Abstract:

“Zoudu” is a kind of formal compound consisting of two monosyllabic words：“Zou” and “Du”. The word “Zoudu” first appeared in the Western Han Dynasty and was used exclusively to refer to the Shudu played by officials to the emperor in ancient times. Through the change of dynasties and the evolution of history，its meaning had not changed substantively. In terms of frequency of use, the Song Dynasty entered the first period of rapid development，the Yuan Dynasty fell back，the Ming Dynasty reached a new height, and the Qing Dynasty reached its peak. During the period of the Republic of China，“the Document on the Procedures of Official Documents Issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs” marked the formal extinction of the term “Zoudu” in practical use and became a historical language.

Key words: Zoudu, clerical noun, archival nouns, document noun, Jiandu