by the master against his slave, on the other hand, resulted in a lower penalty than the same crime committed by a common person. The local magistrate acted as examiner and sometimes as investigator, but his final role in legal cases was to determine the proper penalty for the offense that had been committed: he had to fix the nature of the offense as defined by the code, and to increase or reduce the associated penalty depending on the social relation between offender and victim. The historically famous 'five hearings' was a Chinese technique for eliciting the facts of a case. While questioning a witness, the magistrate would look closely for five kinds of behavior: "the person's statements, expression, breathing, reaction to the words of the judge, and eyes. Through careful observation, it was thought that the experienced magistrate could arrive at a knowledge of whether the person was, in fact, telling the truth." If a magistrate was unable to decide a case on the basis of evidence and witness testimony, he could seek the permission of higher officials to use judicial torture. The accused could be beaten no more than 200 blows in up to three interrogations held at least twenty days apart. But when the accused was able to withstand the full amount of torture without making a confession, the magistrate would use the same torture on the accuser. If the tortured accuser admitted making a false accusation, he would receive the same punishment that would have been inflicted upon the accused had this latter been convicted. The offence modulated according to the degree of social relation determined the final penalty which could range from flagellation using a rattan and bastinado with a bamboo stick, to penal labour, exile with penal labour, and death by strangulation (garrote) or decapitation. Facts The code imposed two years of forced labor on any private household found in possession of such works as the Luoshu Square or the Yellow River Map, which are used in Yijing and Fengshui divination. The practice was preserved in the legal practice until the Song dynasty. Specific rules governed the application of judicial torture. The only instrument permitted was the 'interrogation stick', which was approximately long and and wide at the large and small ends respectively. The magistrate himself would be punished if other means were used to try to force a confession. See also Great Qing