liu 流ながれ, exile

Exile (liu 流ながれ, also called fang 放ひ, qian 遷, xi 徙, qianliu 遣や流ながれ, liupei 流ながれ配はい or peiliu 配流はいる) was a common means of punishment in ancient China. Delinquents were sent to remote border regions, where they served in military garrisons in compulsory labour, or as soldiers. Reports about exile in the wilderness are found in the oldest history books. Tang the Perfect 成なり湯ゆ, for instance, vanquished King Jie 桀 of the Xia dynasty 夏なつ (21th - 17th cent. BCE), and sent him into exile in Nanchao 南みなみ巢す, together with his consort Mo Xi 末すえ喜き. Yi Yin 伊い尹いん, a regent of the early Shang dynasty 商しょう (17th-11th cent. BCE), sent King Tai Jia 太ふとし甲かぶと (trad. r. 1753-1721) to Tonggong 桐きり宮みや to repent his tyrannic behaviour. King Li 周しゅう厲王 (r. 878-841 BCE) of the Zhou dynasty 周しゅう (11th cent.-221 BCE) was forced by his nobles into labour exile in Yi 彘.

During the Qin period 秦はた (221-206 BCE) it was possible to commute corporal punishment, like cutting off a foot, into lifelong exile in the borderlands. In 239 BCE, when the Lord of Chang'an 長安ながやす君くん rebelled against the king of Qin, his officers were executed, but his subjects sent to Lintao 臨洮 in the western mountains. Shortly later, the retainers of the traitor Lao Ai 嫪毐, more than 4,000 families, were exiled to Shu 蜀しょく (Sichuan).

In the penal code of the Northern Qi dynasty 北きた齊ひとし (550-577), exile was for the first time counted to the five capital punishments (wuxing 五ご刑けい), along with beating with the light stick (chi 笞むち), beating with the heavy stick (zhang 杖つえ), penal servitude (tu 徒と), and the death penalty (si 死し). In this canon, it was just second to the death penalty. The Northern Zhou 北きた周あまね (557-581) introduced five levels of punishment, with different distances from the capital city (Chang'an 長安ながやす, i.e. modern Xi'an 西安しーあん, Shaanxi): liu weifu 流ながれ衛まもる服ふく (2,500 li 里さと, see weights and measures), liu yaofu 流ながれ要よう服ふく (3,000 li), liu huangfu 流ながれ荒あら服ふく (3,500 li), liu zhenfu 流ながれ鎮服 (4,000 li), and liu fanfu 流ながれ蕃しげる服ふく (4,500 li). The longest period of exile lasted six years.

The Sui dynasty 隋ずい (581-618) reduced this pattern to three levels (san liu 三流さんりゅう), namely 1,000 li, 1,500 li, and 2,000 li, and the period of sentence ranged from 2 years to 3 years. The Tang dynasty 唐とう (618-907) extended the distances by 1,000 li each, but reduced the time of exilation, with the shortest counting one full year of labour, mainly in military garrisons in the borderland (see penal military service chongjun 充たかし軍ぐん, also called peili 配はい隸 or peijun 配はい軍ぐん). Persons serving extraordinarily for three years were called such with "increased labour exile" (jia yiliu 加か役やく流りゅう). In 632 Emperor Taizong 唐から太ふとし宗そう (r. 626-649) decreed that the death penalty could be commuted into increased labour exile.

In some cases exiled persons accommodated to their place of exile and after having served their sentence, requested to be registered in their "new home". This was called "permanent exile" (changliu 常つね流りゅう).

It was also possible to redeem (see redemption of punishments) the penalty of exile by donating copper to the authorities. This was allowed because the state needed copper for the production of coins. Exile in 2,000 li distance was redeemable by contributing 80 jin 斤きん (see weights and measures) of copper, 2,500 li by 90 jin, and 3,000 li by 100 jin of copper.

The Song dynasty 宋そう (960-1279) followed these regulations, but added to the punishment blows with the heavy stick: 17 blows on the back for 2,000 li, 18 for 2,500, and 20 for labour exile in 3,000 li. The penal code of the Yuan dynasty 元もと (1279-1368) did not provide exile. The Ming 明あきら (1368-1644) and Qing 清きよし (1644-1911) dynasties raised the redemption sums (30, 33, and 36 strings of copper) as well as the number of blows, with 100 in all cases, because the length of exile was always 3 years.