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Standard accounts record convict and exile labour on Qin projects

Shiji and later standard accounts record convicts and exiles moved onto walls, palaces, and the tomb. In the causal graph this event weakens Humanitarian Access, a driver that strengthens People Internally Displaced by Conflict and Violence (IDMC) — an improving welfare path.

Sources: [1][2]

Read the full account

Shiji and later standard accounts record convicts and exiles moved onto walls, palaces, and the tomb. The dated public carrier is that narrative plus archaeology of workshop-scale production.

Context

Corvée and convict labour are the human cost of the terracotta and the roads. Keep them split from the 1974 discovery row, which is a knowledge gain.

Qin Shi Huang is not the sole author of every later object, law, or museum label that uses the name. Shared work with courts, excavators, printers, spouses, officials, and later states does not erase a documented role, and it does not make an ancient person the signer of a twentieth-century statute.

Why it matters

A warrior figure is not a wage. The kiln is not a labour court.

A warrior figure is not a wage. The kiln is not a labour court.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Qin Shi Huang

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    responsibility level 0.4 · verified

    Court act under the First Emperor as received or as excavated. Later books and museums publish it.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.Britannica — Qin Shi HuangEncyclopaedia Britannica · High credibility · verified
  2. 2.Emperor Qinshihuang’s Mausoleum Site MuseumEmperor Qinshihuang’s Mausoleum Site Museum · High credibility · verified

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorQin Shi Huang
  2. contributed toFactStandard accounts record convict and exile labour on Qin projects
  3. weakensDriverHumanitarian Access
  4. strengthensIndicatorPeople Internally Displaced by Conflict and Violence (IDMC)

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). Standard accounts record convict and exile labour on Qin projects. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/cn-qin-exile-and-convict-labour

https://factrail.ai/facts/cn-qin-exile-and-convict-labour

Accessed 16 October 2026.

By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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