Definition

1. Noun (Historical/Legal Term):
   • The Five Punishments: In historical East Asian, particularly Vietnamese and Chinese, legal systems, this term refers to the five principal corporal and capital penalties prescribed by classical law.

Detailed Explanation

The "Five Punishments" were a codified hierarchy of state-administered penalties. Their severity and nature evolved across dynasties but generally included: - Death (e.g., execution). - Banishment for life (permanent exile). - Deportation (temporary or permanent exile to a specific remote region). - Imprisonment (incarceration, often with hard labor). - Fine (monetary penalty or confiscation of property).

This system represents a formal, classical legal philosophy and is an archaic term not used in modern Vietnamese jurisprudence.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Luật pháp thời phong kiến quy định rõ ngũ hình. (Feudal law clearly stipulated the five punishments.)
  • Tội tham nhũng nặng có thể bị xử theo ngũ hình. (Serious corruption could be sentenced according to the five punishments.)

Advanced Usage

• This term is primarily encountered in historical, literary, or academic texts discussing pre-modern legal systems. It is not used in contemporary legal language.

Variants and Related Words

• Hình phạt (n): Punishment (the modern, general term).
• Tử hình (n): Death penalty (a specific punishment, part of the historical "ngũ hình").

Synonyms

• The five penalties
• The five canonical punishments (academic term)

Related Concepts

• Ngũ thường (n): The Five Constants (virtues), a Confucian ethical concept, sometimes contrasted in classical texts with the punishments ("ngũ hình") as the system of rewards and penalties.

1. (từ cũ) The five punishments (death, banishment for life) deportation, imprisonment, fine)