8 Illustrative Photos of a Very Unusual Punishment for Criminals Used in China Until the Beginning of the 20th Century (8 photos)
Before I tell you about the essence of this type of punishment, let's see the first photo. On the face of a person is clearly read fright, mixed with an unbearable plea for something in his eyes. 
This most powerful emotional shot was taken in China by the Scottish geographer, photographer and traveler John Thomson. The hieroglyphs that are visible in the picture can be translated as follows:
"Sealed by the Shanghai County Magistrate"
This execution is called kanga. This word comes from French "cangue", which translates as "yoke". Only in our country the yoke was set for cattle, and in East Asia - on people's necks. 
Structurally, a kanga is a wooden block that the guilty of a crime was worn around the neck. It consisted of two or more boards interconnected, with a round hole for the neck in the center.
This design weighed from 9 to 17 kg (depending on the severity of the crime). 
There were also various variations in size and shape. Here, for example, which kangus were used in Korea: 
Illustration from Angus Hamilton's En Corée, esquisse historique, 1900
In this case, a person can at least independently to eat, since this form of kangu does not interfere with the access of hands to the mouth. IN In other cases, a person was not able to eat, drink and drink normally. sleep. Here he was completely dependent on the compassion of those around him. I guess, that it is from here that such a plea is in the eyes of a person in the first photo.
In general, such a measure was usually prescribed for not serious crimes such as theft. At the same time, the kanga itself was not the main punishment. In front of her, the prisoner was being whipped with bamboo sticks, and only later they put him in a wooden collar and took him out into the public a place for him to be publicly humiliated. 
Illustration from China's Open Door: An Outline of the Life and History of China, 1900
In addition to the photo, I will allow myself a small quote from this book:
In one of the narrow streets we met a man who wore a block, or kanga, on both sides of which were pasted printed advertisements informing the whole world that he was a thief and caught on the spot crimes. One hand was tied behind his back, and in the other he held a bell, which he constantly rang to attract attention. He was followed by a policeman who hit him from time to time. bamboo. If one of our high-ranking bankers traveled to Wall Street so at least one kind of crime would become unpopular.
In a general sense, Asian Kangu is something like medieval European pillory. Mandatory criminals were taken out with a canga around their necks for the arrival of officials. Like, admire! 
However, the officials themselves in China at that time could receive the same punishment. Below is an interesting quote from the book "The Yellow River in Shandong Province"
"... This punishment soon became very popular and often applied to responsible lower-ranking officials and to those who sought to enrich himself through construction work. For example, general waterways director Wen Chong, who failed to prepare repairs to the dam in 1841, was sentenced to wear a kangoo for three months. Two years later, the same fate befell the CEO Hui Cheng, who was forced to stand in a wooden gate for two months bank of a river when he was unable to repair a break in a dam in the province Henan."
The next picture with two prisoners and an overseer was taken during the exploration and trade mission of 1874-75 in led by Lieutenant Colonel Yu.A. Sosnovsky. 
Looking at the photos in this article, you might think that women were not punished in this way. This is wrong. In the picture below we see three women chained in one kanga for all. 
How did they cope with such a burden on the neck remains only guess. After all, the period of wearing kangoo varied as widely as possible. From several days to three months. Depending ont the severity of the crime.
For example, it is known that for repeated theft a thief awarded 60 blows with a cane and 20 days with a cangu around the neck. If the thing is expensive then the punishment is more severe. For every additional 10 strokes added 5 more days of wearing kangoo.
