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Flaying, also known asskinning, is a method of slow torture or execution in whichskin is removed from thebody.
A dead animal may be flayed when preparing it to be used as human food, or for its hide orfur. This is more commonly calledskinning.
Flaying of humans is used as a method oftorture orexecution, depending on how much of the skin is removed. This is often referred to as flaying alive. There are also records of people flayed afterdeath, generally as a means of debasing the corpse of a prominent enemy orcriminal, sometimes related to metaphysical ideas (e.g., to deny an afterlife); sometimes the skin is used, again for deterrence, esoteric/ritualistic purposes, etc. (e.g.,scalping).[citation needed]
Dermatologist Ernst G. Jung notes that the typical causes of death due to flaying areshock, critical loss ofblood or otherbody fluids,hypothermia, orinfections, and that the actual death is estimated to occur from a few hours up to a few days after the flaying.[1] Hypothermia is possible because skin provides natural insulation and is essential for maintaining body temperature.
Ernst G. Jung, in hisKleine Kulturgeschichte der Haut ("A short cultural history of the skin"), provides an essay in which he outlines theNeo-Assyrian tradition of flaying human beings.[2] Already from the times ofAshurnasirpal II (r. 883–859 BC), the practice is displayed and commemorated in both carvings and official royal edicts. The carvings show that the actual flaying process might begin at various places on the body, such as at thecrus (lower leg), the thighs, or the buttocks.
In their royal edicts, the Neo-Assyrian kings seem to gloat over the terrible fate they imposed upon their captives, and that flaying seems, in particular, to be the fate meted out to rebel leaders. Jung provides some examples of this triumphant rhetoric. From Ashurnasirpal II:
I have made a pillar facing the city gate, and have flayed all the rebel leaders; I have clad the pillar in the flayed skins. I let the leaders of the conquered cities be flayed, and clad the city walls with their skins. The captives I have killed by the sword and flung on the dung heap.[citation needed]
TheRassam cylinder in theBritish Museum describes this:
Their corpses they hung on stakes, they took off their skins and covered the city wall with them.[3][better source needed]
Searing or cutting the flesh from the body was sometimes used as part of the public execution oftraitors in medieval Europe. A similar mode of execution was used as late as the early 18th century in France; one such episode is graphically recounted in the opening chapter ofMichel Foucault'sDiscipline and Punish (1979).
In 1303, the treasury ofWestminster Abbey was robbed while holding a large sum of money belonging toKing Edward I. After the arrest and interrogation of 48 monks, three of them, including thesubprior andsacrist, were found guilty of the robbery and flayed. Their skin was attached to three doors as a warning against robbers of church and state.[4] AtSt Michael & All Angels Church inCopford in Essex, England, it is claimed that human skin was found attached to an old door, though evidence seems elusive.[5]
In Chinese history,Sun Hao,Fu Sheng andGao Heng were known for removing skin from people's faces.[6] TheHongwu Emperor flayed corrupt officials who embezzled more than 60taels of silver.[7][8]Hai Rui suggested that his emperor flay corrupt officials. TheZhengde Emperor flayed six rebels,[9] andZhang Xianzhong also flayed many people.[10]Lu Xun said theMing dynasty was begun and ended by flaying.[11]
