Qincheng Prison
Encyclopedia
Qincheng Prison is a maximum-security prison
located in the Changping District
, Beijing
in the People's Republic of China
, near Xiaotangshan
. The prison was built in 1958 with aid from the Soviet Union
and it is the only prison belonging to the Ministry of Public Security
.
The majority of inmates are political prisoner
s, among them participants in the Chinese democracy movement
and Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
. Famous inmates include Jiang Qing
, Bao Tong
, Dai Qing
, as well as Tibetan
figures such as Choekyi Gyaltsen
, the 10th Panchen Lama
, and Phuntsok Wangyal
. Other inmates included many communist cadres who were struggled during Cultural Revolution
, such as Bo Yibo
, Peng Zhen
, Israel Epstein
, Sidney Rittenberg
and David Crook
.
The prison is located at the eastern foothill of Yanshan
, facing the North China Plain
in the east, north and south. The plain is where Qincheng Farm (秦城农场) is located, which is part of the prison.
(Nationalist) war criminals
but due to its secrecy, the name was not publicized. Instead, it was simply referred as project #156, since it was number 156 out of 157 projects that China established with Soviet assistance. The head of Beijing Bureau of Public Security, Feng Jiping (冯基平) was in charge of construction of the prison. Ironically, during the Cultural Revolution he was among the first to be jailed there. He was also one of the last to get out among those who were sent to the prison with him.
In 1958, high ranking former Nationalists classified as war criminals by the communists were sent to Qincheng Farm (秦城农场) to work, and they had observed the prison in construction. Prisoners were curious because the 5-meter high thick wall and electric fence and asked the guards what building it would be, and the answer was: "Sport Academy." When prisoners questioned why an advanced educational institution such as a sport academy would have such heavy security measures, they were told that it was an advanced sport academy, and everything was learned from the Soviet Union.
, so it is divided into three sections. The first section is for jail houses, and it includes both the jail houses for low-ranking prisoners and that of high-ranking prisoners, with the ranking often decided by the prisoner's social status
, job position, and level of crime before entering the prisons. The second is called the Management and Work Section, the largest one among all three, with Qincheng Farm (秦城农场) for field labors. The last section is the residential section for employees such as wardens and their relatives.
The prison is sandwiched between orchards, with farm land and fish pond in front, an exact reflection of Mao Zedong's claim in October, 1960: "our prisons are different than prisons in the past - each prison is actually a school, but also a factory or a farm." Mao had further enhanced this on April 24, 1964 in his reaction to a case by claiming that "People can be reformed, if the correct policy and methods are adopted." This characteristic also applies to most Chinese prisons, and Chinese have called this prison system as: "Special militarized organization, special enterprise, and special school."
. There are at least 10 cells in each hall.
The area of each cell is around 20 square meters. The wooden door of each cell is sandwiched between two iron plates, and there are two peepholes: one at the level of the toilet, while the other is above it. Around a foot from the ground, there is a rectangular window for delivering meals. The only furniture inside each cell is a bed that was around a foot from the ground and when a prisoner needs to write a confession or other materials, a desk similar to those in elementary schools would be provided. However, there would never be any chairs and prisoners must sit on the bed to write. For safety and security reasons, every sharp edge inside the cell has been changed to smooth/round shape. There are also special suicide watch
cells with walls made of rubber
so prisoners could not commit suicide by running into the walls.
There is a window for each cell designed for lower ranking prisoners. The area of the window is around one square meter, located more than two meters above the ground. The windowsill is sloped upward with window opens upward toward outside, but of course, prisoners are unable to open the window themselves. There are three layers for every window: screen, iron fence, and glass painted white. In the cells for high ranking prisoners, there are two windows but the outermost layer is sanded glass instead of glass painted white. Prisoners could neither see the courtyard nor any other buildings, but some could see the mountain and sun from their cells. A 15-watt light bulb with sanded glass is on the 3.5 meter high ceiling, and it is covered by iron mesh, and the dim light is controlled by guards via a switch outside.
In 1967, six more buildings were added, also named after celestial stem, continuing as Wu (戊), Ji (己), Geng (庚), Xin (辛), Ren (壬), Hui (癸). The new jail houses is built of concrete and contain much more cells because the new cells are much smaller in comparison to those in the jail houses built in 1958: the area of each cell is only 5 to 10 square meters. The toilet in these new cells could not be sit on, but instead, prisoners must squatting down when using the toilet and must carry water from wash sink to flush the toilet. There are two doors for each cells built in 1967: the outer one is an iron door and the inside one is a wooden door. Other features of the jail houses built in 1967 are similar to those built in 1958.
from the 13th Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China
.
For prisoners, they would be first led to a small one story building, where they would left behind most of their belongings deemed to be unsuitable to be carried into cells, including shoelaces. The prisoners would then be given black prison uniforms and issued utensils, and personal hygiene materials. With the exception of a large enamel mug for water, everything else is plastic.
Prison employees are also prohibited from referring to each other by name, instead, they are called according to their job title, such as manager, warden, and director. However, their last names are sometimes allowed to be added before their job title when they are addressed.
which at this point had been but in charge of the 13th Bureau by the Central Cultural Revolution Group and Zhou Enlai
. The so-called "Military Control Commission of the 13th Bureau" administered the prison until April–June 1969 when the Bureau itself was abolished. The administration of Qincheng Prison now became the responsibility of a ”Military Control Commission of Qincheng Prison" which reported to the Beijing municipal Bureau of Public Security Military Control Commission and not to the Ministry of Public Security. Thus formally "downgraded" in administrative terms, Qincheng was until the end of 1972 referred to in public documents as the Seventh Brigade of the Military Commission of the Beijing Bureau of Public Security. The Ministry of Public Security reasserted control over the prison in early 1973, after a decision to this effect had been taken by Premier Zhou Enlai on 8 January of that year.
During the reform in the 1980s, the combined judicial and executive roles of the Ministry of Public Security
is separated and the Ministry of Public Security
only retained its executive role. In June, 1983, the administration of prisons was transferred to the Ministry of Justice, but due to the special need, the Ministry of Public Security still retained several prisons under its administration and Qincheng Prison was one of them, still under the administration of the 13th Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security
.
Originally designed to house Nationalist war criminals classified by the Communists
, this category of prisoners no longer existed when the last batch were released in 1975. The largest category of prisoners is in fact, coming from within Communist ranks, like former cadres. The largest increase of prisoners occurred during Cultural Revolution, with extra buildings had to be built.
Prison employees of both categories are strictly forbidden to make any personal connections to the prisoners, such as that they cannot reveal their names to the prisoners, cannot answer any of the prisoners' questions without authorization, and cannot ask any prisoners questions without authorization. Violation of any rules would resulted in solitary confinement and even termination.
Dai Qing
, a famous Chinese human rights activist jailed at Qincheng Prison recalls that there is another type of interrogation room in which the stool is replaced by a chair and there is carpet on the floor. Additionally, there is air conditioning in the room. During the Cultural Revolution, before the interrogation had begun, everyone in the room had to read some quotes from Mao's Little Red Book loudly, and these quotes are also posted on the wall.
. This was increased to more than 120 yuan
in the 1990s. However, the monthly food budget for each low ranking prisoner was only above 30 yuan in the 1990s. Three meals were provided on each day, Monday through Saturday. On Sundays and holidays, only two meals are provided. Each prisoner would receive boiled water for three times daily, one full cup each time, and a large cup given to each prisoner for this purpose.
Low ranking prisoners keep utensils themselves, and meals are delivered through the rectangular opening on the door about a foot above the ground. Breakfast is consisted of steamed corn flour bread and a piece of salted vegetable, while lunch and dinner is consisted of rice, noodle, and other grains. A vegetarian dish cooked with vegetables and a bowl of thin soup is also served with lunch and dinner.
High ranking prisoners need not to keep utensils themselves and meals are served by opening the doors. Two vegetarian dishes and a dish with meat or fish, and bowl of thick soup are standard. Limited amount of milk and fruits are provided once weekly, and with special permission, some high ranking prisoner can have better meal that is often given to prisoners that are about to be released.
, female prisoners are supposed to be watched by female wardens but there were rarely any female wardens nor female prisoners at Qingcheng prison.
The first significant presence of female prisoners appeared during Cultural Revolution, but by that era, the shower privilege granted to the prisoners were abolished like most other rights, and there were prisoners arrest at the beginning of Cultural Revolution who had not taken a shower for around a decade after they were jailed.
Because of the special status of prisoners in Qincheng Prison, each prisoner is only allowed to exercise alone. Prisoners cannot see any other prisoners due to the high walls, and they are not allowed to see any other prisoners while they are in the jail house. If two prisoners are released from their cells to exercise and they meet each other, one is ordered to back to his or her cell to wait until the other prisoner is gone.
During prolonged solitary confinement during the Cultural Revolution, calcium deficiencies would result from the lack of exposure to sunlight. Many prisoners would lose their hair and teeth, and developed many other health problems. Prisoners jailed during the Cultural Revolution
often had permanent disabilities after their release.
practice, prisoners also had strict rules until early 1980s when they sleep: they must keep their hands above their sheets and they must face the peephole. Light will never be out when prisoners are asleep, because guards needs to check on prisoners. Prisoners are awoken by whistles at 7 a.m. sharp, and they go to bed at 9 p.m. sharp upon hearing whistles.
Originally, high ranking prisoners have military style bed sheets, but low ranking prisoners have to sleep on top of straws on their beds. If the prisoner have vanished from the guards' view, the wardens would immediately notified to go into the cell to check what is going on.
. Other reading materials includes publications in China provided to prisoners by the visiting relatives of prisoners. There is a prison library that only high ranking prisoners were allowed to use. Most reading materials were originally donated by the former Nationalists classified as war criminals by the Communists, and consist mostly of works by Mao Zedong
, Karl Marx
, Friedrich Engels
, and Joseph Stalin
. The other source of donation is from the prisoners' relatives and reading materials donated by released prisoners.
All reading materials are screened and those deemed improper for the prisoners are rejected. However, the censorship varies according to the political situation in China. For example, after the death of Lin Biao
, copies of Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong
(Little Red Book) were confiscated and pages with Lin Biao
's words were removed. Even during the era without any political turmoil, it is worth noting that many publications legally publicized in China and available to the general public would not be permitted for prisoners.
Anything brought into the prison by the prisoners' relatives must be screened and registered on a check sheet and those deemed unsuitable must be brought back immediately after the visitation is over. After visitation, there must be the signature of prison warden on the visitation permission slip for the relatives to leave the prison.
Reactionaries are evil but once captured, they could be turned to something useful for the people.
As result of this speech of Mao, prisoners at Qincheng Prison are put to work instead of being executed, and they are subjected to be assigned to tasks other than that of the Qincheng Prison to help out outside the prison. Heavy manual labor was performed only by the nationalist
war criminals classified by the communists
, but since the release of the last group of this kind of prisoners in 1975, there are no longer any such duties. However, light manual labors continues such as making straw hats and making boxes for matches. Jiang Qing
requested and was permitted to make dolls. These light manual labor is often conducted in their own cells.
Wei Jingsheng
had published under his name in March 1979 an essay denouncing the inhumane conditions of the Chinese Qincheng Prison where was imprisoned the 10th Panchen Lama and that drove the latter to a suicide attempt. It is clear that a major part of the essay of Wei was written by other anonymous authors with real information about Qincheng.
For important high ranking prisoners, the doctors at Qincheng Prison do not have the final decision making authority on how to treat the prisoners for their illness. It is often a political decision determined by the top brass of the communist regime. For example, in the autumn of 1969 during Cultural Revolution, under Kang Sheng
's order, an important high ranking prisoner, Shi Zhe (师哲), the former personal secretary and personal Russian translator of Mao Zedong was jailed in Qincheng prison. He was scheduled to have an operation to remove a so-called cancer. However, doctors determined that there was no cancer at all, but Kang Sheng
insisted on giving Shi Zhe (师哲) an operation, and the completely unnecessary operation was carried out to fulfill the political task.
. Fuxing Hospital is one of the hospitals for Ministry of Public Security
employees and their relatives. All Ministry of Public Security
hospitals shoulder the additional responsibility of treating prisoners, but Fuxing Hospital is specially designated to treat prisoners from Qincheng Prison. The prison section is located on the 2nd Floor of one of the hospital buildings and it is completely segregated from the rest of the facility. Every room is about 10 square meters, with one or two hospital beds, a wash sink, and a toilet. The window is equipped with sanded glass so that nothing outside can be seen and there is another layer of iron fence outside the window glass. Guards watch the prisoners behind the door that is locked from outside. Prisoners treated at the hospital exercise by walking on the roof of the building.
Like the doctors in the prison clinic, doctors at Fuxing Hospital also lack the final decision making authority on how to treat the important prisoners. For example, during the Cultural Revolution, former Minister of Public Security and the head of Mao Zedong's personal bodyguards, Senior General Luo Ruiqing (罗瑞卿) was jailed at Qincheng Prison. When he suffered a broken bone in his right foot, both of his leg were amputated and cremated as a punishment of his stubborn refusal to admit to the so-called "reactionary crimes" that he was accused of committing.
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
located in the Changping District
Changping District
Changping District , formerly Changping County , is situated in the suburbs of northwest Beijing.Changping District, covering an area of 1,430 square kilometers, has 2 subdistricts of the city of Changping and 15 towns with total population of 614,821...
, Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
in the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
, near Xiaotangshan
Xiaotangshan
Xiaotangshan is a small town in the Changping District of Beijing in the People's Republic of China. It is the location of the Xiaotangshan Modern Agricultural Science Demonstration Park- the largest modern agricultural park in China...
. The prison was built in 1958 with aid from the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and it is the only prison belonging to the Ministry of Public Security
Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China
The Ministry of Public Security , is the principal police and security authority of the mainland of the People's Republic of China and the government agency that exercises oversight over and is ultimately responsible for day-to-day law enforcement...
.
The majority of inmates are political prisoner
Political prisoner
According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, a political prisoner is ‘someone who is in prison because they have opposed or criticized the government of their own country’....
s, among them participants in the Chinese democracy movement
Chinese democracy movement
The Chinese democracy movement refers to a series of loosely organized political movements in the People's Republic of China against the continued one-party rule by the Communist Party. One such movement began during the Beijing Spring in 1978 and was taken up again in the Tiananmen Square...
and Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, also known as the June Fourth Incident in Chinese , were a series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in Beijing in the People's Republic of China beginning on 15 April 1989...
. Famous inmates include Jiang Qing
Jiang Qing
Jiang Qing was the pseudonym that was used by Chinese leader Mao Zedong's last wife and major Communist Party of China power figure. She went by the stage name Lan Ping during her acting career, and was known by various other names during her life...
, Bao Tong
Bao Tong
Bao Tong was former Director of the Office of Political Reform of the CPC Central Committee and the Policy Secretary of Zhao Ziyang, Premier of the State Council, from 1980 to 1985. He was also Director of the Drafting Committee for the CCP 13th Party Congresses, known for its strong support for...
, Dai Qing
Dai Qing
Dai Qing, born in August 1941, is a journalist and activist for China-related issues; most significantly against the Three Gorges Dam Project. Dai is also an author who has published many influential books, articles, and journals.-Early life:Dai, also called Fu Ning , was born in Chongqing,...
, as well as Tibetan
Tibetan people
The Tibetan people are an ethnic group that is native to Tibet, which is mostly in the People's Republic of China. They number 5.4 million and are the 10th largest ethnic group in the country. Significant Tibetan minorities also live in India, Nepal, and Bhutan...
figures such as Choekyi Gyaltsen
Choekyi Gyaltsen
Lobsang Trinley Lhündrub Chökyi Gyaltsen was the 10th Panchen Lama of Gelug School of Tibetan Buddhism. He was often referred to simply as Choekyi Gyaltsen , although this is also the name of several other notable figures in Tibetan history.-Early life and selection:The 10th Panchen Lama was born...
, the 10th Panchen Lama
Panchen Lama
The Panchen Lama , or Bainqên Erdê'ni , is the highest ranking Lama after the Dalai Lama in the Gelugpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism...
, and Phuntsok Wangyal
Phuntsok Wangyal
Phuntsok Wangyal Goranangpa, also known as Phuntsog Wangyal, Bapa Phuntsok Wangyal or Phünwang, is a Tibetan politician born in 1922 in Batang, in the province of Kham, Eastern Tibet...
. Other inmates included many communist cadres who were struggled during Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
, such as Bo Yibo
Bo Yibo
Bo Yibo was a Chinese politician and one of the Eight Immortals of the Communist Party of China....
, Peng Zhen
Peng Zhen
Peng Zhen was a leading member of the Communist Party of China.-Biography:Born in Houma , Peng was originally named Fu Maogong....
, Israel Epstein
Israel Epstein
Israel Epstein was a naturalized Chinese journalist and author...
, Sidney Rittenberg
Sidney Rittenberg
Sidney Rittenberg is an American journalist, interpreter and scholar who lived in China from 1944 to 1979. He worked closely with People's Republic of China founder Mao Zedong, military leader Zhu De, statesman Zhou Enlai, and other leaders of the Chinese Communist Party during the war, and was...
and David Crook
David Crook
David Crook . A committed Marxist from 1931, he joined the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War. After being wounded on his first day at the front, he was returned to a hospital in Madrid...
.
The prison is located at the eastern foothill of Yanshan
Yanshan
-Places:*Yanshan County, Hebei , in Cangzhou, Hebei*Yanshan County, Jiangxi , in Shangrao, Jiangxi*Yanshan County, Yunnan , in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan*Yanshan District , Guilin, GuangxiTowns...
, facing the North China Plain
North China Plain
The North China Plain is based on the deposits of the Yellow River and is the largest alluvial plain of eastern Asia. The plain is bordered on the north by the Yanshan Mountains and on the west by the Taihang Mountains edge of the Shanxi plateau. To the south, it merges into the Yangtze Plain...
in the east, north and south. The plain is where Qincheng Farm (秦城农场) is located, which is part of the prison.
Origin
The prison was originally built to house KuomintangKuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
(Nationalist) war criminals
War crime
War crimes are serious violations of the laws applicable in armed conflict giving rise to individual criminal responsibility...
but due to its secrecy, the name was not publicized. Instead, it was simply referred as project #156, since it was number 156 out of 157 projects that China established with Soviet assistance. The head of Beijing Bureau of Public Security, Feng Jiping (冯基平) was in charge of construction of the prison. Ironically, during the Cultural Revolution he was among the first to be jailed there. He was also one of the last to get out among those who were sent to the prison with him.
In 1958, high ranking former Nationalists classified as war criminals by the communists were sent to Qincheng Farm (秦城农场) to work, and they had observed the prison in construction. Prisoners were curious because the 5-meter high thick wall and electric fence and asked the guards what building it would be, and the answer was: "Sport Academy." When prisoners questioned why an advanced educational institution such as a sport academy would have such heavy security measures, they were told that it was an advanced sport academy, and everything was learned from the Soviet Union.
Structure
The prison is built in accordance with the 1954 Reform Through Labor RegulationsLaogai
Laogai , the abbreviation for Láodòng Gǎizào , which means "reform through labor," is a slogan of the Chinese criminal justice system and has been used to refer to the use of prison labor and prison farms in the People's Republic of China . It is estimated that in the last fifty years more than...
, so it is divided into three sections. The first section is for jail houses, and it includes both the jail houses for low-ranking prisoners and that of high-ranking prisoners, with the ranking often decided by the prisoner's social status
Social status
In sociology or anthropology, social status is the honor or prestige attached to one's position in society . It may also refer to a rank or position that one holds in a group, for example son or daughter, playmate, pupil, etc....
, job position, and level of crime before entering the prisons. The second is called the Management and Work Section, the largest one among all three, with Qincheng Farm (秦城农场) for field labors. The last section is the residential section for employees such as wardens and their relatives.
The prison is sandwiched between orchards, with farm land and fish pond in front, an exact reflection of Mao Zedong's claim in October, 1960: "our prisons are different than prisons in the past - each prison is actually a school, but also a factory or a farm." Mao had further enhanced this on April 24, 1964 in his reaction to a case by claiming that "People can be reformed, if the correct policy and methods are adopted." This characteristic also applies to most Chinese prisons, and Chinese have called this prison system as: "Special militarized organization, special enterprise, and special school."
Jail cell
The original jail houses include four three-story brick buildings with sloped roof, each is named after celestial stems instead of numbers or alphabets: Jia (甲), Yi (乙), Bing (丙), Ding (丁). Area in front of each building is fenced with brick wall for prisoners to exercise, forming its own independent yard. Each exercise yard is divided into two sections evenly by a wall in the middle, on top of which guard patrolled, and would watch both sections. Each building is equipped with electrically powered laundry machines from the beginning, a luxury in China until mid-1980s, and toilets are flushed by stepping on a foot paddle. Each floor of the building is divided into many halls, on one side of the hall, there is a wall, opposite to the wall is were the cells are located, each individually locked with a padlockPadlock
Padlocks are portable locks used to protect against theft, vandalism, sabotage, unauthorized use, and harm. They are designed to protect against some degree of forced and surreptitious entry.- History :...
. There are at least 10 cells in each hall.
The area of each cell is around 20 square meters. The wooden door of each cell is sandwiched between two iron plates, and there are two peepholes: one at the level of the toilet, while the other is above it. Around a foot from the ground, there is a rectangular window for delivering meals. The only furniture inside each cell is a bed that was around a foot from the ground and when a prisoner needs to write a confession or other materials, a desk similar to those in elementary schools would be provided. However, there would never be any chairs and prisoners must sit on the bed to write. For safety and security reasons, every sharp edge inside the cell has been changed to smooth/round shape. There are also special suicide watch
Suicide watch
Suicide watch is an intensive monitoring process used to ensure that an individual does not die by suicide. Usually the term is used in reference to inmates in a prison, hospital, psychiatric hospital, or military bases...
cells with walls made of rubber
Padded cell
A padded cell is a cell in a mental hospital with cushions lining the walls. The padding is an attempt to prevent a patient from hurting him/herself by hitting his/her head on the hard surface of the walls...
so prisoners could not commit suicide by running into the walls.
There is a window for each cell designed for lower ranking prisoners. The area of the window is around one square meter, located more than two meters above the ground. The windowsill is sloped upward with window opens upward toward outside, but of course, prisoners are unable to open the window themselves. There are three layers for every window: screen, iron fence, and glass painted white. In the cells for high ranking prisoners, there are two windows but the outermost layer is sanded glass instead of glass painted white. Prisoners could neither see the courtyard nor any other buildings, but some could see the mountain and sun from their cells. A 15-watt light bulb with sanded glass is on the 3.5 meter high ceiling, and it is covered by iron mesh, and the dim light is controlled by guards via a switch outside.
In 1967, six more buildings were added, also named after celestial stem, continuing as Wu (戊), Ji (己), Geng (庚), Xin (辛), Ren (壬), Hui (癸). The new jail houses is built of concrete and contain much more cells because the new cells are much smaller in comparison to those in the jail houses built in 1958: the area of each cell is only 5 to 10 square meters. The toilet in these new cells could not be sit on, but instead, prisoners must squatting down when using the toilet and must carry water from wash sink to flush the toilet. There are two doors for each cells built in 1967: the outer one is an iron door and the inside one is a wooden door. Other features of the jail houses built in 1967 are similar to those built in 1958.
Entrance
There are three gates at Qincheng Prison, the first gate has the heaviest guards presence. With the exception of prison staff and their relatives, all other people who are not prisoners entering the compound must have the permission slipPermission slip
A permission slip in the United States is a form that a school or other organization sends home with a student to a parent in which the parent provides authorization for minor children to travel under the auspices of the school or organization for some type of event, such as a field trip.Permission...
from the 13th Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
.
For prisoners, they would be first led to a small one story building, where they would left behind most of their belongings deemed to be unsuitable to be carried into cells, including shoelaces. The prisoners would then be given black prison uniforms and issued utensils, and personal hygiene materials. With the exception of a large enamel mug for water, everything else is plastic.
Names
Once a prisoner enters the prison, his or her original name is no longer used. Instead, the prisoners are referred by number. The number consists of two parts, with the first two digits indicating the year the prisoner was sent to Qincheng prison, while the remaining digits are the sequential number. For example, prisoner 6299 means that the prisoner was sent to the prison in 1962, while he or she was the 99th prisoner sent to Qincheng Prison that year.Prison employees are also prohibited from referring to each other by name, instead, they are called according to their job title, such as manager, warden, and director. However, their last names are sometimes allowed to be added before their job title when they are addressed.
Administration
Qincheng Prison has been under the administration of the 13th Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security most of the time since its establishment. Beginning in late October 1967, it came under the control of the People's Liberation ArmyPeople's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
which at this point had been but in charge of the 13th Bureau by the Central Cultural Revolution Group and Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai was the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, serving from October 1949 until his death in January 1976...
. The so-called "Military Control Commission of the 13th Bureau" administered the prison until April–June 1969 when the Bureau itself was abolished. The administration of Qincheng Prison now became the responsibility of a ”Military Control Commission of Qincheng Prison" which reported to the Beijing municipal Bureau of Public Security Military Control Commission and not to the Ministry of Public Security. Thus formally "downgraded" in administrative terms, Qincheng was until the end of 1972 referred to in public documents as the Seventh Brigade of the Military Commission of the Beijing Bureau of Public Security. The Ministry of Public Security reasserted control over the prison in early 1973, after a decision to this effect had been taken by Premier Zhou Enlai on 8 January of that year.
During the reform in the 1980s, the combined judicial and executive roles of the Ministry of Public Security
Ministry of Public Security
Ministry of Public Security can refer to:* Ministry of Public Security of Burundi* Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China* Ministry of Public Security of Costa Rica* Ministry of Public Security of Israel...
is separated and the Ministry of Public Security
Ministry of Public Security
Ministry of Public Security can refer to:* Ministry of Public Security of Burundi* Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China* Ministry of Public Security of Costa Rica* Ministry of Public Security of Israel...
only retained its executive role. In June, 1983, the administration of prisons was transferred to the Ministry of Justice, but due to the special need, the Ministry of Public Security still retained several prisons under its administration and Qincheng Prison was one of them, still under the administration of the 13th Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security
Ministry of Public Security
Ministry of Public Security can refer to:* Ministry of Public Security of Burundi* Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China* Ministry of Public Security of Costa Rica* Ministry of Public Security of Israel...
.
Originally designed to house Nationalist war criminals classified by the Communists
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
, this category of prisoners no longer existed when the last batch were released in 1975. The largest category of prisoners is in fact, coming from within Communist ranks, like former cadres. The largest increase of prisoners occurred during Cultural Revolution, with extra buildings had to be built.
Management
The prison employees are divided into two categories and are strictly separated. The first category is the interrogation / investigation team, which is only responsible for investigate the prisoners' cases, and they are strictly forbidden to venture into prisoners' cells or any other premises other than the interrogation room. The other category is responsible for guarding the prisoners and taking care of their daily lives. Unlike those belonged to the first category, those in the second category could not even known the names of prisoners who are only allowed to be called by their numbers.Prison employees of both categories are strictly forbidden to make any personal connections to the prisoners, such as that they cannot reveal their names to the prisoners, cannot answer any of the prisoners' questions without authorization, and cannot ask any prisoners questions without authorization. Violation of any rules would resulted in solitary confinement and even termination.
Interrogation
Prisoners are notified by a warden before the interrogation, and the warden would let the prisoner out of his or her cell, and lead the prisoner to the interrogation room. After the prisoner is seated in the interrogation room, the warden would withdraw and wait outside. Based on the experience of former prisoners, there are two type of interrogation rooms. Most prisoners are interrogated in the interrogation room with a stool inside where the prisoner sits, and facing the prisoner, there was a semicircle shaped platform. On top of the platform, there are several tables next to each other covered with white table cloth. Interrogators and recorders sit behind the tables at the opposite ends.Dai Qing
Dai Qing
Dai Qing, born in August 1941, is a journalist and activist for China-related issues; most significantly against the Three Gorges Dam Project. Dai is also an author who has published many influential books, articles, and journals.-Early life:Dai, also called Fu Ning , was born in Chongqing,...
, a famous Chinese human rights activist jailed at Qincheng Prison recalls that there is another type of interrogation room in which the stool is replaced by a chair and there is carpet on the floor. Additionally, there is air conditioning in the room. During the Cultural Revolution, before the interrogation had begun, everyone in the room had to read some quotes from Mao's Little Red Book loudly, and these quotes are also posted on the wall.
Meals
Prisoners receive different meals based on their ages, crimes committed, social status and job positions prior entering the prison. The monthly food budget for each high ranking prisoner had always been nearly twice of the monthly salary of most ordinary factory workers in China until the 1970s, which was 60 renminbiRenminbi
The Renminbi is the official currency of the People's Republic of China . Renminbi is legal tender in mainland China, but not in Hong Kong or Macau. It is issued by the People's Bank of China, the monetary authority of the PRC...
. This was increased to more than 120 yuan
Renminbi
The Renminbi is the official currency of the People's Republic of China . Renminbi is legal tender in mainland China, but not in Hong Kong or Macau. It is issued by the People's Bank of China, the monetary authority of the PRC...
in the 1990s. However, the monthly food budget for each low ranking prisoner was only above 30 yuan in the 1990s. Three meals were provided on each day, Monday through Saturday. On Sundays and holidays, only two meals are provided. Each prisoner would receive boiled water for three times daily, one full cup each time, and a large cup given to each prisoner for this purpose.
Low ranking prisoners keep utensils themselves, and meals are delivered through the rectangular opening on the door about a foot above the ground. Breakfast is consisted of steamed corn flour bread and a piece of salted vegetable, while lunch and dinner is consisted of rice, noodle, and other grains. A vegetarian dish cooked with vegetables and a bowl of thin soup is also served with lunch and dinner.
High ranking prisoners need not to keep utensils themselves and meals are served by opening the doors. Two vegetarian dishes and a dish with meat or fish, and bowl of thick soup are standard. Limited amount of milk and fruits are provided once weekly, and with special permission, some high ranking prisoner can have better meal that is often given to prisoners that are about to be released.
Shower
Depending on the ranking of the prisoner, every prisoner is allowed to take a half an hour long shower once either weekly or monthly, under the surveillance of the same gender warden outside the door. According to the 1954 Reform Through Labor Regulations of the People's Republic of ChinaPeople's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
, female prisoners are supposed to be watched by female wardens but there were rarely any female wardens nor female prisoners at Qingcheng prison.
The first significant presence of female prisoners appeared during Cultural Revolution, but by that era, the shower privilege granted to the prisoners were abolished like most other rights, and there were prisoners arrest at the beginning of Cultural Revolution who had not taken a shower for around a decade after they were jailed.
Exercise
Prisoners cannot earn the right to exercise immediately after entering the prison; they are only given the right later on. The frequency of exercise permitted for each prisoner may vary from once a day, to once a week. Officially, these prisoners are allowed to walk and exercise in the courtyards for a minimum of 20 minutes and a maximum of an hour. The actual times vary depending on the weather, the number of prisoners, and other factors.Because of the special status of prisoners in Qincheng Prison, each prisoner is only allowed to exercise alone. Prisoners cannot see any other prisoners due to the high walls, and they are not allowed to see any other prisoners while they are in the jail house. If two prisoners are released from their cells to exercise and they meet each other, one is ordered to back to his or her cell to wait until the other prisoner is gone.
During prolonged solitary confinement during the Cultural Revolution, calcium deficiencies would result from the lack of exposure to sunlight. Many prisoners would lose their hair and teeth, and developed many other health problems. Prisoners jailed during the Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
often had permanent disabilities after their release.
Sleep
Following the strict former-Soviet UnionSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
practice, prisoners also had strict rules until early 1980s when they sleep: they must keep their hands above their sheets and they must face the peephole. Light will never be out when prisoners are asleep, because guards needs to check on prisoners. Prisoners are awoken by whistles at 7 a.m. sharp, and they go to bed at 9 p.m. sharp upon hearing whistles.
Originally, high ranking prisoners have military style bed sheets, but low ranking prisoners have to sleep on top of straws on their beds. If the prisoner have vanished from the guards' view, the wardens would immediately notified to go into the cell to check what is going on.
Reading
The regular reading material in the jail is People's DailyPeople's Daily
The People's Daily is a daily newspaper in the People's Republic of China. The paper is an organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China , published worldwide with a circulation of 3 to 4 million. In addition to its main Chinese-language edition, it has editions in English,...
. Other reading materials includes publications in China provided to prisoners by the visiting relatives of prisoners. There is a prison library that only high ranking prisoners were allowed to use. Most reading materials were originally donated by the former Nationalists classified as war criminals by the Communists, and consist mostly of works by Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
, Karl Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
, Friedrich Engels
Friedrich Engels
Friedrich Engels was a German industrialist, social scientist, author, political theorist, philosopher, and father of Marxist theory, alongside Karl Marx. In 1845 he published The Condition of the Working Class in England, based on personal observations and research...
, and Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
. The other source of donation is from the prisoners' relatives and reading materials donated by released prisoners.
All reading materials are screened and those deemed improper for the prisoners are rejected. However, the censorship varies according to the political situation in China. For example, after the death of Lin Biao
Lin Biao
Lin Biao was a major Chinese Communist military leader who was pivotal in the communist victory in the Chinese Civil War, especially in Northeastern China...
, copies of Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong
Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong
Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung , is a book of selected statements from speeches and writings by Mao Zedong, the former leader of Chinese Communist Party, published from 1964 to about 1976 and widely distributed during the Cultural Revolution...
(Little Red Book) were confiscated and pages with Lin Biao
Lin Biao
Lin Biao was a major Chinese Communist military leader who was pivotal in the communist victory in the Chinese Civil War, especially in Northeastern China...
's words were removed. Even during the era without any political turmoil, it is worth noting that many publications legally publicized in China and available to the general public would not be permitted for prisoners.
Visitation
Visitation is conducted in a special visitation room, which is a room separated into two sections by a wall. A small window is on the wall for the communication between the prisoners and their relatives. Wardens can be either watch the visitation from another room immediately adjacent to the visitation room, or can be directly behind the prisoner.Anything brought into the prison by the prisoners' relatives must be screened and registered on a check sheet and those deemed unsuitable must be brought back immediately after the visitation is over. After visitation, there must be the signature of prison warden on the visitation permission slip for the relatives to leave the prison.
Labor
Prisoners at Qincheng Prison are tasked to perform manual labors instead of being executed in accordance with Mao Zedong's order given in 1957 in one of his speeches in which Mao explained why political prisoners must not be executed:- 1st: If one was executed, the more would have to be executed for the same crime later on for equality, and it would difficult to spare the lives of future prisoners who committed the same crime, because justice system would be criticized as unequal, giving preferential treatments
- 2nd: Wrong people and even innocent people might be executed by mistakes
- 3rd: Executing prisoners could mean the vanishing of evidence
- 4th: When prisoners were executed, it could not increase production output, could not improve scientific research, could not strengthen national defense, and could not liberate TaiwanTaiwanTaiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
- 5th: You (the Communist regime) would be accused of excessive killings
Reactionaries are evil but once captured, they could be turned to something useful for the people.
As result of this speech of Mao, prisoners at Qincheng Prison are put to work instead of being executed, and they are subjected to be assigned to tasks other than that of the Qincheng Prison to help out outside the prison. Heavy manual labor was performed only by the nationalist
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
war criminals classified by the communists
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
, but since the release of the last group of this kind of prisoners in 1975, there are no longer any such duties. However, light manual labors continues such as making straw hats and making boxes for matches. Jiang Qing
Jiang Qing
Jiang Qing was the pseudonym that was used by Chinese leader Mao Zedong's last wife and major Communist Party of China power figure. She went by the stage name Lan Ping during her acting career, and was known by various other names during her life...
requested and was permitted to make dolls. These light manual labor is often conducted in their own cells.
Abuse
Though physical and verbal abuse of prisoners are strictly forbidden, such regulations were completely ignored during Cultural Revolution, during which many prisoners had died as result of abuse and torture. Abuses disguised as punishment commonly occurred during Cultural Revolution included forcing prisoners to stand for a prolonged period of time and not providing prisoners with enough water.Wei Jingsheng
Wei Jingsheng
Wei Jingsheng is a Chinese activist known for his involvement in the Chinese democracy movement, most prominent for authoring the document Fifth Modernization on the "Democracy Wall" in Beijing in 1978. He is generally known for getting arrested and spending 15 years in prison due to the document...
had published under his name in March 1979 an essay denouncing the inhumane conditions of the Chinese Qincheng Prison where was imprisoned the 10th Panchen Lama and that drove the latter to a suicide attempt. It is clear that a major part of the essay of Wei was written by other anonymous authors with real information about Qincheng.
Health care
There is a medical clinic at the Qincheng Prison with both doctors and nurses assigned. There is also a dental clinic, built of brick and stone, located further away from the main prison buildings. In addition to treating prisoners for ordinary illness, semi-annual physical checks are also performed. High ranking prisoners could receive more frequent checks depending on their health conditions. Both the high ranking and low ranking prisoners receive better health care than ordinary citizens outside, and this situation has not changed since the first day when the prison was established.For important high ranking prisoners, the doctors at Qincheng Prison do not have the final decision making authority on how to treat the prisoners for their illness. It is often a political decision determined by the top brass of the communist regime. For example, in the autumn of 1969 during Cultural Revolution, under Kang Sheng
Kang Sheng
Kang Sheng , Communist Party of China official, oversaw the work of the People's Republic of China's security and intelligence apparatus at the height of the Cultural Revolution in the late 1960s. He was a close associate of Mao Zedong and remained at or near the pinnacle of power for decades...
's order, an important high ranking prisoner, Shi Zhe (师哲), the former personal secretary and personal Russian translator of Mao Zedong was jailed in Qincheng prison. He was scheduled to have an operation to remove a so-called cancer. However, doctors determined that there was no cancer at all, but Kang Sheng
Kang Sheng
Kang Sheng , Communist Party of China official, oversaw the work of the People's Republic of China's security and intelligence apparatus at the height of the Cultural Revolution in the late 1960s. He was a close associate of Mao Zedong and remained at or near the pinnacle of power for decades...
insisted on giving Shi Zhe (师哲) an operation, and the completely unnecessary operation was carried out to fulfill the political task.
Hospital
When prisoners are seriously ill and thus cannot be treated at the prison clinic, they are transferred to Fuxing (复兴, Revival) Hospital on the Fuxingmen Outer StreetFuxingmen Outer Street
Fuxingmen Outer Street is a major street in urban Beijing. It forms part of the extended Chang'an Avenue.It starts at Fuxing Road in the west and ends at Fuxingmen Bridge in the east....
. Fuxing Hospital is one of the hospitals for Ministry of Public Security
Ministry of Public Security
Ministry of Public Security can refer to:* Ministry of Public Security of Burundi* Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China* Ministry of Public Security of Costa Rica* Ministry of Public Security of Israel...
employees and their relatives. All Ministry of Public Security
Ministry of Public Security
Ministry of Public Security can refer to:* Ministry of Public Security of Burundi* Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China* Ministry of Public Security of Costa Rica* Ministry of Public Security of Israel...
hospitals shoulder the additional responsibility of treating prisoners, but Fuxing Hospital is specially designated to treat prisoners from Qincheng Prison. The prison section is located on the 2nd Floor of one of the hospital buildings and it is completely segregated from the rest of the facility. Every room is about 10 square meters, with one or two hospital beds, a wash sink, and a toilet. The window is equipped with sanded glass so that nothing outside can be seen and there is another layer of iron fence outside the window glass. Guards watch the prisoners behind the door that is locked from outside. Prisoners treated at the hospital exercise by walking on the roof of the building.
Like the doctors in the prison clinic, doctors at Fuxing Hospital also lack the final decision making authority on how to treat the important prisoners. For example, during the Cultural Revolution, former Minister of Public Security and the head of Mao Zedong's personal bodyguards, Senior General Luo Ruiqing (罗瑞卿) was jailed at Qincheng Prison. When he suffered a broken bone in his right foot, both of his leg were amputated and cremated as a punishment of his stubborn refusal to admit to the so-called "reactionary crimes" that he was accused of committing.