From The Censorate To The Administrative Appellate Court(1901-1916)

The Censorate was a special supervisory organ of the Qing Dynasty,enlighten the heart of the ruler,impeach the officials,and express the people's aspirations,playing a unique role in the governance of the imperial court.The functions are exercised by the sensors and the sixth division of the Ministry of Justice.They are harness the virtues of a ruler,warn the officials against evil,and serve public sentiment,be in a dignified position and enjoy authority.Until the end of the Qing Dynasty,the censors not only continued to impeach the corrupt and powerful,expose and participate in the illegal officials,but also on the New Deal reform,also through the handling of officials and people to redress grievances,supervision of the local government,for the centralization of power.However,the New Deal,which was launched due to internal and external difficulties,soon embarked on a fast track of reforming the official system along the lines of Western.The traditional official system of six ministries and nine secretaries,has been greatly affected.In the case of The Censorate,there are those who advocate abolition and those who oppose it.There are a number of people who advocate the replacement of the House of Commons by the House of Metropolitan Magistrates,and there are also a number of people who propose that the House of Metropolitan Magistrates be turned into an administrative or disciplinary tribunal.There was a lot of talk and no consensus.Among them,Lu Baozhong,Wang Fengchi,Wang Buying,Zhao Binglin,Jiang Chunlin,and other people have a lot of advice and operation,which attracted attention.This not only reflects the blending and collision of Chinese and foreign ideas,but also means that the new and old transformation of the monitoring system is coming.Although the Capitol remained in existence until the 1911 Revolution,its staffing and personnel were greatly reduced and its influence diminished.In 1912,the Republic of China was founded,and in addition to the old and the new,the Yuan Dynasty was abolished by order of the President Yuan Shikai.However,the oversight and discipline of officials remains an issue that needs urgent consideration.In 1914,the Administrative Appellate Court(Ping zheng yuan)was established,and the Su administration hall(Su zheng ting)was attached to it,specializing in picketing officials.On the one hand,the members of the Administrative Appellate Court and the Su administration hall are many of the former Qing dynasty,and they are similarly set up and have similar functions,which shows the continuity of the old and new inspection systems.On the other hand,the Su administration hall is located in the Administrative Appellate Court,which is not a completely independent body,except for the impeachment.In accordance with the law of correction,the court investigates and obtains evidence in impeachment cases,which are then heard by the Supreme Court,punished by the High Commission on Civil Discipline or judged by the court,depending on whether it is a crime or an offence,and finally submitted to the President for a decision.This is different from the previous Qing procedure,which was checked by the governor,the governor and the ministry of magistrates.Further,the Administrative Appellate Court is not a trial body with adjudicatory power,and the decision of the Court of Justice is enforced when a case of criminal misconduct of an official constitutes a crime,and the decision of the Court of Justice is enforced when a case of criminal misconduct of an official constitutes a crime,and the decision of the Court of Justice is enforced when a case of criminal misconduct of an official violates the law.The Administrative Appellate Court only receives administrative cases and makes decisions to uphold or revoke or change some administrative decisions;it does not have the power to rule on violations by officials.Therefore,when the Administrative Appellate Court was first established,there was a dispute over the authority of the Correctional Commission and the Su administration hall.The Administrative Appellate Court has often lost both in terms of power and office.Later,after President Zhou Shumo became the chairman of the Civilian High Commission for Discipline,he asked each province to refer the impeachment cases of its officers to the Discipline Commission for discipline,instead of sending them to the Administrative Appellate Court.The period between the establishment of the Su administration hall in 1914 and its abolition in 1916 was the most intense collision between the old system and the new,contrasting with the powers of the Yuan Shikai,and the advantages and disadvantages of the centralized system of imperial power and the decentralized system of presidential power.The change of name from the Censorate to the Administrative Appellate Court,implies the internal mechanism of institutional development and change,and is also closely related to the change of the political system.But the constant theme behind the reform has been the supervision and discipline of officials.China has historically been heavy on governing officials,through various ways to grasp the movements of large and small officials,and since the Tang Dynasty has set up the imperial history,monitoring all officials,monitoring affairs,government affairs,justice and all other areas.This is the traditional situation of ancient Chinese rulers and is an important means of consolidating imperial power.This way of governing officials developed to the end of the Qing Dynasty,after the reform of the New Deal,and then the creation of the beginning of the Republic of China,there were changes in the form of institutions,involving the movement of people,bringing about the division of functions.This article takes the debate on the reform of the Censorate at the end of the Qing Dynasty as a vicarious reference,from the function of the Imperial Court to report to the court,the trial review,the petition for grievance,the impeachment by the Department of Political Affairs,the litigation by the Court of Peace,and the punishment by the Correctional Commission,these specific details,from the surface to the inside,gradually dig into the core and operation of the institution,in order to show the continuation,reform and new exploration of the official supervision and correctional system between 1901 and 1916.