Lie Detector
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Chen Xiang was a magistrate in Fujian in the Song dynasty. One night there was a burglary in a hotel involving a large amount of money. The police detained the suspects, fifteen in all, but none of them admitted stealing. Magistrate Chen did not have evidence to bring charges against anybody. He announced that he was going to seek the help of a bronze bell which was said to have the divine power of telling a thief from an honest person.
The bell was kept in a temple north of the city. The magistrate sent a few policemen to borrow it and placed it in the back chamber of the courtroom. When the trial began, Magistrate Chen bowed to the bell, solemnly asking it to pass its judgment. Then the fifteen suspects were told to touch the bell with their hands. If a man was innocent, Magistrate Chen said, the bell would be silent when he touched it. But if he was guilty, the bell would ring.
Thick curtains were put over the windows and the room was pitch-dark. One by one the suspects walked up to the bell and put their hands on it. The bell gave no sound throughout. It seemed everyone had passed the test.
When the curtains were pulled aside, the magistrate asked the suspects to stretch out their hands. There were fourteen pairs of black hands and one pair of clean ones.
“You are the thief.” Magistrate Chen pointed to the man whose hands were clean.
He had had the bell sprayed with soot beforehand, reckoning the thief would not dare to touch it and thereby betray himself.
The man was forced to confess to the theft.
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Wise Proverbs
- Guilty consciences make men cowards.
- 做贼心虚。
- Wise man have their mouths in their hearts.
- 智者嘴在心里。
- A bad beginning makes a bad ending.
- 不善始者不善终。
Editor Says:
Magistrate Chen’s method beat the polygraph.