约法三章 / Three-Article Covenant

约法三章 / Three-Article Covenant enters the wiki through Hanji 139 as 刘邦’s compact legal promise after entering Qin territory and returning to 霸上. Under 萧何’s handling of local leaders, Liu Bang announces that killing, injuring, and theft will be punished, while the rest of Qin’s harsh laws are abolished.

The episode treats the covenant as political communication more than final legislation. Its value is clarity: people and officials in 关中 can infer that Liu Bang’s army is not there to continue Qin-style coercion or plunder. The host also cautions that Liu Bang does not later govern all-under-heaven through only these three articles, so the concept should be kept as a temporary pacification device rather than a complete Han legal system.

Hanji 147 shows the covenant’s delayed strategic value. In 汉中对, 韩信 treats Liu Bang’s earlier non-plunder conduct and legal simplification as a memory still active in Guanzhong. The Three-Article Covenant therefore becomes not only an occupation-pacification moment but one reason Liu Bang can plausibly challenge 三秦压制 after being sent to 汉中.

Key Claims

• A simplified legal promise can reduce fear faster than a full institutional design.
• The covenant works because it is paired with non-plunder, official continuity, and visible refusal of local gifts.
• Its political force depends on contrast with Qin’s harsher law and labor burdens.
• The episode keeps it temporary: Liu Bang later uses a fuller legal order after unification.
• Hanji 147 adds that a temporary pacification promise can become later campaign capital if the population remembers it against an imposed alternative.

Connections

• 刘邦, 萧何, and 霸上 - actor, organizer, and announcement site.
• 秦国, 关中, and 咸阳 - regime and region being reassured.
• 占领区怀柔治理, 招降示范级联, 民心型政治安全, and 不爱杀人者能一之 - related statecraft frames.
• 汉中对, 韩信, and 三秦压制 - later strategic reuse of Guanzhong support.
• 法家君术 and 督责式压榨政治 - Qin-side coercive background that makes the promise legible.