The Governance of New Territories During the Qin Unification

Abstract

This paper uses recently discovered administrative and legal manuscripts to investigate the governance of newly conquered territories during the Qin unification, with the aim of examining Qin’s governing intentions and strategies, which were inextricably interwoven with its swift territorial expansion. The manuscripts demonstrate that the new territories experienced instability and crisis and that Qin had to address various administrative problems to achieve successful governance. The paper explores the flexible, pragmatic policies that Qin devised and adopted to suit the specific social and political circumstances of the new territories. These policies included the removal of native Qin people, laborers, criminals, soldiers, and officials from the old lands to the new lands, preferential and tolerant treatment of the new population, and enactment of laws made specifically for the new territories. The paper shows that although the Qin central government successfully imposed its own administrative system in the new territories with some compromises, there remained a considerable number of unstable and treacherous elements.