Editing Qin dynasty (section)

=== 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}}