A furious Gordon wrote that executing POWs was "stupid", writing "if faith had been kept, there would have been no more fighting as every town would have given in". In China, the penalty for rebellion was death. Under the Chinese system of familial responsibility, all family members of a rebel were equally guilty even if they had nothing to do with the rebellious individual's acts. The mandarins were thus much inclined to execute not only Taipings, but also their spouses, children, parents and siblings as being all equally guilty of treason.