Taiwan was never without laws, during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries,, but it was frequently lawless. In the 211 years that preceded the Japanese takeover, armed groups defied the imperial authorities on at least 159 occasions. When Taiwanese lamented that “every three years, there’s an uprising; every five years, there’s a rebellion” (三年一反,五年一亂), they weren’t exaggerating.
From 1664 to 1895, the laws applying to Taiwan were similar to those throughout the Qing Empire. Crimes were punished by: beating with a light bamboo stick; beating with a heavier stick; penal servitude; exile for life; or death by strangulation, decapitation, or “slicing” (also known as “death by a thousand cuts”). There were no prisons.
CONFUCIAN PUNISHMENTS
Photo: Steven Crook
The criminal code reflected a Confucian view of families. Sons found guilty of striking their parents faced beheading, but parents who hit their sons were punished only if the youngster died. Even then, the death penalty was never applicable. Plotting to kill one’s parents or paternal grandparents could result in a sentence of “slicing” to death. A wife who hit her husband would receive 100 strokes of the heavy bamboo stick; men who hit their wives were punished only if the assault caused a fracture, and the woman filed an official complaint.
Magistrates also had extraordinary power to order individuals to be thrashed for doing “that which ought not to be done.” But those sentenced to exile or death could often appeal to the provincial authorities, and sometimes even to the imperial court.
Unlike Europe and North America, contract law didn’t exist in China before the late 19th century. Business disputes were settled within craft or merchant guilds, in accordance with the guilds’ own customs. Village elders or gentry mediated when individuals or families came into conflict.
Photo: Steven Crook
Physical evidence of the law-and-order issues that occupied Qing-era bureaucrats can be seen in Nanmen Park (南門公園), at the intersection of Nanmen Road (南門路) and Shulin Street (樹林街) in central Tainan. The park takes its name from the city’s Great South Gate. The gate is preserved here, along with a short section of the city’s defensive wall.
In the southwest corner of the park, there’s a collection of stelae (inscribed stone tablets) from the mid-18th century to the late 19th century. The collection is open to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Some of the stelae are the size of tombstones; others are larger than doors. Because the text on most of them is no longer legible, information panels summarize the content in Chinese, English and Japanese. Several celebrate the good deeds of worthies who underwrote the construction of bridges or schools.
Photo: Steven Crook
A stele from 1767 bears an edict outlawing the gruesome and unhygienic practice of displaying corpses when soliciting alms or attempting extortion. An 1802 directive clarified that the behavior of “mountain ghosts” (山鬼, those who robbed graves or shook down funeral-goers) was illegal. Just twenty years before the Japanese takeover, another decree criminalized threatening to commit suicide in front of someone’s property as a way to extort money. In 1889, rich families were ordered not to enslave girls, and not to prevent females working in their households from getting married.
Official malfeasance was obviously a major issue. A 1750 stele prohibited officials from taking bribes or imposing illegal charges. In 1822, soldiers had to be ordered not to issue fines for no reason, or to allow their horses to trample crops. Two years later, a stele reminded soldiers that robbing merchant vessels was forbidden.
JAPANESE ERA
Photo: Steven Crook
When Taiwan came under Japanese control, Qing legal structures were abolished. But as displays inside Tainan Judicial Museum (司法博物館) make clear, Taiwan’s new rulers didn’t immediately replicate Japan’s German-influenced legal system. Because the colonial authorities faced armed resistance, initially military courts dispensed justice. Over the following several years, a system of courts and laws tailor-made for Taiwan emerged.
The museum, 400m northwest of Nanmen Park as the crow flies, is among the 20 finest architectural relics of Japan’s 1895-1945 occupation of Taiwan. It’s open to the public Tuesday to Sunday, from 9am to 5pm. Admission is free.
This location’s historical value predates the colonial period. A concrete marker by the entrance bears three Chinese characters (馬兵營, mabingying, “horse soldiers camp”). During the Kingdom of Dongning (東寧王國, 1661-1683), founded by Cheng Cheng-kung (鄭成功, also known as Koxinga), this was the site of a cavalry barracks. During conservation work in 2005, a brick-lined well dating from that era was discovered in the center of the grounds. It’s now preserved beneath thick perspex.
Photo: Steven Crook
Designed by Moriyama Matsunosuke as the central courthouse for Tainan Prefecture (台南州), the museum was completed in 1912. It housed the local judiciary until 2001. Another of Moriyama’s contributions to Taiwan is the nearby National Museum of Taiwan Literature (國立臺灣文學館).
Inside the Judicial Museum, look up and admire the atrium. Then spend a few minutes examining a model of the building as it once looked. You’ll notice a tower that’s long gone (demolished due to structural weakness), and you can better appreciate the building’s unusual footprint.
According to the Ministry of Culture’s Web site, the court complex “was deliberately constructed as an asymmetrical building to present the idea that judicial authorities and the common people have equal status.” This was a major departure for the Japanese authorities. Goto Shinpei, chief of civilian affairs in the colonial government from 1898 to 1906, believed that, by adding magnificent official buildings to Taiwan’s cities, Tokyo could impress upon Taiwan’s population the wisdom and might of Japan.
Photo: Steven Crook
The wing facing Fuqian Road (府前路) is longer than the wing which abuts Yongfu Road (永福路). Neither is the same width for its entire length, and one of the complex’s six courtrooms occupies a freestanding annex.
After World War II, the legal system of the Republic of China was transplanted to Taiwan, and most of the items on displays — judges’ gowns and gavels, and a Chinese-language typewriter—date from that period. However, two of the safes in the reinforced and windowless archives-room were shipped in by the Japanese. They look like they’ve a good century or two of use left in them.
The Judicial Museum is directly across the road from Tainan City Art Museum Building 2 (臺南市美術館2館). The museum’s Building 1, not far away at 37 Nanmen Road (南門路37號), is another relic of the colonial legal system. Between its completion in 1931 and 2010, it functioned as a police station.
Steven Crook has been writing about travel, culture, and business in Taiwan since 1996. Having recently co-authored A Culinary History of Taipei: Beyond Pork and Ponlai, he is now updating Taiwan: The Bradt Travel Guide.
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