Washing Away of Wrongs
Definition
The common English title for Song Ci's 'Xi Yuan Ji Lu', a Chinese forensic medicine manual that remained an official judicial reference in China, Korea, and Japan for centuries. Contains the fly-and-sickle case described in the 13th century.
- Original title
- Xi Yuan Ji Lu
- Author
- Song Ci
- Century
- 13th century
- Historical role
- Official judicial reference in China, Korea, and Japan
- Notable content
- Fly-and-sickle case
Common questions
What makes the fly-and-sickle case significant in forensic history?+
Song Ci describes a village official who identified a murder weapon by laying out all local sickles and observing which one attracted flies drawn to residual blood and tissue traces invisible to the eye, an early documented use of insect behavior as physical evidence in a criminal investigation.
Why is this text considered a landmark rather than just an old manual?+
It systematized practical death investigation methods, including how to examine wounds, distinguish drowning from strangulation, and use decomposition and insect activity as evidence, and it remained in official use across multiple East Asian judicial systems for centuries after it was written.
Related terms
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- Song Ci (1186-1249)
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