Emporer Wu of Liang - Execution
Emperor Wu of Liang & the execution of the Kowtow Monk
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Emperor Wu of Liang was an emperor of early Chinese history who ruled between the years 502–549 AD.
Throughout his life as emperor, he himself was personally against the death penalty and never imposed it, except in his earlier years when other officials demanded the execution for individuals accused of treason.
He was also a vegan emperor who also saw it as sacrilege to his Buddhist teachings to portray animals in drawing or painting, or to use any sort of animal fabric, including clothing.
Nonetheless, there are said to be exceptions when his opposition to the death penalty prevailed, with the story below being possibly apocryphal (or maybe not).
Above: GO
In this particular incident, the emperor was now in his twilight years, having become emperor at the age of 38, and now he had been in power for most of his life.
Apparently, he was playing a game of GO with an official, who was said to have been a master player that the emperor never came close to defeating…
Until this day.
Another person who was in the room that day was the emperor’s lifelong friend: a Buddhist Kowtow Monk who had been his friend for decades.
Above: Kowtow Monks
While he was observing the game from across the room, the emperor got a stroke of luck, and found himself in a winning position.
He was so excited at the thought that he was finally winning for once, that when he surrounded a group of the official’s pieces, the emperor reportedly threw his hands up in the air and cried out: “KILL!”
Above: Wu Of Liang In His Later Years — Around The Time Of The GO Incident
Just like that, the guards standing outside the room came into the room and seized the monk, who was immediately brought over to the execution square.
Meanwhile, the emperor did not notice what was going on until after the game was over and he tried bringing the monk over to him.
“My lord, the execution of the Kowtow Monk has been carried out as you ordered,” one of the guards responded.
Therefore, one of the emperor’s few executions in his 47 years as emperor was allegedly the result of his being too entranced in a game of GO to notice his immediate surrounding.
Above: Koreans Playing GO In 1910
It gets weirder, however…
According to the legend, the emperor was soon visited by the ghost of the Kowtow Monk while he was in bed.
The emperor tried to apologise to him for his accidental execution, though the Kowtow Monk brushed off his apologies.
“The gods had already sentenced me to death long beforehand, due to having wilfully crushed a worm with my foot when I was a boy.”
Above: Death For The Worm!!!!!
Quite ironically, the emperor would himself be overthrown by his son in his later life and be executed by being locked in his room and starved to death.
Above: Wu Of Liang’s Imperial Tomb
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