This seemingly strange action is actually considered a job to protect the executioners from a terrifying force that was believed to exist at that time.
In the history of feudal China, executioner was considered a relatively special profession. However, in 1912 when the Qing dynasty perished, the collapse of feudal society also led to the disappearance of this particular profession.
Even so, to this day, one can still see the image of an executioner in many Chinese films set in ancient times.
But the point that few people pay attention to is that, before executing, the executioners at that time had the habit of taking a sip of wine in their mouth and then spraying on the blade.
So what was the reason why they had to perform this strange act before beheading the prisoner?
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In fact, each type of profession has certain rules when practicing. The executioner profession is no exception.
Even these practitioners before and after the execution have more points to pay attention to. Because this is a special profession, the things that need to be taboo are naturally more.
Starting from the point of view of accumulating virtue and doing good, many people often consider the profession of killing others as an executioner as a cruel and barbaric profession.
But the truth is that wanting to be a real executioner is not easy. Even if the execution is not done, they are still at risk of being found by the inmate’s family.
Therefore, before going to the execution ground, an executioner will have to undergo extremely rigorous training.
When they first learn the trade, they will practice cutting watermelons and wooden stakes, and must practice to the level of a knife that can cut everything in half to be considered qualified.
And it is not until they have completed all the rigorous and arduous training steps that the executioners are officially qualified to step onto the execution ground.
The truth behind the act of spraying wine to sacrifice: The ritual of sacrifice became the “underground law” of the executioner world
In addition to the above skills, ancient Chinese executioners had to remember and adhere to many other principles. The spraying of alcohol on the blade before execution is also among them.
According to Qulishi, this was not actually a mandatory requirement, but it became an unwritten law among executioners at that time.
Therefore, as long as they do not fall into special situations, the executioners will perform the above action before proceeding to cut off the prisoner’s head.
In fact, taking a sip of wine and then spraying it on the blade actually originates from the somewhat superstitious concept of the ancients.
Accordingly, sacrificial wine spraying is actually a method of sacrifice. The reason executioners have to do this is because their profession is originally a profession of taking heads, they believe that this practice is easily disturbed by spirits, and that spraying alcohol on the blade will avoid being disturbed by demons.
Except for the above action, it is not difficult to see that ancient executioners often wore red shirts and wrapped a red scarf over their heads.
This habit also has the purpose of warding off evil spirits such as spraying sacrificial wine, because the ancients believed that demons were afraid of the color red.
Therefore, the above seemingly strange actions of the executioners are actually only for the purpose of protecting themselves against the spiritual forces that they believe exist.
Looking back now, the origins of these actions probably all stem from many superstitious notions that existed in ancient Chinese feudal society.