Song Ci (1186-1249)
Definition
Chinese forensic investigator and judge whose 1247 manual 'Xi Yuan Ji Lu' (Washing Away of Wrongs) contains the oldest documented case of entomological reasoning in a legal context.
- Role
- Chinese forensic investigator and judge
- Work
- 1247 manual Xi Yuan Ji Lu (Washing Away of Wrongs)
- Significance
- Contains the oldest documented case of entomological reasoning in a legal context
- Field
- History of forensic entomology
Common questions
What was the entomological case described in Song Ci's manual?+
The account describes a murder investigation in which flies were drawn to a sickle bearing invisible traces of blood among a group of similar tools, which led investigators to the weapon and its owner, an early recorded use of insect attraction as investigative evidence.
Why is Xi Yuan Ji Lu significant beyond the entomology case?+
The text is considered one of the earliest systematic forensic medicine manuals, covering death scene examination, wound interpretation and methods for distinguishing suicide from homicide, predating comparable Western forensic medicine texts by centuries.
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- Washing Away of Wrongs
- The common English title for Song Ci's 'Xi Yuan Ji Lu', a Chinese forensic medicine manual that remained an official judicial reference...