Chapter 5 Flourishing and Declining of Posts in the Ming and Qin

Post system in the Ming and Qing carried on the old system. At the beginning when the Ming was established, it enforced the power centralization, resumed communication and transportation system, set up post, delivery and urgent delivery. Post system in the Qing Dynasty centralized the features of all dynasties, and made some creations and reforms. Post system developed a lot. Post in the Ming and Qing played an important role in consolidating its power, developing social and economic culture, maintaining the unity of the country, defending against invasions.

Section 1 Characteristics and Organization of Post in the Ming Dynasty

For post construction in the Ming Dynasty (1368~1644 A.D), on one hand, post network was resumed by national force. On the other hand, postal routes were opened up mainly by local forces. The Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Post can delivery instructions to all areas, so it is indispensable ". He thought it was a great corruption of the Yuan Dynasty that government was corrupted, upper and lower level cheated each other, and messages were blocked.

Post Tally, the proof of delivery in
the 14th of Hongzhi Period of Ming
Dynasty(1501)

After Zhu Yuanzhang was in power, he issued imperial edict to resume and set up transportation and communication system. It was required to set up post, delivery and urgent delivery. "Shut Ma Yi" was a kind of post set up outside the capital, localized at transportation hub or broad road, to "send couriers and deliver military information". "Di Yun Suo" was different from "Shut Ma Yi" which was responsible for delivery of militia supplies and articles of tribute, localized at major piers or main lines of transportation. Urgent Delivery carried on the system of the Yuan Dynasty with one supervisor for one post, with 4 or 5~10 soldiers. The duties of each post were definitely regulated. The organization scale, network distribution, time limit, facilities of soldiers, horses, carriage and ships as well as revenue were regulated in detail. The Ming Dynasty learned a lesson from the Yuan that unchecked post led to the perish of post. From the start of the Ming, post range was strictly limited, post was managed by laws. No delivery was permitted except the "important military information", imperial edicts or important documents. In 1393 A.D, Zhu Yuanzhang instructed the Military Department to announce to the whole country that no permission for using post carriages, ships or horses without instructions, otherwise, he would be punished. Owing to the strict regulations, postal routes were unblocked and post order was ensured.

Ming Dynasty attached importance to post delivery and opened up postal routes. In Yong Le period, 100,000 civilians were used to dredge the canal. 41 waterway posts were set up along the canal, 29 land posts were set up from Yingtian Fu passing through Shandong to Shuntian Fu. A delivery was added from Dezhou, Shandong to Beijing. 100,000 military soldiers were stationed along the routes, forming 2 main lines of post connecting the South and North. To consolidate border defense in northern areas, 9 military stations were set up which were called "9 Frontiers" from Yalu Jiang in the east to Jiayu Guan in the west, total 4,000 km long. Along the border, there were many posts for communications. As communications with foreign countries were enforced, foreign trade developed. In Hongwu Period "Shibo Si" was set up in Ningbo, Quanzhou and Guangzhou, where posts were also set up to be used as inns for envoys from foreign countries. In the flourishing period of the Ming, there were total 1357 posts, 324 deliveries, 14430 urgent deliveries.

The Ming Dynasty made full use of local forces to open up postal routes. The "Longchang Jiuyi" constructed by Mrs. Shexiang was typical. By then, Guizhou was located at the transportation hub of Sichuan, Hubei and Yunnan. 3 post lines were formed with Guiyang as the center. But it was difficult to construct postal routes because there were many mountains in Guizhou.

In 1371 A.D, Zhu Yuanzhang appointed Ai Cui as the Administrator of Guizhou. After Ai Cui passed away, his wife Mrs. Shexiang took over his job and organized civilians to construct road to Sichuan, which was 300 km long. This road played an important role in communications between central government and southwest borders as well as Promotion of economy and culture exchanges.

For post system of the Ming, Huitong Guan was set up in the capital. At the beginning of the Ming, capital was in Naming, and- was moved to Beijing in the reign of Emperor Chengzu, so "Hultong Guan" was set up in Naming and Beijing separately. Post Delivery and Urgent Delivery were set up in local areas. Post was managed by the Military Department. It was recorded that its responsibilities were managing the "Huitong Guan" in Naming and Beijing, as well as post, delivery and urgent delivery all over the country, drawing-up and carrying out post regulations, administrating the opening, closing and changing of posts, supervising and inspecting post administration. In local areas, post was under the command of both "Buzheng Shi" and "Ancha Shi", the latter as the dominant, under whom, there was "Yichuan Dao" who was the official administrating local post. Yi Cheng was set up in states and counties. Post in some important frontiers was directly under the administration of military officials.