concave side of a split bamboo, the sharp edges of which mutilate
the sufferer terribly. The punishment is continued until the man
either supplies the evidence required or becomes insensible.
Punishment by bamboo was formally abolished by imperial edict in 1905,
and other judicial reforms were instituted. They remained largely
inoperative, and even in Shanghai, under the eyes of foreign
residents, gross cases of the infliction of torture occurred in
1909.[38]

For capital offences the usual modes of inflicting the extreme penalty
of the law are--in bad cases, such as parricides, "cutting to pieces,"
and for less aggravated crimes either strangulation or decapitation.
The culprit who is condemned to be "cut to pieces" is fastened to a
cross, and while thus suspended cuts are made by the executioner on
the fleshy parts of the body; and he is then beheaded. Strangulation
is reserved for lesser degrees of guilt, it being considered a
privilege to pass out of life with a whole body. When it has been
granted to a criminal of rank thus to meet his end, a silken cord is
sent to him at his own home. No explanatory message is considered
necessary, and he is left to consummate his own doom. Popular
sentiment regards decapitation as a peculiarly disgraceful mode of
death. Constant practice makes the executioners wonderfully expert in
the performance of their office. No block or resting-place for the
head is used. The neck is simply outstretched to its full length by
the aid of an assistant, and one blow invariably leaves the body
headless.

Consular jurisdiction.

The laws are in accord with the principle which regards the family as
a unit. Thus there is no bankruptcy law--if a debtor's own estate will
not suffice to pay his debts the deficiency must be made good by his
relatives; if a debtor absconds his immediate family are imprisoned.
By analogy if one member of a party commits an offence and the guilty
person cannot be detected, the whole party must suffer. Foreigners
residing in China resented the application of this principle of law to
themselves. As a result extra-territorial rights were sought by
European powers. They were secured by Russia as early as 1689, but it
was not until 1843 that any other nation acquired them. In that year
Great Britain obtained the right to try British subjects by its own
consuls, a right secured in more explicit te