Waist chop or waist cutting (), also known as cutting in two at the waist, was a form of execution used in ancient China. As its name implies, it involved the condemned being sliced in two at the waist by an executioner.
History Waist chopping first appeared during the Zhou dynasty (c. 1046 BC – 256 BC). There were three forms of execution used in the Zhou dynasty: chēliè (; tearing apart by tying the arms and legs to carts moving in opposite directions), zhǎn (; waist chop), and shā (; beheading). Sometimes, the chopping was not limited to one slice.
The first Ming dynasty emperor Zhu Yuanzhang sentenced the poet Gao Qi to be sliced into eight parts for his politically satirical writing.祝允明《野记》：“魏守（观）欲复府治，兼疏溶城中河。御史张度劾公，有‘典灭王之基，开败国之河’之语。盖以旧治先为伪周所处，而卧龙街西淤川，即旧所谓锦帆泾故也。上大怒，置公极典。高太史启，以作《新府上梁文》与王彝皆与其难。高被截为八段云。”
In the modern Chinese language, "waist chop" has evolved to become a metaphor for the cancellation of an ongoing project, especially cancellation of television programs.
Notable people sentenced to waist chop
Li Si (Qin) Chao Cuo (Han) Gongsun Ao (Han) Liu Qumao () (Han) Ren An () (Han) Yang Yun (; maternal grandson of Sima Qian) (Han) Yu Fang () (Han) Huo Yu (; son of Huo Guang) (Han) Xiahou Xuan (Wei) Liu Shen () (Jin) Liu Lancheng () (Tang) Bianji () (Tang, legend) Wang Ya (Tang) Shu Yuanyu (Tang) Li Qi (Tang) Li Shihui () (Tang) Huang Dehe () (Song) Gao Qi (Ming) Fang Xiaoru (Ming) Yu Hongtu () (Qing, legend) According to a legend not attested in the official histories recounts that in 1734, Yu Hongtu (), the Education Administrator of Henan, was sentenced to a waist chop. After being cut in two at the waist, he remained alive long enough to write the Chinese character cǎn (; "cruel, awful") seven times with his own blood before dying. After hearing this, the Yongzheng Emperor abolished this form of execution.林濤《正說清朝三百年》 However, according to other sources such as Draft History of Qing and Qing shi bian nian () (China Renmin University Press), Yu was beheaded instead, not chopped at the waist.《清實錄雍正朝實錄》51丙申
See also Hemicorporectomy, a surgical procedure Lingchi, another torturous form of execution used in China
Further reading
References