Punishment of the Tcha 照片檔

A detailed antique engraving depicting the Punishment of the Tcha, a traditional form of corporal punishment and public humiliation in imperial China, showing an official and bystanders gathered around a prisoner confined beneath a tree in a heavy wooden cangue, or tcha, a portable pillory designed to immobilize the wearer and restrict the use of the hands, while a traditional Chinese junk sails across the water in the background, providing a vivid historical representation of Qing-era criminal punishment, public spectacle, and everyday life.