What is it like to be a modern day executioner?

I once said that there is one kind of person in the world who kills people without paying for their lives, and that is the executioner. Their daily job is to kill. Although it is the embodiment of justice, the people killed every day are some bad people, some people who are executed.

But in the eyes of ordinary people, these people are still a little terrifying.

In our small county town, a vacant lot on the farm where my grandparents were located was the execution ground. I remember that every time, these prisoners were escorted to the square to hold a sentencing meeting, and then they were escorted to a large truck, each with a sign around his neck, with his name written on it, what crime he had committed, etc., and paraded through the streets, and then escorted to the execution ground to carry out the execution. I remember that at that time, when the prisoners were executed, there were many onlookers.

I was scared and didn't dare to move forward. Later, when I walked to that place again, it was inexplicably terrifying.

Thinking about these executioners, when they first started doing this job, they must have panicked in their hearts. After a long time, I will feel numb as my own work. It's like killing a pig and a sheep in a slaughterhouse.

In their eyes, these prisoners did not seem to be living people, but just a job for him.

The things that are afraid in the eyes of those of us, such as crematoriums, such as hospital morgues, execution grounds, etc., these seemingly terrifying places, and the staff who work in these places, are accustomed to it. For their work, it feels like a salesperson selling something, a delivery person delivering something, it doesn't feel special. What is special is the imagination of people who have never been exposed to these jobs, which can cast a veil of horror over their work.

The final fate of these executioners is basically that they are killed by others or died by accident for a long time, and basically they do not die of old age, because they have many lives on their hands.

In the end, these people did not end well, and after retirement, they found a place to hide, and some were killed by their enemies.

Deng Haishan, the last executioner of the Qing Dynasty, wanted to enter the Shan Tang and was rejected because he killed hundreds of people. It is believed that he owed too many yin debts in his life to repay them, and could only be alone for the rest of his life.

Because the executioner's knife was never sharpened, the reason was that the superstitious ancients believed that sharpening the knife would disturb the unjust spirit on the knife.

It's because Duan Xiao has been using this knife for a long time, so it looks very blunt, but every time he uses it, he sharpens the knife, which is actually a sharp rise and return of non-gripping balance.

I think the main reason is that this knife has been left for a long time, and it is the result of the baptism of time.

This is because it is generally said that you can't kill someone, and if you kill it, you will be held responsible, so you will stop.

Because keeping people under the knife is the will of the palace. This person may not be killed. If you don't stop, it will lead to accidental killing. Then the executioner is responsible.

Because executioners are a profession, and they are not murderous, they are very worried that they will get into trouble because they killed the wrong person, so they will choose to stop after hearing that the knife is left behind, and see what the situation is.

Because killing someone is a big deal, and killing the wrong person is a sin that can't bear the consequences, so it won't easily make up for itself.

Executioners are usually passed down from the ancestors. As a family of executioners, they will all have a very sharp knife as a tool for execution.

It is generally family heirloom, and many people were reluctant to do this profession at that time, because the murderous spirit was too heavy, and it was taboo to kill people for a long time, so there were more family heirlooms.

I think executioners are still family heirlooms, just like ordinary craftsmen, they need to learn and inherit, and most people are afraid that they rarely choose this position.

Generally, they all want to go to the teacher to learn the arts, and then, most of them are still unwilling to do it, so there is also a phenomenon of family inheritance from generation to generation.

It is generally passed down from family, after all, in ancient times, handicraft work was still very important, and it was also very secretive, and it would not be taught casually.

Ancient executioners must have also learned from their masters, and few people in the profession of executioners took the initiative to do it.

They all follow the master for a period of time, and finally go up directly instead of the master, no need to select.

There are many family heirlooms. After all, this profession is demanding, and few people are qualified for it. But there are also those who learn from teachers and eventually become executioners, such as Deng Haishan.

Executioners are passed down from generation to generation. Outsiders don't usually go to be executioners. After all, this thing is too obscure.

In fact, there is nothing to select, but it takes a period of time to study, and it is impossible to say that you will be allowed to go to it.

When we watch TV dramas, we will find that many executioners will stop their executions after hearing the phrase "keep people under the knife". Therefore, in the eyes of many people in modern times, they are very curious about this sentence, is the phrase "keeping people under the knife" really so magical? Why can hearing this sentence save people.

The reason why "keeping people under the knife" will achieve such an effect is related to the following reasons.

The first is because of the laws and regulations of the Song Dynasty. During the Song Dynasty, if the person who committed the crime shouted a second before the execution, then the executioner would not carry out the execution, and the person who was sentenced at that time would re-investigate to avoid misconviction or wronging a good person, hence this rule. So given this rule, the executioners would not have made the next move after hearing the phrase "keep the man under the knife" for fear of making a mistake.

If the executioner does not stop after hearing the phrase "keep people under the knife", it will lead to misunderstanding. After all, the ancients would have thought that the executioner was intentional or had some intentions, so it would cause great trouble to the executioner.

The second is that the executioner is afraid of getting angry. Although the executioner is the job of the executioner, the careless disregard for human life will also be punished. So after hearing the phrase "keep people under the knife", they will immediately stop moving.

Otherwise, it would be very bad for the executioner himself.

Finally, the ancients were more superstitious. It is their job for the executioner to carry out the execution, but if they continue to carry out the execution after hearing the phrase "leave the man under the sword", then they will feel uneasy and afraid that the unjust spirit of the deceased will come to them. So after hearing "keep people under the knife", it will stop immediately.

It is generally not an ordinary person who can make people shout "keep people under the knife", and the executioner is afraid that he will provoke someone he can't afford to provoke.

"Keeping people under the knife" is often used at the last minute, when the king changes his mind and moratorizes the execution of the death penaltyThe executioner is only responsible for execution, and has no power to decide the life and death of the prisoner, so the superiors decide to "keep people under the knife", and they can only stop.

There are regulations on this, as long as you hear a cry of injustice before the execution, you must stop, and some have to be retried, just to avoid mistakes.

During the Song Dynasty, if the perpetrator of the crime shouted a second before the execution, the executioner would not carry out the execution, and the person sentenced at that time would be re-investigated.

The executioner generally hears that if it is the emperor's will to kill, it is himself who is unlucky, but no matter who calls out the knife to keep people, it will not harm himself.

The ancient executioners did not blink an eye when they killed, and because of this, they were afraid of killing innocents under the knife, and if they were not innocent, they would not show mercy.

Because the Song Dynasty once had a relevant rule, if the executioner did not stop in time, he would be considered selfish.

Because the executioner himself did not want to kill, it was also an order from his superiors to keep people under the knife.

He didn't want to kill people himself, so why did he want to kill people, the profession of killing people is also very stressful, so of course this group of people can not kill people, so they will not kill people.