In this book, the chilling portrayal of the Qin dynasty's ambition for social control is evident in their systematic ranking of all people. The society they established categorized the ruled into three major classes: low-level government service, normal people, and slaves, with many sub-levels within each class. Normal people, for example, were divided into at least five sub-levels and were required to pay varying levels of tax in grain and labor to the government. Meanwhile, the slaves lived in terrible conditions with no hope of changing their social status.
To establish and maintain such tight control, the Qin dynasty required enormous resources, including tangible ones like money, grain, and cloth, as well as the recognition and obedience of the populace, which was hard-won and precarious. Their efforts exhausted the government's resources over decades.
It is worth noting the similarities between the Qin dynasty's control efforts and those of the current Chinese Communist government. Although the latter's ability to seize social resources has significantly improved, and the cost of operating such a system may have decreased, the ultimate outcome is likely to be the same.