Kia quen
Encyclopedia
In the 17th Century, jiá gùn (Pinyin; Wade-Giles romanization, kia quen) 夾棍 was reportedly a technique used in China
for the interrogation
of male suspect
s without putting their lives in danger.
The technique consisted of positioning three wooden or bamboo
boards, connected by rope
, around and between the suspect's bare feet. The construction of the device enabled the boards to be either snapped open and closed (like the wings of a butterfly
) or gradually tightened. Each time the prisoner
refused to testify or confess, the rope was pulled smartly and the boards either whacked sharply at the ankles or slowly squeezed the feet ever more tightly. A similar device called the Tean zu
, applied exclusively to women, employed essentially identical mechanics to squeeze and crush the finger-bones.
The torture
was typically conducted while the prisoner was forced to painfully kneel on top of folded chains made of sharpened iron links.
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
for the interrogation
Interrogation
Interrogation is interviewing as commonly employed by officers of the police, military, and Intelligence agencies with the goal of extracting a confession or obtaining information. Subjects of interrogation are often the suspects, victims, or witnesses of a crime...
of male suspect
Suspect
In the parlance of criminal justice, a suspect is a known person suspected of committing a crime.Police and reporters often incorrectly use the word suspect when referring to the...
s without putting their lives in danger.
The technique consisted of positioning three wooden or bamboo
Bamboo
Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....
boards, connected by rope
Rope
A rope is a length of fibres, twisted or braided together to improve strength for pulling and connecting. It has tensile strength but is too flexible to provide compressive strength...
, around and between the suspect's bare feet. The construction of the device enabled the boards to be either snapped open and closed (like the wings of a butterfly
Butterfly
A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...
) or gradually tightened. Each time the prisoner
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
refused to testify or confess, the rope was pulled smartly and the boards either whacked sharply at the ankles or slowly squeezed the feet ever more tightly. A similar device called the Tean zu
Tean zu
Zánzhǐ 拶指 is one technique of torture that was used in ancient China. For interrogation of female suspects without threatening life or limb, zánzhǐ was generally applied. It consisted of a set of six wooden sticks positioned around and between the fingers and connected by strings...
, applied exclusively to women, employed essentially identical mechanics to squeeze and crush the finger-bones.
The torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
was typically conducted while the prisoner was forced to painfully kneel on top of folded chains made of sharpened iron links.