Hubei deputy proposes museum of ancient Chinese law at Qin bamboo slip site

A Hubei deputy has proposed building a museum of Chinese legal systems in Yunmeng county, home to the most complete surviving records of ancient Chinese law, to turn the site into a national center for legal history research and public education.

Gong Butan, a deputy to the 14th Hubei Provincial People's Congress, made the proposal during the congress's fourth session in Wuhan, the provincial capital, citing Yunmeng's unique role in preserving Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) legal documents that shaped later systems of governance.

Yunmeng is the discovery site of the Shuihudi Qin bamboo slips, unearthed in December 1975. The more than 1,000 slips contain detailed statutes, judicial documents, and administrative rules from the Qin State. Scholars consider them the earliest complete, physically preserved legal texts in China.

In November 2025, a research and training base for the Chinese law system was established at the site. Zhang Hongkui, director of the research base, said the Qin laws recorded on the bamboo slips reveal early concepts that remain relevant today, including environmental regulation, protection of shared interests, and standards for public officials.

In an interview with Hubei Daily, Li Dong, a professor from the School of Law, Wuhan University, said that before the discovery of the slips, studies of early Chinese law relied largely on later historical accounts. The Qin documents, Li said, offer direct insight into how laws were applied in practice and help explain the long-term evolution of China's governance system.

Liu Xueru contributed to this story.