Penal policy Like most ancient societies, traditional China did not separate administration and jurisprudence. Qin law was primarily administrative; detailed rules and "endless paperwork" tightly regulated grain, weights, measures, and official documents. Quickly abandoning the anti-Confucianism of Shang Yang, the Qin included penal law only alongside ritual orthopraxy. The Qin made use of concepts like intent, judicial procedure, defendant rights, retrial requests, and distinguished between different kinds of law (common and statutory law). Comparative model manuals guided penal legal procedures based on real-life situations, with publicly named wrongs linked to punishments. But while some Qin penal laws deal with infanticide or other unsanctioned harm of children, it primarily concerned theft and does not focus on murder. Li Kui's Canon of Laws, on which Shang Yang's were said to have been based, placed a high emphasis on dealing with thieves and robbers, considering it the most urgent matter of its time.
penal policy like most ancient societies traditional china did not separate administration and jurisprudence qin law was primarily administrative; detailed rules and "endless paperwork" tightly regulated grain weights measures and official documents quickly abandoning the anti-confucianism of shang yang the qin included penal law only alongside ritual orthopraxy the qin made use of concepts like intent judicial procedure defendant rights retrial requests and distinguished between different kinds of law (common and statutory law) comparative model manuals guided penal legal procedures based on real-life situations with publicly named wrongs linked to punishments but while some qin penal laws deal with infanticide or other unsanctioned harm of children it primarily concerned theft and does not focus on murder li kui's canon of laws on which shang yang's were said to have been based placed a high emphasis on dealing with thieves and robbers considering it the most urgent matter of its time