Jingshi Prison, founded in the first year of Xuantong (1909 AD), covers an area of about 123 acres, is one of the judicial reform work presided over by Dai Hongci, a heavy minister of the late Qing Dynasty, after returning from a trip abroad, he changed the appearance of the old prison conditions, after absorbing the judicial systems of Western countries and the experience of prison management, invited Japanese prison expert Shijiro Kokawa as a designer to build a "new model prison" with a length of 300 meters and a width of 270 meters, although the Qing Dynasty has been dying. However, Dai Hongci's work was fully affirmed.
The picture shows the appearance of the model prison gate during the Republic of China period.
Due to the serious shortage of funds in the Qing Dynasty at that time, many of the construction in the design plan was not completed and became a rotten project. In the Republic of China period, the famous prison expert Wang Yuanzeng (Wang Yuanzeng studied at the Japanese Police Superintendent School and was a student of prison expert Shijiro Kogawa) was appointed by the Beiyang government to continue construction and management, and served as the first director of the prison.
The picture shows the courtyard of the Beijing Normal Prison in the early Republic of China, and you can see that there are many unfinished buildings in the courtyard.
The overall structure of the Jingshi Prison is centered on a circular watchtower, from which the rest of the cells spread out and are all connected to the central watchtower, and the guards only need to turn around in the watchtower to see the situation in all the cells. Because the people joke that this design is like a Wang Eight, so this prison is also commonly known as "Wang Eighth Floor", the prison has undergone 11 name changes since its completion, and the names used are "Beiping First Prison", "Hebei First Prison", "Jingshi First Prison", but the people remember only the two names of "Model Prison" and "Wang Eighth Floor".
The picture shows the central watchtower in the "Eighth Floor of The King".
After about 10 years of construction by Wang Yuanzeng and others, Jingshi Prison has built a total of 594 cells in 5 prison districts, which can hold 1,000 prisoners, Wang Yuanzeng not only set up a separate female prison, but also boldly proposed to use female prison guards to manage female prisoners, which is also the first time in Chinese history that female prison guards and female prisons have appeared.
The picture shows the corridor of the cell in the Beijing Normal Prison, which looks very neat and clean.
From the end of 1912, jingshi prison began to admit prisoners, mainly prisoners with fixed-term, indefinite and death sentences, as well as some adult detainees. In 1922, the government of the Republic of China transferred 60 Russian prisoners to be held here, making it the first prison in China to hold foreign prisoners.
The picture shows inmates waiting outside the prison for instructions from prison guards.
In 1919, the prisoners in the Beijing Normal Prison built a road leading to the city at the entrance of the prison, and the prisoners could go home directly from this road after they were released from prison, so the road was named "Zixin Road", indicating that they would change their lives and become new people. Not far from the prison, there is a small ditch with a stone slab for people to pass, and the bridge is named "Half-Step Bridge" because prisoners with shackles need to move half a step when they pass through here. Today, prisons no longer exist, but the names "Zixin Road" and "Half-Step Bridge" are still in use.
The picture shows the top view of the Beijing Normal Prison, and outside the small white building in the distance is Zixin Road.
During his term of office, Wang Yuanzeng opened an education business in prison, implementing a four-level education system of primary school, high school, junior high school, and reading, where juvenile delinquents under the age of 18 can receive education according to regulations, in addition to study and physical exercise, children also do some manual projects here. The picture shows juvenile offenders in prison preparing bamboo baskets.
There are a total of 16 workshops in the prison, the most of which is printing, followed by planting, carpentry, sewing and other projects, Wang Yuanzeng let the prisoners do these labors and handicrafts, first, in order to pass their free time, and second, to make a certain degree of supplement to the prison expenses, but this form was "fully utilized" by the people who later managed the prison, becoming their best channel for collecting money.
The picture shows several prisoners pushing and grinding.
Many prisoners in the prison were imprisoned during the Qing Dynasty, and under the qing dynasty's prison system, they would stay here for their felonies for a lifetime, but in 1913, the "Prison Rules" of the Republic of China were introduced, and a "parole" clause was added to the rules, and eligible prisoners could apply for "parole" according to the procedure.
Pictured here are prisoners venting in prison, one of whom still wears long Qing Dynasty braids.
In 1946, Jingshi Prison took in some unexplained traitors and executed some of the most heinous traitors, the two most famous of whom were Wang Yitang and Yoshiko Kawashima. Yoshiko Kawashima, a Manchu qing gege who grew up in Japan at the age of 6, provided a lot of valuable intelligence to the Japanese invaders, and both were shot in the prison in 1948. Pictured here is the scene of Yoshiko Kawashima's execution on March 25, 1948, where a forensic doctor is confirming her death.
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