Abstract：The reform of prison system was the key point of judicial reform in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China. The process was closely related to the investigation and study of foreign prison system by Chinese people in the late Qing Dynasty. The existing academic results are insufficient to discuss this problem, and examining the introduction and establishment process of specific prison system will help deepen our understanding. The prison labor system was a good research object.The prison labor system was the focus of the reform of the prison system in the late Qing Dynasty. It was different from the penal servitude system in ancient China. It was introduced by the people of the late Qing Dynasty through overseas investigation and study from the middle and late 19th Century to the early 20th Century. The introduction process can be divided into three stages. First, a preliminary investigation mainly focused on the prison systems in Britain, America and Japan. Second, translated and studied the works and thoughts of Ogawa Shigejirou. Third, attended the Universal Prison Congress and visited prisons in 15 countries along the way.With further investigation and study, the Chinese people in the late Qing Dynasty not only understood the basic content of the prison labor system but also believed that the system was a symbol of judicial civilization, and that China should transplant it as soon as possible. The introduction of this system carried the Chinese people’s longing for civilization. However, the comparative analysis of the reality of the prison labor system in foreign prisons and the background of that system showed that the people of the late Qing Dynasty overestimated the implementation of that system in Britain, the United States and other countries, and did not fully understand the social and economic basis on which the system was established and developed. This showed the limitation of cognition which is partial and superficial.Reflecting on legal transplantation, it could be seen that the legal transplantation of the late Qing Dynasty at least included two aspects: investigate the system and study the theory. The former provided the material for transplantation, and the latter strengthened the belief in transplantation. Legal transplantation was not only the imitation of rules, but also the transmission of legal theoretical knowledge and the shaping of civilized ideas. Because of this, the transplanted system had been important for a long time, and the judicial reform, including the reform of the prison system, had been sustained. Unfortunately, under the pressure of consular jurisdiction, the investigation and study were not sufficient, so that the transplantation of law was hurriedly without a deep and abundant understanding. In the rush, the Chinese people had a certain degree of beautification or misunderstanding of the foreign system itself and the so-called “civilization”. The reason for the frequent setbacks in the reform since then, was not unrelated to the basic problem that there was a deviation in the cognitive premise of legal transplantation.Compared with the existing researches, the above discussion has the following innovations: Firstly, the existing results were either generalized or limited to the Draft of the Prison Law of the Qing Dynasty, rather than going deep into a specific prison system. This paper focuses on the prison labor system so as to expand the research space of prison history in the late Qing Dynasty from the mesoscopic level. Secondly, previous studies often did not explore the mindset and cognition of the visitors, so the impact of the study could not be objectively assessed. By comparing the investigation record with the prison situation in the Western countries, this paper reveals the cognitive limitations of the investigators, and draws a conclusion that there is a deviation in the cognitive premise of legal transplantation, so as to make a new thinking about legal transplantation. Thirdly, as a study of legal history, this paper provides new historical materials, such as On Prison Operations by Ogawa Shigejirou and The Original Report of the Eighth Universal Prison Association by Wang Shurong, etc., which has enriched the research materials for the academic circle.
刘之杨. 晚清国人对外国罪犯作业制度的考察与学习论析[J]. 浙江大学学报(人文社会科学版), 2023, 53(12): 59-71.
Liu Zhiyang. Investigation and Study of Foreign Prison Labor System of Chinese People in Late Qing Dynasty. JOURNAL OF ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY, 2023, 53(12): 59-71.
2023, Vol. 53 
