chelie 車裂, tearing a criminal's limbs apart by carts

Tearing apart by carts (chelie 車裂, chehuan 車轘, huan 轘, huanlie 轘裂, chezhe 車磔) was a capital punishment in ancient China. It was colloquially known as "five horse [carts] dismembering a man" (wu ma fen shi 五馬分尸), and was the Chinese counterpart of quartering in the west, with an additional traction force applied to the head. The punishment was executed in public and was applied in case of very serious crimes. It is first mentioned in the Classic Zhouli 周禮 (part Qiuguan 秋官, ch. Tiaolangshi 條狼氏). An early example is given in the chronicle Zuozhuan 左傳 (Huangong 18 桓公) which reports of the execution by this method of Gao Qumi 高渠彌 (d. 694 BCE). Another famous victim was Shang Yang 商鞅 (c. 390-338 BCE), the legalist politician. In 238 BCE, the king of the regional state of Qin 秦 and eventual First Emperor of China 秦始皇帝 (r. 246-210 BCE), had executed the rebel Lao Ai 嫪毐 (d. 238 BCE) in this way.

The Han dynasty 漢 (206 BCE-220 CE) took over this mode of execution, and it was known by the Northern Dynasties 北朝 (386~581), but not in the south. It was abolished in 581, but was soon reintroduced, even if it was only applied in very rare cases. It is also mentioned in the history of the Five Dynasties 五代 (907-960), in the biography of Li Cunxiao 李存孝 (858-894), and was valid under the Liao dynasty 遼 (907-1125).