Copyright: Turandot

ID: 316
Ressource_Provider: Jérôme Bourgon
Title: Tribunal
DocumentNature: Watercolor
Repository: Turandot
Color: Color
Topic: Judiciary
Description: It is the custom in China, for a Mandarin of justice to administer it daily, morning and evening, in his own house, where he is attended by his secretary, or clerk, and by inferior officers, some of them bearing iron shackles, and others, pan-tsees. Upon his right hand stands the Prosecutor, or Informer; and before him is a table with a covering of silk, and the implements of writing for the secretary to take down the depositions and defence. These having been written in black ink, the magistrate signs them with red, and seals them with the same colour. On the table there are, also, a number of small sticks, tipped with red; these are kept in open cases, and are used in the following manner: if a culprit is convicted of a petty offence, the magistrate causes him to be immediately chastised, and released. The usual punishment, upon such occasions, is the pan-tsee, or bastinade, and the number of blows to be inflicted is signified by the magistrate's casting some of the above mentioned small sticks upon the floor: each stick denotes five blows. The culprit, who, during the examination, has awaited the decree upon his hands and knees, is then seized by the attendants, and punished as will be seen in a subsequent Plate. After the magistrate has thrown the sticks, he talks of other affairs, drinks his tea, or smokes his tobacco.
It is only for trivial breaches of the Chinese Laws, such as drunkenness, cheating, squabbling, boxing, pilfering, insolence or inattention towards a superior, or the like, that any magistrate is empowered to administer punishment in a summary manner. Whenever the crime is of such a description as to call for severer notice, it is generally examined into by five or six tribunals, who not only require very particular information concerning the charge, but scrutinize with minute exactness, into the characters and manners of the accusers.
Their proceedings in capital accusations are thus protracted in China, lest any man should be unjustly deprived of the inestimable benefits of honour or life: and no criminal can be executed, until his trial has been sent to court, and his sentence has been confirmed by the Emperor.
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UN ACCUSÉ DEVANT UN MAGISTRAT.
En chine un Mandarin de justice a coutume de la rendre tous les jours, matin et soir, dans sa maison, assisté d'un sécrétaire ou clerc, et d'officiers subalternes, dont quelques uns tiennent des fers, et d'autres des pan-tsees. L'accusateur est debout, à sa droite, et devant lui une table couverte en soie, sur laquelle sont toutes les choses nécessaires pour écrire les dépositions et la défense. Lors qu'elles ont été écrites d'encre noir, le magistrat les signe de rouge, et les scelle de la même couleur. On voit, aussi, sur la table un nombre de baguettes rougies par le bout; on les garde dans des boites ouvertes, et l'on s'en sert de la manière suivante. Si un accusé est convaincu d'une légère offense, le magistrat le fait aussitôt châtier et renvoyer. La punition ordinaire en pareilles occasions est le pan-tsee, ou bastonnade; et le magistrat détermine le nombre de coups en jettant sur le plancher quelques unes des baguettes, dont chacune marque cinq coups. L'accusé, qui, durant l'examen, a attendu la sentence sur ses mains et ses genoux, est alors saisi par les officiers, et puni, comme on le verra dens une des Planches suivantes. Quand le magistrat a jette les verges, il parle d'autres affaires, boit son thé, ou fume sa pipe.
Les magistrats n'ont le droit d'infliger ces punitions légères que pour des infractions peu importantes des loix Chinoises, telles que l'ivrognerie, les disputes, la fourberie, les batteries, les petits larcins, l'insolence, le manque de respect envers les supérieurs, ou autres delits semblables.
Toutes les fois que le crime est de nature à exiger une plus sévère attention, il subit ordinairement l'examen de cinq ou six tribunaux, qui non seulement entrent dens toutes les particularités de l'accusation, mais encore examinent avec une attention scrupuleuse, le caractère et les mœurs des accusés. En Chine les procédures, en matières criminelles, sont ainsi prolongées, de peur qu'aucun homme ne perde injustement les biens inestimables de l'honneur ou de la vie; et l'on ne peut mettre à mort un criminel que son procès n'ait été envoyé à la cour, et sa confirmée par l'Empereur.
Keyword: tribunal, magistrate, official

Bibliography
  1:Name: MASON, George Henry, Pu-qùa (ill.), DADLEY (grav.) The Punishments of China, Illustrated by Twenty-two Engravings with Explanations in English and French

Related Replication (1)

1  Ressource_Provider: Jérôme Bourgon
    Title: Tribunals in China (litigants under court)
    Information: A standard representation, generally opening watercolors album specialised in punihments. Traditional views, inspired from opera works, give shape slowly to modern, "realistic" representations.

Related VisualSet (1)

1  Title: The Punishments of China, Illustrated by Twenty-two Engravings with Explanations in English and French
    DocumentNature: Engraving

Derniére modification le : 2006-12-12