8 August 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Researchers may have found 3,000-year-old evidence of Yue (Amputation), one of the five punishments practiced in ancient China

According to the South China Morning Post, researchers in China believe a skeleton discovered in a tomb in the country’s northwest is the first documented case of foot amputation (Yue) as a punishment for a crime.

According to the Peking University researchers, a biological investigation of the woman’s bones ruled out medical or other grounds for the amputation, and the victim survived for at least five years after the punishment was carried out.

In ancient China, amputating one or both feet was a practice known as the Yue and was one of the five punishments of ancient China. The “Five Penalties” system, was in place for at least a thousand years till about 200 BC.

Li Nan, pictured with her team, subjected the bone to a biomedical analysis.
Li Nan, pictured with her team, subjected the bone to biomedical analysis.

The so-called Five Punishments (wuxing) were the capital punishments in ancient China. According to legend, either the Yellow Emperor or the Xia dynasty (17th – 15th cent. BCE) adopted these as they were common penalties used by the southern Miao tribes.

The Confucian Classic Shangshu” Book of Documents” (chapter Lüxing) says that when Chi You brought chaos onto the earth, the Miao tribes created the five punishments: “They made the five punishments engines of oppression, calling them the laws. They slaughtered the innocent, and were the first also to go to excess in cutting off the nose, cutting off the ears, castration, and branding.”

In historical archives and artwork, there is plenty of proof supporting the practices. For instance, in the earliest Chinese written records, the Shang dynasty’s (circa 1600-1050 BC) bone inscriptions seem to show some images of a foot being cut off with a saw, which is the earliest form of the character for Yue.

Zhou dynasty bronzes show amputees, who were typically made to work as gatekeepers.

Western Zhou (from around 1046 to 771 BC) bronze vessels have some engravings showing people with one or both legs missing acting as gatekeepers. In the Spring and Autumn period (770-476 BC), foot amputation became such a common form of punishment that demand and prices for special shoes shot up.

The skeleton of the woman who is thought to be the earliest known punitive foot amputation case was found in a tomb at a cemetery at the site of Zhouyan near Baoji in China’s northwestern province of Shaanxi.

The amputee’s corpse was discovered during excavations that began in 1999, but it was pushed aside without any in-depth investigation because archaeologists were more interested in locating artifacts, of which there were few discovered at the site.

The location, which was the cradle of the Zhou civilization, is renowned as the “hometown of bronzes” because of the huge quantity of containers, oracle bones, and tombs that have been discovered there.  Oracle bones and tombs have also been discovered at the site.

The skeleton was found in 1999, but more recent technology helped scientists determine that the amputation had been carried out as a punishment.
The skeleton was found in 1999, but more recent technology helped scientists determine that the amputation had been carried out as a punishment. 

Li Nan, a postdoctoral researcher at Peking University, studied the bones. She said recent scientific and technological developments had made a further study of the remains worthwhile.

“People only regarded this human bone as an incomplete bone before, but when I had a certain knowledge reserve, I thought at first sight that it might be a case of amputation,” she said.

An X-ray study revealed that the bones belonged to a lady in her 30s or 35s who had her right foot amputated.

Sometimes patients with diseases such as diabetes, leprosy, and cancer, who had suffered frostbite or burns, had their limbs removed.

But a study of the bone density and structure of other parts of the skeleton ruled out disease.

The amputation had also caused serious deformities to the tibia and fibula – something that suggested it was not a medical operation because those leaves wounds that are relatively flat and smooth.

“Combining the biomedical analysis of the tomb occupier and the Yue amputees images engraved on bronze vessels unearthed from nearby tombs, it can be basically determined that this is an example of the Yue penalty and is the earliest known example,” Li said.

The team of researchers from Peking University, led by postdoctoral researcher Li Nan, has published a paper in Acta Anthropologica Sinica on the findings of their study.

Cover Pic: China Underground

Related Articles

Ancient Tomb of Korean Hostage Prince Found in China

21 July 2025

21 July 2025

Chinese archaeologists have uncovered the tomb of Kim Young, a hostage prince from the ancient Korean kingdom of Silla, in...

Temple of Olympian Zeus Horse Frieze Found a Depth of 9 Meters off the Coast of Agrigento, Sicily

5 February 2024

5 February 2024

A large marble relief believed to have been part of the Temple of Olympian Zeus frieze in Agrigento, Sicily, has...

Traces of a 3,600-year-old settlement have been discovered in Qatar’s desert

8 February 2022

8 February 2022

Researchers looking for underground water sources on the Eastern Arabian Peninsula have accidentally uncovered the outlines of a settlement that...

Drone Mapping Reveals Shockingly Huge Size of 3,000-Year-Old Caucasus Settlement

11 January 2025

11 January 2025

Using drone mapping, an academic from Cranfield University in the UK has revealed that Dmanisis Gora, a 3,000-year-old mountainside fortress...

The 3,200-year-old perfume of Tapputi, the first female chemist in history, came to life again

24 July 2022

24 July 2022

One of the scent formulas written in Akkadian on clay tablets by Tapputi, known as the world’s first female perfumer...

Archaeologists uncovered a 3,500-year-old Egyptian Royal Retreat in the Sinai Desert

5 May 2024

5 May 2024

An Egyptian mission uncovered the ruins of a 3,500-year-old “royal fortified rest area” at the Tel Habwa archaeological site in...

In Medieval burial ground, a rare embroidered Deisis depicting Jesus Christ was discovered

26 February 2023

26 February 2023

Russian archaeologists have uncovered a rare embroidered Deisis depicting Jesus Christ in a medieval burial ground. 46 graves have been...

Recent Excavations in Spain Reveal 7th Century BCE Religious Structure, Showcasing Eastern Influences within Tartessian Culture

18 February 2025

18 February 2025

A research team led by the National University of Distance Education (UNED) has made an important archaeological discovery at the...

Earliest evidence for intestinal parasites in the UK came from Stonehenge

20 May 2022

20 May 2022

Researchers think they have discovered the earliest evidence for intestinal parasites in the UK. Ancient poop found at the site...

An Ampulla was discovered for the first time in the ancient city of Dara, Turkey

11 January 2022

11 January 2022

An ampulla was found for the first time in the ancient city of Dara, located in the province of Mardin...

Young Maya Maize God’s Severed Head found in Palenque

4 June 2022

4 June 2022

Archaeologists from the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), an approximately 1,300-year-old sculpture of the head of the Young...

Mysterious Rods Found in 5,500-year-old Tomb identified to Be Earliest Drinking Straws

19 January 2022

19 January 2022

Russian archaeologists argue that the rods unearthed in an early bronze age tomb in the Caucasus are the oldest known...

Freshwater and marine shells used as ornaments 30,000 years ago discovered in Spain

7 June 2023

7 June 2023

In Malaga’s Cueva de Ardales, up to 13 freshwater and marine shells that were carefully transformed by humans between 25,000...

Beyond Roman Exaggerations: Ancient Genomes Reveal an Iron Age Society Centered on Women in Britain

5 February 2025

5 February 2025

A team of researchers led by Dr. Lara Cassidy and Professor Daniel Bradley from Trinity College Dublin has uncovered evidence...

A relief of a man holding his Phallus was found in Sayburç, one of the Taş Tepeler

18 October 2021

18 October 2021

In Sayburç, one of the Taş Tepeler in Şanlıurfa, a five-figure scene consisting of humans, leopards, and a bull was...