Entitled Chinese punishment, whipping a lawbreaker [c1900] Attribution Unknown [RESTORED]. The photograph was cleaned of defects, and had contrast and tone adjusted.

"But first, ...thirty stokes with the big paddle!!!" is often heard on Chinese period dramas, ostensibly depicting how the Qing courts of yesteryear meted out punishment, or how judges "encourage" criminal confessions. Bastinado (also Bastinade, Bastinada - an alteration of the Spanish 'Baston' meaning 'stick') is a description of the whipping, flogging, paddling, or caning of a person's feet or legs; but can also include the buttocks; while the accused are held supine on the ground or face down across a punishment rack. Used for centuries around the world, this too, was one of the many corporal punishment techniques that the Qing routinely dealt out in order to maintain civil obedience.