When did the earliest secrecy legislation in China begin?

Pre-Qin period-the earliest "secrecy law"

As early as the Xia and Shang Dynasties, there was a secret wish of the secret manager in China. The secret word means "secret" and is interpreted as "mystery" in Shuo Wen Jie Zi, which can't be detected by the outside world.

As Judge Zhou Li mentioned, "80% of law enforcement agencies are in charge", and the first one is "state branch", also known as "state spy". Scholar Zheng Zhong explained: "Reading is like toasting. Those who live in the country and spy on history today will steal state secrets." In other words, this part of the law is about anti-theft and anti-disclosure, and it is the earliest recorded secrecy law.

Qin Shihuang taught you to manage documents.

The Qin Dynasty attached great importance to the control and transmission of classified official documents and promulgated many laws to regulate them. For example, the most basic document sending and receiving, running calligraphy stipulates: "When you pass a book, you must write it to the sun and the moon." More detailed than the current general registration. Moreover, due to the strictness of Qin law, if it is not well managed in Qin State or Qin Dynasty, it is very likely that the document will die.

Han: The imperial court was very angry and the consequences were very serious.

There are crimes of divulging secrets and spying on Shangshu (stealing secrets) in the Han law, and the punishment is extremely severe.

Iron instruments of torture in Han dynasty

"Hanshu" records: "Uncle Jaco and Mrs. Wei Jun of Huaiyang sat in the Beijing room, watching the princes and thieves rise up, omitting Chinese and wasting their houses. "Both leakers were tortured to death. ) "Chu Xiang, Song Deng, was imprisoned in the leaked Chinese language of other provinces and committed suicide." "Chen Xian went to prison for omitting the provincial Han, reducing his capital crime and becoming a city." Shave off beard and hair, put on instruments of torture, and serve hard labor. The seriousness of the consequences of losing the leak can be seen.

Tang: The French Open has a long history, but it is not leaking.

The Tang Dynasty was a peak in the development of China's ancient legal system. The Tang Law came into being, and the Official System of the Tang Law stipulated the principle of "confidentiality" and determined the scope and meaning of state secrets.

Identification and management of secret-related personnel: The Book of the Old Tang Dynasty records that the "Chinese Book Sheren" and "Chinese Book Assistant" are responsible for secret-related affairs, and the management requirements for these secret-related personnel are also very strict: "Four prohibitions: one is leakage, the other is delay, the third is violation, and the fourth is forgetting mistakes."

Classification of secrets: Secrets in the Law of the Tang Dynasty are classified into "important matters should be kept secret" and "non-important matters should be kept secret", which are also classified according to the importance of information and the severity of the consequences of disclosure. Those classified as major events should be hanged, those classified as minor events should be sentenced to one and a half years' imprisonment, and "those who leak secrets to foreign countries should be given first-class merit" (the punishment for the crime of leaking secrets is heavier).