Book XIII 76921st Day (Chŏngyu)
The ritual of calling for rain was performed at the Royal Ancestral Shrine,
the Altar of Earth and Grain, and the Altar of Heaven (Wŏndan), as well as
at various waterfall basins.Eunuch Yi Kwang was ordered to take charge of the Palace Guards (Sugwi),
overseeing them and handling reports and so forth. [Eunuch] Cho Sun was
made responsible for carrying royal orders while always attending upon
the king.
The king admonished Cho Sun: “The crimes that you committed, accord-
ing to the Censorate, are so serious that you cannot be admitted into the city
gate, not to mention the royal palace. You should correct your faults and
behave yourself.”
Yu Kwan, minister of punishments, and others submitted a memorial to the
king: “The officials in charge of penalty and imprisonment cannot be care-
less because the lives of people depend on them. In antiquity, when Gao Yao
became an official responsible for criminal justice, he administered penal
measures in accordance with the law. However, he generously forgave
people who were subject to the Five Punishments^22 by sending them into
exile. When officials administered corporal punishment, he had them use
whips, and when instructors punished their students, he had them use rods.
He also allowed the people to pay their penalty with money.
“So- called penalization is no more than a device to help the ruler to
govern the people. Hence, the sages resort to it very reluctantly. When com-
mitted crimes are serious enough to come under the category of the Five
Punishments, they are punished in accordance with the law applicable to
them. When the crimes are light enough to be punished either by whip or
rod, they are also punished in accordance with the relevant law. When the
offenders deserve sympathy or their crimes appear suspicious, regardless of
the seriousness of their crimes, they are sent into exile or allowed to pay for
their penalty with money. So cautiousness and compassion are embedded in
these laws, and they are the rules for those who carry out the law for thou-
sands of years.
- A collective name for a series of physical penalties meted out by the legal system of
premodern dynastic China. The Five Punishments here refers to tattooing, cutting off the
nose, amputation of one or both feet, castration, and death.