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This article is a historical study of forensics as a basis of modernizing of China’s criminal justice system. In pre-modern China, the examination of dead bodies for criminal justice purposes was a specialization of local government officers. These examiners carried social stigmas that affected their families and descendants. After the Opium War, Chinese society began to learn about Western forensic science and various investigative methods. By the early Republican period, a medical examination academy had become a forensic school as part of the criminal justice curriculum. The objective was focused on responsibilities to protect those accused of wrong-doing before a trial could be held. The author also describes the training of forensic examiners in Beijing, Nanjing, and other parts of the country from the late Qing to the end of the Republican period.

This article concerns the newly discovered district court archive in Longquan County in Zhejiang Province, China. It contains a total of 17,333 volumes, 88 million pages, and the time frame of these files spans from 1858 to 1949. It is regarded as the best-preserved district court archive from the Republican period. The author begins with an introduction to the status of the archive. The second section of the article discusses major characteristics of plaintiffs and their cases, which provide a glimpse into the relationship between law and property, farms, inheritance, marriage disputes, conscription, corruption, drugs, gambling, and other social concerns of the time. The third section discusses three specific legal cases from the archives. The archive provides an opportunity to understand Chinese judicial evolution with rich primary-source documentation.

This article discusses Chinese veterans’ welfare programs during the Anti-Japanese War. Appropriate treatment of disabled veterans and their families was an important political and social issue for the Nationalist government. Facing economic difficulties and social unrest, the government expanded the scale of rehabilitation institutions by strengthening their management, training, support, and settlement functions. It also addressed the issue of employment for veterans who were able to work, as well as the the problem of inadequacy of pensions. The government’s compassionate and multi-pronged approach protected the interests of some disabled veterans, but the efforts were limited by the adverse economic and social conditions of the time.

This article concerns the aftermath of a peasant revolt in Macheng, Hunan Province, China, on April 3, 1927. The tragedy was a result of reactionary forces against the Republican government of Wuhan. The author draws from archival sources in Taiwan and newspapers from Hankou to understand the background to the tragedy. The focus of the article is funeral services for the victims, which has not been a topic of scholarly inquiry. The first part of the article describes the background and the incident itself. The second part describes reactions from the Wuhan Republican government. The third describes the government’s reactions to address the unrest. The fourth describes the compromises that were reached after negotiating with local community groups.

This article examines the establishment of the office of Director of Army Training by Yuan Shikai in 1915. The aim of the new post was to create an office at the highest level of military training within the central government. The article explains the structure and management of the training school itself. Yuan Shikai’s aim was to effectively implement a program of military education and technical training. Due to historical circumstances, the efforts failed. At the time of Yuan Shikai’s death (June 1916), the Director of Army Training had already lost his power and authority. By the summer of 1917, the directorship had been abolished.

This article provides a glimpse of the early diplomatic activities of Chinese statesman Wang Guangqi (b. 1877). As a prominent diplomat in the Department of Foreign Affairs in the Republican period, Wang was an admirer of another diplomat, Lu Zhengxiang (1871-1949). The archival document is a draft written by Wang Guangqi dated to 1923 recounting events around 1906 and 1907, when Wang was transferred to become the Chinese ambassador to the Netherlands. In this lengthy document, Wang describes his meeting with Lu Zhengxiang and other diplomats. The key event in this document is Wang Guangqi’s attendance of the Second Peace Conference at The Hague with Dutch representatives in 1907.

The symposium on Song Ziwen's life and historical documentation was held from August 28 and 29, 2009. Song Ziwen (T. V. Soong, Soong Tzu-wen; 1894-1971), a prominent Chinese businessman and politician in the Republican period, was the brother of the three Soong sisters. The symposium was co-sponsored by Fudan University's history department, Stanford University's Hoover Institute, and the Shanghai Cultural Relics Management Committee of Sun Yat-sen and Soong Ching-ling. More than sixty scholars and participants from China, Taiwan, the United States, and Japan attended. The symposium was divided into the topics on historical documentation, historical facts, historical figures and their families, and political situations.

This article describes the broader context for the spate of bank failures in Zhejiang, China, in the 1930s. There were many factors that contributed to the crisis, such as internal weakness within the Chinese financial industry, a worldwide depression, changes in the US silver standard and France's currency, as well as the abolition of old currencies by the Chinese Nationalist government. There were other factors that were specific to Zhejiang itself. These included the drastic decline of the silk industry, banking crises in Shanghai, and the sudden growth of the Zhejiang banking industry. The combination of these factors created an unstable environment that led to bank failures in Zhejiang beginning in 1931.

This article is a study of the design and operation of a prisoners' work program under the Nanjing Nationalist government administration in China. The Western concept of justice had replaced the traditional concepts of the servitude system for prisoners in China. As a result, the modernization of prisoner work programs incorporated notions of work and enterprise. The purpose of the programs was ostensibly to educate the convicts as well as to support their livelihoods. The author draws from primary and secondary sources to closely examine different policies and points to a number of challenges in the process of reform, which resulted in less than ideal planning and implementation.

This article is a study of Christian charity organizations involved in children's welfare and education in Zhejiang Province, China, during the Republican period. The author draws on primary sources from Christian organizations such as Sunday schools, summer schools, and primary schools. The main purposes of these education programs were to spread the gospel and nurture followers. After the establishment of the Republic of China, following the revitalization of Chinese nationalism, the educational goals of these Christian organizations underwent a transformation. The author points out that the promotion of the "new national citizen" became infused with the concept of a "new Christian," resulting in a localization of Christian charities.

This article is the third and last installment of primary source materials relating to the Nationalist government's participation in Chicago's World Exposition from 1933 to 1934. Named "A Century of Progress International Exposition," the exhibition was regarded as an opportunity for China to expand its overseas exports and raise its profile in the eyes of the international community. The documents included in this installment came from many different branches of the government, such as the ministries of commerce, finance, industry, and foreign affairs, as well as the exhibition planning committee, and consulate general in Chicago.

This article presents results of testing the acidity of newspapers published in China during the Republican period. Acidity is an important factor in the lifecycle of newsprints. Until now, there has been no comprehensive and quantitative knowledge of their acidity, which is key to their conservation. The article presents information of different types of papers, testing samples, and testing methodologies. Findings from tests conducted on two newspapers -- "Ta Gong Bao" and "Zhongyang Ribao" (Central Daily News) -- from 1929 to 1949 show that they have low PH levels. Due to their brittleness and tendency to yellow, newspapers from the Republican period are in need of protection and rescue.

This article is a comparative study of university teachers' salary structure before the Second Sino-Japanese War. Teachers emerged as a major occupational group during the Republican period because of their growth in numbers. Their salary differentiations can be used as an indicator of the relative importance of education in the society. In the first section, the author presents a history of development of salary structures for university teachers. After an analysis of differentiating factors and special characteristics, the author concludes that the levels of salary for teachers depended heavily on sources of revenue in the universities. Their level of education and qualification were not major determining factors.

This article presents the first installment of transcripts of primary source materials relating to the Nationalist government's participation in Chicago's World Exposition from 1933 to 1934. Named "A Century of Progress International Exposition," the exhibition was regarded as an opportunity for China to expand its overseas exports and raise its profile in the eyes of the international community. The documents included in this installment come from many different branches of the government, such as the ministries of commerce, finance, industry, foreign affairs, as well as the exhibition planning committee, and consulate general in Chicago. The documents date from March 1930 to October 1932.