Research On The Investigation Of Japanese Judicial System Made By Chinese Government And Commonalities In The Late Qing Dynasty

During modern times,the Qing Dynasty faced a serious ruling crisis,and its backward political and legal system was challenged.Since 1840,the Qing Dynasty signed a large number of unequal treaties with foreign powers,which led to the gradual loss of China’s sovereignty,among which the existence of extraterritorial jurisdiction seriously damaged China’s judicial sovereignty.Realizing the modernization of the judicial system as soon as possible to maintain the integrity of China’s judicial sovereignty has become the consensus reached by the Chinese government and commonalities.Especially after the signing of the Xin Chou Treaty,the Qing Dynasty issued Xin Chou Reform Letters to reform the judicial system to meet the requirements of the West.In 1905,it sent five foreign ministers and other delegations to inspect Japan’s judicial system and actively absorbed the advanced achievements of Japan’s judicial system.On the other hand,it was the demand from some political leaders and reformists in China.They questioned the backward judicial system of the Qing Dynasty very early.After the Treaty of Shimonoseki,they saw the initial success of Japan’s comprehensive learning from the West in modern times,so they put forward the slogan of "Taking Japan as the teacher".Japan,as a big capitalist country in Asia at that time,quickly established a relatively perfect legal system after the Meiji Restoration.Japan’s successful use of western judicial system aroused widespread attention among Chinese.At the end of the 19 th century,Japan had established a relatively complete four-level and three-instance trial system,and also set up a relatively perfect judicial administrative system and judicial personnel training mechanism,and launched a series of negotiations with western countries on the preservation or abolition of consular jurisdiction,which gradually abolished the consular jurisdiction of other countries in Japan and restored judicial sovereignty.Chinese people were aware of the success of Japan’s learning from the West.In the late Qing Dynasty,court officials,Chinese students in Japan and commonalities all cast their focus on Japanese judicial system.The government,academia and commonalities all joined in the wave of investigating the Japanese judicial system.The main group that went to Japan for judicial investigation were the first officials to visit Japan,represented by Huang Zunxian before the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895.They made a preliminary investigation and introduction to the judicial system of Japan.Besides,after the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895,there were three delegations,sent by the late Qing Dynasty,including the delegation of five ministers going abroad,the delegation of Dali Court judgement prison,and the governmental delegation,which was represented by Da Shou and Li Jiaju,ministers of Constitutional Affairs,etc.They conducted a long-time,thorough and comprehensive inspection.Furthermore,local governments such as Zhi Li Province sent a large number of judicial inspectors to Japan,who made a comprehensive inspection of the Japanese judicial system,targeting mainly at Japanese courts at all levels.In the aspect of investigation and research on Japanese judicial system in local area,during the period of the late Qing Dynasty,for one thing,Chinese students in Japan systematically studied the basic contents of the Japanese judicial system,and gained a deeper understanding and further experience of the Japanese modern judicial system.For another,the reformists and other non-governmental people made a judicial visits to Japan,and they also had a unique understanding in the process of judicial visits to Japan.At the same time,newspapers and periodicals in the late Qing Dynasty also published the development and changes of the Japanese judicial system,offering a chance to learn and understand for us Chinese.Moreover,the investigation of the Japanese judicial system made by modern Chinese greatly influenced the reform and development of the judicial system in the late Qing Dynasty,which made the judicial reform in the late Qing Dynasty deeply branded with the Japanese judicial system.On the basis of predecessors’ achievements,the investigation and research of Japanese judicial system made by the Chinese government and commonalities in late Qing Dynasty,has made innovations in the following points by using various research methods.Firstly,combines the historical data of China and Japan,trying to fully understand the advanced nature of modern Japanese judicial system after Meiji Restoration.At the same time,by means of empirical research,this paper comprehensively combs and analyzes the causes,process,results and influence of the Chinese government and commonalities on Japanese judicial system in the late Qing Dynasty,and deeply recognized the profound influence of Japanese modern judicial system on the judicial reform in the late Qing Dynasty.This paper,from the perspectives of numerous investigation teams of Chinese government and commonalities in the late Qing Dynasty,attempts to show the characteristics and overall picture of the investigation of the Japanese judicial system made by them.With the method of comparison,this paper further analyzes and studies the influence of the Chinese government and non-government’ judicial investigation in Japan at the late Qing Dynasty on the reform of the central government’s judicial authority,the court system,the lawyer system,the training and selection of judicial talents,and the dissemination of modern judicial culture.At the same time,the interdisciplinary research method is used in the writing process,which not only realizes the integration of history and law,but also intersects with political science,linguistics and other multi-disciplines.And through the research,the following conclusions are drawn: the modern judicial system established in Japan after Meiji Restoration was based on the constitutional monarchy.Although there was a strong feudal remnant,it was in line with Japan’s national conditions at that time and was also favored by the rulers of the Qing Dynasty.The inspection of Japanese judicial system made by Chinese government and commonalities in the late Qing Dynasty had a far-reaching impact on the judicial reform in the late Qing Dynasty,which made the judicial system,the lawyer system,the procuratorial system and the training and selection of judicial talents full of Japanese color.Moreover,the inspectors who went to Japan introduced Japanese jurists to participate in the formulation of relevant laws and regulations of the judicial reform in the late Qing Dynasty,which promoted the formation of the modern Chinese judicial system.It also played an important role in introducing foreign modern judicial culture and ideas.Although the investigation of Japanese judicial system made by Chinese government and commonalities in the late Qing Dynasty was too superficial and one-sided,and Japanese judicial system was blindly transplanted,it is undeniable that the investigation was positive and fruitful,which not only promoted the modernization and perfection of the judicial system in the late Qing Dynasty,but also promoted the further formation and development of modern Chinese judicial system.The investigation of the Japanese judicial system in the late Qing Dynasty and its influence on the judicial reform at the end of the Qing Dynasty also give important enlightenment to the reform and development of the current judicial system in China.