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SOURCE: Qin Penal Laws
AUTHOR: Qin Emperor Shi Huangdi and/or Qin administrators
DATE: Early 3rd century B.C., during the short reign of Emperor Shi Huangdi of the Qin Empire
BACKGROUND: Daoism offered no active political program, whereas Confucius and his disciples preached a doctrine of benevolent reform based on virtuous imitation of the past. A third school of thought that emerged in the chaos of the late Zhou Era was Legalism, which rejected Daoism’s Way of Nature and Confucianism’s Moral Way. On their part, Legalist writers emphasized law as the government’s formulative force and advocated a radical restructuring of society in ways that were totally rational and up-to-date.
SOME OFFENSES LEADING TO PENAL SERVITUDE
Criminals who owe fines…and others who have debts to the government are told to pay immediately. Those unable to pay must work off their debt from the day the order is given. Each day they work off eight wen [a small coin of low value], or six wen if they are fed by the government.
When five men jointly rob something worth [a small sum] or more, they should have their left foot amputated, be tattooed, and made convict laborers. If fewer than five men were involved but what they robbed was worth more than 660 wen, they should be tattooed, their noses cut off, and made convict laborers. When the value falls between 220 and 660 wen, they should be tattooed and made convict laborers. Under 220 wen, they are banished.
Anyone who kills a child without authorization is to be made a convict laborer. This does not apply to killing a deformed or abnormal newborn….
When commoners need to pay fines, commutation fees [paying cash in place of servitude], or debts, they may have their male or female slave, horse, or ox work it off for them. Prisoners of war are made convict servants.
TREATMENT OF CONVICTS
Convict laborers are to wear red clothes and red head cloths. They are to be manacled and fettered. They are not to be supervised by capable convict laborers, but only by those assigned to the task. Convict laborers sent out to work are not enter the market and must stay outside the outer gate of buildings….
When working for the government, male convict servant are given two bushels of grain a month, female convicts one and a half. Those not engaged in any work are not given anything….Overseers who increase the rations for convict laborers performing easy tasks will be judged according to the rules on infringing the ordinances.
Male convict servants without wives and all male convict laborers get money to cover their clothing: 110 wen in winter and 55 in summer…women convict laborers get 55 wen in winter and 44 in summer…
When convict laborers break pottery vessels or iron or wooden tools or break the rims of cart wheels, they should be beaten ten strokes for each cash of value, up to twenty wen, and the object is to written off. An official who does not immediately beat them is to be charged half the value.
A commoner not guilty of any crime who has a mother or sister serving as a convict servant may if he wishes be assigned to the frontier [soldier] for five years without pay to free her. In exchange for two degrees of aristocratic rank a person may free a father or mother who has been made a convict laborer.
QUESTIONS FOR ANALYSIS
How does Legalism differ from Daoism and Confucianism?
The great Legalist Han Feizi wrote “To warn the officials and overawe the people, to rebuke obscenity and danger, and to forbid falsehood and deceit, nothing can match penalty.” How do these regulations conform to Han’s Feizi’s principle? Explain by providing examples from the text.
Going beyond your answer in question 1, what other values and principles of the Qin regime is reflected through these regulations?
FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION: According to this belief system, what is the meaning of life?
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