A Double Homicide in Guangdong in 1781

CASE 7:  Homicide and the Law in 18th Century China

A double homicide that occurred in Guangdong province in 1781 provides a tragic example of the role played by filial piety as a value in the prosecution and punishment of a criminal capital case. In this instance Huang Guiji and Chen Wenyou became embroiled in a land dispute, which quickly turned violent. ² Chen struck Huang with a bamboo pole. Huang fled, threatening to report the assault to the county magistrate. Chen returned home and informed his wife, Ms. Zhu, about the altercation. Fearing further trouble, Ms. Zhu upbraided her husband for his incompetence. Chen became angry and came up with the idea of killing his wife to blackmail Huang and recover his land. To most people this would sound like a bad plan, but perhaps Chen thought he could kill two birds with one stone. In any case he got a cleaver and chased his wife, hacking the left side of her skull twice and landing repeated blows on the top of her head. Two neighbors intervened and disarmed Chen.

After the neighbors left, Chen realized that his wife was seriously wounded and about to die. Carrying her body to Huang’s front gate, Chen began calling out that Huang had attacked his wife. Huang’s elderly mother, Ms. Yu, grabbed at his clothing to prevent him from leaving the house. Huang moved away with such force that his clothing tore and Ms. Yu fell and injured herself. Chen Wenyou’s wife died later that afternoon. Huang’s mother died the morning of the next day. In a tragic example of the overriding influence of filiality in Qing law, Huang Guiji was sentenced to “immediate” execution for causing the death of his mother. Chen Wenyou, on the other hand, was sentenced to strangulation and imprisoned to await his strangulation after the autumn assizes. This shows how the relationship between victim and killer could supersede the circumstances of the crime in determining the sentence. Despite the cruelty of Chen’s attack on his wife, he still had a good chance of being granted a pardon. Despite the accidental nature of Ms. Yu’s death, her son stood no chance of a pardon. Indeed, because Huang Guiji had “caused” the death of his mother through negligence, he would be executed without further consideration.

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