Ordinances (ling) in the legislation of the Qin dynasty

该项目的目的是收集新发现的官方法令（令），以供汉学研究和法律的历史。这些条例写在竹简上，可以追溯到中国第一个建国帝国秦（公元前221-207年），2007年被长沙岳麓书院收购，现在开放供研究。它们对于比较法律的史尤其重要。作为东亚现存最早的法律的条例，对这一形式的法律的规则在第一个中华帝国时期有效管理的发展中的使用进行详细的调查，并展示了不同类型的高度专业化和创新的程序的功能，通过这些程序，新的条例被引入。这一点尤其重要，因为人们普遍认为，随后的朝代的法律的体系，以及所有中国法律的基础，都是从秦的法律的体系中汲取的。一本提供完整注释翻译和分析秦法令对中国法律的史贡献的专著将使所有法律的史学家都能获得这样有价值的材料。直到最近才知道秦法令的存在，它显示了短命的秦朝制定的令人惊讶的动态和灵活的立法。秦国将引入新法令草案的程序制度化，以便皇帝在建立新帝国时能够立即对新情况做出反应。秦朝的制度整合了从地方到中央的不同行政级别的官员，在适用特定法律方面提供了渐进的独立性。在某些情况下，地方行政人员可根据需要启动供应。实际上，秦的法令表明，这一制度依赖于帝国权威和地方立法的平衡。地方官员必须遵守朝廷颁布的所有法律的规定，但同时他们也有权根据当地情况调整法律。这种方法使秦国能够控制一片广阔的领土，包括不同文化和历史背景的人。在结论性的比较中，将秦代的法令与随后的汉朝的法令进行比较，以澄清引入秦代法令的立法程序或秦代的个别法令是否在改朝换代后被其继承者所采用，从而对中国古代法律产生了长期的影响。

The aim of the project is to make a collection of newly discovered official ordinances (ling) accessible for sinological research and legal history. These ordinances, written on bamboo slips dating from the time with China's first founding empire, the Qin (221-207 BC), were acquired by the Yuelu Academy in Changsha in 2007 and are now open for research. They are particularly significant for comparative legal history. As the earliest legal ordinances in existence for East Asia, a detailed investigation promises new and valuable insights into the use of this form of legal rules in the development of effective administration during the first Chinese empire, and demonstrates the function of different types of highly specialized and innovative procedures, by which new ordinances were introduced. This is particularly important because it is generally assumed that the legal system of the subsequent dynasty, and hence the foundation of all Chinese law, was drawn from the Qin legal system. A monograph providing a complete annotated translation and an analysis of the contribution of Qin ordinances to Chinese legal history will make such valuable material available for general study by all legal historians. Only recently has the existence of Qin ordinances become known, which show an amazingly dynamic and flexible legislation instituted by the short-lived Qin Dynasty. The Qin institutionalized procedures for introducing new draft ordinances so that the emperor could immediately respond to new situations as he founded his new empire. The Qin system integrated officials from different administrative levels, from the local to the central, providing graduated amounts of independence regarding the application of particular laws. In some cases, local administrators could initiate provisions as needed. In effect, the Qin ordinances reveal that the system relied upon a balance of imperial authority and the local enacting of the law. The local officials had to comply with all legal regulations issued by the imperial court, but at the same time they were given the power to adjust the law to fit local circumstances. This method allowed the Qin to control a vast territory encompassing people of different cultural and historical allegiances. In a conclusive comparison, the Qin ordinances will be compared with those of the subsequent Han Dynasty in order to clarify whether the legislative procedures for introducing ordinances, or individual ordinances from the Qin were adopted by their successors after the dynastic change, and thereby had a long-lasting impact on ancient Chinese law.