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Primary sourceDocument221-207 BCE

Qin Bamboo Slips: Questions and Answers on Law

221-207 BCE

Photograph of ancient bamboo slips from a Qin-era tomb, recording legal questions and answers that reveal the strict laws of Qin Shi Huang's state.

Primary legal document from the Qin state Qin Shi Huang founded, showing the strict laws of his reign.

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Museum display of five bamboo slips in clear mounts with Chinese characters in black ink, numbered at top, under a placard. Chinese and English text describes Questions and Answers on Law, Qin slips from Tomb 11 at Shuihudi, 1975.
Qin bamboo slips, Questions and Answers on Law, unearthed from Tomb 11, Shuihudi, Yunmeng, Hubei, 1975. Hubei Provincial Museum, Wuhan.

About this source

What it is

This photograph, taken at the Hubei Provincial Museum, shows bamboo slips bearing the text Questions and Answers on Law, written during the Qin dynasty (221–207 BCE). They were unearthed in 1975 from Tomb 11 at Shuihudi, Yunmeng, Hubei, and the full set consists of 210 slips explaining Qin legal provisions and terms.

Why it matters

These slips are an actual surviving document from the Qin state that Qin Shi Huang ruled and unified. They show the detailed, strict legal system his government used, going beyond the handful of stories told about the emperor himself and giving direct evidence of how Qin law worked in practice for ordinary officials and subjects.

Look closer

  • Why might a legal system need questions and answers written down like this?
  • What does the existence of 210 slips on legal detail suggest about Qin administration?
  • What parts of daily life under Qin rule might still be missing from this legal text?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Emperor Qin Shi Huang on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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