I was recently reading Anchee Min's 'Empress Orchid' when I came across the punishment of removing the limbs of concubines and having her live in a vase. It was said to be especially reserved for unruly concubines of the emperor. One scene even involves the main character viewing a concubine who was a recipient of the said punishment, and was said to be only kept alive as a warning.
Did these type of punishment really occur? I've read of various punishments in Imperial China (such as whippings, ordered suicides and the thousand-slice death) but I've never come across this. Granted, my knowledge of Imperial China is sketchy at best.
PS. What other uncommon punishments were meted out in Imperial China for crimes?
This event might be based on Wu Zetian's treatment of her rivals, Consort Xiao and Empress Wang, as recorded in the Old Book of Tang compiled around 300 years after the event.
Wu Zetian, then still a consort, ordered for her rivals' limbs to be cut off, thrown into a large wine jar, and had the jar filled with alcohol.
Source: Old Book of Tang, Chpt 51
Another infamously horrific incident of concubine punishment is Consort Qi's death. Qi, a consort of Liu Bang (Founder of the Han Dynasty), was killed by Liu's Empress Consort Lü Zhi after Liu's death. As related inShiji, Qi was blinded, deafened, muted, her limbs removed and locked into a latrine. Lü Zh called her a "Human Swine".