Chinese water torture is the popular name for a method of water torture in which water is slowly dripped onto a person's forehead, driving the victim insane. This form of torture was first described under a different name by Hippolytus de Marsiliis in Italy in the 16th century. Water torture is torture using water, which can take several forms. ... Inmates at Bedlam Asylum, as portrayed by William Hogarth Insanity, or madness, is a semi-permanent, severe mental disorder typically stemming from a form of mental illness. ... (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ...

Explanation

Supposedly the torture in dripping water is the slow rate at which the water flows. The victim can almost predict when the next drop will fall and a sense of tension builds up. When the drop finally does fall, a sense of shock and relief follows, only to be replaced with more tension about the next drop. The release of tension (no matter how small it is) prevents the victim from withdrawing inside himself. As this does not require interaction on the part of the torturer it can be done continuously.

Evidence of use

There is no evidence that this form of torture was ever used by the Chinese. The popularity of the term "Chinese water torture" may have arisen from Harry Houdini's Chinese Water Torture Cell (a feat of escapology introduced around 1913 which entailed Houdini being bound and suspended upside-down in a locked glass and steel cabinet full to overflowing with water, from which he escaped) together with the Fu Manchu stories of Sax Rohmer that were popular in the 1930s (in which the evil Fu Manchu subjected his victims to various devious tortures, such as the wire jacket). It is also thought by many that the term "Chinese water torture" comes from the same set of terms as Chinese fire drill and Chinese whispers, where the word Chinese was originally used by the Victorians as slang for confusing or 'containing erratic qualities'. Harry Houdini (March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926), born Ehrich Weiss, was a Hungarian/American magician, escapologist, stunt performer, as well as an investigator of spiritualists. ... green is good This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... Harry Houdini, a famous escapologist and magician. ... Year 1913 (MCMXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ... This article is about the fictional literature character. ... Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward (February 15, 1883 - June 1, 1959), better known as Sax Rohmer, was a prolific English novelist. ... The 1930s (years from 1930-1939) were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression, also known in Europe as the World Depression. ... The factual accuracy of this article is disputed. ... A Chinese fire drill is a prank that was popular in the United States during the 1960s. ... Chinese whispers, also known as the telephone game, Broken Telephone, operator, a whisper down the lane and Pass It Down, is a game often played by children at parties or in the playground in which a phrase or sentence is passed on from one player to another, but is subtly... Queen Victoria (shown here on the morning of her Accession to the Throne, June 20, 1837) gave her name to the historic era. ...

The US television program Mythbusters investigated Chinese water torture and found that dripping water on the forehead, by itself, was not particularly stressful. Immobilizing the subject along with a fixed variable water drop schedule proved the most stressful of the methods they tried, and that cold water intensified the effect. MythBusters is an American pop science television program on the Discovery Channel starring special effects experts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, who use their skills and expertise to test the validity of various rumors and urban legends in popular culture. ...

See also

• Water torture
• Water cure

Water torture is torture using water, which can take several forms. ... The Water Torture. ...

External links

• Houdini's Chinese Water Torture Cell
• straightdope.com
• Phrases Origins