What does "Dongfeng Express" mean?

Buy it! Nowadays, couriers are an integral part of people's lives. Even if you don't count the emerging "fast food" business, according to the latest data, the average daily number of courier pieces can actually reach as many as 100 million pieces. In fact, the courier profession has a long history, which is not easy to be difficult since ancient times.

The most famous courier business in the history of China's courier, should be the emperor to Yang Guifei sent lychee, the poet Du Mu left a poem: "Chang'an look north into the embroidery pile, the top of the mountain thousands of doors open. A ride on the red dust consort laughs, no one knows it's lychee."

What was the earliest courier called?

Ancient courier "urgent transmission" is a luxury business, mainly used for national orders, military intelligence transmission, civil use is far less extensive than in modern times. And since there was no other way to disseminate information, even a single sentence without any weight had to be delivered by human labor. According to evidence, as early as the Shang Dynasty there was already a system of relaying dispatches similar to express delivery, which is confirmed in the oracle bones of Yin ruins. Horses traveled a day's distance to set up a post, this is called "relay".

And "Zhou Li - Autumn Officials" is a clear record, the Zhou Dynasty set up the official in charge of the post, logistics officials "lineman", the requirements of its duties, "although the road is difficult, and from time to time must reach. At that time, one of the most important way is "step transmission", that is, by manual walking delivery. In the Spring and Autumn period, Duke Huan of Qi set up a "han" every 30 miles on the main road of Qi, as a postal and courier organization.

"Jianbu" was one of the most common terms used by the ancients to refer to couriers, who were called "hu han" in the Zhou Dynasty, as opposed to "chuan han," which was a postal vehicle used to deliver mail. In the Qin Dynasty, the courier was called "light foot", in the Han Dynasty, the courier was called "postman" and "post foot", in the Song Dynasty, the courier was called "deliveryman", and in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the courier was called "postman". Postman" in the Han Dynasty, "postman" and "post foot" in the Song Dynasty, and "postman" in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The official courier are holding a kind of token, that is, the equivalent of the pass Chiyi documents, "a pass", greatly reducing the time of the formalities out of the customs clearance.

What are the delivery methods?

Ancient manpower is worthless, a large number of "courier" is to rely on the foot to transport letters, this time on the individual's physical strength as well as speed will have very high requirements. According to the "Sui Book" records, the end of the Sui dynasty, there is a wheat iron staff, "500 miles a day, walking and running horses", has been sent by the capital night edicts to Xuzhou, "night to Dan also". This level in the Olympic Games to get a few gold medals is estimated to be completely out of the question. Of course, to the back of the city developed, short-distance delivery business also came into being, the Song Dynasty "Qingming Shanghe Tu" can clearly see that the hotel guy is taking takeout to other people's homes. Bianjing catering industry is extremely developed, "the city brokerage house, often only in the city store spin buy food and drink, do not have home vegetables".

In addition, with the certain development of animal husbandry, horses have become an important transmission tool in addition to war. The Han Dynasty inherited the practice of the Qin Dynasty, "five miles a post, ten miles a pavilion". At that time, the postal organization had a special car, this special car called "transmission car". At that time, express delivery by car was called "transmission", and express delivery by horse was called "post". Post stations were used only for keeping horses and dry food, not for resting people. Usually, the horse is not resting, the courier arrives at the station to eat a mouthful of food and drink water and then immediately set off, sometimes not even wash their faces, not to mention a sleep.

To the Sui and Tang dynasties, due to the opening of the Grand Canal, the waterway express more prominent. Tang Dynasty has begun to popularize the use of express delivery of aquatic products, fruits. At that time, Shandong tribute crabs to the capital Chang'an, in order to ensure that it is live, every year when the tribute is sealed with felt, the first boat, and finally bundled in the stagecoach courier to the capital. During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, there were about 1,639 post stations in the country, of which 260 were water stations, 1,297 were land stations, and 86 were both land and water stations. The poet Cen Shen wrote of what he saw with his own eyes: "A post over a post, post riders like stars; Pingming hair Xianyang, twilight and Longshan head ......"

What kind of courier packing method?

Since the ancient courier is mostly for government orders, military affairs of a kind, if the courier becomes a slow delivery, or the mail will be delivered wrong, lost, etc., will be severely punished. Courier to endure the scorching sun, even if the cold wind or pouring rain, must carry the paper bag Mercedes on the road.

And the document packing more not to protect the goods damage, but for confidentiality! In order to prevent important items from being switched, the court stipulated that different types of items should be packed in different ways.

During the Han Dynasty, the packing process was already quite professional. Courier according to the size of the items, the shape were loaded into the letter, suitcase, bag. Among them, the "letter" for a small wooden box, generally used to load documents, letter of the wooden board cover engraved line three, and chiseled a small square hole, rope tied, but also need to use the sealing mud will be sealed square hole. Suitcase for the wooden box, the bag for the pocket, both usually used to load the volume of some of the larger items. Inside and outside three layers, plus seal plus seal mud plus seal.

As for the previously mentioned lychee, a more delicate technique is required. First saw off half of the bamboo tube, the lychee into the bamboo section, and then use wire to tie the bamboo tube, the opening is applied to the yellow mud, to be dried and solidified before transportation. This is considered to be the earliest cold chain packaging assembly line.

At the same time each dynasty on the courier in the leakage and other accidents, are taken to different degrees of punishment. In the Tang Dynasty, courier delivery late, or not according to the stagecoach walking, also be punished, the most severe means of punishment is execution. Even the behavior of private mail should be severely punished, "Tang Law Review" stipulates: "private official seal, see the book of the staff of sixty, the system of the book of eighty staff. If the secret of each according to the leakage of secret sitting reduced by two, that is, mistakenly sent to see the person who reduces the second degree, do not see the person does not sit."