On Causes of Highlighting Legal Severity in Qin Dynasty

In Qin Dynasty, the same law became much more serious than before, which was an objective historical fact.
This was closely related with the alternation between Zhou and Qin and was a derivative of the new political system of Qin Dy- nasty. In terms of the articles, the laws of the seven kingdoms were all restrict, but these competing kingdoms restrained the scope of their legal enforcement. The existence of"private citizens" of royal clans and bureaucrats weakened such enforcement. The two resulted in the separation between enacting and implementing the legal provisions. After the founding of the unified Qin Dynasty, the territory was not occupied by the seven kingdoms any longer externally, and the scope of the law enforcement expanded. In terms of internal system, the official census registration replaced the duke enfeoffment. The"private citizens" at- tached to royal clans and bureaucrats disappeared. The restrict laws were enforced effectively due to the destruction of both ex- ternal and internal barriers. And they mutated into the harsh system under the environment of prevalent"law playing" by the civil service officials.