qin-book-burning-decree

# Qin Book Burning Decree Implementation A systematic procedure for controlling historical narratives and standardizing education across a unified empire. ## Overview To establish ideological unity, eliminate texts that could foster regional identity or criticism of current policies. ## Steps 1. **Categorize texts for destruction**: - All historical records except Qin's official records (非秦记皆烧之) - Poetry and Classics (诗、书) - Philosophical texts from various schools (百家语) 2. **Identify exempted texts**: - Medical texts (医药) - Divination manuals (卜筮) - Agricultural texts (种树之书) 3. **Establish enforcement timeline**: - All prohibited books must be surrendered to local officials within 30 days - Officials (守、尉) must oversee collective burning 4. **Define punishments**: - Discussing Poetry or Classics in groups → execution and public display (弃市) - Using ancient examples to criticize current policies → execution of entire clan (族) - Officials who fail to report violations → same punishment as violators - Failure to burn books within 30 days → tattooed and sentenced to wall-building labor (黥为城旦) 5. **Establish new education system**: - Those wishing to study laws must learn from officials (以吏为师) ## Expected Outcomes - Unified historical narrative - Elimination of regional intellectual traditions - Centralized control over education ## Validation - Verify that exempted categories (医药, 卜筮, 种树之书) are clearly separated from prohibited texts before enforcement begins - Confirm that the 30-day surrender timeline is communicated to all local officials (守、尉) with documented acknowledgment - Check that the new education system (以吏为师) has designated officials available to teach law in each administrative region