# Chinese water torture **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 9, 2006, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-water-torture/339124 "2006-01-09T06:56:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![copperwindow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@copperwindow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/copperwindow)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2006, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-water-torture/339124/1 "2006-01-09T06:56:52Z")
When I was a kid I heard that the Chinese would torture victims by continuously dripping a drop of water on the victims head. It sounded like an urban legand. Is it? ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2006, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-water-torture/339124/2 "2006-01-09T07:39:53Z")
For what it’s worth, Mythbusters tried it and concluded it’s quite an effective form of torture. But they didn’t present any evidence that the Chinese actually used it. And [The Master](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/010112.html) seems to confirm that it isn’t literally Chinese. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2006, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-water-torture/339124/3 "2006-01-09T07:47:38Z")
I’ve always been curious… what’s the torture aspect? Does the water drip from such a height as to make it painful? Does a drop of water plunking softly on the same spot over and over eventually cause pain? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2006, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-water-torture/339124/4 "2006-01-09T08:46:44Z")
Anything that you can’t ignore and can’t prevent from happening can be painfully annoying; my understanding is that it is these two aspects, probably combined with general scheme of sensory deprivation (i.e. being strapped to a table in the dark, unable to move) that would make it torture. ---
**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2006, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-water-torture/339124/5 "2006-01-09T14:09:03Z")
It’s not so much the water dripping (the Mythbuster episode had Adam trying just that portion), but the combination of being strapped to the table (the girl reported anxiety about being trapped), the incessant sensory input, plus the inevitable soggy/cold feeling is what makes the torture. The Chinese, in the Tang dynasty at least, seemed to be much more interested in fire. One (possibly apocryphal) story relates to a particularly nasty official being suspected of corrpution. His friend visits him and over dinner, they have a discussion of torture methods. Friend: Prisoners these days are more and more stubborn. They won’t crack, no matter what I try on them. Official: Well, that’s simple. Just heat up an empty pot over the fire and put them in it. That’ll get them talking in no time. The friend immediately gets this set up (I’m assuming not in the same room, but it’s been a while since I read the story). Then he turns to the official. Friend: I’m sorry, sir, but I have orders to question you regarding some charges. Please get into the pot. The official, needless to say, confessed right then and there. ---
**Author:** ![Fridgemagnet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/22d042/32.png) [@Fridgemagnet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fridgemagnet)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2006, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-water-torture/339124/6 "2006-01-09T15:58:39Z")
I’ve heard the slight degree of randomness in the period between drips is quite maddening. You never quite know when the next drop will fall, and after a while the anticipation gets a bit much. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2006, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-water-torture/339124/7 "2006-01-09T19:40:03Z")
My friends used to tell me in elementary school that if you keep dripping water on the same spot, it will get really soft and you could just remove teh sking of that area with your fingers. Man, elementary was great! ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2006, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-water-torture/339124/8 "2006-01-09T20:03:49Z")
I always assumed that the victim was restrained in such a way that the dripping water was retained around their head and that, if they didn’t talk ( or the water wasn’t stopped one way or the other) they would eventually drown. The maddening/frightening part being the realization that the water was slowly creeping higher and higher. I’ll have to cite hunting now. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2006, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-water-torture/339124/9 "2006-01-09T20:51:43Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > I always assumed that the victim was restrained in such a way that the dripping water was retained around their head and that, if they didn’t talk ( or the water wasn’t stopped one way or the other) they would eventually drown. I think I’d get really thirsty in a hurry! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2006, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-water-torture/339124/10 "2006-01-09T22:36:23Z")
It’s probably not torture at first, but over time, it just annoys the shit out of you more and more until you go nuts. If you think about it, the little annoyances, if allowed to go on and on would drive you insane. ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-water-torture/339124/11 "2006-01-10T00:13:12Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > It’s probably not torture at first, but over time, it just annoys the shit out of you more and more until you go nuts. > > If you think about it, the little annoyances, if allowed to go on and on would drive you insane. Yep. That’s why I’m single now. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-water-torture/339124/12 "2006-01-10T00:37:45Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > I always assumed that the victim was restrained in such a way that the dripping water was retained around their head and that, if they didn’t talk ( or the water wasn’t stopped one way or the other) they would eventually drown. The maddening/frightening part being the realization that the water was slowly creeping higher and higher. I’ll have to cite hunting now. I don’t think this can be the case, as the victim could simply drink the water when it got high enough. (Or they could fill their mouths and spit the water out over the top of the container.) Maybe if it was whiskey or something, you’d eventually get really drunk, pass out and drown. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-water-torture/339124/13 "2006-01-10T03:13:04Z")
> [@Ghanima](#): > > Maybe if it was whiskey or something, you’d eventually get really drunk, pass out and drown. I don’t think that would count as torture. Heck, I’ll bet some bars charge extra for that. 😃