Sadly this is merely one example of humanity's seemingly endless inventiveness when it comes to inflicting horrors on each other. The Chinese devised a mesh which they would pull tightly over the naked flesh of a victim so that hundreds of tiny squares of flesh would protrude, each painful in itself. Then one of the guards would slice off a tiny square of skin and pour salt onto the flesh underneath. Properly done, this could keep the victim in agony but perfectly alive for weeks on end.