He Jiahong

He Jiahong
Born	(1953-05-10) May 10, 1953 Beijing, China
Nationality	Chinese
Genre	Fiction, Crime Fiction, Political Analysis, Legal, Law
Subject	Chine Crime, China, Chinese Politics, Chinese Legal, Legal Textbooks, Law text books

He Jiahong (born May 10, 1953 in Beijing, China). Educated at the Renmin University of China, where he achieved a Bachelor of Law in 1983, followed by a Master of Law in 1986. He later obtained his doctorate in juridical science from Northwestern University in Illinois and is currently professor at the school of law of the Renmin University of China in Beijing.

He Jiahong is also a presenter of legal programs on Chinese national television.

Although his primary employment has been through Renmin University, Jiahong has also held a number of part-time positions in China, including Professor at the People’s University of Public Security, Professor at the National College of Prosecutors, Professor at the National College of Judges and Professor at the National College of Public Administration.

In addition Jiahong is also leading a team of masters-degree students in Chinato investigate cases of occupational crimes by public officials, including interrogation of suspects and lie-detector tests in pursuit of crooked officials.

He Jiahong’s is also an established writer, publishing on legal matters, and also writing crime novels that have since been published in French, Italian, Spanish, and now in English by Penguin China.

Education and early career

He Jiahong was born in Beijing on 10 May 1953. At the age of sixteen Jiahong went to live on a farm in Heilongjiang Province, where he began writing his first novel.

In 1977 Jiahong returned to Beijing, and began working as a plumber and then went on to sit and pass the university entrance exam and was eventually accepted to the Renmin University of China.

In an interview with The China Story Journal

in September 2012 Jiahong recalled the experience “At that time, my aspiration was to become a writer but her parents wanted me to sit the national university entrance examination. The exams were extremely competitive but I studied very hard. My wife did not push me, though, and said that if my passion was to write novels I should do so; however, her parents were unrelenting. They put us both under a lot of pressure.”

It was at the Renmin University of China where Jiahong achieved a Bachelor of Law in 1983, followed by a Master of Law in 1986. Jiahong later obtained a Doctor of Juridical Science at Northwestern University, USA in 1993, composing his thesis on “Criminal Prosecution in the PRC and the USA: A Comparative Study”.

Jiahong has spent most of his professional career at the Renmin University of China, where he started in 1986 and has held the position of "Professor of Law" since 1996. In addition he is the university’s Director of the Institute of Evidence Law since the institute was established in 2006, and the Director of the Research Centre of Wrongful Convictions established in March 2012.

Jiahong is involved in Anti-Corruption in China. In an article in the Guardian

newspaper in the UK he was quoted as saying: “There were so many officials who committed corruption and it affected so many people's lives. I thought by choosing this course I could do something meaningful to change things." He added: “We have the death penalty but we still have so many corrupt officials." He is part of a team that are helping train masters students to investigate cases of occupational crimes by public officials, including interrogation of suspects and administer lie detector tests in pursuit of crooked officials. 

In an interview with The World's Mary Kay Magistad, He Jiahong says Transparency of the government is very important for making political decisionsalso stating that the people’s right to know is more important than the leaders’ privacy.

Further Academic Experience

Whilst He Jiahong has maintained his position of Professor of Law at Renmin University of China, he has also held a number of part-time positions in China, such as Professor at the People’s University of Public Security, Professor at the National College of Prosecutors, Professor at the National College of Judges and Professor at the National College of Public Administration.

Jiahong has gained further academic experience outside of China, acting as a Guest Professor at the City University of Hong Kong between September 2002 and March 2003. He was a Visiting Professor at the Soochow University in Taiwan during December 2006 and January 2007.

In February 2010 he was a guest lecturer at Cincinnati University, Ohio, USA and in October 2011, he was a guest lecturer at New York University, New York, USA. This was followed by lectures at the Australian National University and at La Trobe University, Australia in August 2012. Furthermore, Jiahon acted as a Senior Visiting Researcher at the Max-Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law in Germany during the summer of 2010.

Finally, in June to July 2011, Jiahong became a specially appointed professor at the Nagoya University, Japan.

Writing & Editing

In addition to his university work, He Jiahong is an novelist and editor. Jiahong has acted as chief editor for some thirty books, including treatises and textbooks such as A Study on Electronic Evidence Law (2002), Foreign Evidence Laws (2003), A Comparative Study on Prosecutor Systems (2008), Rules of Admission and Evaluation of Evidence: Illustrations and Interpretations (2009), Contemporary American Law (2011), Whose Trial and Whose Power: Empirical Study on Reform of Criminal Trial System (2011) and Whose Juror? Whose Jury?: Fictitious Experiment on Reform of Criminal Trial System (2011).

Jiahong has published both fiction and non-fiction in Chinese and English.

Jiahong began writing detective novels in 1994 while teaching law at Renmin University in Beijing. In an article with the South China Morning Post Jiahong noted When my colleagues found out about my writing, they reacted with shock and disbelief, he later added Some even said I was wasting time on trivial business and ignoring my main responsibilities.

Furthermore Jiahong is has written a five-book series of crime novels centred around a character known as Hong Jun, a lawyer. The first book, Crime of Blood, originally written in Chinese has now been translated into French, Italian and Spanish. In 2012 the book was also translated into English, with the title Hanging Devils: Hong Jun Investigates.

According to the Shenzhen Daily

in April 2011, Crime of Blood allows Jiahong to ‘combine his passion for literature and his professional knowledge of the Chinese legal system, reflecting China’s society and development with his years of experience in legal procedures and criminal investigation’. 

In the same article, China’s Nobel laureate, Mo Yan, stated that: ‘I find He’s crime thrillers very easy and interesting to read. As a legal expert, there is no flaw in the story and his rich life experience makes everything and every scene vivid.’

A Guardian

newspaper article in 2007 ranked Crime of Blood among the top ten Asian crime-fiction novels. 

He Jiahong’s non-fiction works in English include Criminal Prosecution in the PRC and the USA: A Comparative Study, written with Professor Emeritus Jon R. Waltz; Exploration of the Path of Fighting Corruption with Chinese Characteristics and Empirical Studies of Wrongful Convictions in Mainland China (with He Ran).

Publications

First Series: Selected Works of He Jiahong: Crime Novels: 1. Hanging Devils: Hong Jun Investigates 2. The Black Hole of Human Life: Crimes behind the Stock Market 3. The Misled Region of Human Life: A Mystery of Dragon-Eye-Stone 4. The Vicious Circle of Human Life: The Mysterious Ancient Painting 5. The Narrow Road of Human Life: Black Bat • White Bat.

Second Series: Selected Works of HE Jiahong: Legal Studies : 1. From Ought to Is: Studies on the Laws of Evidence 2. From Analogues to Identical: Studies on Criminal Investigation 3. From Theirs to Ours: Research on Criminal Justice 4. From Observation to Reflection: Critics on Foreign Major Cases 5. From Popular to Erudite: Little Thoughts on the Culture of the Rule of Law.

Third Series: Selected Works of HE Jiahong: Varieties of Law: 1. Language of Evidence: New Ideas of Legal Science 2. The Fictitious Truth: Lectures on Legal Evidence 3. The Twisted Souls: Records of Western Crimes 4. The Secret Codes of Crime: Records of Scientific Detection of Crime 5. Excited Awkwardness: Facing the Media (Interviews and profiles).