The Washing Away of Wrongs

Forensic Medicine in Thirteenth-Century China

By Tz'u Sung & Tz'u Sung
Translated by Brian McKnight

Subjects: Asian Studies, China, Health & Medicine
Paperback : 9780892648009, 200 pages, 7 illustrations, 6 x 9, January 1981
Ebook : 9781938937033, 200 pages, 7 illustrations, June 2020
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.19945
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An English translation of the oldest extant book on forensic medicine in the world

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Table of Contents:

  • Chapter I: 1. A List of Laws
  • 2. General Discussion of Inquests: Part One
  • 3. General Discussion of Inuquests: Part Two
  • 4. Miscellaneous Discussion of Doubtful and Difficult Cases: Part One
  • Chapter II: 5. Miscellaneous Discussion of Doubtful and Difficult Cases: Part Two
  • 6. The Initial Inquest
  • 7. The Re-inquest
  • 8. The Examination of Corpses
  • 9. Women; Addenda: Corpses of Children and Fetuses
  • 10. Decay of Corpses in the Four Seasons
  • 11. On the Washing of Corpses and the Use of Mats
  • 12. Examining Bodies That Have Not Been Buried
  • 13. Examining Corpses Previously Buried or Encoffined in a House
  • 14. Examining Decomposed Bodies
  • 15. Holding Inquests on Bodies Too Decomposed to Serve as Evidence
  • 16. Dehydrated Corpses or Corpses of Those Dead from Exhaustion
  • Chapter III: 17. Examination of Bones
  • 18. A Discussion of Bones and Blood Vessels in the Body, and the Location of Vital Spots
  • 19. Suicide by Hanging
  • 20. Deaths by Beating and Choking Passed Off as Suicide by Hanging
  • 21. Death from Drowning
  • Chapter IV: 22. Inquests on Those Killed by Hands, Feet, or Other Weapons
  • 23. Suicides by Edged Weapons
  • 24. Murderous Injuries
  • 25. When the Head and Trunk are in Different Places
  • 26. Death by Burning
  • 27. Death from Scalding
  • 28. Taking Poison
  • 29. Death from Illness
  • 30. Deaths from Acupuncture and Moxibustion
  • 31. On the Recording of Depositions
  • Chapter V: 32. Inquests on Dead Prisoners
  • 33. Death from Corporal Punishment
  • 34. Deaths from Falls
  • 35. Death from Being Crushed
  • 36. Death from Suffocation
  • 37. Prodding to Death
  • 38. Trampling to Death by Horse or Buffalo
  • 39. Crushed to Death by Cart Wheels
  • 40. Death from Lightning
  • 41. Death from Tiger Bites
  • 42. Deaths from Snake, Reptile, or Insect Bites
  • 43. Deaths from Overeating or Overdrinking
  • 44. Deaths from Internal Injuries Resulting from Being Pummeled after Eating or Drinking to Excess
  • 45. Deaths from Sexual Excess
  • 46. Roadside Deaths
  • 47. Death after Which the Victim Has Lain Supine Overnight, in Which There Is a Slight Red Coloration
  • 48. Injuries Inflicted after Death by Insects, Rats, or Dogs
  • 49. Opening of Graves
  • 50. Holding Inquests on Corpses in Neighboring Subprefectures
  • 51. Methods for Dispersing Vileness
  • 52. Methods for Restoring Life
  • 53. Statements on the Inquest Report.

Description

T'zu's The Washing Away of Wrongs (Hsi yüan chi lu), printed in 1247, is the oldest extant book on forensic medicine in the world. Written as a guide for magistrates in conducting inquests, the book is a major source on early Chinese knowledge of pathology and morbid anatomy. Includes a lengthy introductory essay by the translator.  

Brian E. McKnight is Department Head and Professor of East Asian Studies at the University of Arizona.

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