“尺牍”一词,最早出现于汉代,《汉书》记载:“汉遣单于书,以尺一牍,辞曰,皇帝敬问匈奴大单于无恙。”“尺一牍”即汉代诏书,因书于一尺一寸之书版上,故名,后省称为“尺牍”。自两汉后,“尺牍”一词逐渐成为公私文书之通称,而人们为求变化也开始用“尺书”“尺札” “Scales ” the word, the earliest appeared in the Han Dynasty, “Han” records: “Han sent a single in the book, with a ruler, Ci Yue, the emperor asked the Huns big single unalterable. ” “牍 ”that is, the Han Dynasty edict, because the book in a foot one inch of the book version, hence the name, the latter province called “ ruler ”. Since the Han Dynasty, the term “ruler” has gradually become a common name for both public and private documents, and people also begin to use “footer”