The heaviest punishment for criminals in ancient China was the death penalty, also known as "Jixing". Before the Warring States period, it was called "Dabi". The main methods in the pre-Qin period included "Paoluo", "Pofu", "Hai", "Fu", "Lu", "Zhan", "Fen", "Qing", and "Gu". Among all these methods, "Lingchi" was the most cruel one.