Witchcraft Cases In The Hades Of The Han Dynasty

Witchcraft cases occurred frequently in the temple of Han Dynasty. Nearly half of the Empresses were ousted or killed because of that, always implicating thousands of other people. Involved with the harem, the royal family’s secrets and regarded as "outrageous" crimes, these witchcraft cases show some distinctive features. This paper attempts to make an in-depth study of the witchcraft cases in the temple of Han Dynasty in three chapters.The first chapter gives an introduction to the types of the Han palace witchcraft and its profile, including a brief discussion of the four kinds of sorcery as well as the relationship between them, and dividing all the witchcraft cases into two groups:the conclusive crimes and the framed ones.The second chapter is the key part of the paper. It discusses the officials and proceedings involved in the Witchcraft cases. There are three kinds of officials:the regular ones, the aided ones, and those specially arranged by the emperor. The proceedings includes:discoverer’s reporting to the Emperor, the Emperor’s appointing officials or emissaries to confirm cases, accumulate evidences and making sentences in which scene investigation, physical evidence and other documentary materials matter a lot. If there are hard facts and clear evidences, the investigators will develop a preliminary charge and report to the emperor, and the emperor will make the final decision, often based on justice and humanity, and order execution.The third chapter summarizes the causes and effects of the frequent cases of witchcraft in the temple of Han Dynasty. These cases are caused by cultural, institutional, political factors as well as the role and characteristics of witchcraft itself, and they disrupt the legal order, corrupt the officials, and aggravate the court combat.