Shen Jiaben (, 1840 – 1913), alias Jiyi (), was a Late Qing Chinese politician and jurist from Huzhou,

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , Chinese postal romanization, also romanized as Chekiang) is an East China, eastern, coastal Provinces of China, province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable citie ...

province. Shen became a

jinshi ''Jinshi'' () was the highest and final degree in the imperial examination in Imperial China. The examination was usually taken in the imperial capital in the palace, and was also called the Metropolitan Exam. Recipients are sometimes referr ...

in 1883. He had been once the Prefect of Tianjin during 1893–7, then the Vice Minister of Justice. He was appointed to be the Secretary of Enactment (修訂法律大臣 or 修律大臣) together with

Wu Tingfang Wu Ting-fang (; 30 July 184223 June 1922) was a diplomat and politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and briefly as Acting Premier during the early years of the Republic of China. He was also known as Ng Choy or Ng Achoy (). Ed ...

. He requested the throne to reorganize the Codification Office into the Enactment Office. He led the translations of foreign laws there after it was ratified. Shen and Wu were in charge of the 1905 revision of the Qing Code, abolishing several cruel means of punishment such as "slow slicing" ( lingchi). Besides, they established Imperial Law College (京師法律學堂) in 1906. Shen served as the Minister of Justice during 1911–12, in the cabinet of

Yuan Shikai Yuan Shikai (; 16 September 1859 – 6 June 1916) was a Chinese military and government official who rose to power during the late Qing dynasty and eventually ended the Qing dynasty rule of China in 1912, later becoming the Emperor of China. H ...

. The first part of his ''Posthumous Works of Mr. Shen Jiyi'' ��寄簃先生遺書is deemed to be a monograph of great importance on the history of Chinese law.

Cited works

References

Qing dynasty politicians from Zhejiang 1840 births 1913 deaths Politicians from Huzhou Scholars of Chinese law Legal writers Writers from Huzhou Qing dynasty writers Chinese reformers {{China-politician-stub