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Author: Hou Xinyi Source: China Law Review
This issue of the video is titled "Female Lawyer Shi Liang", which reviews the life of Shi Liang, a famous female lawyer of the Republic of China and the first minister of justice of New China, who is the promoter and advocate of the Chinese women's movement, and is known as the patriotic "Seven Gentlemen" along with Shen Junru and Zou Taofen, and is also a model for contemporary female lawyers. Professor Hou Xinyi of Tianjin University of Finance and Economics wrote an article and provided a picture, which was published in the video column of China Law Review, No. 3, 2020 (pp. 167-172).
Shi Liang graduated in 1927 and took a photo at Shanghai Law University
During the Republic of China period, women's social status has been significantly improved, and they have the opportunity to go out of the house to join the society, and a small number of them have also successfully joined the legal profession that originally belonged to the world of men, settling down and serving the society with their professional knowledge and skills. Among the female lawyers in the Republic of China period, Shi Liang's popularity is undoubtedly the highest.
Shi Liang, zi Cunchu, was born in 1900 in Changzhou city to a large family of scholars, and his grandfather and maternal grandfather were both from jinshi backgrounds. In 1923, Shi Liang entered Shanghai Fazheng University to study law, and in 1926, dissatisfied with the school's emphasis on money and disregarding the quality of teaching, he joined forces with his classmates to fight. She later transferred to the newly founded Shanghai Law University and became the proud protégé of Dong Kang, a famous figure in the judicial field.
In 1927, Shi Liang graduated from Shanghai Law University. Because the school is a private university and is not registered with the Ministry of Education, graduates cannot obtain a lawyer's certificate. Shi Liang had no choice but to work at the Political Staff Training Institute of the General Political Department of the National Revolutionary Army.
Shi Liang's family photo (Shi Liang in the front row from the right)
Shi Liang and her husband Lu Diandong
In 1931, when Shanghai Law University changed its name to Shanghai Law School and was approved by the Ministry of Education to file a case, Shi Liang finally got a lawyer's certificate and entered the law firm opened by Dong Kang to become a practicing lawyer.
The Chinese lawyer system was founded in the early Min Dynasty, but it was not until the promulgation of the Lawyers' Charter in 1927 that women were allowed to practice law, and Shi Liang had the honor of becoming an early adopter. From 1927 to 1937, there were 43 female lawyers who applied to join the Shanghai Bar Association, accounting for 4.8% of all applicants. At this time, the total number of lawyers in Shanghai was about 1,000, and there was one lawyer in every 3,100 Shanghainese, which was extremely competitive.
Shi Liang joined the Shanghai Bar Association Registration Form
Shi Liang's business card
With Dong Kang's connections and his own excellent professional knowledge, as well as his character of not accepting defeat, Shi Liang's career as a lawyer started smoothly. The first case she handled was a bankruptcy dispute, and after winning the case, she received a 500 oceans of honorarium.
Shi Liang actively participated in the feminist movement, and also joined the "Revolutionary Humanitarian Mutual Aid Association" initiated by progressives, serving as a lawyer for the association, defending the arrested underground CCP members Deng Zhongxia, Ren Baige, Xiong Jinjue, and Fang Zhida. All this brought Shi Liang a very high reputation, and she served as an executive member of the Shanghai Bar Association and became a leader in the legal profession.
Written by Shi Liang himself in 1935
Shi Liang took a group photo with female workers before liberation
In October 1937, Shi Liang personally distributed consolation goods to anti-Japanese soldiers in Shanghai
In 1938, Shi Liang and Song Meiling sewed clothes for anti-Japanese soldiers
After the "918" incident, Japan stepped up its aggression against China, and the anti-Japanese salvation movement in Shanghai flourished, and in 1936, the National Federation for National Salvation from All Walks of Life was formally established, electing more than 40 people, including Song Qingling, Shen Junru, and Shi Liang, as executive members.
On November 22, the Kuomintang government arrested Shen Junru, Zhang Naiqi, Zou Taofen, Li Gongpu, Sha Qianli, Wang Zaoshi, Shi Liang, and other leaders of the National Salvation Congress and imprisoned them in Suzhou Prison, creating the "Seven Gentlemen Incident" that shocked China and foreign countries. Shi Liang was the only woman among the Seven Gentlemen who had successfully escaped. A month later, she handled the affairs of the National Salvation Congress safely, chose to "surrender on her own initiative," and took on the responsibility of resisting Japan and saving lives together with other leaders.
The Jiangsu High Court, which was in charge of hearing the case, was charged with the crime of violating the "Emergency Punishment Law for Endangering the Republic of China", and according to the indictment, "the defendants jointly formed a group for the purpose of endangering the Republic of China and propagated the doctrine incompatible with the Three People's Principles".
In view of the gravity of the case, the families of the parties hired 3 lawyers for each of them, forming a large and luxurious legal team. Such as Jiang Yong (former president of the Beijing Government Revision Law Museum), Liu Chongyou (former senator of the Beijing Government Senate), Zhang Yaozeng (three times as the chief justice officer of the Beijing government), Wang Youling (former president of Chaoyang University), Lu Hongyi (former president of the Dali Court of the Beijing Government), Wu Zengshan (head of the Suzhou Bar Association), Chen Tingrui (executive director of the Shanghai Bar Association), Liu Shifang (former professor of law at Soochow University, Chinese director of the Shanghai Public Concession Work Bureau), Zhang Zhirang (former director of the Dali Court of the Beijing Government), Xu Zuoliang (Supervisor of the Shanghai Bar Association) and others, the rest of you are also elites in the legal profession.
Sha Qianli sighed and said, "It is the only one in the history of the judicial profession to hire so many lawyers, and most of them are well-known people to defend." ”
Shi Liang is partially photographed in prison
Shen Junru and the other six gentlemen played in prison
In 1937, Shi Liang took a photo with Li Gongpu's wife Zhang Manjun (first from left) and Chen Weijiang, who visited the Suzhou Women's Detention Center
These lawyers have political opinions left, center, and right, and their defense styles and strategies are also quite different, some are peaceful and rational, and do not engage in unnecessary friction with prosecutors; some have a high-profile style of doing things. But one thing is the same, that is, they all emphasize the protection of the rights of the accused and the dignity of the law. The pretrial lawyers' team carefully read the case file, held many meetings to discuss defense matters, and replied to the defense statement alone with more than 20,000 words.
At the opening of the trial, Liu Chongyou, Zhang Yaozeng, Jiang Yong, Wang Youling and other four elders led the way, with their heads held high, and entered along the YongDao at the front of the court, which was quite imposing. During the trial, the lawyers who appeared in court cooperated with each other, and they were full of spirit in all aspects of the statement, evidence, questioning, and defense, and according to the law, they refuted the crimes listed in the indictment article by article.
At the last moment, Liu Chongyou, who was more than sixty years old, made a concluding speech, his voice was loud, and he was shocked by the four seats: "The country has reached the point where it is today, to be honest, to be a Chinese, which one does not want to save the country?" Saving the country is an obligation and at the same time a sacred right. Who dares to violate this right? ”
Shi Liang always maintained an optimistic attitude in prison, and the qipao was always neat and clean. Soon, the "July 7 Incident" broke out, and the Seven Gentlemen were released on bail, and the case was not resolved.
Group photo of the "Seven Gentlemen" when he was released from prison
In 1937, Shi Liang married Lu Diandong, who was 7 years younger. Lu is handsome in appearance and used to work in the patrol room, and the two met because of the case. Shi Liang sponsored Lu to go to Harvard in the United States to study law, majoring in international law. After marriage, Lu was obedient to Shi Liang, and Shi Liang was also extremely dependent on Lu in life. The couple had no children and raised two children, a man and a woman.
Shi Liang later joined the Democratic League, practicing law while continuing to engage in progressive activities. After practicing for more than 20 years, Shi Liang has accumulated a lot of wealth and lived an elegant and tasteful life.
After the founding of New China, she donated all her wealth to the state.
Shi Liang works at the Ministry of Justice
In 1949, Shi Liang became minister of justice, fulfilling his duties in creating a judicial system with Chinese characteristics. Shi Liang called for the establishment of a new lawyer system and notary system, and also proposed the establishment of a people's assessor system. In addition, as a representative figure of The Chinese women's community, she devoted a lot of effort to the formulation of the Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China, which abolished the feudal marriage system such as arranged forced and male superiority and female inferiority, and implemented freedom of marriage, equality between men and women, and monogamy.
Shi Liang took a group photo during the CPPCC session
Shi Lianghou was elected vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. She is the pioneer of the new Chinese and civil justice work, the founder of judicial administration, and one of the leaders of the Chinese women's movement.
In July 1950, a group photo of the First National Judicial Work Conference
Shi Liang inspected the northeast