The corporal punishment goes through a long process, from the Five Emperors Times to the Qing Dynasty. In the view of the functions of the punishment, which includes prevention and retribution, the origin, repetion and abolition of the corporal punishment is explained. The corporal punishment realized the functions of preventing crime and retribution in the history. The origin of the corporal punishment is to meet the need of prevention and retribution; the repetion of the punishment is to find the alternative punishment by trial and error; the abolition of the punishment is because the corporal punishment is replaced by another punishment which cost less than the corporal punishment. The long process of the abolition of the corporal punishment provides inspiration to solve the problem whether the death penalty is abolished now.