Punishments should know no degree or grade, but from ministers of state and generals down to great officers and ordinary folk, whoever does not obey the king’s commands, violates the interdicts of the state, or rebels against the statutes fixed by the ruler should be guilty of death and should not be pardoned.  Merit acquired in the past should not cause a decrease in the punishment for demerit later, nor should good behavior in the past cause any derogation of the law for wrong done later.  If loyal ministers and filial sons do wrong, they should be judged according to the full measure of their guilt, and if among the officials who have to maintain the law and to uphold an office, there are those who do not carry out the king’s law, they are guilty of death and should not be pardoned, but their punishment should be extended to their family for three generations.  Colleagues who, knowing their offense, inform their superiors will themselves escape punishment.  In neither high nor low offices should there be automatic hereditary succession to the office, rank, lands, or emoluments of officials.  Therefore I say that if there are severe penalties that extend to the whole family, people will not dare to try [how far they can go], and as they dare not try, no punishments will be necessary... [Wm. Theodore de Bary and Irene Bloom (editors), Sources of Chinese Tradition, 2nd Edition, Volume 1 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1999), p. 197.]

If the ruler of men wishes to put an end to evil-doing, then he must be careful to match up names and results, that is to say, words and deeds.  The ministers come forward to present their proposals; the ruler asigns them tasks on the basis of their words, and then concentrates on demanding the accomplishment of the task.  If the accomplishment fits the task, and the task fits the words, then he bestows reward; but if they do not match, he doles out punishment.  Hence, if one of the ministers comes forward with big words but produces only small accomplishments, the ruler punishes him, not because the accomplishments are small, but because they do not match the name that was given to the undertaking.  Likewise, if one of the ministers comes forward with small words but produces great accomplishments, he too is punished, not because the ruler is displeased at great accomplishments, but because he considers the discrepancy in the name given to the undertaking to be a fault too serious to be outweighed by great accomplishments.
     Once in the past Marquis Chao of Han got drunk and fell asleep.  The keeper of the royal hat, seeing that the marquis was cold, laid a robe over him.  When the marquis awoke, he was pleased and asked his attendants, “Who covered me with a robe?”  “The keeper of the hat,” they replied.  The marquis thereupon punished both the keeper of the royal hat and the keeper of the royal robe.  He punished the keeper of the robe for failing to do his duty, and the keeper of the hat for overstepping his office.  It was not that he did not dislike the cold, but he considered the trespass of one official upon the duties of another to be a greater danger than cold. [Han Fei Tzu, Han Fei Tzu: Basic Writings, translated by Burton Watson (New York: Columbia University Press, 1964), pp. 31-2.]

If we had to depend on an arrow being absolutely straight by nature, there would be no arrow in a hundred generations.  If we had to depend on a piece of wood being perfectly round by nature, there would not be any wheel in a thousand generations.  There is not one naturally straight arrow or naturally round piece of wood in a hundred generations, and yet in every generation people ride carriages and shoot birds.  Why?  Because of the application of the methods of straightening and bending.  Although there is is a naturally straight arrow or a naturally round piece of wood [once in a hundred generations] which does not depend on any straightening or bending, the skilled workman does not value it.  Why?  Because it is not just one person who wishes to ride and not just one shot that the archer wishes to shoot.  Similarly, the enlightened ruler does not value people who are naturally good and who do not depend on reward and punishment.  Why?  Because the laws of the state must not be neglected and government is not for only one man.  Therefore the ruler who has the technique does not follow the good that happens by chance but practices the way of necessity... [Wing-tsit Chan, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963), pp. 253-4.]

The chancellor Wang Wan and others stated the opinion that, since the feudal rulers had just recently been defeated and the regions of Yan, Qi, and Jing were situated far from the capital, unless kings were set up in such regions it would be impossible to control them.  They therefore requested that sons of the ruler be set up, if the emperor would be so kind as to give his approval.
     The First Emperor referred the proposal to the ministers for deliberation.  The ministers all indicated their approval.  But the commandant of justice Li Si voiced his opinion:  “Kings Wen and Wu of the Zhou dynasty enfeoffed a great many of their sons, younger brothers, and other members of their own surname.  Later, however, these men became increasingly estranged and even fell on one another like sworn enemies, and when the feudal rulers attacked each other in this manner, the Zhou Son of Heaven was helpless to restrain them.  Now, thanks to the spiritual might of the sovereign, all the area within the seas has been united under a single rule and made into provinces and districts.  If the sons of the ruler and the ministers who have won merit are rewarded with generous gifts from the public taxes, that will be quite sufficient.  They can be easily controlled, and the world will be without dissension.  This is the correct method for insuring peace.  To establish feudal rulers would not be expedient.
     The First Emperor said, “It was because of the marquises and kings that the world suffered so long from unending strife and warfare.  Now thanks to the aid of the ancestral spirits, the world has at last been pacified.  If the feudal states are re-established, this will encourage the use of arms.  To hope for peace and tranquility under such circumstances will be difficult indeed!  The view of the commandant of justice is correct.”
     Thus the empire was divided into thirty-six provinces, each province provided with a governor, a military commandant, and a superintendent.  The common people were renamed “black-headed ones”.  There was great feasting.  Weapons from all over the empire were confiscated, brought to Xianyang, and melted down to be used in casting bells, bell stands, and twelve men made of metal.  These last weighed 1,000 piculs each and were set up in the palace.  All weights and measures were standardized, the gauge of wheeled vehicles was made uniform, and the writing system was standardized. [Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian (Qin), translated by Burton Watson (Hong Kong/New York: Renditions - Columbia University Press, 1993), pp. 44-5.]

Your servant suggests that all books in the imperial archives, save the memoirs of Qin, be burned.  All persons in the empire, except members of the Academy of Learned Scholars, in possession of the Classic of Odes, the Classic of Documents, and discourses of the hundred philosophers should take them to the local governors and have them indiscriminately burned.  Those who dare to talk to each other about the Odes and Documents should be executed and their bodies exposed in the marketplace.  Anyone referring to the past to criticize the present should, together with all members of his family, be put to death.  Officials who fail to report cases that have come under their attention are equally guilty.  After thirty days from the time of issuing the decree, those who have not destroyed their books are to be branded and sent to build the Great Wall.  Books not to be destroyed will be those on medicine and pharmacy, divination by the turtle and milfoil, and agriculture and arboriculture.  People wishing to pursue learning should take the officials as their teachers. [Sources of Chinese Tradition, pp. 209-10.]

[The First Emperor said:] “I confiscated all the books from the empire and got rid of all those that were of not use....I have also directed people to question the various scholars residing in Xianyang, and it appears that some are spreading dubious stories in order to mislead the black-headed people!”  He then ordered the imperial secretary to subject all the scholars to investigation.  The scholars reported on one another in an attempt to exonerate themselves.  Over 460 persons were convicted of violating the prohibitions, and were executed [note:  the word translated here as “executed” is sometimes interpreted as “buried alive”] at Xianyang, word of it being publicized throughout the empire so as to act as a warning to later ages. [Records of the Grand Historian (Qin), p. 58.]