Mie Zu

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Mie Zu (Simplified Chinese: 灭族, Pinyin:Mie Zu) was a capital punishment in ancient China that kills an entire paternal clan for a member's extreme crime.

First appeared in Shang Dynasty, the scope of Mie Zu extended from 3 (parents' and wife's) to 9 (nine generations from great-great-grandfather down to great-great-grandchildren)in the Nine grades of relations. A rare case was Fang Xiaoru, whose students and friends were also executed as the 10th family by the Yongle Emperor.