Where were the ancient exiles sent?

In ancient times, exiled prisoners were sent to the northwest, southwest, northeast and some islands, such as Huguang, Liaoyang, Guangdong and Guangxi, Fujian, Longnan, Anyuan, Tingzhou, Zhangzhou, Shengjing, Ningguta, Boduna and Heilongjiang.

Exile is a punishment of banishing criminals to remote areas for punishment. Its main function is to punish criminals by escorting sentenced people to remote or remote places in order to maintain social and ruling order.

Exile, as a punishment, is an important part of ancient Chinese legal system. Exile punishment has a long history in China. It took thousands of years from the appearance of ancient exile punishment to its abolition in the late Qing Dynasty.

Although the origin of exile punishment is very early, it has mostly appeared sporadically since ancient times, and it was not until the Qin and Han Dynasties that it gradually formed a system. It was not until the late Northern and Southern Dynasties that the punishment of exile began to enter the five-punishment system and occupied the position of the first-class heavy punishment of death penalty.

During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the system of five punishments centered on imprisonment and exile was formally established. Since then, exile has appeared in the history of punishment in China with a brand-new attitude, and has been affecting the late Qing Dynasty.

China in ancient times was a prosperous agricultural civilization country, and most people were bound to the land and moved. People generally emphasize familism, and many children are blessed. Four generations of children and grandchildren living under one roof has become the dream of most people in China. Under such circumstances, no matter who is punished by exile, it must be considered a very unfortunate thing.

In the traditional society of China, exile is a very unique political phenomenon, which is regarded by the rulers as a kind of punishment. The so-called "I can't bear to be killed, but I am far away" (the law of the Qing Dynasty and the law of famous cases) embodies the benevolent politics and cautious punishment advocated by Confucianism. However, in order to reduce the death penalty, the rulers of past dynasties have painstakingly changed the way of exile and created new forms of exile.

At the same time, the rulers of past dynasties also made great efforts to choose exile places in the vast territory of China. The secluded areas in the northwest, the tobacco-growing areas in the southwest, the bitter and cold places in the northeast and some islands have all become exile places, which have formed different exile standards in previous dynasties and created many famous refugee settlements.

Extended data:

The origin of exile:

Exile punishment originated in the late clan society and also existed in slave society, but it was only applicable to certain crimes of slave owners, nobles and relatives. Migration punishment and migration punishment in Qin and Han dynasties were similar to exile punishment, but their applicable objects were specific and narrow, so they were not widely used.

Exile punishment rose to statutory punishment, which was first used to punish ordinary people for crimes in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Later, Sui was designated as one of the five punishments, which lasted until the Qing Dynasty.

During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the five-punishment system was formally established, that is, banishing employees and banishing them to death. In the establishment of the five punishments system, the emergence of exile has special significance.

Although exile originated earlier, since Qin and Han Dynasties, this punishment method based on local cultural concepts has not been frequently implemented, which means that its punishment has not been tested by judicial practice for a long time, and it is obviously different from death penalty, imprisonment and flogging.

Secondly, the sporadic "flow" since Qin and Han dynasties is mostly to send prisoners to the border, and the focus of its implementation is still labor, not the flow itself, which is also very different from the characteristics of the five-punishment system.

In the late Northern and Southern Dynasties, exile entered the five-punishment system, occupying the position of the first-class heavy punishment, and changed the characteristics of labor punishment, with exile as the main punishment content.

Although the establishment of the five-punishment system is a milestone in the history of ancient punishment in China, the five-punishment system itself was flawed from the beginning. The key problem is that the punishment of exile is not strong enough and its position in the five-punishment system is inconsistent. This was very obvious in the Tang Dynasty, when the five punishments system was just established.

Baidu encyclopedia-exile

Baidu encyclopedia-exile