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The nine familial exterminations, nine kinship exterminations, or execution of nine relations, also known by the names zuzhu ("family execution") and miezu ("family extermination"), was the most severe punishment for a capital offense in premodern China, Korea, and Vietnam. A collective form of kin punishment typically associated with offenses such as treason, the punishment involved the execution of all relatives of an individual, which were categorized into nine groups. The occurrence of this punishment was somewhat rare, with relatively few sentences recorded throughout history.

Punishment

The punishment involved the execution of close and extended family members. These included:

• The criminal's parents
• The criminal's grandparents
• Any children the criminal may have, over a certain age (varying over different eras, children below that age becoming slaves) and—if married—their spouses.
• Any grandchildren the criminal may have, over a certain age (again with enslavement for the underaged) and—if married—their spouses.
• Siblings and siblings-in-law (the siblings of the criminal and that of his or her spouse, in the case where he or she is married)
• Uncles and aunts of the criminal, as well as their spouses
• The criminal's cousins (in the case of China, this included up to second and third cousins)
• The criminal's spouse
• The criminal's spouse's parents
• The criminal

Confucian principles also played a major role in the extent of the punishment. The killing of children was disapproved under Mencius's principle that "being offspring is not a sin" (Classical Chinese: 罪人不孥), so that children under a certain age were often spared execution.

History

Ancient China

The first written account of the concept is in the Book of Documents, 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.

From the Spring and Autumn period (770 BC – 403 BC), there are records of exterminations of "three clans" (Chinese: 三族). A notable case was under the State of Qin in 338 BC: lawmaker Shang Yang's entire family was killed by order of King Huiwen, while Shang Yang himself was sentenced to death by being drawn and quartered. This was 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.

Early imperial era

During the Qin dynasty (221 BC – 207 BC), punishments became even more rigorous under the first emperor of unified China, Qin Shi Huang (259 BC – 210 BC). In order to uphold his rule, strict laws were enforced, where deception, libel, and the study of banned books became punishable by familial extermination. This increase in tyranny only helped to speed up the overthrow of the Qin dynasty.

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.

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.

Late imperial era

Kublai Khan, the founder of the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), executed the sons of the Muslim Persian finance minister Ahmad Fanakati after finding out about his corruption in the aftermath of his assassination in 1282.

During the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1912) dynasties, the breadth of family extermination was increased. Under the Hongwu Emperor those committing rebellion and treason were punished by having their parents, grandparents, brethren (by birth, as well as "sworn brothers"), children, grandchildren, those living with the criminal regardless of surname, uncles, and the children of brethren put to death, as well as death for the rebels themselves by lingchi. The number of sentences during the Ming was higher than that of the Tang, 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 be killed. A rare case was Fang Xiaoru, whose students and friends were also executed as the 10th family kin by the Yongle Emperor, the only case where "ten exterminations" was officially sentenced and carried out.

The punishment by family extermination during the Qing dynasty was a direct imitation of the regulation under the Ming. On 1 November 1728, after the Qing reconquest of Lhasa in Tibet, several Tibetan rebels were killed along with their families by Qing Manchu officers and officials. Punishment by nine exterminations was abolished near the end of the Qing dynasty, and was officially repealed by the imperial government in 1905.

In other countries

There were various ethical judgements regarding group punishment in ancient times. It was typically seen as a tyrannical method of rule, unjustly punishing innocent family members for the crime of a relative. Like all forms of collective punishment, it was also intended as a dreadful deterrent for the worst crimes, rather than merely as a form of revenge.

In ancient Korea, this punishment was applied during the reign of King Jinpyeong of Silla when conspirator Yi Chan-chil-suk (이찬칠숙) and his entire family and relatives to the ninth degree were put to death.

In Vietnam, the most prominent example is the execution of most of the family members of Nguyễn Trãi, an official who was wrongly accused of killing the king. He had his entire family executed.

"Nine tribes"

In ancient times, there were nine different relations (or guanxi) that an individual had with other people, which were referred to as the "family" or "tribe" (Chinese: 族). These relations, under Confucian principles, were bonded by filial piety. Because members of a family remained strictly loyal to one another, they were considered responsible for crimes committed by any member due to guilt by association. 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.

The Chinese character 族 can be translated by its original definition of "clan" or "tribe", or it can have the additional meanings of "kinship", "family" (as in 家族), or "ethnicity" (as in 民族).

See also

• Ancestral sin
• Bloodline theory
• Burning of books and burying of scholars
• Chinese social relations
• Family members of a traitor to the Motherland
• Frankpledge
• Guilt by association
• Nine bestowments
• Chinese numerology
• Ren (philosophy)
• Sippenhaft
• Ten Abominations

References

1. ^ “株连九族”的历史演进 – 新华网 "The history and evolution of '株连九族' (Nine exterminations)" – Xinhua
2. ^ "中國古代立法與司法". Retrieved 17 April 2009. "Ancient Chinese law and judiciary", from the Research Institute of Chinese Culture (中國文化研究院)
3. ^ The Nine Exterminations (族诛) Definition of "族诛" at the China Encyclopedia
4. 古代刑罰:"株連九族"酷刑的歷史演進 "Ancient punishments: The history of the torture of 'Nine Exterminations'"
5. ^ 什么是“族诛” "What is 'Mie Zu'?" from the Primary School learning resources network (小学语文资源网)
6. pg 80 of Classical China, ed. William H. McNeill and Jean W. Sedlar, Oxford University Press, 1970. LCCN: 68-8409
7. 商鞅 为强秦奠基，为自己掘墓 "Shang Yang – The mighty lawmaker of Qin, digs his own grave" from Chinadaily "Shang Yang learned to read from a young age, and later created a series of reforms, his laws in excess of severity... However, the powerful state of Qin does not comply with the interests of all, bear the brunt of the old aristocracy. In the cancellation of privileges, they become the sworn enemy of Shang Yang."
8. 商鞅究竟“做错”了什么 为何会被残忍分尸 "Shang Yang's mistakes and the reasons behind his merciless laws" – Phoenix TV report
9. 张辉：秦制千年到红朝 "Qin system a millennium of red mornings" – China Report Weekly
10. 晁智囊千慮一失被族誅(西漢)(圖) "Thousand worries of the extermination of a family (Western Han)" from the Chinese Civilisation network of the Chinese economic net (華夏文明——中國經濟網)
11. 湖北第二师范学院:“株连九族” "History of Familial Extermination" from Hubei Normal College II (湖北第二师范学院)
12. 中国死刑观察--明初酷刑 "Examination of China's death penalty – torture from the Ming" – Chinamonitor
13. 倪正茂, 比较法学探析, 中国法制出版社, 2006 (Google Books)
14. 《明大诰》(档案界) "Letters of Ming" from "The Archive Domain" (档案界 档案界门户网站)
15. 汉字趣编（之十四）（刑） "Notable compilation 14 – Punishment" from Secondary school resources (中学语文教学资源网)
16. Tianting Zheng, 清史 鄭天挺編著 (Google Books)
17. Petech, Luciano (1972). China and Tibet in the Early Xviiith Century: History of the Establishment of Chinese Protectorate in Tibet. Vol. 1 of T'oung pao, archives concernant l'histoire, les langues, la géographie, l'ethnographie et les arts de l'Asie orientale. Monographie (illustrated ed.). BRILL. p. 250. ISBN 9004034420.
18. Petech, Luciano (1972). China and Tibet in the Early Xviiith Century: History of the Establishment of Chinese Protectorate in Tibet. Vol. 1 of T'oung pao, archives concernant l'histoire, les langues, la géographie, l'ethnographie et les arts de l'Asie orientale. Monographie (illustrated ed.). BRILL. p. 269. ISBN 9004034420.
19. Petech, Luciano (1972). China and Tibet in the Early Xviiith Century: History of the Establishment of Chinese Protectorate in Tibet. Vol. 1 of T'oung pao, archives concernant l'histoire, les langues, la géographie, l'ethnographie et les arts de l'Asie orientale. Monographie (illustrated ed.). BRILL. pp. 133–134. ISBN 9004034420.
20. Petech, Luciano (1972). China and Tibet in the Early Xviiith Century: History of the Establishment of Chinese Protectorate in Tibet. Vol. 1 of T'oung pao, archives concernant l'histoire, les langues, la géographie, l'ethnographie et les arts de l'Asie orientale. Monographie (illustrated ed.). BRILL. pp. 268, 269. ISBN 9004034420.
21. Petech, Luciano (1972). China and Tibet in the Early Xviiith Century: History of the Establishment of Chinese Protectorate in Tibet. Vol. 1 of T'oung pao, archives concernant l'histoire, les langues, la géographie, l'ethnographie et les arts de l'Asie orientale. Monographie (illustrated ed.). BRILL. p. 249. ISBN 9004034420.
22. Pankaj Mohan (2005). "The Uses of Buddhist and Shamanistic Symbolism in the Empowerment of Queen Sŏndŏk". International Association for Buddhist Thought and Culture. 5–8: 133. The hostility of the aristocracy manifested itself in a conspiracy against the throne hatched by Yichan Chilsuk and Achan Sŏkpum. The plot was revealed in 631, and Chilsuk's entire family and relatives to the ninth degree were executed.
23. "Samjok (삼족 三族)" (in Korean). Doosan Encyclopedia. In ancient China and Korea, when someone committed a big crime, the three sets of relatives were annihilated for the principle of guilt by association which was referred to as 'samjok myeolmun jihwa', 고대 중국·한국 등에서는 어떤 사람이 큰 죄를 범하면 '삼족멸문지화(三族滅門之禍)'라고 하여 혈연의 삼족을 형벌에 연좌(緣坐)시키기도 하였다.
24. "Chilsuk's Rebellion (칠숙의 난)". Samguk Sagi (in Korean). Korea Culture & Content Agency. In May Summer, Chilsuk the Inchan officer plotted to rise in rebellion along with Seokpum the Achan officer. As the king (of Silla) knew this, he captured and beheaded Chilsuk at the Eastern Market and then annihilated his nine sets of relatives. (夏五月, 伊(阿)湌柒宿與阿湌石品謀叛, 王覺之, 捕捉柒宿, 斬之東市, 幷夷九族)
25. BIOGRAPHY Nguyen Trai (1380–1442) "A close adviser of two successive kings, he was finally suspected to have plotted for regicide. His family was harmed by traitors to the court. He and entire family were executed."
26. "ZDIC.NET 汉典網". Retrieved 17 April 2009. ZDIC definition of "族"

Further reading

• Ma Zhongqi (馬重奇), Zhou Liying (周麗英). A discussion of historical Chinese culture 《中國古代文化知識趣談》. Daoshi Publishing Company, 2002. ISBN 978-962-397-717-3.

• Victims of familial execution
• Ancient China
• Capital punishment in China
• Legal history of China
• Collective punishment
• Determinism
• Execution methods
• Family murders
• History of Korea
• History of Vietnam
• Kinship and descent
• Political and cultural purges