Is life imprisonment meant to "wear out the prison"?It is necessary to analyze the controversial issues in the implementation of the change of life imprisonment from the perspective of doctrine of law. Life imprisonment is not an exception to the change of death sentence with reprieve in paragraph 1, Article 50 of the Criminal Law. If a criminal sentenced to life imprisonment performs significant meritorious service during the test with death sentence with reprieve, he shall be commuted to fixed-term imprisonment of 25 years. The provision of "no commutation of sentence" in life imprisonment is not the exception provision of "the sentence may be commuted" in Article 78 of the Criminal Law, but the exception provision of “the sentence shall be commuted”in the article. If a criminal sentenced to life imprisonment has performed significant meritorious service during the execution of life imprisonment, he shall not be commuted to fixedterm imprisonment, but shall continue to serve life imprisonment.Life imprisonment is not an exception to the temporary execution outside prison stipulated in Article 265 of the Criminal Procedure Law. Whether a criminal sentenced to life imprisonment can be temporarily executed outside prison during the execution of his sentence shall be dealt with according to the provisions of Article 265 of the Criminal Procedure Law.In a word, the sentence of life imprisonment does not mean that the criminal must "wear out the prison", but the execution of life imprisonment means that the criminal must "wear out the prison".