. Tattooing characters on the forehead with indelible ink 墨 (mo4: ink stick; China ink; corporal punishment consisting of tattooing characters on the victim’s forehead)
[すみ sumo: ink]  
2. Cutting off the nose 劓 (yi4)
3. Amputation of one or both feet 刖 (yue4)
4. Castration 宮 (gong1: palace; temple; castration (as corporal punishment)
[腐刑 fu3xing2 | ふけい fukei]  
5. Execution 大辟 (da4pi4: death sentence)
[たいへき daisheki: death penalty] Methods of execution were quartering, or cutting the body into four pieces (fēn wéi lù 分为戮); boiling alive (pēng 烹); tearing off an offender’s head and four limbs by attaching them to chariots (chēliè 车裂); beheading (xiāoshǒu 枭首); execution then abandonment of the offender’s body in the local public market (qìshì 弃市); strangulation (jiǎo 绞); and slow slicing (língchí 凌迟).

Han dynasty onwards:

1. Whipping with bamboo strips 笞 (chi1)
[ち chi: light caning: 10-150 times]  
2. Beating the legs and buttocks with rough thorns 杖 (zhang4: a staff; a rod; cane; walking stick; to flog with a stick)
[じょう shou: severe caning: 60-100 times]  
3. Forced labor 徒 (tu2: disciple; apprentice; believer; on foot; bare or empty; to no avail; only; prison sentence)
[ず zu: imprisonment for 1-3 years]  
4. Exile or banishment 流 (liu2: to flow; to disseminate; to circulate or spread; to move or drift; to degenerate; to banish or send into exile; stream of water or something resembling one; class, rate or grade)
[る ru: exile]  
5. Capital punishment 死 (si3: to die; impassable; uncrossable; inflexible; rigid; extremely)
[し shi: death] Following the Sui and Tang Dynasties there were generally two options: strangulation (jiǎo 絞/绞) or decapitation (zhǎn 斩/斬). From the Song Dynasty (970–1279 CE) onwards, slow slicing (língchí 凌迟) along with beheading (xiāoshŏu 枭首) were also used. The death penalty could be remitted on payment of 42 guàn in copper cash

Five punishments for female offenders

1. 刑舂 Xíngchōng, where the offender was forced to grind grain.
2. 拶刑 Zǎnxíng, also known as (拶指 zǎnzhĭ), squeezing of the fingers between sticks.
3. 杖刑 Zhàngxíng, beating with wooden staves.
4. 赐死 Cìs, permission to commit suicide.
5. 宫刑 Gōngxíng, sequestration or confinement to a room. Punishment for licentiousness or adultery.