1.2: The Washing Away of Wrongs

For the telling of this story, let us imagine the year is 1235AD and a man was murdered by a sharp-edged weapon in the Hunan Province of China. Fortunately, Song Ci was able to solve the crime, even without the presence of an eyewitness. Although documented in Song Ci’s book The Washing Away of Wrongs, as translated into English by Joseph Needham and Lu Gwei-djen, the following is a fictitious account of the event, as it is not known when the inquest happened; some scholars saying the story may predate Song Ci. It should be noted that aside from that of Song Ci, all other names are fictitious.

Song Ci sat in his small reading room, studying a chart of a body upon which he was writing the names of various bones that lay below the skin, when a young government official, Jingmu Hu Ming of the Gold Bird Guards entered. Jingmu is a title given to government officials who act in the role similar to that of a police officer. “Yishi Song Ci, please forgive this intrusion of your studies, but a farmer has been murdered. His body was found on a trail near the road to Hengyang.” “Robbery?” inquired the physician. “Yes, Yishi, we believe so,” replied the officer. “Does this farmer have a name?” “Wang Shan Yi, of 39 years,” responded the officer. “And the body?” “It was taken to Hengyang at the Shigu Academy, where it awaits your eminence,” the officer said as he urged Song Ci to come quickly.

They first traveled by sedan chair and then by animal cart until they were able to take a water boat along the Xiang River, arriving in Hengyang the following morning. Wang Shan Yi was a small, but muscular man, who tended to his rice farm since he inherited the land from his father when he was only nine years old. He was married to his wife, Zhu, at the age of 16 when she was barely 14. The marriage brought additional farmlands and Wang Shan Yi was able to prosper and was blessed with two daughters and a son. He was well respected in his village and people sought his advice on farming techniques and how their own farms could be made more profitable. He was also known as a generous moneylender.

The body reclined on a stone table dressed only in the ku, open-crotch trousers commonly worn by farmers while tending their fields, and a black futou hat. His changpao robe had been removed by the officials prior to the arrival of Song Ci. Tucked in a hidden pocket was his hebao, a small purse for carrying money. Song Ci counted the lead coins and Jiaozi currency in the purse. It was not a fortune, but certainly enough to steal. He then examined the incised wounds on the body and noted there were ten long wounds that were consistent with the use of a sickle as the weapon. Song Ci thought for a moment and said, “Robbers merely want men to die so that they can take their valuables. Now, the personal effects are there, while the body bears many wounds. If this is not a case of being killed by a hateful enemy, then what is it?" He declared the farmer had died from a loss of blood sufficient to sustain life. Turning to Jingmu Hu Ming, he said, “Let us talk to the wife of this poor man. Have her summoned to me without haste.” Wang Zhu, wearing a modest white sangfu representing her grief, came before Song Ci. The physician instructed the room to be cleared and sent Jingmu Hu Ming to the village to “secretly observe the neighbors.” He then turned to Wang Zhu and inquired, "In the past what man was your husband's worst enemy?" She replied, "Hitherto my husband had no enemies. But only recently there was a certain man who came to borrow money. He did not get it. They had already fixed upon a definite date, and they discussed that. But no money was given and there were no bitter enemies." “Did your husband often lend money?” “Yes, great sir, he was happy in his farm and often provided the money to our neighbors to buy land or make repairs. His terms were greatly less than the piaohao.” “And yet, he did not lend to this man,” observed Song Ci. “My husband said he was a bad risk; a man who was more common to the jing bottle than the rice field.” Song Ci thanked Wang Zhu for her testimony, and they sat for a tea ceremony, known as the Dian Cha. As Wang Zhu was leaving the room, Song Ci inquired, “And do you know the man’s name?” “Li Yichen Xi,” was the response.

Later that evening, JIngmu Hu Ming returned to the Academy and provided an update of his observations in the village to Song Ci. The villagers appeared to be in agreement with their grief and believed robbers, who were common to the main road, were to blame. He added, “But there were no witnesses to the crime.” To which Song Ci replied, "Not one witness, but a thousand eyes saw the crime.” He then instructed the officer to find Li Yichen Xi and to bring him before him as quickly as possible. Within a few hours, Li Yichen Xi was located and brought before Song Ci. Song Ci asked the man if his request for a loan was refused, and if he harbored ill-will against Wang Shan Yi. Li Yichen Xi replied, “Wang Shan Yi was my dearest friend. He did not lend me money because the money I needed was given to me by my brother-in-law. I did not need the loan after that.” Before dismissing Li Yichen Xi, Song Ci asked, “Did you kill Wang Shan Yi?” “I did not!” demanded the man. Once alone, Song Ci turned to Hu Ming and said, “Go forth and make a proclamation that all farmers of the village must appear at noon in the village square. They are to bring every sickle they own.”

The following morning, Jingmu Hu Ming and Song Ci stood in the village courtyard and observed approximately 70 farmers assemble, each carrying several sickles, and each looking as confused as his neighbor. Would it be possible for the officials to examine each sickle? Surely the blade of one sickle would resemble that of every sickle. To their surprise, Jingmu Hu Ming ordered them all to set their sickles on the ground in a row and to then back away by twenty paces. Hu MIng looked at Song Ci, whose eyes he could see were scanning each blade intently from a distance of ten paces. “What now, Yishi?” he inquired. “We wait for our witnesses to arrive,” responded Song Ci. With the heat of the mid-day sun and a slight breeze blowing from the direction of Hengyang, it took only a few minutes for the first eyewitness to arrive, a fly. The fly buzzed past Song Ci, circled the row of sickles, and landed on just one. The fly appeared content to remain on this sickle. Shortly after, dozens of flies had joined the content fly on the blade of the same sickle. Song Ci leaned towards Ming Hu, pointed in the direction of the sickles, and said, “See how content the flies are to remain on that one sickle. Those that landed on the other sickles quickly abandoned those for that one.” “Why is this so, Yishi?” asked the bewildered officer. “It is the blood of Wang Shan Yi on that blade that has made it their preference. There are your witnesses.” Song Ci’s eyes then scanned the line of farmers. He noticed that the eyes of the farmers were focused on the owner of the now fly-covered sickle. It was Li Yichen Xi. Song Ci pointed at Li Yichen Xi and stated,” Now, you have killed a man. There are traces of his blood on your sickle, so the flies gather. How can this be concealed?" For a moment the bystanders were speechless and then murmured with admiration. Li Yichen Xi fell to his knees, knocked his head on the ground, and confessed.

Whether Son Ci’s telling of the story was factual or a parable, we do not know. If factual, one would assume that Song Ci had previously performed experiments with flies to determine if they would prefer traces of dried blood as a food source over residues associated with the sheaving of grains. Of course, without the confession, the discovery of traces of blood on the blade of the sickle would be circumstantial at best. It is true that the sickle belonged to Li Yichen Xi, but that does not mean that he was the killer. Someone else could have taken the sickle, committed the crime, and returned it without having been detected. The blood may have also been that of an animal. Today, we would conduct presumptive and confirmatory testing of the blood discovered on the blade of the sickle, and to confirm through DNA analysis that the blood did in fact belong to Wang Shan Yi in the story. Furthermore, DNA swabs collected from the handle and latent print development would determine if anyone other than Li Yichen Xi had handled the sickle.