Abstract:
According to the Two-year Decree, the Qin Dynasty had already laid out a relatively complete Young Successor Placement Decree. Thus it is a partial view to interpret the word “Hou (后)” on the bamboo slips unearthed in the Lying-tiger Land as “younger sons”. In fact, the word “Hou” also meant “successors”. However, what was stipulated first in the Two-year Decree was a succession of identity, that is, a succession of political right, and succession of property came only second. Since a substantial copy of the ancestor's bidding paper unearthed from the No. 101 Tomb of the Han Dynasty in Wupu of Jiangsu, the academic world had a discussion on whether China had a will succession system in ancient times. As a matter of fact, dividing up family and property was the main form of property succession in ancient times. It happened that the Two-year Decree contained the article of “the ancestor's bidding paper”, which proves that “the ancestor's bidding paper” was merely an evidence for dividing up family and property, but not a will.
