written petition; formal request document
Archaic term for a formal written petition or request, used in historical or legal contexts. Not used in modern everyday Japanese.
In the Edo period, villagers sometimes submitted written petitions to the feudal lord.
Compound of 禀 (りん, 'to receive' or 'to petition') and 請 (せい, 'to request') plus 書 (しょ, 'document'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain; the spelling is conventionally associated with formal petitions in pre-modern Japan.