In ancient China, a special method of divine judgment known as the “oil-scooping ritual” served to make final rulings in cases of theft or debt disputes.
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The unusual legal tool was used when evidence was insufficient or inconclusive.
At the time, forensic science was underdeveloped and people lacked the knowledge to uncover the truth, often appealing to the gods to distinguish right from wrong.
One such practice was the “Boiling Scoop Judgement”, known in Chinese as Lao You Guo.
This was particularly prevalent among the Yi ethnic minority, who mostly live in rural areas of Yunnan and Sichuan provinces in southwestern China.
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