“Five Hearings in Litigation” available in the Chinese ancient books, which can also be called as the application of ancient Chinese Criminal Judicial Psychology.
As early as the Western Zhou Dynasty, there was a record in the literature discussing the issue of “Five Hearings in Litigation”(Wu Sheng Ting Yu Song), referred to as Five Hearings (Wu Ting).
This is a kind of observation in ancient judicial trials—a trial method of observing psychological changes of parties or criminals. The Five Hearings in ancient books refer to
Wu Ting
- Ci Ting (Words Hearing),
- Se Ting (Expression Hearing),
- Qi Ting (Breath Hearing),
- Er Ting (Ear Hearing) and
- Mu Ting (Eye Hearing).
According to Zheng Xuan’s explanation in Eastern Han Dynasty-
“Ci Ting” (Words Hearing) means “observing his words, and if he is not honest, his words would be incoherent and confusing”;
“Se Ting” (Expression Hearing) means “observing his facial expression, and if he is not honest, his expression would be abnormal”;
“Qi Ting” (Breath Hearing)means “observing his breath, and if he is not honest, his breath would be heavy and gasping”;
“Er Ting” (Ear Hearing) means “observing his hearing ability, and if he is not honest, he would pretend to have difficulty in hearing others”;
while “MuTing“(Eye Hearing) means “observing his eyes, and if he is not honest, his eyes would stare blankly and not dare to stare the judge in the eye”.
Speaking complete truth: Ci+Qi (Control over word and breath) and Se+Mu( Good expression with peaceful eyes)
