Illustrated Treatise on the Maritime Kingdoms: Volume 32

Page Three

Depending on the number and severity of crimes committed by a thief, some are punished by the cutting off of the nose 劓刑, yixing, while others are branded with fire and then exiled. Those who privately mint counterfeit currency have molten copper poured down their throats as a means of execution. Those who privately sell tobacco or alcohol are heavily punished, their family property is confiscated, and they are sent into exile.

In cases where a wife kills her husband due to an illicit affair, the wife is buried alive in the earth with only her head exposed until she dies; the lover is hung from a tree until dead. In cases of simple adultery, the wife is heavily punished but is not divorced from her husband; the lover is heavily punished and fined silver, which is paid to the government. If a young boy and a girl commit an act of "adultery" likely referring to premarital relations, they are both heavily punished and then forced to marry one another.

The local customs follow the "Religion of the Lord of Heaven" original: Tianzhujiao. While this term usually means Catholicism, the author uses it here to refer to Eastern Orthodoxy. They do not recognize the traditional lunar markers of the new moon or full moon original: shuowang; instead, a month consists of twenty-nine, thirty, or thirty-one days. Twelve months constitute one year. Each year, following the four seasons, there are four "Great Fasts" Lent or liturgical fasting seasons, lasting either forty days or thirty-some days. The day the winter fast ends is considered the beginning of the new year.

In ordinary times, they observe a fast every seven days referring to the Sabbath or Sunday worship. They are known to be thrifty and have a distaste for military conflict, yet their character is also described as boastful and greedy. They are fond of flattery and humor, and they have a great love for engaging in legal disputes and litigation.