Writing Chinese Laws

This book utilizes both traditional texts and archeologically excavated materials to explore how the influential Qin legal institutions developed. Firstly, it investigates the socio-political conditions which led to the production of written law. It considers how the functions of written law influenced the linguistic composition of statutes.

Ernest Caldwell is Assistant Professor in the School of Law at SOAS, University of London, UK. He specializes in legal history, environmental law, and public law in China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia.

1. Introduction 2. Social Change and Written Law in Pre-Imperial China 3. Inscribing Control in Qin 4. The Anatomy of a Qin Legal Statute I 5. The Anatomy of a Qin Legal Statute II 6. Conclusion