What is "lingchi"

n. A form of execution used in China from roughly 900 to 1905 (C.E.), the "death by a thousand cuts", in which the condemned was killed by methodical removal of body parts with a knife.

Lingchi (, alternately transliterated ling chi or leng t'che), translated variously as death by a thousand cuts , the slow process, the lingering death, or slow slicing, was a form of torture and execution used in China from roughly AD 900 until it was banned in 1905. It was also used in Vietnam. In this form of execution, a knife was used to methodically remove portions of the body over an extended period of time, eventually resulting in death.

Lingchi was reserved for crimes viewed as especially severe, such as high treason, patricide, or matricide. Some Westerners were executed in this manner. Even after the practice was outlawed, the concept itself has still appeared across many types of media.