# Soft detention

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{{Short description|Form of house arrest used in China}}
'''Soft detention''' ({{zh|s=软禁|t=軟禁|p=ruǎnjìn}}) is a form of [house arrest](/source/house_arrest) used in the [People's Republic of China](/source/People's_Republic_of_China) to control political dissidents. It has its roots in the practices of the Chinese Empire which employed it as early as the [Northern Song dynasty](/source/Song_dynasty) when those such as [Su Shi](/source/Su_Shi) who criticized the [emperor](/source/emperor_of_China) were subjected to it. Traditionally, and in modern practice, there are three levels of restriction; the loosest, "juzhu",{{dubious|date=March 2012}} restricts the detainee to their home district. This restriction was employed on the history teacher [Yuan Tengfei](/source/Yuan_Tengfei) who included information about banned aspects of modern Chinese history in his lectures.{{dubious|date=March 2012}} The second level, "anzhi",{{dubious|date=March 2012}} employed anciently on Su Shi, restricts the prisoner to their home, but they may be allowed to go for a walk or go to work. The severest form, "bianguan",{{dubious|date=March 2012}} which was imposed on the human rights activist [Chen Guangcheng](/source/Chen_Guangcheng)<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDdI8jS_uME |title=NYU Law Professor Jerome Cohen discusses Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng |date=2010-11-18 |last=NYU School of Law |access-date=2025-01-17 |via=[YouTube](/source/YouTube)}}</ref> involves limited movement of the prisoner to their home, constant surveillance, restriction of contact with others, and, sometimes, harassment.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tatlow |first=Didi Kirsten |date=2011-03-09 |title=Out of Jail in China, but Not Free |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/world/asia/10iht-letter10.html |access-date=2025-01-17 |work=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times) |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

== See also ==

* [Shuanggui](/source/Shuanggui)

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://video.nytimes.com/video/2012/04/27/world/asia/100000001515135/timescast-chinese-dissident-escapes.html ''New York Times'' video of the escape of Chen Guangcheng from house arrest]

{{China national security}}
{{China prisons}}

Category:Imprisonment and detention
Category:Penal system in China

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Soft detention](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_detention) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_detention?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.