Research On Zhejiang Water Police Institutions In The Republic Of China (1912-1941)

Modern police system originated from Europe.After the Opium War,western police thought and police system were introduced into China and had a profound influence on Chinese social governance.In the late Qing Dynasty,the establishment of patrol police promoted the institutionalization and standardization of modern police administration.The inland river basin of Zhejiang Province is broad and complex,and the offshore coastline is long.Especially in modern times,new water transportation modes appear,which also leads to the frequent occurrence of water bandits.The traditional water management can no longer meet the needs of social management.Zhejiang water police inherited from Zhejiang water police in the former Qing Dynasty.After the Revolution of 1911,Yuan Shikai carried out the reform of police administration system in the whole country,and Zhejiang took the lead in establishing the preparatory office of water police.In 1914,Zhejiang Province officially established the Inland Water Police Department and the offshore Water Police Department.According to the three-level system of the department,the police department began to take charge of the ship registration,patrol,sentry and arrest of bandits on the water,which also marked the establishment of the modern Zhejiang water security system with the Marine police as the main body.However,during this period,the Marine police still had some drawbacks such as excessive punishment and harsh administration and ineffective suppression of bandits.At the early stage of the National Government of Nanjing,Zhejiang Provincial Government introduced various reforms in succession.The Marine police first changed from the department in the period of the Beijing Government to the bureau,then the bureau to the team,and finally the bureau system was restored.In the process,the organization has been streamlined.At the same time,more adjustments have been made to the police of Marine police,which basically has a relatively mature water police governance system in the form,but it is still difficult to get rid of the problems left by the Marine police from the late Qing Dynasty to the Beijing government period.After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War,Hangzhou quickly fell,the river police because of the defense area is too small and was incorporated into the antienemy self-defense forces,guerrilla warfare on land.Offshore Marine police adhere to national defense and bandits equal importance,try to maintain police.At this stage,Zhejiang Marine Police gradually formed a wartime state of opposing the enemy and conventional police,both in terms of structure and function.By 1941,when the Japanese Army occupied the coastal areas of Zhejiang,Zhejiang Marine police institutions basically existed in name but actually disappeared.In general,the water police in modern Zhejiang played an important role in maintaining the water security in the inland and offshore waters of Zhejiang,and was also a progressive force in the democratization process of modern Zhejiang.From the period of Beiyang Government to the period of Nanjing National Government,the function of Marine police expanded from maintaining public security to serving commercial people,which made the benign public security order realized.We should also see some phenomena such as extortion and corruption in the process of law enforcement,which is also the manifestation of the complexity of the construction of police administration in the Republic of China and the particularity of The Times.