Ancient China’s legal system was never only about crime and punishment.

It was also a mechanism of imperial control, used to protect the throne, discipline officials and regulate social order.

Across millennia, it gave rise to sophisticated codes such as the Tang Code, as well as rules that now appear bizarre or even absurd.

Rules for public roads began to take shape more than 2,000 years ago.

The Han Feizi records that people who threw ash onto the road could have both hands cut off. In later periods, a similar offence was punished by facial tattooing.

Early law also reached into family life.