敕

chì
noun #58,219

Meanings

  1. 1 (classical) an imperial decree
  2. 2 (classical) to admonish; instruct

Examples

HSK 6
Chì shì huángdì qīnzì xià de mìnglìng.
An imperial decree was an order issued personally by the emperor.

Tips

history
敕 is not used independently in modern Chinese. It originally meant to admonish, then specialized to an emperor's written order; it survives in historical compounds like 敕令 (an imperial edict) and 敕封 (to confer a title by decree).
register
Historical and literary; the modern word is 圣旨 or 命令.

Components

radical
攵 pū
action; to strike
攵 is the strike / action radical (a form of 攴), here marking the act of enforcing instruction or command.
phonetic
束 shù
to bind; restrain
束 supplies the sound, drifting from shù to 敕; its binding sense also fits an order that constrains conduct.

Stroke Order

敕 chì