In December 1975, archaeologists found for the first time a large number of bamboo janes that recorded the contents of the Qin law in Tomb No. 11, Yunmeng County, Hubei Province, known as "Sleeping Tiger Di Qin Tomb Bamboo Jane", the owner of the tomb was a person named "Xi", born in the late Warring States period of Qin Zhaowang forty-five years, died in the fifth year after the establishment of the Qin Dynasty, born before the local judicial prison official, after death he was buried in the tomb with the legal documents and reference cases he copied.
More than 1,100 pieces of bamboo have been excavated, most of which are related to the law, and the "Sleeping Tiger Di qin tomb bamboo jane" that has been sorted out mainly has the following contents:
1. The Eighteen Kinds of Qin Laws, including the Eighteen Laws of the Qin Dynasty, including the Laws of Tian, jinbu, and the Law of The Placement of Officials, involve criminal law and laws and regulations on administrative, economic, civil and other aspects. This is the main part of "Cloud Dream Qin Jian".
2. "EffectiveNess Law", which is a legal provision on the inspection system of official government material accounts.
3. "Miscellaneous Copy of Qin Law", which is an excerpt of laws and individual regulations, among which there are 11 kinds of laws and regulations with names such as "Law of Removing Officials" and "Law of Catching Thieves", and the others have no names, and the content of the excerpt is also quite extensive.
4. "Legal Q&A", which is the official's interpretation and supplementary explanation of laws and regulations, as well as the explanation of litigation procedures, etc., which cites many past precedents as the basis for answers.
5. "Closed Diagnosis Style", which is the standard of procedures for case investigation, inspection, interrogation and other procedures and the provisions of legal documents and procedures, which includes many cases related to investigation and investigation.
6. "The Way of officials", which describes the various requirements for officials, as well as the criteria for appointing and evaluating officials, etc., is the norm that officials must abide by.
7. The Book of Words, which was issued by the sheriff of Nan County at that time to the counties and provinces of the county, exhorting the officials and people to obey the law.
Deeply analyzing these Qin Jian, the Qin state in terms of legislation and justice is not as it was said and imagined by later generations -- the Qin law is rude and evil, the officials are unscrupulous and generally corrupt and pervert the law, or they arbitrarily adjudicate cases and take people's lives based on their good or bad mood and their own likes and dislikes, and the imperial court is even more prone to nine ethnic groups and full of doors. The opposite is true.
<h1>The Qin law is relatively complete and thoughtful</h1>
The legal system of the Qin Dynasty was relatively perfect, and everything was decided by law. There are more than 30 kinds of Qin laws and regulations mentioned in the "Bamboo Jane of the Tomb of the Sleeping Tiger Land", which involve criminal law and administrative, economic, civil and other legal provisions, including the "Field Law" on maintaining rural social order, agricultural management, land expropriation and land distribution; the "Warehouse Law" on the management of grain and grass, armor, treasury and other goods; the "Stable Garden Law" on the management of animal husbandry production; the "Tibetan Law" on the management of fuzang; the "Gong Law" on the official handicraft industry; the "Uniform Labor Law" on the dispatch of handicraft workers. ; the "Workers' Course" on the production quota of the official handicraft industry; the "Law of The Golden Cloth" on the financial system; the "Law of The Customs city" on the management of customs and the taxation of the market; the "Lesson on cattle and sheep" on the assessment of cattle and sheep breeding; the "Fu Law" and "Youshi Law" on the management of household registration; the "Law of Catching thieves" on the punishment of theft... There are many, and there are trivial issues such as how to deal with the illegal harvest of mulberry leaves that do not make a penny, the ropes that are only worth one dollar, and how to deal with a few rat holes in the warehouse, as well as legal provisions and judicial interpretations (judicial interpretations have the same effect as laws), which basically realizes "the operation of the way of governance, the proper use of all properties, and the French style".
The Qin Law stipulates refinement and quantification. Example 1: It is forbidden to privately mint coins to ensure that the money and cloth are used together, and the "Golden Cloth Law" stipulates: "The cloth is eight and the width is two feet and five inches." Cloth evil, its vastness is not as good as the style, no... Money eleven as a cloth. ”
Example 2: The state has a special official in charge of the operation and management of state-owned land, and the scope and content of the jurisdiction of Tian Shifu and The Ministry of Zo, including the specific figures of the sown area and the unseed sown area of state-owned land, the amount of rain and the growth of crops after rain, the damage caused by water and drought insect plagues, the number of different crops sown per mu of land, the moving of field boundaries, and various acts that are harmful to the cultivation of state-owned land, etc. These officials must be responsible for errors that occur within their jurisdiction according to law.
Example 3: The Law of Discipline stipulates: "Those who think that the disciples are the masters of the YiZhong, let the pawns be blocked." If the pawn is not blocked, the general and the gentleman who block the master are guilty, and let the disciples be restored, and do not count them as a curse. Youyun: "The Fu Mountains and Distant Mountains of the Forbidden Garden that the county maintains, their soil evil cannot rain, and those who are bad in summer should not make up for it slightly, and when there is no rain in autumn, they will do it." ”
Example 4: The Law of Arresting Thieves stipulates that if you steal 1 to 220 yuan, you will be sentenced to a transfer sentence; if you steal 1 yuan to 220 yuan to 660 yuan, you will be appointed as a city Dan; and if you steal more than 660 yuan, you will be considered a city Dan. As for the group of thieves with more than 5 people, they "stole more than one dollar, cut off their left toes, and thought that they were chengdan."
<h1>The provisions on the application of the law are specific and minor</h1>
A distinction is made between intent and negligence. In law, intentional crimes are referred to as "ends" or "ends". The crime of negligence is called "misconduct" or "negligence". "Yunmeng Qinjian ● Legal Answer": "On prison, what is 'not straight' and what is 'indulgent prisoner'? When sin is heavy and light, when it is light and heavy, it is not straight; when it is discussed, it is said that it is not straight; when it is discussed, it is said that it is 'indulgent prisoner'. "If the offender is wrongfully convicted or indulged because of negligence, it is "negligence.". In terms of punishment, the practice of deliberately aggravating and negligent negligence is also adopted.
A distinction is made between intentional homicide and intentional injury. In "YunMeng Qin Jian", intentional killing is "thief killing", and intentional injury is "fighting killing". Provisions have also been made for all kinds of fighting: for ordinary brawls, punishment is based on the degree of injury, such as "cutting off a person's nose and ears like a lip", which is punishable by a resistant sentence; those who "tie and pluck their eyebrows" are punished with a complete city dan; if it is an armed fight that injures a person, it is necessary to "be a city".
A distinction is made between justification and justifiable self-defence. "Cloud Dream Qin Jane. The Law Answers: "What is the crime of catching a bribe, that is, assassinating him with a sword and a blade?" Kill it, and finish it as a city dan; if you hurt it, you will be a subordinate. "That is, when a criminal who is deliberately killed with a sword or a blade of a sword is to be punished by a fine, and if he is stabbed, he shall be punished by the punishment of a subordinate."
There are clearer provisions on inaction. "Cloud Dream Qin Jane. The "Answers to the Law" records that anyone who sees "theft" but does not report or arrest (inaction) shall be punished accordingly. Inaction must be subjectively intentional, and subjective omissions that are not intentional are not punishable by law.
Corresponding penalties are provided for those who make false accusations. The law divides it into several situations, such as "false accusations", "false accusations" (false accusations) and "accusations of theft and stolen goods" (the alleged theft is true, but the amount of money is deliberately increased), and the circumstances are different and the penalties are different.
The principle of commutation of sentence is applied to voluntary surrender. Where a person "voluntarily surrenders" (voluntarily surrenders) after committing a crime, a mitigated punishment is given. "Cloud Dream Qin Jane. The Law Answers: "Is it improper to pretend to die and get out of their own way?" Self-exodus, theory of death, its gain, sitting on the stolen goods as thieves. "If he flees with borrowed official property, if he surrenders voluntarily, he shall be guilty of fleeing; if he is arrested, he shall be counted as a crime of theft." Voluntary surrender may reduce the penalty.
Adopt the principle of misdemeanor absorption of felonies. Where a person commits two crimes, the Penal Code adopts the principle of felony absorption of misdemeanor. "Yun Meng Qin Jian ● Legal Answer": "Shangjia thief a sheep, the prison is not broken, the false person knows that he stole a pig, what is the argument?" When the end of the city. "That is to say, Shangzaojia has successively committed the two crimes of stealing sheep and slandering people and stealing pigs, because the crime of slandering people for stealing pigs is more serious than the crime of stealing sheep, and in accordance with the principle of false accusations and sitting back, according to the principle of false accusations and sitting back, the punishment of Shangzaojia is sentenced to the punishment of completing the city dan.
The principle of aggravated penalties for repeat offenders is adopted. Where a sentence is imposed for a crime or if the sentence is served and the crime is committed again shortly after serving the sentence, the punishment is increased. "Cloud Dream Qin Jane. Law Answers: "When Nai is a subordinate, what is the point of slandering people with Si Kou?" Dang Nai was a subordinate, and he was six years old. That is, if a criminal who should have been sentenced to the punishment of "subordinate subject" and falsely accused others of the crime of Sikou (two-year-old punishment) is added to the punishment of "Chengdan" in addition to the punishment of the original sentence of "Chengdan".
Severe sanctions for joint crimes. In terms of the punishment of the crime of "theft", ordinary people who commit crimes will be punished differently depending on the amount of stolen goods; while those who commit theft together will be punished differently, "stolen more than one dollar, cut off their left toe, and be appeased as a city dan."
The law protects minors. For those who instigate juvenile delinquency, the principle of punishing only those who have been instructed and not those who have been ordered shall be adopted. "Cloud Dream Qin Jane. Law Answers: "A sent B to kill people, and he was given ten dollars, and asked B to be six feet tall, what is A's argument?" Dang. "According to the laws of the Qin Dynasty, those who are less than six feet tall are minors and have no capacity for criminal responsibility. A instigates a minor to commit murder and shall bear full criminal responsibility.
Adopt a lenient sentence policy for foreign investors. Foreign merchants entering the Qin trade must go through inspections, vouchers enter the country, and before entering the country, they must smoke their chariots with fire to eliminate the parasites on the horses of the merchants of the princely states and prevent the parasites from being brought into the Qin kingdom. When foreign investors officially enter the market to trade, they must first register with the government. Foreign businessmen are not allowed to carry the valuable materials of the Qin state out of the Qin state. In addition to the prohibitions, the Qin state also had preferential treatment policies for foreign investors. Foreign businessmen are given care in their daily lives, and foreign businessmen who violate the law are given certain lenient reductions in sentencing. The "Legal Q&A" pointed out that when a foreign businessman is injured in a fight with a Qin person, the foreign businessman is only fined medical expenses and is not subject to criminal punishment.
<h1>The Qin Law is harsh and not harsh. </h1>
It can be seen from the "Legal Questions and Answers" that the principles and spirit of Qin legislation embody considerable rationality and leniency, although severe but not harsh.
Example 1: "A thief, Zang (stolen) straight (worth) a thousand dollars." B knows that he has stolen and has not gained a penny from sharing the stolen goods, so what is the point of B? Same with the same argument. "A steals, the stolen money is worth a thousand dollars, B knows that A stole money, but he divides the stolen money less than one dollar, and asks B how should he be convicted?" Answer: The same sin as A.
Example 2: "A steals money to buy silk, sends B, B receives, Fu Zhi steals, B theory is also what?" Needless to say. "A stole money and bought silk thread, deposited it in B's place, B accepted the silk thread, but did not know what A stole money, what should B do?" Answer: Sin should not be discussed.
Example 3: "If the husband steals a thousand dollars, and the wife hides three hundred, can he talk about the wife?" If the wife is wise (knowing) and the husband is hidden, it should be based on the three hundred theories; the unwise (knowing) is the harvest. "If a husband steals a thousand dollars and a wife hides three hundred, how should a wife be convicted?" Answer: If the wife knows that her husband is stealing money and hides, she should be punished with stealing three hundred dollars, and if she does not know, she will not be prosecuted.
Example 4: The Law of Effectiveness stipulates that if the accounting accounts do not conform to the actual situation, or the surplus exceeds the regulations and should not be discharged, the account may be converted into the amount of money according to its amount, and in addition to the compensation, different fines must be imposed according to the amount of money. Anyone who miscalculates the population of a household or a horse or cow in the calculation, even if it is a "big mistake", should be the same as the mistake of more than 660 yuan. If you find out that you have miscalculated, you can reduce the guilt by one degree. As for the accounting's guilt (counting impeachment), his superiors such as the county lieutenant, Sima Lingshi, the county order, and the accountant sat together.
There are also strict procedures and norms for the interrogation of prisoners, and they must not act arbitrarily and be punished with heavy punishment at every turn. Jian Wenyun of the "Prison of The Sealed Diagnosis Style" says: "Whoever hears a prison must first listen to his words and write his books, and each of them will show his words, although he knows his words, do not be vulgar." His words have been exhausted and there are no words, but they are cross-examined by the cross-examineer. He listened to his explanations, and regarded others who had no words to repeat them. The extremes of the questioning are even more unconvincing, and the law is a plunderer, but a flogger. The book of flogging is known as: 爰書, with a certain number of words, no explanation, and a certain message. ”
Whenever a case is tried, it must first listen to the confession and record it, so that the interrogated persons can make their own statements, although they know that it is deception, do not immediately cross-examine, the confession has been recorded and the question has not been clearly explained, so they should be questioned questioned, and when questioned, they will record their justification, and then record their justification, and then see if there are still unclear questions, continue to interrogate, interrogate until the suspect is poor, can not justify himself and thus deceive many times, and also change the confession to refuse to accept the crime, and if it should be tortured according to law, torture will be carried out. The torture of the suspect must be recorded as follows: Letter: Because a certain person changed his confession many times, there is no way to defend himself, and he was tortured and interrogated.
The petition refers to the plaintiff's indictment in legal proceedings, the defendant's confession (including self-confessed confession and self-defensible confession), the report of the government on the comprehensive facts of the case, and the judgment of the government.
Some people have calculated from the historical data that there are 27 kinds of punishments in Qin alone, such as the punishment of labor and concubinage, chengdan, ghost salary bai yue, si kou, hou, etc., corporal punishment includes tuo, sword, cut off the left toe and right toe, palace, etc., and the death penalty includes the punishment of Samyi Zhijie, chiseling, pumping, cooking, waist beheading, head beheading, sac puffing, brick, killing, pit, abandonment of the city, and fixed killing, and the types of punishments recorded in the Sleeping Tiger Dijian are far more civilized than Xia, Yin, and Zhou. Chen Kangsheng, who has done special research on this, said that there are only 5 cases of death penalty recorded in Yunmeng Qinjian, and the acts of sentencing the death penalty include those who "honor the enemy but fear the public", instigate juveniles to commit crimes, and have brothers and sisters fornication. Most of the others are "credit crimes", that is, a kind of economic punishment, and the "bribes" are generally divided into four categories, such as armor, shields, money and servitude. Both A and shield are used to ensure the use of weapons in the country's war, and conscription ensures a large number of laborers, which shows that the legal punishment of the Qin Dynasty will eventually be premised on ensuring sufficient productivity. The punishment of prisoners "is also mostly based on the criterion of not depriving prisoners of their labor force". For example, from the perspective of the types of punishment, the fine is usually measured by the value of A and shield, or replaced by fine labor and punishment. Stealing mulberry leaves from people is not worth a penny, and "thirty years of bribes" is a penalty of 30 days of forced labor. Those who cannot hand over the money also use "credit", that is, to guard the border for a limited period of time to fill the penalty. Redemption: The use of money to redeem a sentence that has already been sentenced. It can also be converted by serving in labor and guarding the border. Nai: Also known as "finish", shave off beards and sideburns to humiliate them, but save hair. Haircut: Shaved hair, heavier than penal resistance. Tuo: Ink punishment, ink marks on the forehead. Flogging: Whipping and insulting.
<h1>The investigation and trial of cases is meticulous and standardized</h1>
According to the introduction of "Qin Jing Gao Hang", there are a total of 98 bamboo janes in the existing "Sealing Diagnosis Style", which is divided into 25 sections, of which the main ones involved in judicial appraisal are "Death of Thieves", "Death by Hanging", "Birth of a Son" (abortion) and other books. Specific examples are given to issues in forensic evaluation. In the "Birth of the Son", in a miscarriage case caused by a fight, the examination procedures and identification methods for the fetus are described in detail through the identification of whether the suspicious blood clot is a fetus, which can be called a typical forensic live examination case. Similarly, in the area of autopsy, the recording of examples of on-site autopsies of "thief killing" and "death" describes issues such as the traits of injury and the presumption of the murder weapon.
In the article "Death of a Thief", as a necropsy report of the case of other homicides, there are clear descriptions of the location of the body at the scene and the location, number, direction and size of the trauma, and also note the relationship between clothing damage and physical damage, and also record some personal characteristics of the deceased:
The man's death (corpse) is in the south of a certain room (head facing south), zhengyan (lying on his back), a knife in the left corner of a certain head (there is a knife wound in the left frontal corner), two places in the north (back), both from the (longitudinal) head north (all arranged vertically), four inches each (four inches long), xiang qi (mutually sticky), one inch wide, all axes (the wounds are all sunken in the middle, similar to the marks of axe cutting), the corners of the brain (beak) are bleeding (the brain, frontal horns and the lower part of the eye socket are bleeding), the north (back) and the ground (polluting the head, back and ground), Neither can be vast (both are difficult to determine the length and width); it is finished (other parts are intact). One zen group of cloths and one shirt (wearing a single cloth short coat and a skirt). The north (back) of the straight crepe (the back of the short coat opposite the wound), with a blade to break the two (there are two places cut by the blade), should be crepe (consistent with the location of the wound). The north (back) and the middle mouth are stained with blood (the back of the short coat and the placket are stained with blood), the man has one or two lacquered Qin qi shoes in the west (the man has a pair of painted hemp shoes on the west), go to the man's one odd six steps (one is more than six steps away from the man), ten steps (the other is ten steps away from the man); the man with the shoes (put the shoes on for the man), Li Yan (just right). The ground is solid (the ground is hard), and the unwise (knowable) thief tracks (the traces of the murderer cannot be found). The man Ding Zhuang (male is in his prime), the color of analysis (white skin), seven feet and one inch long, the hair length of two feet; his abdomen has a long-standing fistula (there are two old scars on the abdomen). The man's death (corpse) went to a certain pavilion for a hundred steps, and to a certain ten Wu Bing tian she for two hundred steps.
The record of this examination is quite detailed and specific, so some forensic experts pointed out that in the history of world forensic science, it has always been believed that the earliest case of his killing was the murder of General Caesar in ancient Rome (100 BC - 44 BC), and Antista examined the body, found 23 wounds, and determined that the injury that penetrated the first and second ribs of the chest was fatal. This was unanimously recognized by Chinese and foreign scholars in the past. But it is about 200 years later than this book of The Death of a Thief, and it is only a historical record, which is not the same as this example as a typical on-site autopsy report. Therefore, this should be considered to be the world's earliest autopsy report of his killing.
In the article "Menstrual Death", through the description of the characteristics of the corpse's grooves, the difference between hanging before death and hanging after death is noted. In particular, the description of the characteristics of the trench in it concisely summarizes the difference between the trench and the twisted ditch with "incomplete items". This is an important forensic discovery to examine the characteristics of hanging death in the pre-Qin period of China. In addition, the record of the method of testing for hanging cases is particularly detailed:
The diagnosis must first examine the traces (carefully observe the traces). When you arrive at the corpse (morgue site), that is, see the end of the rope (the place where the tether is checked), the final party has traces (if there are traces of the tether), it depends on whether the tongue cannot come out (to see if the tongue spits out), the head and foot go to the final geometry of the ground (how far the head and foot are from the tether and the ground), and the remains are not drowned (whether there is feces and urine flowing out). It is to solve the rope, depending on the mouth and nose (whether there is a sigh or not), but to see the shape of the rope (to see the traces of the rope grooves, the situation of bruising), the rope finally tries to take off the head (to test whether the head of the corpse can be removed from the tether), can take off, is to mouth its clothes (undo the clothes), depending on its body, hair and usurpation (carefully examine the whole body, the inside of the hair, and the perineum). Tongue out. The mouth and nose are not clear, the traces are not depressed, the ropes can not be taken off in the end, and the mouth death is difficult to judge (it is not certain that it is hanging).
These records reflect that the identification technology and experience in this area at that time had reached a considerable level.
In addition to appraisal techniques, there are also clear provisions on the scope and personnel of forensic appraisals. First of all, for those whose cause of death is unknown, in principle, a post-mortem examination must be carried out, and those who violate it must be punished according to law; secondly, the inspection and appraisal must be carried out by specialized personnel. Judging from the "Sealing Ceremony" and other records unearthed from Qin Jian, the position of "Ling Shi" in the county is a state public official specifically responsible for inspection and appraisal. In addition, in terms of the style and variety of appraisal documents, there are also unified standard styles, indicating that forensic appraisal has gradually become standardized. In this sense, the "Sealed Diagnosis Style" is a precious ancient forensic appraisal document, which is of great significance for the study of the development of the ancient Chinese appraisal system.
<h1>Qin Fa pays attention to the purification of social atmosphere</h1>
Qin Shi Huang strictly banned primitive marriage customs, the state protected monogamous marriages, and severely punished adulterers, couriers, and escapes from marriages that violated monogamous customs. Hui Ji Shi carved yun: "As a provincial Xuanyi, have a son and marry, double death is not virgin." Prevent the separation of inside and outside, prohibition of obscenity, men and women are sincere. Husband for the pig, killed innocently, male Bingyi Cheng. The wife is a fugitive marriage, the son cannot be a mother, and he is salty and clean. ”
Qin Fa attaches great importance to filial piety. Qin Law and the Judiciary explained: The old man accused his children of filial piety and demanded a death sentence, whether he should go through the formalities of three times of forgiveness (forgiveness, leniency), should not forgive him, should be arrested immediately, and should not be ordered to escape. (Original text: Exempt the old man from telling people that they are not filial piety, and killing, when the three rings are not? Improper ring, do not lose. Beating grandparents should be appointed as a city dan. (Tattooed on the face, the punishment for men to build the city wall, and the punishment for women is public rice, which is equivalent to labor reform.) If you beat your great-grandparents, how should you deal with them? The same is true of beating grandparents. (Beating the big parents, Tuo is a city danshou.) Now beating tall parents, can (what) be discussed? Than big parents.
The Qin Law stipulates that it is a legal obligation to act courageously. "There are thieves who kill and injure people, and they don't help others, and they are in the middle of a hundred steps (wild), and they are second-class." Some people kill people on the street, the people around them stand by and do not rescue, and those who are within a hundred steps away must be severely punished and punished second.1.
<h1>Severely punish officials for bending the law for personal gain, as well as for inaction and disorderly behavior</h1>
The State of Qin had extremely strict requirements for legal workers, and if they did not grasp the laws and orders and misjudged them, they should bear corresponding legal responsibilities. The Qin Dynasty law divided the responsibility of officials for prison breaks into three situations: "not straight", "indulgent prisoner", and "lost sentence". Those who deliberately impose a heavier or lighter sentence when sentenced to prison are called "not straight"; those who should be convicted but deliberately fail to judge, or deliberately mitigate the circumstances of the case so that they do not meet the standard of sentencing, are called "indulgent prisoners"; those who are guilty of entering or leaving people because of negligence are called "negligence". During the reign of Qin Shi Huang, a number of officials who were not direct in prison were assigned to Lingnan and the construction of the Great Wall. Those who indulge in the death penalty should also be sentenced to death. Therefore, the legal workers of the Qin State have worked hard to study the laws of the Qin State, acted strictly according to the law, and tried their best to avoid the problems of "not being straight," "indulging in prisoners," and "losing sentences."
Some historical records are indeed inconsistent with the Qin laws unearthed in the tomb of Yunmeng Sleeping Tiger, and the reasons for this, in addition to wantonly distorting the Qin law, are mainly due to the confusion of the laws of the Shang Martingale transformation and the laws of the Qin II period with the laws of the Qin Shi Huang period (or the Qin Zhaoxiang King to the Qin Shi Huang period).