Sorry for the rough timeline, but I believe this was a long-standing practice in Chinese history so I'm trying to get an idea of specifics.
Reading about Chinese history, I have found that executions of entire clans were very common. For example, an Emperor or general would have someone executed on some pretext, along with generations of their family- basically, their entire clan. This seems to be more common than in Europe during the same time (though common during Rome).
This act, shocking and disturbing by modern standards, is glossed over in every history I've read. I'm trying to get a better understanding of what was actually occurring here than just numbers on a page. My question is, do we have information about what these executions were actually like? Were they solemn and respectful? Were they done as a group or individually? Were they ritualistic or bloody? Was cannibalism or torture used, or was it just a direct process? Or did it vary?
I know this is a weird question that covers a wide timeline, so thanks for any replies.
Assuming what you are refering to is 诛九族 (nine familial extermination). The "nine families" are: four generations on father's side (father, uncles, cousins, nephews), three generation on mother's side ( mother, uncle, cousins) and two generations from wife (parents in law and siblings in law).
This punishment is a form of capital punishment often used for alleged treason or assassination attempts against the emperor.
The only example of 诛十族 (ten familial extermination） was 方孝儒 Fung Xiaoru， a Ming dynasty scholar, who refused to submit after one the crown prince of Yan 燕王朱棣 Zhu Di succeed in a rebellion that overthrew the emeperor who was his nephew. Xiaoru's students were counted as tenth generation and executed.
As far as I know, only the primary target of the punishment is subject to very cruel killing method (often by 凌迟, death by thousand cuts)，everyone else is simply beheaded. Woman of the said family might be taken into slavery and prostitution instead of being executed.