Cultural relics authorities have discovered an imperial edict dating back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) in the city of Wuan, North China's Hebei province.

The imperial edict, with a total length of 1.85 meters and a width of 0.3 meters, has 455 characters on it.

The script was beautifully written, with high artistic and aesthetic value, according to Wang Wei, director of the Wuan cultural relics protection and management department. He said the imperial edict was issued to the parents of an official called Ji Shu in 1606.

The imperial edict has high reference value for studying the official system, social culture and etiquette system of the Ming Dynasty, and also provides valuable information for the study of local history and clan culture, Wang said.