The history of the development of world correspondence

Correspondence, has always played a very important role in human life. "A letter from home is worth ten thousand pieces of gold", which is undoubtedly the best explanation for its important position. From the development of letters in various countries in various periods, we can understand one side of the cultural development of a country and an era.

Correspondence is an important means of social interaction, and it has a long history, which has given rise to many anecdotes related to it in both ancient and modern times. In ancient China, there were stagecoaches with people specialized in delivering letters on horseback. In case of emergencies, chicken feathers were inserted on the envelopes as a secret signal. Kites were also once used as communication tools. According to history books, during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Hou Jing rebelled and trapped Emperor Wu of Liang in Taicheng, cutting off contact with the outside world. Later, Prince Xiao Gang and Minister Yang Kan proposed to use kites to send out emergency documents and waited for help before the siege could be lifted. In addition, the great poet of Tang Dynasty, Cen Sen's "meeting on the horse without pen and paper, with the king's message to report peace" is another method of communication --- oral letter. The foreign communication method is unique, they painted a skull and crossbones image on the urgent, or painted a hanging corpse on the gallows. 1870 Franco-Prussian war was in full swing, the Prussian army will be surrounded by Paris, the ground communication can not be carried out at all, at that time, the French authorities to use more than 80 balloons, transported more than 9 tons of letters, so that the outside of the news of the Paris was trapped, which has also become the earliest This has also become the earliest "airmail". The world's shortest letter was written by Julius Caesar in the ancient Roman expedition to report the success of the letter, the full text of only three words: "Come! Observe! Victory!" The longest letter is from Texas, USA. The longest letter was written by Jones of Texas to his sister in May 1976, which was 113,747 words long and took him eight months. The longest-delivered letter in history was Columbus's "Bottle Letter" to the Queen of Italy, which drifted at sea for 359 years before it was discovered. The great French writer Victor Hugo received a letter written on the envelope "for the greatest French poet", he did not open it, but sent it to Muse, who in turn sent it to Lamartine. Neither of these literary giants considered himself qualified to open the letter. The letter also became an unopened letter. Another anecdote of correspondence related to Hugo is the publication of his magnum opus, Les Misérables. After sending out the manuscript of this book, Hugo had written to the publisher with a single "?" , and the letter he later received in return had only one punctuation mark "!" . In this way a world famous book was published, bringing a sensation to the world.

In China, the flying geese have always been the symbol of correspondence. The story of "flying geese passing on letters" is also widely spread. According to the "Book of Han - Su Wu Biography", the Han Dynasty sent Su Wu on a mission to the Xiong Nu, and the then Xiong Nu leader Shan Yu tried to lure Su Wu into submission, but Su Wu was steadfast and unwilling to give in. In the end, Shan Yu exiled Su Wu to the North Sea to herd sheep, and claimed that Su Wu would only be released to the Han Dynasty after the ram gave birth to a lamb. Su Wu never gave in, and 19 years later, when the Han Dynasty reconciled with the Xiongnu, the Han Emperor sent for Su Wu, who was falsely claimed to be dead by Shan Yu. A Han man living in exile in Xiongnu told the truth to a Han emissary, so the emissary went to denounce Shan Yu, saying that while hunting, the Han emperor had shot a flying goose with a letter from Su Wu tied to its foot, saying that he was tending sheep in the North Sea. Shan Yu's lie was exposed and he had to return Su Wu to the Han Dynasty. Su Wu's spirit of steadfastness has been praised for thousands of years, and the story of the "flying geese" has been passed down for a long time, and the flying geese have become a symbol of letters and communications.

Envelopes are of course indispensable for letters. As a necessity for communication, the envelope is not as popular as the stamp, but it appeared thousands of years earlier than the stamp. In 3000 B.C., the Assyrians and Egyptians engraved the contents of a letter on a clay tablet, which was then sealed in a ceramic billet and fired into pottery, the earliest form of envelope in the world. More than 500 B.C., the envelope that appeared in China was a small box into which wooden documents and bamboo slips were put for mailing. People also used cotton and silk sewn into a sleeve, the wooden documents, bamboo slips up, which can be said to be the originator of the Chinese envelope. To the Eastern Han Dynasty, after Cai Lun improved paper-making, people not only use paper to write letters, but also in order to maintain confidentiality, but also with paper glued into the envelope, the letter into which, after sealing and then mailed. Around the time of the Three Kingdoms, paper envelopes were already in use in China. With the development of the postal industry, the use of envelopes became better and better, and on November 1, 1838, the New South Wales Post Office in Australia issued the world's earliest postage-paid envelopes, a year and a half before the world's first postage stamps appeared.

After thousands of years of development, the envelope is no longer just a simple communication tool used for confidentiality, but has become a carrier with multi-functionality, mainly including cultural and commercial functions. In China, since 1993, the China National Philatelic Corporation and China Central Television (CCTV) have jointly issued a "New Year's Eve Cover" every year to celebrate the Chinese New Year. The design of each Lunar New Year cover is very characteristic of Chinese nationalities, and it is especially praiseworthy that the Spring Festival couplets on each Lunar New Year cover can best express the characteristics of Chinese folk culture. For example, "Several rows of plums reflect the new snow, ten thousand households welcome the Spring Festival", "The new snow smells good for thousands of miles, and ten thousand households enjoy good food and clothing", and so on. On the occasion of the Chinese New Year, a traditional Chinese festival, sending a New Year's greeting envelope to one's relatives and friends is undoubtedly an excellent New Year's gift. The commercial function of the envelope needless to say, the current overwhelming commercial letters, commercial advertising that is the best evidence.

The emergence of the envelope certainly makes people's communication has confidentiality, but with the development of society, in the history of human communication and the birth of new things --- postcards. Postcard is a kind of for writing simple content, and do not have to mail in the jacket seal rigid card. The world's first use of postcards to send letters is a German painter, the first postal department to suggest the printing of postcards is a German postal counselor Heinrich von Stephen, and the first official release of the postcard country is Austria. 1865, a German painter wrote to a friend, and improvised in a piece of cardboard on a painting, in the back of the painting written on the letter, but the post office did not have such a large card, but the post office did not have such a large card, but the post office did not have such a large card. However, the post office did not have such a large envelope to hold it, so the staff suggested that he just write the recipient's address and name on the back of the painting to send it. After this was known to Stefan, he realized that this novel way of communication could simplify procedures and reduce postage, so he suggested that the Deutsche Post issue a postcard, but it was not accepted. 1869 October 1, the Austrian postal authorities accepted a professor's suggestion and officially issued a postcard printed with a postage map, which was the world's first postcard with postal rates. The postcard was welcomed as soon as it was introduced, and all countries followed suit. German post at this time is not willing to lag behind, on July 1, 1870 issued a postcard, but gave up this "world's most". Since then, the postcard is popular in the world.

Envelope stamps on the history of only 160 years ago, in the composition of the various components of the letter can be said to be one of the youngest. 1840 May 1, the world's first stamp was born in the United Kingdom, the pattern is the head of Queen Victoria, printed in black ink, the face value of 1 pence, so this stamp is known as the "black penny! The first postage stamp in China was the "Black Penny". China's first postage stamp appeared in 1878, with a coiled dragon as the main body of the stamp design, lined with auspicious clouds and water waves. Because the dragon has been the symbol of the emperor in China since ancient times, and the national emblem of the Qing Dynasty is also symbolized by the dragon, the stamps imply that the feudal rulers were like dragons leaping out of the water and flying in the air, therefore, this set of three stamps is called the "Great Dragon Stamps". /p-3436994394453.html Postal communication is related to the post office. The world's most primitive "post office" is located in the Cape of Good Hope, the southernmost tip of Africa. early 17th century, the European fleet in the voyage to India, to anchor here, replenishment of fresh water and sustenance, but also the crew will be their own letters pressed on the bottom of the smooth boulders, so that the ships returning from India to arrive at this place, you can take these letters home by the way. these letters home. Sometimes the crew would also carve the date of their arrival, the names of the crew and the name of the captain of the ship under the stone on which the letters were pressed. This boulder can also be considered the prototype of the modern mailbox. In ancient China, letters were delivered by post. In the earliest days, the foot-passage was called "post" and the horse-passage was called "post", but later they were collectively called "post". It was not until 1896 that postal service in the modern sense was established in China.

In today's world, due to the rapid development of modern communication technology and network technology, traditional communication has been gradually forgotten by people, and is only regarded as a kind of nostalgia or even backwardness. However, the traditional correspondence that has accompanied the development of human civilization for thousands of years will never disappear completely in a short period of time. Because from its body, we can be informed of too much cultural and historical connotations, and these, precisely modern technology can not bring us. .......