A public sentencing rally circa 1985, location unkown. Although rallies such as these, as well as public executions, are almost unheard of today, they were quite common until the late 1990s. . The purpose of these public trials and executions was to instill fear in the population, or, as the Chinese saying goes, “kill the chicken to scare the monkey.”

1985 年前后在某地召开的一次公开宣判大会。中国政府认为这种公开审判、枪决能够起到杀鸡儆猴的效果。直到90年代中期以后，该制度才慢慢被废止，但地方政府仍然时有采用。