Chapter 28 Section 2 Non-governmental Communication Organizations

In the pre-Qin period, in addition to official correspondence, there was no official institution for transmitting private letters in China, and ordinary people could only send letters through acquaintances.There are several poems about the soldiers on the frontier hoping someone will send a message. One of them is called "Caiwei", which sings: "Worry is fierce, hunger and thirst, I am undecided, and I will return to employment." It means: the heart is sad It's like burning in a raging fire, hungry and thirsty, and there's no certain place to stay. How can I find a convenient person to send a letter of peace to my family?There is also a poem titled "Bandit Wind", which has two lines "Who will return to the west? Huai's good voice".Meaning: Who is going to turn back to the West?I want to ask him to send home a safe greeting.In the Warring States period, there was no agency for delivering private letters to ordinary people and ordinary officials. Only a few nobles who held great power at that time established their own communication organizations.At that time, a group of emerging landlord forces emerged, often with a large number of personnel, forming a private communication intelligence network.This is the case with the famous four princes, namely Lord Mengchang, Lord Pingyuan, Lord Xinling and Lord Chunshen.

There was no legal private mail system in Qin and Han Dynasties.Correspondence between officials is often carried out through the official mail system.Sometimes by passing along a few personal letters when reporting the situation to the superiors, and sometimes by virtue of their own power, forcing the official post to serve themselves.But generally speaking, this is not allowed by law.As for ordinary people, communication is even more difficult. Even if they want to use letters to report the situation to the government, it is impossible to do so through official mail.During the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, a man named Zhu Maichen met the emperor through this channel.In the early Western Han Dynasty, only one kind of people had private mail settings, and that was the powerful "vassals and kings".But after the separatist regime ended, the private post also disappeared.

During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, private mail did not appear widely, but some big bureaucrats set up post offices for their own use, and rich businessmen from all over the country also began to prepare for the establishment of postal organizations with the main content of communicating price information.There is a phenomenon worthy of attention during this period, that is, a kind of private inn called "Ni Lu" has developed greatly, and its business is booming.According to historical records, Xiao Hong, the younger brother of Emperor Liang Wu of the Southern Dynasties, opened dozens of "didians" in Jiankang City alone, both for guest and storage.At that time, the rulers of the north and the south tried their best to impose heavy taxes on these "rebels" and "didians".This shows that the private "reverse brigade" at that time had become an economic force that cannot be ignored.

Due to the increase of exchanges in the Tang Dynasty, private mail had a further development.For example, between the two major cities of Chang'an and Luoyang, there are "post donkeys" mainly serving private merchants.At that time, there was also a method called "flying money", which was to deposit money in the Chang'an agency of the local government, and then use the receipt to withdraw the money from the local government. This is somewhat similar to the remittance business of modern banks.In addition, a kind of "dibao" was issued at that time, which was spread to various places through post posts, just like the current newspapers and periodicals.

In the Song Dynasty, the situation was different.Not only official mail has been further developed, but private mail has also been greatly developed.At the same time, officials' "private letters" are also very common.Ouyang Xiu, a great litterateur in the Northern Song Dynasty, said in the article: At that time, the letters between himself and his friends were sent by "quick delivery".In his letters, there are often words such as "return to the government in a hurry, and serve the certificate", "return the letter in a hurry, and insult the letter", "return the foot in a hurry, and try to receive the letter", etc., which are clear evidence.At that time, people were overjoyed when they received letters from home from afar.The poet Lu You expressed his joy when he received the letter in a poem: "At sunset, I sit on the chai gate, holding Fang Fanzhen [yu Yu] in my arms. The bell came from the west, and suddenly I got the book from Haozhou. I was so happy that I hadn't read it halfway. Tears all over." He was so excited that he couldn't help crying while reading.By the Southern Song Dynasty, private correspondence was already common.

During the Ming Dynasty, the People's Letter Bureau, a relatively well-organized non-governmental communication organization, began to appear.The People's Letters Bureau is a commercial organization funded by the boss and employing clerks to deliver letters, remittances and postal parcels for the people.The Minxin Bureau was first born in the cities and regions with relatively developed economy and convenient trade along the coast and along the river, and then gradually developed to the inland, until the northeast and northwest provinces. During the Daoguang, Xianfeng, and Tongzhi years of the Qing Dynasty in the 19th century, the Minxin Bureau developed to its heyday. At that time, there were thousands of Minxin Bureaus across the country. After the Opium War in 1840, the "five-port trade" was implemented, and the people's letter bureaus in various places expanded their organizations one after another, setting up a head office in Shanghai one after another, and setting up branch offices, joint accounts or agency stores in various commercial ports.In this way, a sparse non-governmental communication network has gradually been connected between commercial ports and towns with relatively convenient transportation across the country.In addition, a kind of "Overseas Chinese Approval Bureau" has emerged that specializes in correspondence and remittance business for overseas Chinese abroad.From a very early time, many poor people in the coastal areas of Guangdong, Fujian and other provinces went overseas to make a living.When these overseas Chinese living abroad corresponded with their family members, or sent home some hard-earned money, they all entrusted others to carry it, which was very inconvenient.Later, some civil information bureaus in Guangdong and Fujian developed their business overseas and organized the "Overseas Chinese Approval Bureau".In Fujian dialect, "letter" is called "batch", and the letter attached to overseas Chinese remittances is called "overseas Chinese batch".In addition to setting up overseas Chinese approval bureaus in cities and towns where there are many overseas Chinese in China, they also set up branch offices abroad, with more than 1,000 at most.They have played a positive role in facilitating overseas Chinese to send letters and remittances and strengthening ties with the motherland.

After the imperialists invaded our country, the People's Letters Bureau and the Overseas Chinese Approval Bureau were attacked and destroyed by the invading forces, but because they have a long history and are trusted by the people, they have been maintained for a long period of time.It was not forced to close until 1935.