Editing Qin dynasty (section)

== Government and military ==
[[File:2015-09-22-091227 - Museum der Grabanlage des Qin Shi Huangdi.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Terracotta Army]] at the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang museum]]
[[File:01 terracottawarriorsgroup.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Warriors and horse from the Terracotta Army]]
The Qin government was highly [[bureaucratic]], and was administered by a hierarchy of officials serving the emperor. The Qin put into practice the teachings of [[Han Fei]], allowing the state to administer all of its territories, including those recently conquered. All aspects of life were standardised, from measurements and language to more practical details, such as the length of chariot [[axle]]s.{{sfn|Lewis|2007|pp=53–54}}

The empire was divided into 36 [[Commandery (China)|commanderies]], which were further subdivided into more than 1000 districts.{{sfn|Lewis|2007|p=18}} The states made by the emperor were assigned to officials dedicated to the task rather than placing the burden on people from the royal family. Zheng and his advisors also introduced new laws and practices that ended [[Fengjian|aristocratic rule]] in China, fully replacing it with a centralised, bureaucratic government. A supervisory system, the [[Censorate]] was introduced to monitor and check the powers of administrators and officials at each level of government.{{sfn|Xue|Qi|2019|p=415}} The Qin instituted a permanent system of ranks and rewards, consisting of twenty ranks based on the number of enemies killed in battle or commanding victorious units. Ranks were not hereditary unless a soldier died heroically in battle, whereby the soldier's rank will be inherited by his family. Each rank was assigned a specific allotment of dwellings, slaves and land, and ranks could be used to remit judicial punishments.{{sfn|Hui|2005|p=81}}

Instances of abuse were recorded. In one example from the ''Records of Officialdom'', a commander named Hu ordered his men to attack peasants in an attempt to increase the number of "bandits" he had killed; his superiors, likely eager to inflate their records as well, allowed this.{{sfn|Chen|Wu|2007|pp=180–181}}

=== Economy ===
The Qin conception of [[political economy]] reflected the ideas of Shang Yang and [[Li Kui (legalist)|Li Kui]]: labour was identified as the realm's primary resource, and commerce was understood in general to be "inherently sterile".{{sfn|von Glahn|2022|p=182}} The merchant class that had emerged during the Warring States period was considered a direct threat to the state, due to merchants' incentives to pursue individual profits and self-aggrandisement. After unification, the imperial state targeted their wealth and political power; a 214&nbsp;BC law allowed for merchants to be impressed into the military and deported for service on the realm's frontiers. Reinforced by its distinct legal status, the merchant profession became increasingly hereditary in nature.{{sfn|von Glahn|2022|pp=175, 182–183}}

[[File:026 S-83 Qin Ban Liang, 221-208 BC, 30mm.jpg|thumb|Qin-era ''banliang'' coin, with the obverse marked {{zhc|c=半两|p=bànliǎng}}]]
During the 330s&nbsp;BC, the state of Qin began minting ''[[banliang]]'' coins, which were round, made mostly of [[bronze]], and marked to indicate a nominal weight of around {{cvt|8|g|frac=16}}{{snd}}though the actual weight varied in reality. After unification, ''banliang'' were given official status across the empire, replacing previous regional currencies like [[spade money]] and [[knife money]] to become the first standardised currency used throughout all of China.{{sfn|Kakinuma|2022|pp=132–133}} Unlike the Han, who initially continued the use of ''banliang'', the Qin did not allow additional coins to be minted by the private sector, and considered those that were to be counterfeit.{{sfn|Kakinuma|2022|p=133}}

=== Construction projects ===
Qin Shi Huang developed plans to fortify Qin's northern border, to protect against nomadic invasions. The resulting construction formed the base of what later became the [[Great Wall of China]], which joined and strengthened the walls made by feudal lords. Another project built during his rule was the [[Terracotta Army]], intended to protect the emperor after his death.{{sfn|Li|2013|pp=255–256}} The Terracotta Army was inconspicuous due to its underground location, and was not discovered until 1974.{{sfn|Morton|1995|p=49}}

=== Registration system ===
{{quote box|width=25%|align=right
|quote=<poem style="text-indent:1ic each-line">{{lang|lzh|四境之內，丈夫女子皆有名於上}}
Everywhere within the borders, let all men and women be registered by name with the government

{{lang|lzh|生者著，死者削}}
Those who are born shall be entered, and those who die, expunged</poem>|source=—''The Book of Lord Shang''{{sfn|Sanft|2014|p=127}}}}
During the 4th century&nbsp;BC, the state of Qin introduced a registration system for its population, which initially collated the names of individuals, and later began keeping track of entire households. The system, unique in its scope among Qin's contemporaries, is thought to have been established in 375&nbsp;BC. It was expanded later in the century at the direction of Shang Yang, with passages of ''[[The Book of Lord Shang]]'' referencing the system likely reflecting the words of Shang Yang himself. The oldest lists to be discovered, excavated at [[Shuihudi]] in [[Hubei]] and [[Liye Ancient City|Liye]] in [[Hunan]], date to the late 3rd century&nbsp;BC.{{sfn|Sanft|2014|pp=127–128}} Adapting a concept originally used within the military to society at-large, Qin households were organised into 'groups of five' ({{zhi|c=五|p=wǔ}}), wherein the heads of each household were made mutually responsible for reporting any wrongdoing committed by other members of the group.{{sfnm|1a1=Barbieri-Low|1a2=Yates|1y=2015|1pp=111–112|2a1=Sanft|2y=2014|2pp=127–129}} Under the orders of King Ying Zheng, the state began recording the ages of adult men in 231&nbsp;BC.{{sfn|Sanft|2014|p=129}}

=== Writing reform ===
[[File:Qin (Chinese characters).svg|thumb|upright=0.6|"Qin" in [[seal&nbsp;script]]&nbsp;(top) and [[regular&nbsp;script]]&nbsp;(bottom) Chinese characters]]
The Zhou inherited the [[writing system]] of [[Chinese characters]] used by the preceding [[Shang dynasty]] ({{circa|1600|1056&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}) and first attested in [[oracle bone inscriptions]] {{circa|1250&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}. Writing was adopted throughout the Zhou cultural sphere during the first half of the 1st millennium&nbsp;BC, with the shapes and forms of characters in the script gradually evolving over time. With the Warring States period, distinct regional writing styles began to diverge from one another;{{sfn|Qiu|1988|pp=70–71}} compared to that of other Zhou states, the script used in Qin generally changed the least during this time.{{sfn|Qiu|1988|p=78}} The standard writing style in the state of Qin was consolidated under Qin Shi Huang into what is known as ''[[small seal script]]''.{{sfn|Qiu|1988|p=100}} While the ''[[Book of Han]]'' (111&nbsp;AD) states that Li Si distributed detailed instructions for writing in small seal script to scribes in 221&nbsp;BC, these instructions have been lost. However, many contemporary inscriptions on monuments meant to demonstrate small seal character forms have survived.{{sfn|Bökset|2006|pp=17, 19}} While the regional divergences across China were reduced considerably, the use of [[variant characters]] remained frequent among Qin scribes; the traditional idea of a strict standardisation of small seal script appears to be a later notion introduced by the Han.{{sfnm|Galambos|2004|1pp=181–182|Bökset|2006|2pp=18–19}}

=== Penal policy ===
Qin law was primarily administrative,{{sfnm|1a1=Hulsewé|1y=1986|1p=539|2a1=Bodde|2y=1986|2p=60}} and like most ancient societies, the early imperial Chinese state did not have separate structures of administration and jurisprudence.{{sfn|Hulsewé|1986|p=528}} Articulated alongside [[Li (Confucianism)|ritual practice]],{{sfn|Cheng|2008|p=208}} Qin penal practice included concepts such as intent, defendant rights, judicial procedure, requests for retrials, and the distinction between [[common law|common]] and [[statutory law]].{{sfn|Goldin|2005|pp=5–6}} Comparative model manuals guided penal legal procedures based on real-life situations, with publicly named wrongs linked to punishments.{{sfnm|1a1=Wilkinson|1y=2015|1p=307|2a1=Cheng|2y=2008|2p=208}} The code primarily focuses on theft, as opposed to murder{{snd}}though there were certain statutes dealing specifically with infanticide and other unsanctioned harm against children. Li Kui's ''[[Canon of Laws]]''{{snd}}a lost text which Shang Yang was said to have been drawn from, a claim supported by other Qin-era manuscripts{{snd}} considered dealing with thieves and robbers the most urgent legal matter of its time.{{sfnm|1a1=Wang|1y=2024|1p=588}}

In the period prior to unification, Qin laws had already diverged significantly from ideas espoused in ''The Book of Lord Shang'':{{sfn|Wilkinson|2015|p=307}} while retaining Shang Yang's reforms, the Qin abandoned his anti-Confucianism and strict, harsh penal policy, and ultimately his heavy emphasis on agriculture. After Shang Yang, [[King Huiwen of Qin]] is attested as having pardoned the death penalty in a case involving murder, based on Confucian ethics.{{sfn|Pines|2023}}{{sfnm|1a1=Jiang|1y=2021|1p=213|2a1=Hsiao|2y=1979|2p=470}} [[Sima Qian]] depicts Qin Shi Huang as emphasising law and order, praising himself as a "sage ruler of benevolence and righteousness&nbsp;... who cares for and pities the common people".{{sfn|Watson|1962|p=174}}

While generally considered harsh by modern standards, Qin punishments were "not extraordinarily severe for their time".{{sfn|Goldin|2005|p=5}} Although including mutilating punishments, they most frequently consisted of hard labour. Those sentenced to hard labour generally performed public works inside the country, mainly in road and canal construction.{{sfn|Hulsewé|1986|p=533}} Punishment often went unenforced. Criminals were sometimes given amnesties, only incurring punishment upon [[recidivism]], and were often pardoned in exchange for fines, labour, or a demotion in aristocratic rank, even for capital offences. While ''The Book of Lord Shang'' recommended harsh punishments, it also "laments" insufficient population for its territories, and the Qin attempted to limit emigration out of the country. Rather than physically punish  criminals, they were frequently resettled in frontier colonies. Those sentenced to hard labour were sometimes sent to join frontier defences if given amnesty. Men in the colonies sentenced to death were then recruited for expeditionary armies.{{sfnm|1a1=Pines|1y=2014|1pp=21, 213|2a1=Hulsewé|2y=1986|2pp=533–535}}

The Han-era writer [[Dong Zhongshu]] (179–104&nbsp;BC) considered Qin officials and taxes severe, but did not characterise punishments as such; in fact, Dong criticised the Qin system for its inability to punish criminals;{{sfn|Loewe|2011|pp=93–94}} though exile as a heavy punishment in China dates to at least the Spring and Autumn period.{{sfn|Lewis|1999|p=19}}