Introduction
Itaru Tomiya

Part 1 The Transition from the Ultimate Mutilation to the Death Penalty: A Study on Capital Punishment from the Han to the Tang
Itaru Tomiya
Introduction
1. The Forms of Capital Punishment in the Han
2. Punishments in the Wei and Jin Dynasties22
3. Capital Punishment in the Northern Dynasty: The Emergence of Strangulation
4. From the Northern Qi and Northern Zhou to the Sui
5. Capital Punishment in the Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen
Concluding Discussion: From the Qin-Han to the Sui-Tang  The Transition from the Ultimate Mutilation to the Death Penalty

Part 2 The Death Penalty and Legal Culture in Early Modern China
Shigeki Iwai
Introduction
1. The Five Punishments and Harsh Punishment in Early Modern Times
2. Lingchi Chusi and Other Punishments
3. The Process for Death Sentences and the Legal Culture of Early Modern Times
Conclusion

Part 3 “Scions of Wealthy Families do not Die in the Marketplace”: Death Penalty and Hyosu Punishment in Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Chosôn Korea
Anders Karlsson
Introduction
1. Hyosu in Chosôn Korea
2. Hyosu in Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Legal Texts
3. The Troublesome North
Concluding Remarks
Appendix: List of Hyosu--Capital Offence Edicts and Laws

Note 1 Virtuous Murders? Notes on the History of State Sanctioned Violence in Han China
Bengt Pettersson

Part 4 The Emperor’s Power and Capital Punishment during the Wei-Jin Period: With Consideration of Execution as a Superjudicial Sanction toward the End of the Western Jin as an Example
Ryuichi Kogachi
Introduction
1. Ritual and Punishment
2. Rewards and Punishments Decided by the Emperor
3. The Meaning of zhu æn180
4. The Abuse of zhu toward the End of the Western Jin
5. The Genealogy of the Resentful Spirit
6. The Families of the Executed
7. Restoring Honour
Conclusion

Part 5 Death by Royal Favor: An Analysis of Punishment in the Literati Purges and Conflicts of the Joseon Dynasty
Takeshi Yagi
Introduction
1. Adopting the Ming Statutes
2. Punishment and Disciplinary Action
3. The Development of Factional Struggles
4. The System of Disciplinary Action
5. The Various Aspects of Torture
6. Being Granted Death as a Royal Favor
7. The Concept of a Granted Death as Royal Favor
8. Clearing False Charges and Awarding Honours
Conclusion

Part 6 Capital Punishment in East Asia: Images of Capital Punishment and Violence in Early Illustrated Histories of China
Oliver Moore
Illustrated Histories
Texts and Images
Form and Content of Illustrated Histories
Capital Punishment as a Creative Force
The Transformative Power of Images
The Visual Capacity of Viewers
The Use of Images in Illustrated Histories
Images as Rhythmic Markers
Accounts of Punishment

Part 7 The Social History of Capital Punishment in Japan: Comparing Early Modern and Modern Japan with the West
Takao Ito
Introduction
1. Execution as Ritual
2. The Social History of the Executed Convict--Early Modern Japan
3. Civilization and Capital Punishment

Part 8 The Establishment and Improvement of Laws on Capital Punishment in Modern China
Zhou Dongping
Introduction
1. Chinese Death Penalty Legislation since 1949
The Death Penalty under the Criminal Law Act of 1979
Capital Punishment under Penal Statutes before Legislative Revision
The Death Penalty under Current Criminal Law
2. An Analysis of Death Penalty Legislation in Contemporary Chinese Criminal Law
Death Penalty Policy in Contemporary China
The Insufficiency of the General Provisions of the Law on Capital Punishment and the Means for Their Improvement
Problems in the Establishment of Capital Offences and Suggestions for Their Rectification
3. Future Prospects for Chinese Death Penalty Legislation
The Gap between China and Other Countries on the Death Penalty
Examining Development Trends and Mechanisms for Solving Problems with Chinese Death Penalty Legislation from the Perspective of International Human Rights Conventions
Conclusion

Note 2 East Asia and the Landscape of the Death Penalty: The Comparative Sociology of the Image of Capital Punishment
Hiroo Fujita

Part 9 Capital Punishment in Ancient India: An Analysis of Punishments in Sanskrit Texts
Akihiko Akamatsu
Introduction
1. How Did Ancient Indians Conceive of Punishment?
2. Types of Punishments and the Classification of Crimes
3. Criteria of Punishment--Lex Talionis--
4. Offenders Who Merit Capital Punishment
5. Impurity and Crime--Punishment from the Religious Point of View
6. Law and Royal Power--Punishment from the Sociological Point of View
7. Capital Punishment: Where Sacred and Profane Meet
8. Non-violence and Capital Punishment
Conclusion

Part 10 Muluki Ain: The Nepalese Legal Code and Capital Punishment
Håkan Wahlquist
Introduction
1. The Institution of Capital Punishment and Anthropological Theory
2. The Legal Tradition in Nepal
3. Nepal--the Historical Context
4. The Traditional Nature of the Nepalese Kingdom
5. Towards a Nation-state
6. Hindu Kingship, Kingdoms, and Law
7. Laws and the Formation of the Nepalese State--the Pre-Rana Period
8. The Muluki Ain of Sri Surendra Bikram Shah Dev 1854

Part 11 Capital Punishment and Early Korean Legal Traditions
Staffan Rosén
Introduction: Capital Punishment
1. The Concept Early Korea
2. The Legal Heritage of Early Korea
3. Early Korean Legal Sources
4. Korea and Remnants of Nomad Law
5. Korea and the lü ling 律令 Tradition
6. Punishment in the Silla Legal Tradition

Conclusion Remark
Standing at a Fork in the Road: For or Against Capital Punishment
Itaru Tomiya

Index (Subject / Book Title)
List of Contributors