I was watching some Mandarin dramas and came across this torture 烹刑 (Steam Torture).  I was very intrigued by the thought of it and upon after some research on Google, I realized that it was part of the top tortures used on people back in the Qing Dynasty of China.  The only info I got was in Mandarin, so I’m going to try translating it into English here.  Some are pretty gruesome, and it really makes me wonder how did they even come up with all these tortures.  Btw, at various times typing this post, I feel super disgusted!

    剥皮 (Peeling of Skin)
        Start from the spine of a person and use a knife to split the skin at the back of a person. Tear it out like how a butterfly spreads its wings
        Another way that I read is to bury a person in the soil, just revealing the head.  Use a knife to carve a 十 (ten) word on the scalp.  After pulling up the scalp, pour mercury into the brain.

    腰折 (Slaying the Waist)
        Split the person up right at the waist
        Since the vital organs are all at the upper half of the body, the person would not die immediately.  After being cut into half, the person would still be conscious for awhile

    车裂/五马分尸 (5 Horses to Split up a Human)
        Tie a person’s head, both arms and both legs with rope separately
        The 5 ropes would be attached to 5 separate horses
        The 5 horses would then gallop away and split the body up

    俱五刑 (Five Punishments)
        Basically, cut off a person’s feet, head, hand, ears and eyes

  凌迟 (Slicing/Mincing)
        Started off by killing a person before mincing the dead body up.  It then developed to having to executors carrying out the killing and slicing up the person when he is still alive.  It would start off from the feet of the person, and there’s a minimum of 1000 slices needed before allowing the person to breathe his last.
        And it is said that, should the person die before reaching a 1000 cuts, the executors would also be punished

    绞刑 (Death by Hanging)
        Back then, they used the bow-string constriction method to suffocate a person
        Yue Fei and his son died this way.  The reason is that though they were sentenced to death, they were considered as important officials and couldn’t be beheaded so that their entire body is intact
    烹刑 (Steam Torture)
        Remember I mentioned this right at the start of the post? Well, this torture requires a person to be placed into a giant urn that is heated up with firewood below
        Once the heat increases, and the person cannot take it anymore, he would then pass on

    宫刑 (Castration)
        Tie up the genitals of the man using a rope.  This would cause constant bleeding and the sex organ would be deemed useless
        Then, take a razor and remove the genitals completely
        After cutting it off, they would use ash to cover the wound, stop the bleeding and also insert a goose feather into the urethral
        A few days later, they would remove the inserted goose feather and if the man can urinate smoothly, the castration is considered a success.  However, if it fails, then the man would eventually suffer a bladder burst problem and pass on.

    刖刑 (Cutting off the feet)
        Some say is to cut off the legs of the person from knee down, some say is just to simply cut off the feet and some say is to cut off the knee bone
        By cutting off the knee bone, the person’s thigh and leg would lose it’s protection, and the person would never be able to stand upright anymore

    插针 (Needle Torture)
        This is pretty straightforward.  It means piercing the needs through the fingers.  This is commonly used on females

    活埋 (Buried Alive)
        This is often used during war as it is efficient and doesn’t waste much energy

    鸩毒 (Venom Torture)
        This is considered a mild death sentence as it’s purely consuming of poison

    棍刑 (Stick Torture)
        In this context, a stick would be inserted into the person’s mouth or anus.
        When the stick is fully inserted, it will result in gastrointestinal perforation.  This death would be a miserable one

    锯割 (Sawing)
        Basically, this method is to saw a living man till he is dead

    断椎 (Breaking the vertebral column)
        One wouldn’t be able to survive with a broken spine

    灌铅 (Lead Irrigation)
        The melting point of Lead is 327.4℃and this is definitely more than enough to burn a person alive
        The melted lead would solidify once it reaches the stomach of a person. The falling of these substances would cause an upmost pressure and is a deadly force

    梳洗 (“Grooming”)
        Of course this is not your regular grooming session.  First, they would drench a naked person with boiling water.  As if that’s not enough to kill, they would use a metal rail brush and “comb” off the flesh of a person.
        This would only stop when the bones are revealed

    弹琵琶 (Lute Torture)
        No where near the beautiful instrument. This torture involves scraping off the ribs of a person.
Source: https://zilintan.wordpress.com/2011/10/10/t...u-qing-dynasty/