Who's Who in China (3rd edition)/Wang Wen-pao

Mr. Wang Wen-pao

王文字紹荃

Mr. Wang Wen-pao was born at Changsha, Hunan province, in 1879. After having received middle school education in China, he went to Japan in 1902 to study police administration. In Japan Mr. Wang at first attended a police school and later he spent one and a half years in the Tokyo Police Headquarters where he received practical training. In 1905 Mr. Wang returned to China and at once became Senior Councillor of the Police Administration of Hunan province and at the same time a teacher in the Police School. In 1906 Mr. Wang was transferred to Peking. There he held at different times the following posts in the Metropolitan Police Department: Junior Police Officer; Junior Secretary of the Outer City Police; Chief of the Public Works Bureau; Senior Secretary of the Outer City Police; Proctor of the Plague Prevention Office; Chief of the Administrative Bureau; and Chief of the Sanitary Bureau. In 1912, the First Year of the Republic, Mr. Wang was transferred to the Ministry of the Interior becoming a Sectional Chief in the Department of Police Administration. In 1913 he became a Councillor to the Opium Prohibition Office and also Chief of the Tax Collection Section in the Metropolitan Municipal Office under the Ministry of the Interior. In 1914 Mr. Wang was transferred to the Ministry of Justice becoming Director in charge of the Department of Prisons. He has been responsible for the introduction of modern prisons to replace the old style jails. This replacement which was commenced in Peking first has been extended to the important centers throughout the country. In January 1919 Mr. Wang was awarded the Second Class Chiaho Decoration and in January 1990 the Third class Paokuang Chiaho Decoration. In July 1920 Mr. Wang was President of the Commission for the Examination of Attending Oficers for Local Courts and Prison. In October 1925 he was appointed a Member of the Commission on the Reorganization of the Russian Courts along the Chinese Eastern Railway. In March 1923 Mr. Wang received the Second Class Tashou Chiaho Decoration. He is still holding the post of Director of the Department of Prisons in the Ministry of Justice, Peking.