beating and finger-squeezing, to say nothing of kneeling on
chains and hanging up by the ears, belong rather to the past than to
the present. The wife and children of a rebel chief may pass their
days in peace and quietness; innocent people are no longer made to
suffer with the guilty. A criminal under sentence of death for any
crime except rebellion may save his life and be released from further
punishment, if he can prove that an aged parent depends upon him for
the necessaries of daily existence. The heavy bamboo, under the
infliction of which sufferers not uncommonly died, has given place to
the lighter instrument of punishment, which may be used severely
enough for all practical purposes while it does not endanger life. The
Emperor K'ang Hsi, whose name is inseparably connected with one of the
most valuable lexicons that have ever been compiled, forbade bambooing
across the upper part of the back and shoulders. "Near the surface,"
said this benign father of his people, "lie the liver and the lungs.
For some trivial offence a man might be so punished that these organs
would never recover from the effects of the blows." The ruling system
of bribery has taken away from the bamboo its few remaining terrors
for those whose means are sufficient to influence the hand which lays
it on. Petty offences are chiefly expiated by a small payment of money
to the gaoler, who lets the avenging bamboo fall proportionately
light, or assists the culprit by every means in his power to shirk the
degradation and annoyance of a week in the cangue.[*] These two are
the only ordinary punishments we hear much about; torture, properly so
called, is permitted under certain circumstances, but rarely if ever
practised.

[*] A heavy wooden collar, taken off at night only if the sentence is
a long one, or on payment of a bribe.

In further support of this most heterodox position, we beg to offer a
translation of two chapters from "Advice to Government Officials," a
native work of much repute all over the Empire:--

"CHAPTER V.

"The infliction of the bamboo is open to abuse in various ways.
For instance, the knots in the wood may not have been smoothed
off; blows may be given inside the joints, instead of above the
knees; the tip end instead of the flat of the bamboo may be used;
each stroke may be accompanied by a drawing movement of the hand,
or the same spot may be struck again after the skin has been
broken, whereby