The punishment of forced migration was originally intended for expulsion or isolation. However, by the late Warring States period, the Qin Dynasty adapted the existing punishment of forced migration into the system of “Qianxing” (遷刑) to stabilize newly acquired territories. Consequently, Qianxing under the Qin transformed into a tool for ensuring the stability of new lands through forced relocation. This trend continued into the early Han Dynasty. The application of Qianxing to various crimes, the selection and arrangement of exile destinations, and the management of convicts upon arrival in exile demonstrate that Qianxing was operated to stabilize new territories during the Qin and Han periods.
Firstly, Qianxing under the Qin was primarily applied to a wide range of everyday crimes committed by the populace, as well as misconduct and illegal profit-seeking activities by officials. Through this, the Qin was able to achieve the stable relocation of a sufficient number of minor offenders to exile destinations.
Secondly, the Qin utilized diverse occupied territories, including Ba-shu (巴蜀), as new places of exile. This diversification of exile locations reflects the Qin Empire’s need to artificially adjust the population due to territorial expansion. Additionally, the method of assigning exile locations in the Qin and Han demonstrates the purpose of Qianxing. The Han Dynasty, when assigning exiles, placed them in regions similar to their original residences, suggesting that the primary focus of Qianxing was not merely expulsion or punishment but rather the stable guidance and settlement of convicts in exile.
Thirdly, various mechanisms were devised to facilitate the settlement of convicts in exile. Not only the convicts but also their families were relocated, and they were granted fields and residences to encourage stable settlement. These individuals were not allowed to leave the exile regions or belong to any other area outside the exile locations.
The reason for such persistent monitoring and the creation of various stabilization measures for the convicts was that, in the short term, forced population migration was the only way to stabilize and develop new territories. In the context of an as-yet-unstable unified empire, convicts represented important resources within each exile location.