Editing Flaying (section)

==History==

=== Assyrian tradition ===
[[File:Flaying of rebels.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Assyria]]ns flaying their prisoners alive]]
Ernst G. Jung, in his ''Kleine Kulturgeschichte der Haut'' ("A short cultural history of the skin"), provides an essay in which he outlines the [[Neo-Assyrian]] tradition of flaying human beings.<ref>Paragraph based on the essay "''Von Ursprung des Schindens in Assyrien''" in ''Jung'' (2007), [https://books.google.com/books?id=LAnRRHPMmlcC&pg=PA67 p.67-70]</ref> Already from the times of [[Ashurnasirpal II]] (r. 883–859 BC), the practice is displayed and commemorated in both carvings and official royal edicts. The carvings show that the actual flaying process might begin at various places on the body, such as at the [[Crus (lower leg)|crus]] (lower leg), the thighs, or the buttocks.
[[File:Shield showing three flaying knives, symbol of St. Bartholomew.jpg|left|170px|thumb|Shield showing three flaying knives, symbol of [[Bartholomew the Apostle]]]]
In their royal edicts, the Neo-Assyrian kings seem to gloat over the terrible fate they imposed upon their captives, and that flaying seems, in particular, to be the fate meted out to rebel leaders. Jung provides some examples of this triumphant rhetoric. From Ashurnasirpal II:{{quote|I have made a pillar facing the city gate, and have flayed all the rebel leaders; I have clad the pillar in the flayed skins. I let the leaders of the conquered cities be flayed, and clad the city walls with their skins. The captives I have killed by the sword and flung on the dung heap.{{Citation needed |reason=source not clear |date=November 2016}}}}

The [[Rassam cylinder]] in the [[British Museum]] describes this: {{quote|Their corpses they hung on stakes, they took off their skins and covered the city wall with them.<ref>{{cite web |title=cylinder 91026 |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_Rm-1 |website=The British Museum |language=en}} Col.1, L.52 to Col.2, L. 27</ref>{{bsn|date=March 2023|reason=Non-primary source needed, I doubt the British Museum will let average editor in to verify the details}} }}

=== Other examples ===
Searing or cutting the flesh from the body was sometimes used as part of the public execution of [[Treason|traitors]] in medieval Europe. A similar mode of execution was used as late as the early 18th century in France; one such episode is graphically recounted in the opening chapter of [[Michel Foucault]]'s ''[[Discipline and Punish]]'' (1979).

In 1303, the treasury of [[Westminster Abbey]] was robbed while holding a large sum of money belonging to [[Edward I of England|King Edward I]]. After the arrest and interrogation of 48 monks, three of them, including the [[Prior (ecclesiastical)|subprior]] and [[Sacristan|sacrist]], were found guilty of the robbery and flayed. Their skin was attached to three doors as a warning against robbers of church and state.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Andrews |first1=William |title=The Church Treasury of History, Custom, Folk-Lore, etc. |date=1898 |publisher=Williams Andrews & Co. |location=London|pages=158–167 |url=http://www.elfinspell.com/England/Andrews/TheChurchTreasury/HumanSkinOnChurchDoors.html |access-date=4 May 2015}}</ref> At [[St Michael and All Angels Church, Copford|St Michael & All Angels Church]] in [[Copford]] in Essex, England, it is claimed that human skin was found attached to an old door, though evidence seems elusive.<ref name="Wall">Wall, J. Charles (1912), ''Porches and Fonts.'' Wells Gardner and Darton, London. pp. 41-42.</ref>

In Chinese history, [[Sun Hao]], [[Fu Sheng (Former Qin)|Fu Sheng]] and [[Gao Heng]] were known for removing skin from people's faces.<ref>. [http://www.chinamonitor.org/article/kuxing/zgkx.htm 中国死刑观察--中国的酷刑]</ref> The [[Hongwu Emperor]] flayed many servants, officials and rebels.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eywedu.com/lishiyanjiu/lsyj2001/lsyj20010414.html |title=也谈"剥皮实草"的真实性 |publisher=Eywedu.com |access-date=2013-07-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150521185121/http://www.eywedu.com/lishiyanjiu/lsyj2001/lsyj20010414.html |archive-date=2015-05-21 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[http://fjtct.now.cn:7751/zjjxs.com/msfq/msfq/msfq-6.htm 覃垕曬皮] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211212501/http://fjtct.now.cn:7751/zjjxs.com/msfq/msfq/msfq-6.htm |date=2007-12-11 }}</ref> [[Hai Rui]] suggested that his emperor flay corrupt officials. The [[Zhengde Emperor]] flayed six rebels,<ref>[[History of Ming]], vol.94</ref> and [[Zhang Xianzhong]] also flayed many people.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://book.sina.com.cn/nzt/history/his/lishizhenxiang/71.shtml |title=写入青史总断肠(2) |publisher=Book.sina.com.cn |access-date=2013-07-11}}</ref> [[Lu Xun]] said the [[Ming dynasty]] was begun and ended by flaying.<ref>鲁迅. ''且介亭雜文·病後雜談''</ref>