CHINESE HEADSMEN.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 39, 29 January 1912, Page 2

CHINESE HEADSMEN.

The equipment of the army of China when it moves abroad on warlike missions is not complete without one executioner to every half-company of soldiers. He is usually the most commanding figure in the ranks, since he is selected for his important position by reason of his strength and skill. He carries his great sword of office • wherever he goes, slung ovor his back, tucked under his arm, or gripped by the hilt with his right hand. There are as many styles of swords as there are methods of carrying them, but all have enormous handles bound with red cloth and ornamented with tassels and sufficiently long to permit of a two-handed grip. The width of the blade ,varies from two to four inches, and the edge is kept like a razor, the executioner invariably being a man who prides himself on his thoroughness. The sword affords a summary means of ex-ociitiug justice, or injustice upon traitors,’ spies and thieves. Most civilised armies use rifles to do similar work under modern war conditions, but spies seldom are shot in China. The man who is condemned to death is compelled to kneel wherever he is, in the street, the market-place, or the field, and with one swift stroke of the-

sword he is beheaded. Bungled executions are almost unknown. The executioners always are highly skilled in the use of the sword—they do not lack practice—and they are. incredibly callous. A correspondent of the Sydney “Daily Telegram - ”■ states that the groat swords were used freely and viciously before the revolutionary troops entered Nankin last month. When the old soldiers decided to surrender the city they canvassed their comrades, and any who hesitated to agree with thorn lost their heads. The correspondent states that he saw more than fifty headless corpses on a road . about two miles long. The average Chinese has a horror of execution by the sword, since it is an article of his belief that his soul will not enjoy peace if his body is mutilated. Probably this belief is one of the reasons for the persistence of the present form of execution.