Chapter 35 Section 1 The Development of Post Roads in the Song Dynasty

In 960 AD, Zhao Kuangyin established the Northern Song Dynasty.He and his brother Zhao Guangyi unified the Central Plains and southern regions, establishing a centralized state.On this basis, my country's post office industry has further developed.At that time, Song and Liao in the north had frequent contacts.The envoys of the Song Dynasty entered the Liao Dynasty from the current Baigou in Xiongxian County, Hebei (Song is Baigou Station in Xiongzhou) to Xincheng County, then went to Zhuozhou and Liangxiang to Yanjing (now Beijing), and then passed Jingouguan, Xinguan, Tathagata Hall, Iron Pulp Hall, and Tongtian Hall went to Dading Mansion in Zhongjing (now Ningcheng, Liaoning) in the Liao Dynasty, and finally arrived in Shangjing (now Bahrain Left Banner, Inner Mongolia).There are many post houses along the way, and the post services are very busy.Su Zhe, Su Dongpo's younger brother, once served as an envoy of the Song Dynasty to the Liao Kingdom, and stayed temporarily in Yanjing via Baigou. He wrote the famous poem "Crossing Sanggan", which reads: Once back, there is no reason to return. The Hu people can’t bear to see off the guests, and the long-term reconciliation depends on the Central Plains. Every year, I send Sang Qian to each other, and I want to talk about Baigou’s melancholy.” This poem expresses the frequent post trips between Song and Liao. The sincere feelings among the Liao people and the scene of Baigou Station are vividly depicted.

The government of the Song Dynasty expanded post roads across the country.At that time, the Qingniyi Road from Shaanxi and Gansu to Sichuan (now south of Huixian County, Gansu Province) was blocked, and the Northern Song Dynasty government re-opened a Baishuiyi Road under the presidency of Li Yuqing, the transfer envoy of Lizhou (where the government is now Guangyuan, Sichuan).It took only half a year to build the post road from Hechi Station (now Hui County) to Changju Station (now Baishuijiang, Lueyang, Shaanxi), and then entered Sichuan.There are 2,309 pavilions and 389 post kiosks on the way.Because of the success of the project, the host Li Yuqing and others received awards from the government ("Jinshi Cuibian · Baishuiluji").The Song government built many post road bridges in today's Gansu. The famous Lanzhou floating bridge and Anxiang floating bridge (in today's Linxia territory) were all built in the Northern Song Dynasty.These two pontoon bridges have greatly facilitated post transportation between Gansu and Xinjiang, and between Gansu and Qinghai.

According to the different natural conditions of different regions, the Song Dynasty also developed various types of post facilities such as water post and camel post.The camel post and donkey post on the desert post road have been vigorously developed in Dunhuang, Gansu. Up to now, there is still an image of "Song Dynasty Camel Transport" in the Dunhuang murals.During the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty, several water delivery shops were set up between Jiangling, Hubei and Guilin, Guangxi, and thousands of fishermen and woodcutters from the two lakes and along the river in Guangxi were used as "water delivery shops".The huge pools and dangerous rocks along the Xiangjiang River also have the same post roads as the Luyi (Volume 18 of "Continued Zizhi Tongjian Changbian").