In April 1905, two law-revising ministers of the Qing Dynasty - Wu Tingfang and Shen Jiaben - jointly signed a submission to the Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu to delete the regulations and emphasize the law. Lingchi was permanently deleted from Qing Criminal Code.
This was the first shocking move made by Wu Tingfang and Shen Jiaben after they met. It was the first contest between modern legal principles and ancient torture traditions. Benevolent government is the coordinate system, which shows that the criminal law "disposes to justice", but the ultimate goal is to "exercise benevolence". He also said -
"Referring to the previous discussions, many people have discussed their cruelty, and when considering the countries around the world today, they have all been discarded and not used. Moreover, outsiders have criticized the unkindness of Chinese law. But this number is the worst.”
This is China’s old method of calling for reform: first, describe what it wants to do as something that countless martyrs have wanted to do for 3,000 years but have not been completed for generations. , we must inherit the legacy of the martyrs and accomplish what they could not accomplish; secondly, say that this is what the United States does, and what the United States has today is our future; and finally, add that the Americans have treated us like this for a long time I am behind and have opinions!
Haha, this way of writing may be a habit of official documents, or it may be that the Shen family was facing a powerful enemy and thought too much about the difficulties of reform, which must involve ancient and modern times, both at home and abroad, otherwise they would not be able to convince the emperor.
Shen Jiaben had a right-hand man named "Dong Kang" who recalled that at the beginning of the judicial reform, the returned minister Wu Tingfang was still on a mission in the United States. The cautious local minister Shen Jiaben did not dare to rashly enact new laws. So she just "collected the articles of association since Tongzhi and read the editors in detail" and did some preparatory work. At the end of the year, Cixi had not seen the results of the criminal law reform. Shen Jiaben was anxious, so Shen Jiaben took action and summoned his subordinates to consult for opinions. So Dong Kang suggested, "Since the Song Dynasty, From then on, the punishment system became increasingly severe, and Ling Chi was especially cruel. If we want to draw a parallel between China and foreign countries, we must start with reforming the punishment system." If the central government approves, "we will know that the imperial court is not a false story."
What Dong Kang means is that things must be done and the steps must be small. Don’t put aside the "Qing Dynasty Laws and Regulations" to formulate the "Qing Dynasty Criminal Code". "Delete torture in "To test Cixi's meaning. Therefore, in April 1905, Wu Tingfang and Shen Jiaben jointly played "Delete the Laws and Regulations and Emphasis on the Law", requesting that 334 articles be deleted from the old law. The key point was to "delete all three items: Lingchi, Xiaoshou, and Corpse Killing, and the death penalty is punishable by execution." Stop.” Surprisingly, Cixi made no objections and issued an order that Ling Chi would be "deleted forever and all beheaded".
Shen Jiaben and Dong Kang, as well as the entire government and the public, and even all future generations who have learned the history of the late Qing Dynasty through literary and artistic works, must be unbelievable that the Lingchi problem was solved so smoothly. Only Wu Tingfang took it for granted, because he was a returnee from overseas and did not know much about the sophistication of officialdom. It happened that officialdom did not care about the arrogance and straightforwardness of returnees. This is an intriguing thing in the 20th century. Returnees always dare to speak more than locals, and what they say will receive special attention.
-------Kuaidao Hongqi's blog