The Formation of Legal System in Ancient China

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My research elucidated two problems on legal history in ancient China based on Qin bamboo-slips unearthed in Shuihudi and Han bamboo-slips in Zhangjiashan, i.e. 1)reconstruction of a regal procedure, and 2)solution of a historical transition of penal system. The conclusions are as follows :1)It was clerks called yueli that took charge of the first stage of regal procedure. Their duty was very important in spite of their low official position. They produced confession from a suspect through an inquiry and fitted the punishment to the crime in conformity to statute law (luling) and judicial precedents (xingshi). The institution through which the central organization distributed legal experiences to the lower reaches had been established in Qin state in 3^<rd> century BC.2)There was no term in penal labor system of Qin state. A prisoner was not rescued except for redemption or amnesty. It was the reformation by Han Wudi in 167BC that established a definite term for penal labour. We must translate an Imperial edict by Han Wudi mentioned in chapter 23 of Hanshu as an ordinance to establish a definite term. But we must not neglect the fact that there were some light penal labours for a definite term besides hard ones for life. It is safe to say that the system of penal servitude for a definite term was completely established through the reformation by Han Wudi.