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The Chinese Empire, which lasted from the 221 BCE until 1911, required predictable forms and means of communication. Documents flowed down from the Emperor to officials, from officials to the Emperor, from one part of the bureaucracy to others, and from the Emperor or his officials to the people. These documents, especially memorials to the throne, were preserved in collections which became more voluminous with each passing dynasty and make the Chinese historical record extraordinarily rich. This article briefly describes some of the majors forms and types of communication going up to and down from the emperor. ==Edicts, orders, and proclamations to the people== Under Chinese law, the emperor's edicts had the force of law. By the time the Han dynasty (206 BCE- 2nd Century CE) established the basic patterns of bureaucracy, edicts or commands could be issued either by the emperor or in the emperor's name by the proper official or unit of the government. Important edicts were carved on stone tablets for public inspection.〔Endymion Wilkinson. ''Chinese History: A Manual.'' (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph Series Rev. and enl., 2000. ISBN 0674002474), (pp. 532-533. )〕 One modern scholar counted more than 175 different terms for top down commands, orders, edicts, and such. Edicts formed a recognized category of prose writing. The Qing dynasty scholar Yao Nai ranked "Edicts and orders" (Zhao-ling) as one of the thirteen categories of prose writing, citing prototypes which went back to the Zhou dynasty and the ''Book of History''. Han dynasty edicts, sometimes actually written by high officials in the name of the emperor, were known for their literary quality. In later dynasties, both emperors and officials who wrote in the emperor's name published collections of edicts.〔William H. Nienhauser. ''The Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature.'' (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1986), p. (96-97 ).〕 The history of China features a range of famous edicts and instructions. Here are some examples in chronological order: * The First Emperor of the Qin dynasty, for instance, issued an edict in 213 BCE ordering the burning of books and burying of scholars. * Upon coming to the throne of the Ming dynasty in 1368, the Hongwu Emperor, issued a series of Great Warnings which informed his people and his bureaucracy of their failings and his instructions to correct them.〔Anita M. Andrew and John A. Rapp. ''Autocracy and China's Rebel Founding Emperors: Comparing Chairman Mao and Ming Taizu.'' (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2000; ISBN 0847695794), esp. (pp. 60-68 ).〕 * He also issued The Instructions of the Ancestor, in effect an edict to his descendents. He instructed his people: 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Official Communications of the Chinese Empire」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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