1
刑法有創之自明，不衷古制者，廷杖、東西廠、錦衣衛、鎮撫司獄是已。 是數者，殺人至慘，而不麗於法。 踵而行之，至末造而極。 舉朝野命，一聽之武夫、宦豎之手，良可歎也。
The Ming introduced several punishments and legal practices that broke with ancient precedent—among them court beatings, the Eastern and Western Depots, the Embroidered Guard, and the Pacification Office prisons. Each of these institutions killed with extraordinary cruelty and operated outside the bounds of formal law. Successive rulers kept them in use until, in the dynasty's closing decades, they reached their worst excess. Court and country alike entrusted their fate to military thugs and eunuch henchmen—a state of affairs that can only inspire sorrow.
2
太祖常與侍臣論待大臣禮。 太史令劉基曰：「古者公卿有罪，盤水加劍，詣請室自裁，未嘗輕折辱之，所以存大臣之體。」 侍讀學士詹同因取《大戴禮》及賈誼疏以進，且曰：「古者刑不上大夫。 以勵廉恥也。 必如是，君臣恩禮始兩盡。」 帝深然之。
The Hongwu Emperor often discussed with his close advisers how great ministers ought to be treated. Grand Astrologer Liu Ji said, "In antiquity, when a duke or minister was guilty, he was presented with a basin of water and a sword and went to the execution chamber to take his own life. He was never casually humiliated—that was how the dignity of high office was preserved." Reader-in-Waiting and Academician Zhan Tong then cited the Da Dai Li and Jia Yi's memorial and added, "In antiquity, punishment did not reach men of great office. The purpose was to encourage integrity and shame. Only in this way could the bond of grace and ritual between ruler and minister be fulfilled on both sides." The Emperor was deeply persuaded.
3
洪武六年，工部尚書王肅坐法當笞，太祖曰：「六卿貴重，不宜以細故辱。」 命以俸贖罪。 後羣臣罣誤，許以俸贖，始此。 然永嘉侯朱亮祖父子皆鞭死，工部尚書薛祥斃杖下，故上書者以大臣當誅不宜加辱為言。 廷杖之刑，亦自太祖始矣。 宣德三年，怒御史嚴皚、方鼎、何傑等沈湎酒色，久不朝參，命枷以徇。 自此言官有荷校者。 至正統中，王振擅權，尚書劉中敷，侍郎吳璽、陳瑺，祭酒李時勉率受此辱，而殿陛行杖習為故事矣。 成化十五年，汪直誣陷侍郎馬文升、都御史牟俸等，詔責給事御史李俊、王浚輩五十六人容隱，廷杖人二十。 正德十四年，以諫止南巡，廷杖舒芬、黃鞏等百四十六人，死者十一人。 嘉靖三年，羣臣爭大禮，廷仗豐熙等百三十四人，死者十六人。 中年刑法益峻，雖大臣不免笞辱。 宣大總督翟鵬、薊州巡撫朱方以撤防早，宣大總督郭宗皋、大同巡撫陳燿以寇入大同，刑部侍郎彭黯、左都御史屠僑、大理卿沈良才以議丁汝夔獄緩，戎政侍郎蔣應奎、左通政唐國相以子弟冒功，皆逮杖之。 方、燿斃於杖下，而黯、僑、良纔等杖畢，趣治事。 公卿之辱，前此未有。 又因正旦朝賀，怒六科給事中張思靜等，皆朝服予杖，天下莫不駭然。 四十餘年間，杖殺朝士，倍蓰前代。 萬曆五年，以爭張居正奪情，杖吳中行等五人。 其後盧洪春、孟養浩、王德完輩咸被杖，多者至一百。 後帝益厭言者，疏多留中，廷杖寢不用。 天啟時，太監王體乾奉赦大審，重笞戚畹李承恩，以悅魏忠賢。 於是萬燝、吳裕中斃於杖下，臺省力爭不得。 閣臣葉向高言：「數十年不行之敝政，三見於旬日，萬萬不可再行。」 忠賢乃罷廷仗，而以所欲殺者悉下鎮撫司，士大夫益無噍類矣。
In the sixth year of Hongwu (1373), Minister of Works Wang Su was liable under the law to be caned. The Founder said, "The six ministers hold exalted rank and should not be disgraced over a trifling offense." He ordered that Wang redeem the offense with his salary. Thereafter, when officials were implicated in minor offenses, they were allowed to redeem punishment with salary—this practice began here. Yet Marquis of Yongjia Zhu Liangzu and his son were both flogged to death, and Minister of Works Xue Xiang died under the beating-sticks; memorialists therefore argued that ministers who merited execution should not also be subjected to humiliation. Court beatings, too, began under the Founder. In the third year of Xuande (1428), enraged that Censors Yan Ai, Fang Ding, He Jie, and others had long neglected court audience in favor of wine and women, the emperor ordered them placed in cangues and paraded as a public warning. From this point on, remonstrating officials were sometimes made to wear the cangue in public. By the Zhengtong reign (1436–1449), with Wang Zhen wielding unchecked power, Minister Liu Zhongfu, Vice Ministers Wu Xi and Chen Yao, and Libationer Li Shimian were among those who suffered this disgrace, and beatings on the palace steps became routine. In the fifteenth year of Chenghua (1479), Wang Zhi framed Vice Minister Ma Wensheng, Censor-in-Chief Mou Feng, and others; an edict rebuked fifty-six supervising secretaries and censors, including Li Jun and Wang Jun, for concealing the affair, and twenty men received court beatings. In the fourteenth year of Zhengde (1519), for opposing the emperor's southern tour, one hundred forty-six officials including Shu Fen and Huang Gong were beaten at court; eleven died. In the third year of Jiajing (1524), during the Grand Rites controversy, one hundred thirty-four officials including Feng Xi were beaten at court; sixteen died. In the middle period of his reign, penal practice grew ever harsher, and even senior ministers were not spared caning and public humiliation. Xuan-Da Governor-General Zhai Peng and Jizhou Grand Coordinator Zhu Fang were beaten for withdrawing defenses too early; Xuan-Da Governor-General Guo Zonggao and Datong Grand Coordinator Chen Yao, for allowing the enemy into Datong; Vice Minister of Justice Peng An, Left Censor-in-Chief Tu Qiao, and Chief Justice Shen Liangcai, for moving too slowly on the Ding Ru'ao case; Vice Minister of Military Affairs Jiang Yingkui and Left Commissioner Tang Guoxiang, because their sons had falsely claimed merit—all were seized and beaten at court. Zhu Fang and Chen Yao died under the rods; Peng An, Tu Qiao, Shen Liangcai, and others, once the beating ended, were sent straight back to their duties. Humiliation of this kind visited upon senior ministers was unprecedented. On another occasion, at the New Year's court audience, he grew angry with the six-section supervising secretaries Zhang Sijing and others and had them beaten while still in full court dress; the whole empire was stunned. Over more than forty years, the number of court officials beaten to death far exceeded that of any previous age. In the fifth year of Wanli (1577), for opposing Zhang Juzheng's refusal to leave mourning, Wu Zhongxing and four others were beaten at court. Thereafter Lu Hongchun, Meng Yanghao, Wang Dewan, and others were beaten as well; in some cases the count reached one hundred strokes. Later the emperor grew ever more impatient with remonstrators; memorials were often held back in the palace, and court beatings gradually ceased. During the Tianqi reign (1621–1627), eunuch Wang Tigan, conducting the great amnesty review, heavily caned imperial kinsman Li Chengen to please Wei Zhongxian. Wan Huang and Wu Yuzhong died under the rods; the censorate protested in vain. Grand Secretary Ye Xianggao said, "A corrupt practice abandoned for decades has resurfaced three times in ten days. It must not be allowed to continue." Zhongxian then suspended court beatings and sent everyone he wished to destroy to the Pacification Office prison; scholar-officials had ever less chance of survival.
4
南京行杖，始於成化十八年。 南御史李珊等以歲祲請振。 帝摘其疏中訛字，令錦衣衛詣南京午門前，人杖二十，守備太監監之。 至正德間，南御史李熙劾貪吏觸怒劉瑾，矯旨杖三十。 時南京禁衛久不行刑，選卒習數日，乃杖之，幾斃。
Court beatings in Nanjing began in the eighteenth year of Chenghua (1482). Southern Censor Li Shan and others petitioned for famine relief after a year of crop failure. The emperor seized on errors in their memorial and ordered the Embroidered Guard to the Meridian Gate at Nanjing; each man received twenty strokes under the supervision of the garrison eunuch. By the Zhengde reign, Southern Censor Li Xi impeached a corrupt official and provoked Liu Jin, who forged an edict ordering thirty strokes. The Nanjing guard had long ceased to administer corporal punishment; selected soldiers practiced for several days before beating him, and he nearly died.
5
東廠之設，始於成祖。 錦衣衛之獄，太祖嘗用之，後已禁止，其復用亦自永樂時。 廠與衛相倚，故言者並稱廠衛。 初，成祖起北平，刺探宮中事，多以建文帝左右為耳目。 故即位後專倚宦官，立東廠於東安門北，令嬖暱者提督之，緝訪謀逆妖言大奸惡等，與錦衣衛均權勢，蓋遷都後事也。 然衛指揮紀綱、門達等大幸，更迭用事，廠權不能如。 至憲宗時，尚銘領東廠，又別設西廠刺事，以汪直督之，所領緹騎倍東廠。 自京師及天下，旁午偵事，雖王府不免。 直中廢復用，先後凡六年，冤死者相屬，勢遠出衛上。 會直數出邊監軍，大學士萬安乃言：「太宗建北京，命錦衣官校緝訪，猶恐外官徇情，故設東廠，令內臣提督，行五六十年，事有定規。 往者妖狐夜出，人心驚惶，感勞聖慮，添設西廠，特命直督緝，用戒不虞，所以權一時之宜，慰安人心也。 向所紛擾，臣不贅言。 今直鎮大同，京城眾口一辭，皆以革去西廠為便。 伏望聖恩特旨革罷，官校悉回原衛，宗社幸甚。」 帝從之。 尚銘專用事，未幾亦黜。 弘治元年，員外郎張倫請廢東廠。 不報。 然孝宗仁厚，廠衛無敢橫，司廠者羅祥、楊鵬，奉職而已。
The Eastern Depot was established under Chengzu (Yongle). The Embroidered Guard prisons had been used under the Founder but were later banned; their revival likewise began in the Yongle reign. The Depot and the Guard relied on each other, so commentators spoke of them together as the "Depot and Guard." When Chengzu first rose in Beiping, he spied on palace affairs, relying largely on men from the Jianwen emperor's circle as informants. After his accession he relied exclusively on eunuchs, established the Eastern Depot north of Dong'an Gate, and placed his favorites in charge to investigate treason, seditious talk, and grave crimes; it shared power equally with the Embroidered Guard—a development of the post-relocation capital. Yet Guard commanders such as Ji Gang and Men Da, as imperial favorites, held power in turn, and the Depot could not rival them. Under Xianzong, Shang Ming headed the Eastern Depot while a separate Western Depot was set up for intelligence work under Wang Zhi; the mounted guards at his command were twice the Eastern Depot's strength. From the capital to the provinces, agents crisscrossed the land on surveillance missions; even princely establishments were not spared. Wang Zhi was dismissed and restored mid-career; over six years in all, victims of wrongful death followed one after another, and his power far outstripped the Guard's. As Wang Zhi repeatedly went to the frontier to supervise troops, Grand Secretary Wan An said, "When Taizong built Beijing, he ordered Embroidered Guard officers to conduct investigations, still fearing that outside officials might show favoritism; hence the Eastern Depot, placed under inner eunuchs. For fifty or sixty years the arrangement has had settled rules. When a demon fox was reported abroad at night, the people were alarmed and His Majesty was troubled; the Western Depot was added and Wang Zhi was specially charged with investigations to guard against unforeseen trouble—a temporary expedient meant to reassure the public. I will not rehearse at length the disturbances that followed. Now that Wang Zhi is garrisoned at Datong, everyone in the capital agrees that abolishing the Western Depot would be best. I humbly beg that Your Majesty issue a special edict abolishing it and return all officers and guards to their original posts—the altars of state would be greatly fortunate." The emperor accepted his advice. Shang Ming monopolized power but was soon dismissed too. In the first year of Hongzhi (1488), Assistant Department Director Zhang Lun petitioned to abolish the Eastern Depot. The court gave no response. Yet Xiaozong was benevolent and magnanimous; the Depot and Guard dared not throw their weight around; Luo Xiang and Yang Peng, who ran the Depot, merely performed their duties.
6
正德元年，殺東廠太監王嶽，命丘聚代之，又設西廠以命穀大用，皆劉瑾黨也。 兩廠爭用事，遣邏卒刺事四方。 南康吳登顯等戲競渡龍舟，身死家籍。 遠州僻壤，見鮮衣怒馬作京師語者，轉相避匿。 有司聞風，密行賄賂。 於是無賴子乘機為奸，天下皆重足立。 而衛使石文義亦瑾私人，廠衛之勢合矣。 瑾又改惜薪司外薪廠為辦事廠，榮府舊倉地為內辦事廠，自領之。 京師謂之內行廠，雖東西廠皆在伺察中，加酷烈焉。 且創例，罪無輕重皆決杖，永遠戍邊，或枷項發遣。 枷重至百五十斤，不數日輒死。 尚寶卿顧璿、副使姚祥、工部郎張瑋、御史王時中輩並不免，瀕死而後謫戍。 御史柴文顯、汪澄以微罪至淩遲。 官吏軍民非法死者數千。 瑾誅，西廠、內行廠俱革，獨東廠如故。 張銳領之，與衛使強尼並以輯事恣羅織。 廠衛之稱由此著也。
In the first year of Zhengde (1506), Eastern Depot eunuch Wang Yue was killed and Qiu Ju appointed in his place; the Western Depot was re-established under Gu Dayong—all were part of Liu Jin's faction. The two Depots competed for power and sent patrol guards to spy throughout the realm. Wu Dengxian of Nankang and others staged a playful dragon-boat race; they were executed and their households confiscated. In remote prefectures, the sight of men in bright clothes on spirited horses speaking the capital dialect sent people fleeing in every direction. Local officials, catching wind of their approach, secretly offered bribes. Ruffians seized the opportunity to commit crimes, and the whole empire lived in fear, afraid to move. Guard Commissioner Shi Wenyi was also one of Jin's men; the Depot and Guard were now fully aligned. Jin further converted the Fuelwood Office's outer fuel depot into an Operations Depot and the old warehouse grounds of the Rong princely establishment into an Inner Operations Depot, which he personally supervised. The capital called it the Inner Operations Depot; even the Eastern and Western Depots fell under its surveillance, and its methods were more brutal still. He also set new precedents: regardless of the offense's gravity, all offenders were beaten and exiled permanently to the frontier, or sent away wearing the cangue. The cangue could weigh as much as one hundred fifty jin; victims died within days. Director of the Imperial Treasuries Gu Xuan, Vice Commissioner Yao Xiang, Ministry of Works Bureau Director Zhang Wei, Censor Wang Shizhong, and others were not spared; on the verge of death they were banished to frontier service. Censors Chai Wenxian and Wang Cheng were sentenced to dismemberment for minor offenses. Thousands of officials, soldiers, and commoners died unlawfully. After Jin's execution, the Western Depot and Inner Operations Depot were abolished; only the Eastern Depot remained. Zhang Rui headed it; together with Guard Commissioner Qiang Ni they used investigations to fabricate cases at will. From this point the joint term "Depot and Guard" became firmly established.
7
嘉靖二年，東廠芮景賢任千戶陶淳，多所誣陷。 給事中劉最執奏，謫判廣德州。 御史黃德用使乘傳往。 會有顏如環者同行，以黃袱裹裝。 景賢即奏，逮下獄，最等編戍有差。 給事中劉濟言：「最罪不至戍。 且緝執於宦寺之門，鍛煉於武夫之手，裁決於內降之旨，何以示天下？」 不報。 是時盡罷天下鎮守太監，而大臣狃故事，謂東廠祖宗所設，不可廢，不知非太祖制也。 然世宗馭中官嚴，不敢恣，廠權不及衛使陸炳遠矣。
In the second year of Jiajing (1523), Eastern Depot head Rui Jingxian employed chiliarch Tao Chun, who fabricated numerous false charges. Supervising Secretary Liu Zui remonstrated firmly and was demoted to magistrate of Guangde Prefecture. Censor Huang Deyong was dispatched by relay post. A man named Yan Ruhuan happened to travel with them, his baggage wrapped in yellow brocade. Jingxian immediately memorialized; they were arrested and imprisoned; Liu Zui and the others were assigned to frontier service in varying degrees. Supervising Secretary Liu Ji said, "Liu Zui's offense did not warrant banishment to the frontier. Moreover, when arrests are made at eunuchs' gates, confessions forged by military brutes, and verdicts handed down by secret inner edicts—how can such justice be shown to the empire?" The court gave no response. At this time garrison eunuchs throughout the realm were dismissed, yet senior ministers clung to precedent, claiming the Eastern Depot had been established by the imperial ancestors and could not be abolished—not realizing it was not the Founder's institution. Yet Shizong kept inner eunuchs on a tight rein; they dared not run wild; Depot power fell far short of Guard Commissioner Lu Bing's.
8
萬曆初，馮保以司禮兼廠事，建廠東上北門之北，曰內廠，而以初建者為外廠。 保與張居正興王大臣獄，欲族高拱，衛使朱希孝力持之，拱得無罪，衛猶不大附廠也。 中年，礦稅使數出為害，而東廠張誠、孫暹、陳矩皆恬靜。 矩治妖書獄，無株濫，時頗稱之。 會帝亦無意刻核，刑罰用稀，廠衛獄中至生青草。 及天啟時，魏忠賢以秉筆領廠事，用衛使田爾耕、鎮撫許顯純之徒，專以酷虐鉗中外，而廠衛之毒極矣。
Early in the Wanli reign, Feng Bao, holding the Directorate of Ceremonial while also running Depot affairs, built a new depot north of the upper east gate, called the Inner Depot; the original establishment became the Outer Depot. Bao and Zhang Juzheng raised the Wang Dachen case, seeking to exterminate Gao Gong's clan; Guard Commissioner Zhu Xixiao firmly resisted, and Gong was cleared; the Guard still did not align closely with the Depot. In the middle years of his reign, mining-tax envoys repeatedly went out to prey on the provinces, yet Eastern Depot heads Zhang Cheng, Sun Xian, and Chen Ju were all restrained. Chen Ju handled the demon-book case without indiscriminate implication and won some praise at the time. The emperor had no taste for harsh scrutiny; punishments were rarely imposed; grass even grew in the Depot and Guard prisons. By the Tianqi reign, Wei Zhongxian, holding the brush while running Depot affairs, employed Guard Commissioner Tian Ergeng, Pacification Commissioner Xu Xianchun, and their ilk to terrorize court and country alike; the Depot and Guard reached the height of their cruelty.
9
凡中官掌司禮監印者，其屬稱之曰宗主，而督東廠者曰督主。 東廠之屬無專官，掌刑千戶一，理刑百戶一，亦謂之貼刑，皆衛官。 其隸役悉取給於衛，最輕黠獧巧者乃撥充之。 役長曰檔頭，帽上銳，衣青素衤旋褶，系小絛，白皮靴，專主伺察。 其下番子數人為幹事。 京師亡命，誆財挾仇，視幹事者為窟穴。 得一陰事，由之以密白於檔頭，檔頭視其事大小，先予之金。 事曰起數，金曰買起數。 既得事，帥番子至所犯家，左右坐曰打樁。 番子即突入執訊之。 無有佐證符牒，賄如數，徑去。 少不如意，扌旁治之，名曰乾醡酒，亦曰搬罾兒，痛楚十倍官刑。 且授意使牽有力者，有力者予多金，即無事。 或靳不予，予不足，立聞上，下鎮撫司獄，立死矣。 每月旦，廠役數百人，掣簽庭中，分瞰官府。 其視中府諸處會審大獄、北鎮撫司考訊重犯者曰聽記。 他官府及各城門訪緝曰坐記。 某官行某事，某城門得某奸，胥吏疏白坐記者上之廠曰打事件。 至東華門，雖夤夜，投隙中以入，即屏人達至尊。 以故事無大小，天子皆得聞之。 家人米鹽猥事，宮中或傳為笑謔，上下惴惴無不畏打事件者。 衛之法亦如廠。 然須具疏，乃得上聞，以此其勢不及廠遠甚。 有四人夜飲密室，一人酒酣，謾駡魏忠賢，其三人噤不敢出聲。 罵未訖，番人攝四人至忠賢所，即磔罵者，而勞三人金。 三人者魄喪不敢動。
Whenever an inner eunuch held the Directorate of Ceremonial seal, his subordinates called him Patriarch; the one who supervised the Eastern Depot was called Supervisor Patriarch. The Eastern Depot had no dedicated officials of its own; one chiliarch managed punishments and one centurion handled cases—called "attached punishers"—all drawn from the Guard. Its staff were all drawn from the Guard; only the nimblest and most cunning were assigned. The head servant was called a "file-head": peaked cap, blue-gray collarless jacket and pleated skirt, small cord at the waist, white leather boots—devoted exclusively to surveillance. Beneath him several "banner-men" served as operatives. Capital fugitives who swindled for money or nursed grudges treated the operatives as their refuge. When they uncovered a secret, they reported it confidentially to the file-head, who judged the affair's importance and paid them in advance. The case was called "raising the count"; the payment was called "buying the count." Once a case was secured, they led the banner-men to the accused's home and seated themselves on either side—a procedure called "driving the stake." The banner-men would burst in at once, seize the accused, and interrogate them. Without supporting documents or warrants, once bribes were paid as demanded, they departed at once. At the slightest displeasure they would beat and torture victims—methods called "dry press wine" and "hauling the seine," whose agony exceeded official punishments tenfold. They also instructed informants to implicate powerful figures—but if those figures paid a large bribe, the matter ended there. If someone refused to pay or paid too little, word was immediately sent upward; the victim was thrown into the Pacification Office prison and was as good as dead. On the first day of each month, several hundred Depot operatives drew lots in the courtyard and were dispatched to surveil government offices. Surveillance of joint trials of major cases at central prefectural offices and of the northern Pacification Office's interrogation of serious offenders was called "listening records." Surveillance at other government offices and city-gate investigations was called "sitting records." When a clerk submitted a sitting-record report to the Depot—"Official X did Y; Gate Z caught culprit W"—it was called a "striking event." Reports reached the Donghua Gate; even at dead of night the bearers slipped through gaps in the gate, dismissed attendants, and delivered the message directly to the emperor. By established practice, matters great and small alike were brought to the emperor's ears. Trivial household gossip might circulate in the palace as amusement—but court and realm alike trembled in fear of "striking events." The Embroidered Guard operated much like the Depot. The Guard, however, had to submit a formal memorial before reports reached the throne—so its power fell far short of the Depot's. Four men were drinking in a private room one night. One, drunk, casually cursed Wei Zhongxian; the other three sat frozen in silence. Before the curses ended, banner-men seized all four and brought them to Zhongxian. The curser was immediately dismembered; the other three were shaken down for gold. The three men's souls were shattered; they did not dare move.
10
莊烈帝即位，忠賢伏誅，而王體乾、王永祚、鄭之惠、李承芳、曹化淳、王德化、王之心、王化民、齊本正等相繼領廠事，告密之風未嘗息也。 之心、化淳敘緝奸功，廕弟侄錦衣衛百戶，而德化及東廠理刑吳道正等偵閣臣薛國觀陰事，國觀由此死。 時衛使慴廠威已久，大抵俯首為所用。 崇禎十五年，御史楊仁願言：「高皇帝設官，無所謂緝事衙門者。 臣下不法，言官直糾之，無陰訐也。 後以肅清輦轂，乃建東廠。 臣待罪南城，所閱詞訟，多以假番故訴冤。 夫假稱東廠，害猶如此，況其真乎？ 此由積重之勢然也。 所謂積重之勢者，功令比較事件，番役每懸價以買事件，受買者至誘人為奸盜而賣之，番役不問其從來，誘者分利去矣。 挾忿首告，誣以重法，挾者志無不逞矣。 伏願寬東廠事件，而後東廠之比較可緩，東廠之比較緩，而後番役之買事件與賣事件者俱可息，積重之勢庶幾可稍輕。」 後復切言緹騎不當遣。 帝為諭東廠，言所緝止謀逆亂倫，其作奸犯科，自有司存，不宜緝，並戒錦衣校尉之橫索者。 然帝倚廠衛益甚，至國亡乃已。
When the Chongzhen Emperor came to the throne, Zhongxian was executed—but Wang Tiqian, Wang Yongzuo, Zheng Zhihui, Li Chenfang, Cao Huachun, Wang Dehua, Wang Zhixin, Wang Huamin, Qi Benzheng, and others took the Depot in succession, and the culture of secret denunciation never abated. Zhixin and Huachun recorded their merits in apprehending offenders and secured hereditary posts in the Embroidered Guard for brothers and nephews. Dehua, the Eastern Depot magistrate Wu Daozheng, and others meanwhile spied on Grand Secretary Xue Guoguan's private affairs—leading to Guoguan's death. By then the Guard commander had long been cowed by the Depot's authority and largely did its bidding. In Chongzhen year 15, Censor Yang Renyuan said: "When the dynastic founder established the bureaucracy, there was no such institution as an intelligence bureau. When officials broke the law, remonstrating censors impeached them directly—without secret denunciations. Later, to purify the capital, the Eastern Depot was established. In my posting in the Southern City, I see many lawsuits in which people plead injustice because of impostor Depot operatives. When even impostors cause such harm, how much worse is the real Depot? This is the consequence of institutional overreach compounded over time. The 'accumulated weight' means this: performance quotas required a quota of striking events, so banner-servants posted prices to buy cases. Sellers went so far as to lure innocents into crime and then sell them as culprits; the banner-servants never asked how the case arose—the entrapers took their cut and departed." Anyone nursing a grievance could denounce another and fabricate a capital charge—and invariably get revenge. I humbly ask that the Depot's striking-event quotas be relaxed. Relax the quotas, and both buyers and sellers of cases may cease—the accumulated weight might then be lightened. Afterward he again urged that brocade-clad mounted agents not be dispatched. The emperor instructed the Eastern Depot that investigations should be limited to treason and violations of human relations; ordinary crimes remained within the jurisdiction of regular offices. He also admonished the Embroidered Guard's runner-officers against extortion. Yet the emperor relied on the Depots and Guard more heavily than ever—a dependence that ended only with the dynasty's fall.
11
錦衣衛獄者，世所稱詔獄也。 古者獄訟掌於司寇而已。 漢武帝始置詔獄二十六所，歷代因革不常。 五代唐明宗設侍衛親軍馬步軍都指揮使，乃天子自將之名。 至漢有侍衛司獄，凡大事皆決焉。 明錦衣衛獄近之，幽系慘酷，害無甚於此者。
The Embroidered Guard prison was what the world called the imperial prison. In antiquity, prisons and legal proceedings were handled solely by the Minister of Justice. Emperor Wu of Han first established twenty-six imperial prisons; later dynasties modified the system repeatedly. In the Five Dynasties, Tang Mingzong created the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Personal Guards' Cavalry and Infantry—a title signifying the emperor's direct command of troops. Under Later Han, the Personal Guard Office maintained its own prison where all major cases were adjudicated. The Ming Embroidered Guard prison was its counterpart—secret imprisonment of extraordinary cruelty; no institution wrought greater harm.
12
太祖時，天下重罪逮至京者，收系獄中，數更大獄，多使斷治，所誅殺為多。 後悉焚衛刑具，以囚送刑部審理。 二十六年，申明其禁，詔內外獄毋得上錦衣衛，大小咸經法司。 成祖幸紀綱，令治錦衣親兵，復典詔獄。 綱遂用其黨莊敬、袁江、王謙、李春等，緣借作奸數百千端。 久之，族綱，而錦衣典詔獄如故，廢洪武詔不用矣。 英宗初，理衛事者劉勉、徐恭皆謹飭。 而王振用指揮馬順流毒天下，枷李時勉，殺劉球，皆順為之。 景帝初，有言官校緝事之弊者，帝切責其長，令所緝送法司，有誣罔者重罪。 英宗復闢，召李賢，屏左右，問時政得失。 賢因極論官校提人之害。 帝然其言，陰察皆實，乃召其長，戒之。 已緝弋陽王敗倫事虛，復申戒之。 而是時指揮門達、鎮撫逯杲怙寵，賢亦為羅織者數矣。 達遣旗校四出，杲又立程督並，以獲多為主。 千戶黃麟之廣西，執御史吳禎至，索獄具二百餘副，天下朝覲官陷罪者甚眾。 杲死，達兼治鎮撫司。 構指揮使袁彬，系訊之，五毒更下，僅免。 朝官楊璡、李蕃、韓祺、李觀、包瑛、張祚、程萬鐘輩皆鋃鐺就逮，冤號道路者不可勝記。 蓋自紀綱誅，其徒稍戢。 至正統時復張，天順之末禍益熾，朝野相顧不自保。 李賢雖極言之，不能救也。
Under the Founding Emperor, those accused of grave crimes from across the realm were detained in the Guard prison. Repeated major trials were conducted under his direct authority, and executions were numerous. Later he burned all the Guard's torture implements and sent prisoners to the Ministry of Punishments for trial. In year 26 he reaffirmed the prohibition: no case, great or small, from any prison might be sent to the Embroidered Guard—all matters must pass through the regular judicial system. Emperor Chengzu favored Ji Gang, put him in command of the Embroidered Guard's personal troops, and restored administration of the imperial prison. Gang then deployed his partisans Zhuang Jing, Yuan Jiang, Wang Qian, and Li Chun to fabricate wrongdoing on countless pretexts. Eventually Gang's entire clan was exterminated—but the Guard's administration of the imperial prison continued unchanged. The Hongwu prohibition was abandoned. In Yingzong's early reign, Liu Mian and Xu Gong, who managed Guard affairs, were both diligent and restrained. But Wang Zhen deployed Commander Ma Shun, whose abuses spread nationwide—the cangue for Li Shimian, the murder of Liu Qiu—all Shun's doing. At the start of Jingdi's reign, when the abuses of intelligence runner-officers were brought up, the emperor sharply reprimanded their chiefs, ordered all arrestees sent to the judicial offices, and stipulated heavy penalties for false accusations. When Yingzong regained the throne, he summoned Li Xian in private and asked his assessment of current policy. Xian spoke at length about the harm wrought by runner-officers who seized people at will. The emperor agreed, secretly verified the charges, and summoned the chiefs to admonish them. When the case alleging Prince Yiyang's incest proved fabricated, he issued further admonitions. Yet Commander Men Da and Pacifier Su Gao enjoyed imperial favor at this time—and Xian himself was nearly entrapped by fabricated charges several times. Da dispatched banner-officers in all directions; Gao established parallel supervision programs, with maximizing arrests as the goal. Thousand-officer Huang Lin went to Guangxi, seized Censor Wu Zhen, and demanded over two hundred sets of prison implements. Officials from across the realm visiting the capital for tribute fell into the Guard's net in great numbers. After Gao died, Da took over the Pacification Office as well. He fabricated charges against Commander Yuan Bin, imprisoned and interrogated him, and applied the five tortures in rotation. Bin barely survived. Court officials including Yang Jin, Li Fan, Han Qi, Li Guan, Bao Ying, Zhang Zuo, and Cheng Wanzhong were shackled and seized. Victims crying injustice on the roads were beyond counting. After Ji Gang's execution, his followers had briefly restrained themselves. In the Zhengtong era they flourished again. By the end of Tianshun the abuse raged fiercer still—court and country alike feared for their lives. Though Li Xian spoke against it with all his force, he could not stop it.
13
鎮撫司職理獄訟，初止立一司，與外衛等。 洪武十五年添設北司，而以軍匠諸職掌屬之南鎮撫司，於是北司專理詔獄。 然大獄經訊，即送法司擬罪，未嘗具獄詞。 成化元年，始令覆奏用參語，法司益掣肘。 十四年，增鑄北司印信，一切刑獄毋關白本衛，即衛所行下者，亦逕自上請可否，衛使毋得與聞。 故鎮撫職卑而其權日重。 初，衛獄附衛治，至門達掌問刑，又於城西設獄舍，拘繫狼籍。 達敗，用御史呂洪言，毀之。 成化十年，都御史李賓言：「錦衣鎮撫司累獲妖書圖本，皆誕妄不經之言。 小民無知，輒被幻惑。 乞備錄其舊名目，榜示天下，使知畏避，免陷刑辟。」 報可。 緝事者誣告猶不止。 十三年，捕甯晉人王鳳等，誣與瞽者受妖書，署偽職，並誣其鄉官知縣薛方、通判曹鼎與通謀，發卒圍其家，扌旁掠誣伏。 方、鼎家人數聲冤，下法司驗得實，坐妄報妖言，當斬。 帝戒以不得戕害無辜而已，不能罪也。 是年，令錦衣衛副千戶吳綬於鎮撫司同問刑。 綬性狡險，附汪直以進。 後知公議不容，凡文臣非罪下獄者，不復加箠楚，忤直意，黜去。 是時惟衛使朱驥持法平，治妖人獄無冤者。 詔獄下所司，獨用小杖，嘗命中使詰責，不為改。 世以是稱之。 弘治十三年，詔法司：「凡廠衛所送囚犯，從公審究，有枉即與辨理，勿拘成案。」 正德時，衛使石文義與張採表裏作威福，時稱為劉瑾左右翼。 然文義常侍瑾，不治事，治事者高得林。 瑾誅，文義伏誅，得林亦罷。 其後強尼管事，復大恣，以叛誅。
The Pacification Office managed prisons and legal proceedings. At first only one office existed, equal in rank to the outer guards. In Hongwu year 15 the northern office was added; military artisans and other functions were assigned to the southern Pacification Office, leaving the northern office exclusively in charge of the imperial prison. Major cases, once interrogated, were sent to the judicial offices for sentencing—but formal written verdicts were never prepared. In Chenghua 1, review memorials were required to use summary phrasing—the judicial offices were increasingly constrained. In year 14 the northern office's seal was recast. All criminal matters bypassed the parent Guard entirely; even when the Guard issued orders, the Pacification Office reported directly upward—the Guard commander was kept out of the loop. Though the Pacifier's rank was low, his power grew steadily heavier. At first the Guard prison was housed within the Guard headquarters. When Men Da took charge of interrogations, he built prison cells west of the city, where detainees were kept in chaotic overcrowding. After Da's downfall, on Censor Lü Hong's advice, the cells were torn down. In Chenghua year 10, Censor-in-Chief Li Bin said: "The Embroidered Guard Pacification Office has repeatedly seized 'heretical books' and illustrated texts—all absurd, unorthodox nonsense. Ignorant commoners are easily deluded by such material. I ask that these titles be fully catalogued and posted throughout the realm, so people may recognize them, stay clear, and avoid criminal entrapment. The request was approved. False accusations by intelligence agents did not cease. In year 13 they arrested Wang Feng of Ningjin and others, falsely charging receipt of heretical texts from a blind man and assumption of bogus titles. They also implicated local officials Magistrate Xue Fang and Vice Magistrate Cao Ding in conspiracy, dispatched troops to surround their homes, and beat and tortured false confessions from them. Fang's and Ding's families cried out their innocence. The judicial offices investigated, confirmed the fabrication, and sentenced the accusers to decapitation for falsely reporting heretical talk. The emperor merely admonished them not to harm innocents—he could not bring further charges. That year Vice Thousand-officer Wu Shou of the Embroidered Guard was assigned to assist the Pacification Office in interrogations. Shou was cunning and treacherous; he attached himself to Wang Zhi to rise. Later, sensing public outrage, he stopped beating civil officials imprisoned without cause. When he crossed Zhi's will, he was dismissed. At this time only Guard Commander Zhu Ji administered law fairly; in heresy cases under his jurisdiction, no innocent was convicted. In the imperial prison under his authority he alone used light rods for punishment. When palace envoys ordered him to account for this, he refused to change. The world praised him for it. In Hongzhi year 13, an edict to the judicial offices said: "All prisoners sent by the Depots and Guard must be openly tried; where injustice is found, rectify it—do not be bound by completed verdicts. In the Zhengde era, Guard Commander Shi Wenyi and Zhang Cai wielded power in concert and were known as Liu Jin's left and right arms. Wenyi, however, constantly attended Jin and did not manage day-to-day affairs—that role fell to Gao Delin. When Jin was executed, Wenyi was put to death and Delin was dismissed. Later Qiang Ni took charge and again indulged in gross abuses; he was executed for rebellion.
14
世宗立，革錦衣傳奉官十六，汰旗校十五，復諭緝事官校，惟察不軌、妖言、人命、強盜重事，他詞訟及在外州縣事，毋得與。 未幾，事多下鎮撫，鎮撫結內侍，多巧中。 會太監崔文奸利事發，下刑部，尋以中旨送鎮撫司。 尚書林俊言：「祖宗朝以刑獄付法司，事無大小，皆聽平鞫。 自劉瑾、強尼用事，專任鎮撫司，文致冤獄，法紀大壞。 更化善治在今日，不宜復以小事撓法。」 不聽。 俊復言：「此途一開，恐後有重情，即夤緣內降以圖免，實長亂階。」 御史曹懷亦諫曰：「朝廷專任一鎮撫，法司可以空曹，刑官為冗員矣。」 帝俱不聽。 六年，侍郎張璁等言：「祖宗設三法司以糾官邪，平獄訟，設東廠、錦衣衛以緝盜賊，詰奸宄。 自今貪官冤獄仍責法司，其有徇情曲法，乃聽廠衛覺察。 盜賊奸宄，仍責廠衛，亦必送法司擬罪。」 詔如議行。 然官校提人恣如故。 給事中蔡經等論其害，願罷勿遣。 尚書胡世甯請從其議。 詹事霍韜亦言：「刑獄付三法司足矣，錦衣衛復橫撓之。 昔漢光武尚名節，宋太祖刑法不加衣冠，其後忠義之徒爭死效節。 夫士大夫有罪下刑曹，辱矣。 有重罪，廢之、誅之可也，乃使官校眾執之，脫冠裳，就桎梏。 朝列清班，暮幽犴獄，剛心壯氣，銷折殆盡。 及覆案非罪，即冠帶立朝班，武夫捍卒指目之曰：『某，吾辱之，某，吾系執之。』 小人無所忌憚，君子遂致易行。 此豪傑所以興山林之思，而變故罕仗節之士也。 願自今東廠勿與朝儀，錦衣衛勿典刑獄。 士大夫罪謫廢誅，勿加笞杖鎖梏，以養廉恥，振人心，勵士節。」 帝以韜出位妄言，不納。 祖制，凡朝會，廠衛率屬及校尉五百名，列侍奉天門下糾儀。 凡失儀者，即褫衣冠，執下鎮撫司獄，杖之乃免，故韜言及之。 迨萬歷時，失儀者始不付獄，罰俸而已。 世宗銜張鶴齡、延齡，奸人劉東山等乃誣二人毒魘咒詛。 帝大怒，下詔獄，東山因株引素所不快者。 衛使王佐探得其情，論以誣罔法反坐。 佐乃枷東山等闕門外，不及旬悉死，人以佐比牟斌。 牟斌者，弘治中指揮也。 李夢陽論延齡兄弟不法事，下獄，斌傅輕比，得不死云。 世宗中年，衛使陸炳為忮，與嚴嵩比，而傾夏言。 然帝數興大獄，而炳多保全之，故士大夫不疾炳。
When Shizong came to the throne, he abolished sixteen specially appointed Guard posts, cut fifteen banner-officers, and instructed intelligence agents to investigate only sedition, heretical talk, homicide, and serious robbery—not other lawsuits or local matters outside the capital. Before long most cases were routed to the Pacification Office, whose officers cultivated ties with inner eunuchs and often got their way through manipulation. When Eunuch Cui Wen's corruption was exposed, the case went to the Ministry of Punishments—but a secret edict from within soon transferred it to the Pacification Office. Minister Lin Jun said: "Under the dynastic founders, criminal matters were entrusted to the judicial offices; all cases, great and small, were heard and tried impartially. Since Liu Jin and Qiang Ni held power, the Pacification Office has monopolized cases, fabricating wrongful imprisonments and wrecking legal discipline. Reform and good governance depend on today—we must not let trivial matters undermine the law. His advice was ignored. Jun protested again: "Open this door and serious offenders will use connections to obtain secret edicts from within seeking exemption—laying the groundwork for disorder. Censor Cao Huai also remonstrated: "If the court relies exclusively on the Pacification Office, the judicial offices might as well be empty—the judges become redundant." The emperor heeded neither protest. In year 6, Vice Minister Zhang Cong and others said: "The founders established the Three Judicial Offices to correct official corruption and settle lawsuits; they established the Eastern Depot and Embroidered Guard to apprehend robbers and investigate subversives. Henceforth corrupt officials and wrongful convictions remain the judicial offices' responsibility; only where officials bend the law through favoritism may the Depots and Guard intervene. Robbers and subversives remain the Depots' and Guard's responsibility—but all cases must still be sent to the judicial offices for sentencing. An edict ordered that the proposal be carried out. Yet the official guards continued to arrest people with as much impunity as before. Supervising Secretary Cai Jing and others spoke of the harm, asking that the guards be abolished and no longer dispatched. Minister Hu Shinan asked that their proposal be adopted. Senior Tutor Huo Tao also said: "Criminal matters should rest with the Three Judicial Offices alone—the Embroidered Guard keeps interfering brazenly. In antiquity Emperor Guangwu of Han prized reputation and integrity, and Emperor Taizu of Song would not apply penal law to officials in court dress—after which loyal men competed to die upholding their principles. Handing a scholar-official over to the punishment offices when he is guilty is humiliation enough. For grave offenses, dismissal or execution would suffice—yet they set many official guards on him, strip off his cap and robes, and put him in shackles. Standing in the morning among the court's senior ranks, by evening confined in a dark prison—the firm heart and strong spirit are broken almost entirely. When review clears him of wrongdoing and he stands again in court with cap and belt, soldiers and guards point and say: 'That one—I humiliated him; that one—I bound and seized him.' Petty men lose all restraint; gentlemen in turn shrink from standing firm. This is why bold spirits dream of retreat to the mountains, and in crisis few are found who will stand by their principles. I ask that hereafter the Eastern Depot be kept from court ceremony, and the Embroidered Guard from administering criminal cases. When scholar-officials deserve exile, dismissal, or death, spare them the rod and shackles—to nurture integrity, lift men's spirits, and encourage steadfast service. The emperor deemed Tao's speech presumptuous and reckless, and rejected it. By ancestral regulation, at every court assembly the Depots and Guard led their subordinates—five hundred guard officers arrayed below the Gate of Heavenly Succession to maintain ceremonial order. Anyone who breached ceremony was stripped of cap and robes, dragged to the Pacification Office prison, beaten, and only then released—this is what Tao had in mind. By the Wanli reign, offenders against ceremony were no longer sent to prison—they were fined in salary only. The Shizong Emperor still resented Zhang Heling and Yanling; schemers such as Liu Dongshan then falsely accused the two of poisoning, witchcraft, and cursing. The emperor flew into a rage and sent them to the imperial prison; Dongshan used the case to implicate everyone he had long resented. Guard Commander Wang Zuo uncovered the truth and applied the counter-charge law for false accusation. Zuo then placed Dongshan and the others in the cangue outside the palace gate; within ten days all were dead—people compared him to Mou Bin. Mou Bin had been a guard officer under the Hongzhi Emperor. When Li Mengyang spoke out against the Yanling brothers' misconduct and was imprisoned, Bin applied a lighter statute and saved his life, it is said. In the Shizong Emperor's middle years, Guard Commander Lu Bing was jealous and ruthless, allied with Yan Song, and helped bring down Xia Yan. Yet the emperor repeatedly launched major prosecutions, and Bing often shielded the accused—so scholar-officials did not turn against him.
15
萬曆中，建言及忤礦稅榼者，輒下詔獄。 刑科給事中楊應文言：「監司守令及齊民被逮者百五十餘人，雖已打問，未送法司，獄禁森嚴，水火不入，疫癘之氣，充斥囹圄。」 衛使駱思恭亦言：「熱審歲舉，俱在小滿前，今二年不行。 鎮撫司監犯且二百，多拋瓦聲冤。」 鎮撫司陸逵亦言：「獄囚怨恨，有持刀斷指者。」 俱不報。 然是時，告訐風衰，大臣被錄者寡。 其末年，稍寬逮繫諸臣，而錦衣獄漸清矣。
Under Wanli, anyone who remonstrated or resisted mining taxes and tax monopolies was promptly sent to the imperial prison. Supervising Secretary Yang Yingwen of the Penal Section reported: "More than one hundred fifty surveillance commissioners, magistrates, and ordinary people have been seized. Though tortured, none have reached the judicial offices. The prisons are sealed tight—no provisions or warmth get in—and pestilence fills the cells. Guard Commander Luo Sigong also reported: "The annual summer prison review is supposed to be held before Grain Full—it has not been held for two years. Nearly two hundred prisoners languish in the Pacification Office; many throw tiles from their cells crying that they are innocent." Pacification Office officer Lu Kui also reported: "Prisoners, seething with resentment, have taken knives and cut off their own fingers." None of these memorials received a response. Yet by then the fever of informers had cooled, and few senior ministers were arrested. In the dynasty's last years, arrests of officials eased somewhat, and the Embroidered Guard prison gradually emptied.
16
田爾耕、許顯純在熹宗時為魏忠賢義子，其黨孫雲鶴、楊寰、崔應元佐之，拷楊漣、左光鬥輩，坐贓比較，立限嚴督之。 兩日為一限，輸金不中程者，受全刑。 全刑者曰械，曰鐐，曰棍，曰拶，曰夾棍。 五毒備具，呼ＢＫ聲沸然，血肉潰爛，宛轉求死不得。 顯純叱吒自若，然必伺忠賢旨，忠賢所遣聽記者未至，不敢訊也。 一夕，令諸囚分舍宿。 於是獄卒曰：「今夕有當壁挺者。」 壁挺，獄中言死也。 明日，漣死，光鬥等次第皆鎖頭拉死。 每一人死，停數日，葦席裹屍出牢戶，蟲蛆腐體。 獄中事祕，其家人或不知死日。 莊烈帝擒戮逆黨，冤死家子弟望獄門稽顙哀號，為文以祭。 帝聞之惻然。
Under the Xizong Emperor, Tian Ergeng and Xu Xianchun were Wei Zhongxian's adopted sons; their allies Sun Yunhe, Yang Huan, and Cui Yingyuan helped torture Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou, and others—charging them with corruption under statutory comparison, setting strict deadlines and supervising relentlessly. Every two days brought a new deadline; anyone who failed to pay the demanded sum on time received the full suite of tortures. The full suite comprised restraints, leg irons, cudgels, finger presses, and leg-press boards. All five tortures were deployed; wails filled the air, flesh and blood putrefied, and victims twisted in agony begging for death they could not obtain. Xianchun barked orders with casual ease, but always waited on Wei Zhongxian's word—he dared not begin interrogation until Zhongxian's note-taker had arrived. One evening he ordered the prisoners separated into individual cells for the night. The jailers then said: "Tonight someone gets the wall pole." Wall pole"—prison slang for death. The next day Lian died; Guangdou and the others were strangled to death in succession with the lock-head rope. After each death they waited several days, then wrapped the corpse in a reed mat and carried it out through the prison door, maggots already feasting on the rotting flesh. Prison affairs were kept secret; families sometimes never learned the day of death. After the Zhuanglie Emperor seized and executed the rebel faction, sons and younger brothers of the wrongfully dead prostrated themselves at the prison gate, wailing and composing memorial texts of sacrifice. The emperor was deeply moved when he heard of it.
17
自劉瑾創立枷，錦衣獄常用之。 神宗時，御史朱應轂具言其慘，請除之。 不聽。 至忠賢，益為大枷，又設斷脊、墜指、刺心之刑。 莊烈帝問左右：「立枷何為？」 王體乾對曰：「以罪鉅奸大憝耳。」 帝愀然曰：「雖如此，終可憫。」 忠賢為頸縮。 東廠之禍，至忠賢而極。 然廠衛未有不相結者，獄情輕重，廠能得於內。 而外廷有扞格者，衛則東西兩司房訪緝之，北司拷問之，鍛煉周內，始送法司。 即東廠所獲，亦必移鎮撫再鞫，而後刑部得擬其罪。 故廠勢強，則衛附之，廠勢稍弱，則衛反氣淩其上。 陸炳緝司禮李彬、東廠馬廣陰事，皆至死，以炳得內閣嵩意。 及後中官愈重，閣勢日輕。 閣臣反比廠為之下，而衛使無不競趨廠門，甘為役隸矣。
Since Liu Jin invented the standing cangue, the Embroidered Guard prison used it routinely. Under the Shenzong Emperor, Censor Zhu Yinggu described its brutality in full and asked that it be abolished. His request was ignored. Under Zhongxian the cangue grew even larger, and new tortures were added—breaking the spine, smashing fingers, and piercing the heart. The Zhuanglie Emperor asked his attendants: "What is the standing cangue for? Wang Tiqian replied: "For punishing the greatest traitors and evildoers." The emperor said darkly: "Even so, it remains pitiable." Zhongxian visibly cringed. The Eastern Depot's tyranny reached its peak under Zhongxian. Yet Depots and Guard were always intertwined—the Depots could sway the severity of cases from within the palace. When officials in the outer court resisted, the Guard's eastern and western bureau rooms tracked them down, the northern bureau tortured confessions out of them, fabricated evidence to close the case, and only then sent them to the judicial offices. Even prisoners seized by the Eastern Depot had to be transferred to the Pacification Office for re-interrogation before the Ministry of Punishments could fix their sentences. When the Depots were strong, the Guard attached itself to them; when Depot power waned, the Guard in turn lorded it over them. Lu Bing investigated secret misconduct by Li Bin of the Directorate of Ceremonial and Ma Guang of the Eastern Depot—both men were executed—because he had the backing of Yan Song and the Grand Secretariat. Later, as eunuchs grew ever more powerful, the Grand Secretariat's influence steadily waned. Grand secretaries now ranked below the Depots, and Guard commanders competed to grovel at the Depot gates, content to serve as menials.
18
錦衣衛升授勳衛、任子、科目、功升，凡四途。 嘉靖以前，文臣子弟多不屑就。 萬曆初，劉守有以名臣子掌衛，其後皆樂居之。 士大夫與往還，獄急時，頗賴其力。 守有子承禧及吳孟明其著者也。 莊烈帝疑羣下，王德化掌東廠，以慘刻輔之，孟明掌衛印，時有縱舍，然觀望廠意不敢違。 而鎮撫樑清宏、喬可用朋比為惡。 凡縉紳之門，必有數人往來蹤跡，故常晏起早闔，毋敢偶語。 旗校過門，如被大盜，官為囊橐，均分其利。 京城中奸細潛入，傭夫販子陰為流賊所遣，無一舉發，而高門富豪跼蹐無甯居。 其徒黠者恣行請託，稍拂其意，飛誣立構，摘竿牘片字，株連至十數人。 姜採、熊開元下獄，帝諭掌衛駱養性潛殺之。 養性泄上語，且言：「二臣當死，宜付所司，書其罪，使天下明知。 若陰使臣殺之，天下後世謂陛下何如主？」 會大臣多為採等言，遂得長系。 此養性之可稱者，然他事肆虐亦多矣。
Promotion within the Embroidered Guard followed four paths: hereditary merit guard, appointment by privilege of office, examination graduate, and promotion for service. Before Jiajing, sons of civil officials mostly scorned such appointments. Early in Wanli, Liu Shouyou—a distinguished minister's son—headed the Guard; thereafter everyone was eager for the post. Scholar-officials cultivated ties with them, and in urgent prison cases often depended on their help. Notable examples include Shouyou's son Chengxi and Wu Mengming. The Zhuanglie Emperor distrusted his court; Wang Dehua ran the Eastern Depot with brutal assistants, while Mengming held the Guard seal—he sometimes showed mercy, but always watched the Depot's mood and never dared defy it. Pacification officers Liang Qinghong and Qiao Keyong formed a vicious partnership. Spies constantly tracked comings and goings at every official's gate, so households stayed up late and barred their doors early, afraid even to whisper. When banner guards passed a gate it was like a major robbery—officials became their purses, splitting the loot. Spies infiltrated the capital; laborers and peddlers secretly worked as bandits' agents—not one plot was uncovered, while great families lived in constant dread. Their cleverest agents traded freely in favors; cross them slightly and accusations flew—in a single phrase from a letter they would implicate a dozen people. When Jiang Cai and Xiong Kaiyuan were imprisoned, the emperor ordered Guard Commander Luo Yangxing to kill them in secret. Yangxing disclosed the emperor's order and argued: "These two ministers deserve death—but let the proper office handle it, record their crimes, and make the world see clearly. If Your Majesty secretly has me kill them, what will the world and posterity say of you as a ruler? Many senior ministers spoke up for Cai and the others, and the two were held in long-term detention instead. This was to Yangxing's credit—yet in other matters he rampaged just as freely.
19
錦衣舊例有功賞，惟緝不軌者當之。 其後冒濫無紀，所報百無一實。 吏民重困，而廠衛題請輒從。 隆慶初，給事中歐陽一敬極言其弊，言：「緝事員役，其勢易逞，而又各類計所獲功次，以為升授。 則憑可逞之勢，邀必獲之功，枉人利己，何所不至。 有盜經出首倖免，故令多引平民以充數者； 有括家囊為盜贓，挾市豪以為證者； 有潛構圖書，懷挾偽批，用妖言假印之律相誣陷者； 或姓名相類，朦朧見收； 父訴子孝，坐以忤逆。 所以被訪之家，諺稱為剗，毒害可知矣。 乞自今定制，機密重情，事幹憲典者，廠衛如故題請。 其情罪不明，未經讞審，必待法司詳擬成獄之後，方與紀功。 仍敕兵、刑二部勘問明白，請旨升賞。 或經緝拿未成獄者，不得虛冒比擬，及他詞訟不得概涉，以侵有司之事。 如獄未成，而官校及鎮撫司拷打傷重，或至死者，許法司參治。 法司容隱扶同，則聽科臣並參。 如此則功必覆實，訪必當事，而刑無冤濫。」 時不能用也。
Under old Embroidered Guard practice, merit rewards were reserved for those who apprehended subversives. Later the system became corrupt beyond reckoning—not one report in a hundred was genuine. Officials and commoners were crushed under the burden, yet the Depots' and Guard's reward petitions were routinely approved. Early in Longqing, Supervising Secretary Ouyang Yijing condemned the abuses at length: "Investigation officers hold power that invites abuse, and each unit tallies arrests to rack up merit ranks for promotion. Given power they can abuse and quotas they must fill, they frame the innocent for their own gain—there is nothing they will not do. Thieves who turned themselves in and were spared were made to implicate commoners to pad the numbers; households were stripped of everything as stolen goods, with market bullies coerced as witnesses; texts were planted, forged endorsements planted on victims, and they were charged under laws against seditious writings and false seals; similar names led to vague arrests; a father pleaded his son's filial devotion, yet the son was convicted of unfilial conduct. Households subjected to investigation were proverbially 'plowed under'—the devastation speaks for itself. I ask that a fixed rule be established: for secret and serious cases touching fundamental law, the Depots and Guard may petition as before. Where guilt is unclear and no trial has been held, merit rewards must wait until the judicial offices have fully tried the case and closed it. Have the Ministries of War and Punishments investigate thoroughly, then seek imperial approval for promotion and reward. Arrests that have not yet become completed cases must not yield inflated merit claims; unrelated lawsuits must not be swept in, encroaching on regular officials' jurisdiction. If guards or the Pacification Office severely beat prisoners—or kill them—before a case is closed, let the judicial offices investigate and punish. If the judicial offices cover for them, let supervising secretaries join in impeachment. Then merit claims would be verified, investigations would target real crimes, and punishment would be free of wrongful excess. At the time his proposal was not adopted.
20
內官同法司錄囚，始於正統六年，命何文淵、王文審行在疑獄，敕同內官興安。 周忱、郭瑾往南京，敕亦如之。 時雖未定五年大審之制，而南北內官得與三法司刑獄矣。 景泰六年，命太監王誠會三法司審錄在京刑獄，不及南京者，因災創舉也。 成化八年，命司禮太監王高、少監宋文毅兩京會審，而各省恤刑之差，亦以是歲而定。 十七年辛卯，命太監懷恩同法司錄囚。 其後審錄必以丙辛之歲。 弘治九年不遣內官。 十三年，以給事中丘俊言，復命會審。 凡大審錄，齎敕張黃蓋於大理寺，為三尺壇，中坐，三法司左右坐，御史、郎中以下捧牘立，唯諾趨走惟謹。 三法司視成案，有所出入輕重，俱視中官意，不敢忤也。 成化時，會審有弟助兄鬥，因毆殺人者，太監黃賜欲從末減。 尚書陸瑜等持不可，賜曰：「同室鬥者，尚被髮纓冠救之，況其兄乎？」 瑜等不敢難，卒為屈法。 萬曆三十四年大審，御史曹學程以建言久系，羣臣請宥，皆不聽。 刑部侍郎沈應文署尚書事，合院寺之長，以書抵太監陳矩，請寬學程罪。 然後會審，獄具，署名同奏。 矩復密啟，言學程母老可念。 帝意解，釋之。 其事甚美，而監權之重如此。 錦衣衛使亦得與法司午門外鞫囚，及秋後承天門外會審，而大審不與也。 每歲決囚後，圖諸囚罪狀於衛之外垣，令人觀省。 內臣曾奉命審錄者，死則於墓寢畫壁，南面坐，旁列法司堂上官，及御史、刑部郎引囚鞠躬聽命狀，示後世為榮觀焉。
Eunuchs reviewing prisoners alongside the judicial offices began in Zhengtong year 6, when He Wenyuan and Wang Wen were ordered to try doubtful cases at the mobile capital, joined by Inner Eunuch Xing An. When Zhou Chen and Guo Jin went to Nanjing, the same instruction applied. Although the five-year great review system was not yet established, inner eunuchs in both capitals were already joining the three judicial offices in handling criminal cases. In the sixth year of Jingtai (1455), eunuch Wang Cheng was ordered to join the three judicial offices in reviewing capital prisoners—Nanjing was not included; the practice began in response to a natural disaster. In the eighth year of Chenghua (1472), Director of Ceremonies eunuch Wang Gao and Vice Director Song Wenyi were ordered to conduct joint reviews in both capitals; the system of dispatching compassionate-review officials to the provinces was also established that year. In the seventeenth year (1481), the xinmao year, eunuch Huai'en was ordered to join the judicial offices in recording prisoners. Thereafter, review recordings were always conducted in years with the bing or xin stem. In the ninth year of Hongzhi (1496), no inner eunuchs were dispatched. In the thirteenth year (1500), on Supervising Secretary Qiu Jun's memorial, joint review was restored. At every great review, the envoy carried the imperial command and raised a yellow canopy at the Court of Judicial Review. A three-foot altar was set up; the eunuch sat in the center, the three judicial offices to his left and right, while censors and bureau directors below stood holding documents, answering and scurrying with utmost deference. The three judicial offices reviewed completed cases, but any adjustment in severity followed the inner eunuch's wishes—they dared not dissent. During the Chenghua reign, a joint review case involved a younger brother who aided his elder in a brawl and thereby beat a man to death; eunuch Huang Ci wished to apply the lightest possible sentence. Minister Lu Yu and others objected, but Ci said, "When people of the same household fight, custom allows one to loosen the hair and adjust the cap to intervene—how much more when it is one's elder brother?" Yu and the others dared not press the point; in the end the law was bent to accommodate him. At the great review of the thirty-fourth year of Wanli (1606), Censor Cao Xuecheng had long been imprisoned for remonstrance; officials petitioned for his pardon, but the emperor would not listen. Vice Minister of Justice Shen Yingwen, acting as Minister, together with the heads of the commissions and courts, wrote to eunuch Chen Ju asking that Xuecheng's sentence be lightened. Only then was joint review held; when the case was complete, all signed and submitted a joint memorial. Chen Ju then secretly reported that Xuecheng's mother was elderly and deserving of pity. The emperor relented and ordered his release. The outcome was admirable, yet it shows how heavy eunuch power had become. The Embroidered Guard commissioner could also join judicial offices outside the Meridian Gate to interrogate prisoners, and after autumn for joint review outside Chengtian Gate—but not at the great review. Each year after sentences were handed down, the crimes of all condemned prisoners were painted on the Guard's outer wall for public viewing. Inner eunuchs who had conducted review recordings, when they died, had their tomb enclosures painted with scenes of themselves seated facing south, judicial chiefs arrayed beside them, and censors and Ministry of Justice bureau directors leading prisoners forward to bow and receive orders—a spectacle of glory for posterity.
21
成化二年，命內官臨斬強盜宋全。 嘉靖中，內臣犯法，詔免逮問，唯下司禮監治。 刑部尚書林俊言：「宮府一體，內臣所犯，宜下法司，明正其罪，不當廢祖宗法。」 不聽。 按太祖之制，內官不得識字、預政，備掃除之役而已。 末年焚錦衣刑具，蓋示永不復用。 而成祖違之，卒貽子孫之患，君子惜焉。
In the second year of Chenghua (1466), an inner eunuch was ordered to supervise the execution of the bandit Song Quan. During the Jiajing reign, when inner eunuchs broke the law, edicts exempted them from arrest and formal inquiry; they were punished only within the Directorate of Ceremonials. Minister of Justice Lin Jun said, "Palace and state are one body. Offenses by inner eunuchs should go to the judicial offices so their crimes may be properly adjudicated—the Founder's law must not be set aside." The emperor did not listen. Under the Founder's regulations, inner eunuchs were forbidden to learn writing or take part in government; they existed only to perform menial duties. In his final years he burned the Embroidered Guard's torture implements—a sign that they should never be used again. Yet Chengzu violated this precedent and ultimately bequeathed calamity to his descendants—men of discernment can only lament the result.