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What is an edict

I am in the middle of writting a source analysis which is of an edict from Chinese Emporer Qianlong to King George. However, I am not sure what an edict is? Is it more of a letter or a speech. Is it likely to have only been seen by the kings and their respective ministers or do edicts tend to have wider public dissemination?

Any help would be most appreciated :smile:
It's basically a command or decree which is sent out.

That could be that it's put up on posters in the street, or that you announce it publicly, it depends on the specific environment. It would be very unlikely that it would be private and still described as an edict - it might have been told to the ministers first (as they may be who he has contact with), but it would not have been a secret.

Usually it's slightly different from a law, in that an edict can be just the man in charge saying 'do this one thing!', rather than something long-term or very long-winded.
That's great :smile: . Thanks for that


Original post by Domitella
It's basically a command or decree which is sent out.

That could be that it's put up on posters in the street, or that you announce it publicly, it depends on the specific environment. It would be very unlikely that it would be private and still described as an edict - it might have been told to the ministers first (as they may be who he has contact with), but it would not have been a secret.

Usually it's slightly different from a law, in that an edict can be just the man in charge saying 'do this one thing!', rather than something long-term or very long-winded.

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