Now Out: Essay 1269 on 拷 (torture)

If modern life involves unbearable cruelty, it’s oddly comforting that the past was even more brutal. Old Japanese payback for crimes included slicing off someone's nose and sawing off somebody’s head over several days. Learn to say, "The torture made him confess to crimes he had not committed," "The cruelty of the torture is beyond description," and "The prisoner died under torture."