People are flooding to social media in horror over an old punishment method in China which really drags out the ‘final grip of death’

People are flooding to social media in horror over an image of a capital punishment method which took place in China.

Throughout history, across the globe, many countries have come up with some extremely inventive, gruesome and petrifying ways to punish those who disobey the rules.

From ancient Greek authorities’ bronze bull to being locked in a wooden crate in Mongolia, another form of punishment has been caught on camera and it’s making social media users feel very glad they were born in the modern day.

The photograph

A Reddit user u/Clean_Chard_2570 took to the thread r/interestingasf**k to reshare a post from r/SnapshotHistory.

The caption reads: “In 1930s China, a murderer was publicly caged in a ‘cangue,’ left to die from exposure, starvation, and thirst as a form of severe punishment and deterrent.”

The image shows a man standing inside a wooden cage, only his head peeking out the top.

Crowds can be seen gathered round watching him as he stands there.

However, it’s important to note the timeframe is likely slightly different to the date the original user first stated.

A man in a wooden cage in China. (General Photographic Agency/Getty Images)

Time period

A user u/Weinsteinjin questioned the timeframe for the image, noting The Qing Dynasty which was ‘famous for using various harsh methods of torture and execution, including the one in this photo’ fell in 1911.

U/AgentDagonet then responded by sharing another image of a similar torture method, adding the photo is more likely from around ‘1899’.

And if you thought the capital punishment method was simply forcing someone to stand in a wooden cage, then sadly you’re gravely mistaken.

Unsurprisingly, social media users aren’t so keen on the form of punishment. (Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

The method

U/granniesmeatflaps revealed: “Sometimes, a quick beheading was the easy way out. Here, a man is pictured standing in a box, as a crowd watches his progress. This is not a posed shot.

“The convicted man has been here for a few days. He is standing on a pile of thin stones (or wooden planks). Every day, one piece is pulled out, until you can no longer stand, and either your neck snaps under the weight of your body pulling on it, or else you slowly strangle to death.

“The worst part is when you think you can put off death by standing on your tip-toes, and start to panic in that position… ….and then you discover that you cannot stay your toes for as long as you thought you could.

“Those last hours are the worst, until the moment comes when you let your body go limp for a moment to long – that moment when you hope for a rest and respite for your exhausted legs that have been struggling on and off to remain on tip-toes – and then the stretching and snapping of the neck, or strangulation against the collar of splintered wood that holds your neck in the final grip of death.”

And it’s not taken long for people to flood to Reddit in horror over the method.

One user said: “I hope he was actually guilty,” as a second added: “I feel like he could have got out of that cage.”

And a third resolved: “I’m going to make sure I don’t murder anyone in 1930s China from here on out.”