睡虎地秦墓竹簡‧封診式

Shuìhǔdì Qín Mù Zhújiǎn‧Fēng Zhěn Shì 睡虎地秦墓竹簡‧封診式

Bamboo Slips from the Qin Tomb at Shuihudi — Models for Sealing and Investigation

About the work

The Fēng Zhěn Shì 封診式 (Models for Sealing and Investigation) is one of the most important texts recovered from Qin tomb no. 11 at Shuìhǔdì 睡虎地, Yúnmèng County 雲夢縣, Hubei Province, excavated in 1975–76 and sealed around 217 BCE. It is a collection of model documents (shì 式) illustrating the correct procedures for a township official (xiāng 鄉) or county judge when investigating crimes, conducting forensic examinations, taking depositions, and issuing writs. Unlike the statutory texts (KR2p0140, KR2p0141, KR2p0176) and the question-and-answer legal commentary (KR2p0177), the Fēng Zhěn Shì takes the form of specimen case files — templates to be followed in practice — and constitutes the earliest Chinese forensic manual. It is exceptional in the history of Chinese legal literature and has attracted substantial scholarly attention from historians of law, medicine, and administration.

Abstract

Structure and content. The text opens with two short programmatic passages on the philosophy of criminal investigation:

Zhì Yù 治獄 (Conducting Criminal Cases): “In conducting criminal cases, the ability to follow the defendant’s words [shū cóng jì qí yán 能以書從迹其言] and obtain the truth through documentary investigation — without resorting to torture (zhì liáng wéi xià 治諒為下) — is the highest achievement; torture is the inferior method; inducing a confession through fear (yǒu kǒng wéi bài 有恐為敗) is the worst.”

Xùn Yù 訊獄 (Interrogating Prisoners): “In all interrogations, first listen fully to the defendant’s statement and write it down, allowing each party to express their position to the full (gè zhǎn qí cí 各展其辭)… Only after their statements have been fully recorded and there are irresolvable inconsistencies should the interrogator press the points of contradiction.” Torture (zhì liáng 治諒, literally “punishing for a lying statement”) is authorized only as a last resort, when the defendant has repeatedly changed their account (shù yí 數訑) and the law requires it; and the authorization itself must be formally documented: “Write the yuàn shū 爰書 [warrant]: ‘Because [the defendant] repeatedly changed their account without resolving the contradictions, [the defendant] was tortured (zhì xùn 治訊).’ ”

The yuàn shū 爰書 model documents. The bulk of the text consists of specimen yuàn shū — official documentary templates for different types of cases. Each begins with the phrase 爰書 (“warrant document”) and presents the facts, depositions, and physical evidence in a standardized format. Among the cases represented:

Yǒu Jū 有鞫 (Criminal Charge): A model writ from one county to another requesting verification of a suspect’s identity, registered home (里), and prior criminal record. The formulaic language — 可定名事里，所坐論云可，可罪赦，或覆問毋有 (“Please confirm name, household, and village; what offences they have been tried for and under what charge; whether they have been pardoned; whether there are other matters to investigate…“) — reveals the inter-county communication network required by Qin criminal procedure.

Fēng Shǒu 封守 (Sealing and Custody): A model document for a xiāng 鄉 official who seals the household property of a person under criminal investigation. The template lists in meticulous detail the items sealed: “One house with two inner rooms, each with a door; the inner chambers are all tile-roofed, with large wooden fittings; ten mulberry trees at the gate… Wife named [blank], absent, not present at the sealing. Elder daughter [blank], unmarried. Younger son [blank], height six feet five inches. Servant [blank]; female attendant, small girl [blank]. One male dog.” The document then records that the local group leader (diǎn 典) and neighbours were questioned to confirm that nothing was omitted.

Dào Mǎ 盗馬 (Horse Theft): A qiú dào 求盗 (patrol officer) brings before the station a man named Bǐng and a dapple mare (chuí pìn yòu biāo 騅牝右剽) with specific markings, stating that the horse and clothing were stolen. The template specifies the format for recording physical evidence.

Zhēng Niú 爭牛 (Disputed Ox): Two men each claim ownership of a black hornless cow (hēi pìn màn yì yǒu jiǎo 黑牝曼𦗕有角). A scribe-official (lìng shǐ 令史) is instructed to estimate the animal’s age by its teeth: “The ox is six years old.”

Zéi Sǐ 賊死 (Violent Death): A model forensic investigation of an unidentified male corpse found in a pavilion (tíng 亭) area. The examining official records: “The male was found dead inside a room facing south, lying face up (zhèng yǎn 正偃). On the left side of the head there is one wound (lì wū 刃痏), on the north side two wounds, each running northward, measuring four inches in length, spaced close together, each one inch wide, all deeply embedded and resembling axe marks (lèi fǔ 類斧); from all [wounds] brain matter and blood have emerged, flowing north onto the head and the ground — too extensively to measure.” The template then describes clothing, footwear, and the distance from the scene to nearby structures, before noting: 地堅，不可智賊迹 (“The ground is hard; no assailant’s tracks can be identified”). The physical description of the corpse — height, hair length, two old scars on the abdomen — follows.

Jīng Sǐ 經死 (Death by Hanging): An extremely detailed forensic template for investigating an apparent suicide by hanging. The examination note records: the body is hanging from a beam (quán 權) in the east inner room; the rope is made of hemp (xǐ suǒ 枲索), as thick as a thumb; the noose passes around the neck (xuán tōng xì jǐng 旋通繫頸); the knot (xuán zhōng 旋終) is at the nape; the rope runs up to the beam and is doubly knotted with two feet of loose end remaining. The head is two feet below the beam; the feet are two inches above the ground; the head inclines to the north against the wall; the tongue protrudes level with the lips (shé chū qí chún wěn 舌出齊唇吻); there is slight involuntary defecation. After cutting the rope: “From the mouth and nose [there came] a sound of air wèi rán 渭然 [i.e., air escaping from the body].” The template then adds diagnostic guidance: if the tongue does not protrude, the mouth and nose do not produce air sounds, the rope mark is not deeply impressed, and the noose cannot be slipped over the head — these indicators suggest the death is doubtful (sǐ nán shěn 死難審). The examiner is also advised to ask the household members about prior reasons for suicide (zì shā zhě bì xiān yǒu gù 自殺者必先有故).

Xuè Zǐ 出子 (Miscarriage from Assault): A woman six months pregnant reports that she was knocked down by another woman in a fight and suffered a miscarriage that night. The template specifies the examination of the expelled foetus: it is placed in water and shaken (yuáo 榣); it is confirmed to be a foetus because the head, body, arms, hand-fingers, thighs, feet, and toes are all human in form, though the eyes, ears, nose, and sex are not distinguishable.

Other model documents cover: self-reporting of theft (dào zì gào 盗自告), gang robbery (qún dào 羣盗), disputes over military trophies (duó shǒu 奪首), denunciation of an insubordinate slave (gào chén 告臣), tattooing of a concubine (qíng qiè 黥妾), banishment of a son (qián zǐ 䙴子), leprosy examination (líng 癘 / lài 萠), and a case of suspected poisoning of a village well (dú yán 毒言).

Significance. The Fēng Zhěn Shì is the oldest detailed forensic investigation manual in Chinese history, predating the famous Xǐ Yuān Lù 洗冤錄 (Record of the Washing Away of Wrongs) by Song Cí 宋慈 (1186–1249 CE) by nearly fifteen centuries. It reveals the sophistication of Qin forensic procedure: physical examination of wounds (measured in inches with descriptions of depth, shape, and resemblance to weapon marks), testing of suspect corpses for signs of life, and systematic questioning of household members. The emphasis on documentary evidence over confession — explicitly stated in the opening passages — contradicts the common assumption that Chinese legal tradition was indifferent to physical evidence. The Fēng Zhěn Shì shows that Qin law required the physical facts to be documented in writing before a prosecution could proceed, and treated torture as a last resort rather than a primary investigative tool.

Dating. The models reflect legal practice during the period of Qin administrative expansion. The tomb was sealed c. 217 BCE. Several case templates appear to presuppose the Qin county system in Hubei (the nán jùn 南郡 area), placing their composition in the period 278 BCE (Qin conquest of Ying, the Chu capital) or later.

Translations and research

• Hulsewé, A.F.P. Remnants of Ch’in Law. Brill, 1985, pp. 149–212 — annotated English translation (Section D: “Models for Sealing and Judicial Investigation”).
• 睡虎地秦墓竹簡整理小組, 《睡虎地秦墓竹簡》, 文物出版社, 1990 — editio princeps.
• Caldwell, Ernest. Writing Chinese Laws: The Form and Function of Legal Statutes Found in the Qin Shuihudi Corpus. Routledge, 2018, pp. 127–170 — extended discussion of the Fēng Zhěn Shì as a genre.
• Barbieri-Low, Anthony J., and Robin D.S. Yates. Law, State, and Society in Early Imperial China. 2 vols. Brill, 2015 — comparative context from Han legal documents.
• McKnight, Brian E. The Washing Away of Wrongs: Forensic Medicine in Thirteenth-Century China. University of Michigan, Center for Chinese Studies, 1981 — the Song-dynasty forensic manual, for comparison.
• Lewis, Mark Edward. “The Mythology of Early China.” In Early Chinese Religion, Part One: Shang through Han. Brill, 2009 — contextualizes demonic categories in the Fēng Zhěn Shì (leprosy, poisoning cases).

Other points of interest

The Fēng Zhěn Shì contains the earliest known Chinese forensic description of suicide by hanging (jīng sǐ 經死). The examination protocol — checking for tongue protrusion, air sounds from mouth and nose, depth of rope impression, and whether the noose can be slipped — shows a level of systematic physical evidence collection that would not be codified in subsequent Chinese law for over a millennium. The opening statement’s explicit demotion of torture to “inferior method” (zhì liáng wéi xià 治諒為下) is remarkable in the context of ancient legal systems generally, and suggests that at least some stratum of Qin legal culture genuinely valued documentary and physical evidence over coerced confession.

Links

• Wikipedia (Shuihudi bamboo slips): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuihudi_bamboo_slips
• Wikipedia (Xiyuan lu / Song Ci): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washing_Away_of_Wrongs