On the Documents of Official Orders of Pre-Qin Period

Documents of official orders in pre-Qin period were a type of official documents by which the ruling class issued orders. Some of such orders were issued in the name of the rulers, others are in the name of God or Heaven. Punishment for the violation of orders of all forms was the same. The ones found in the inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells of Shang Dynasty were the earliest documents of official orders in the History of China.Ling and ming are two characters standing for documents of official orders. However, the first one was used much earlier than the second one. Besides, the first one meant only orders initially. The rulers began to grant rewards and confer titles by such documents in West Zhou Dynasty. When China was unified in Chin Dynasty, ming became systemized and ling turned into decree.