Why did the executioner spray wine on the knife before raising the knife when executing the condemned man in ancient times?

Someone asked: Why did the executioner spray wine on the knife in advance in the scene of ancient execution in TV series? Asking this question at first glance is fooled by TV dramas. In fact, there is no saying that the executioner sprays wine before beheading. It is possible that some executioners will drink to courage before execution. I'm not talking nonsense. In ancient literary works, there is no description about the habit of the executioner spraying wine on the knife. Basically, he started with a knife, fell neatly and dragged away one by one. Having said that, why does this phenomenon appear frequently in TV dramas? Is there no basis? Personally, I don't think this behavior of using wine shower knife is completely irrelevant. First of all, for people with serious feudal superstitions in ancient times, it is very stressful to be an executioner. Not only do you feel uncomfortable, but others think you are unlucky and don't want to deal with you. Although the executioner has a considerable income, he often can't marry a daughter-in-law all his life, and no one wants to marry his daughter to such a person. In order to make a living, the executioner had to bear the double pressure of loneliness and external accusations. At this time, wine is very important to them. As the saying goes, "wine scares people", especially for those executioners who are superstitious themselves, wine must be a part of their spiritual sustenance. Therefore, it is not excluded that some executioners drink a few mouthfuls of wine to refresh themselves before cutting off others' heads, so there is room for operation. For example, we know that wine is often used when offering sacrifices to the dead, which shows that it is very likely that some executioners sprinkled wine before or after beheading as a souvenir in pursuit of psychological comfort. Although the core of the executioner's work remains the same, his personal habits are different. At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, there was an executioner named Deng Haishan, who was also the last executioner in China. Two or three hundred people were beheaded by him. His habit is to turn around and leave after beheading, and no one tells him to turn back to avoid bad luck. So sometimes someone's habit is to spray wine on the execution ground as a means to avoid disaster. In addition, this kind of behavior has a strong visual impact effect and a sense of ritual, and it is gradually imitated or spread, and it is euphemistically called a sacrificial knife. Of course, the above is just speculation. Another possibility of spraying wine on the knife is to protect the knife. The instruments of torture used by the executioner are very harsh, and the same job requires a lot of the executioner himself. Skilled technology and good tools can make the knife fall to the ground, otherwise the technology is not good or the knife is too blunt, and it is very likely that half of it will be stuck by the bone and can't go on. This is a very shameful thing for an executioner, including cutting at the waist. If you keep cutting it, not only officials will fire you, but even people will laugh at you. Some people say that no matter how dull the executioner's knife is, it will not sharpen, and there is still a problem at three o'clock in the afternoon. This is very incorrect. Executioners usually receive formal execution documents in advance and prepare for beheading in advance. If there are too many people to behead, the executioner will prepare more knives, just to prevent a blunt knife from affecting the completion of his work. This is also why the families of criminals often bribe the executioner in advance, in order to make him sharpen his sword, strive for a solution and alleviate the pain of criminals. The executioner's interpersonal relationship is difficult, and he will be finished if he loses his job. No one wants to hire people who have killed too many people, so the executioner will starve to death. So executioners usually take good care of their knives. In addition to careful polishing, they should also pay attention to maintenance. If a man beheads, he will be stained with human blood. If not cleaned, the tool will become more and more dull. Because blood contains inorganic salts and moisture, it will be electrochemically corroded by oxygen when exposed to air, which is what we call rust. But if you pour wine on the knife, you can avoid blood sticking to the knife as much as possible and prolong the life of the knife. In fact, in the past, not only the executioner was unpopular, but also the butcher was despised. For example, Mencius said a long time ago that "a gentleman cooks far away." Generally speaking, the monarch is kind and doesn't want to see bloody things spread to ordinary people, so he stays away from this profession. For a long time, both the butcher and the executioner are unlucky symbols, often covered with a mysterious veil, which is manifested in film and television dramas and often has distinctive characteristics. For example, they are all strong and fat. In fact, they are ferocious, fierce and cold, eating meat and drinking too much, and so on. ? Having said that, I still want to tell you that all TV dramas are not true. For example, only eunuchs in Ming and Qing dynasties can use these two sentences, not every dynasty. For another example, the Great Xia asked for two Jin of beef when he entered the door. Cattle is an important production tool in ancient times, and it can't just be served on the table. Another example is walking in rivers and lakes, throwing broken silver at every turn and telling the shopkeeper to keep the change. In fact, people seldom use silver. In other words, the scenes we are used to are actually misleading us. So it is really impossible to find out whether the executioner sprayed wine on the knife after the execution.