The Republic of China observed the 70th anniversary of the Chinese postal service on March 20. Ceremonies were held by postal employees throughout Taiwan. A postal museum, first of its kind in China, was opened at 50 Shihtow Road, Hsintien, in suburban Taipei. The two-story building has 17 exhibition rooms, a library, and an auditorium.
Of great interest to philatelists is the collection of stamps issued by the Chinese Postal Administration since 1878. Also to be seen are documents concerned with the history of the Chinese postal service and Taiwan postal reconstruction during recent years. Stamps of member countries of the Universal Postal Union are shown along with letter boxes of China and other nations.
In a room displaying items connected with China's ancient postal system is an image of Confucius bearing these Chinese characters quoting the sage: "The flowing progress of virtue is more rapid than the transmission of imperial orders by stages and couriers." This is a reference to the sending of special dispatches in earliest recorded times. Some 2,000 years ago, the emperors of ancient Cathay had developed a system of couriers called I Chan, a sort of pony express. When attached to an official communication, a slightly burned rooster feather indicated the message was of extreme urgency. Such special delivery letters of the time could be carried over a distance of more than 200 miles in 14 hours.
Mainland-day modes of mail delivery are depicted. (File photo)
Private letter-carrying began in China in the early 15th century. By the 18th century, the "letter hong" had grown into elaborate organizations. Connecting routes stretched across China's vast territory. However, neither the official courier system nor the private letter carriers were identical with a modern postal service. That all-important symbol—the postage stamp—was missing.
It was not until the latter part of the 19th century, when Western civilization was knocking at the Chinese door, that a public postal service was introduced to China. With the opening of treaty ports and foreign concessions, Western consulates set up their own post offices and even issued crudely printed stamps. For a brief period, the post offices of six countries were operating in Shanghai as well as in other major cities of China.
In 1866, the tsung li ke kuo shih wu ya men (roughly equivalent to a foreign ministry) ordered the Inspector-General of Customs to undertake the transport of foreign legation and consular mails between the port of Tientsin and Peking, then the imperial capital.
First Stamps
In 1876, the Imperial Maritime Customs set up a Postal Department. It had 33 post offices at various treaty ports and accepted mails to and from consulates. On March 23, 1878, this department began to accept Chinese civilian mail from Tientsin to Peking via mounted courier. Postal privileges enjoyed by foreign establishments were not abolished until 1922.
An Englishman, Sir Robert Hart (1835-1911), Inspector-General of Customs, was responsible for early development of the postal service. The first stamps, issued in 1878, were designed by H. B. Morse, an American serving with the Customs. The first set of commemorative stamps was issued on November 16, 1894, the 60th birthday of Empress Dowlger Tzu Hsi. However, it was not until March 20, 1896, that Emperor Kuang Hsu, responding to demands for political reform that followed the Sino-Japanese War of 1895, established the Chinese Imperial Post March 20 has been celebrated as Postal Service Day ever since.
Museum displays arc interesting, informative, tell of development of postal service in China through charts, models, other aids. (File photo)
Probably the most famous Chinese stamp is the small-lettered one dollar surcharge on a 3-cent red revenue stamp. Only 50 were issued and fewer than 35 are extant, each worth at least US$1,500.
Among stamps exhibited at the museum are those issued after the Revolution of 1911, in which various provinces declared their independence of the Manchu Empire. On stamps bearing symbols of the dragon, jumping carp, and flying goose were overprinted the Chinese characters lin shih chung li, signifying neutrality between the Manchu government and the revolutionary forces.
Postal Artistry
These are the most treasured Chinese stamps:
* Three-cent red customs revenue stamp of 1896.
* Small-letter one-dollar surcharge on the above, issued in 1897.
* Five-dollar inverted surcharge on the same stamp, issued in 1897.
* Two-dollar, black and blue, center inverted, of first Peiping print, Hall of Classics issue, 1915.
Also on display are Chinese stamps of rare artistic value. The 10 "insect and orchid" stamps issued in March, 1958, were chosen by Life magazine in 1960 as among the world's most beautiful.
Four ancient Chinese paintings of the 7th to 11th centuries were copied in full-color stamps in August, 1960. One of these, Han Kan's "Two Horses and a Groom", served as the cover of the September (1960) issue of The Stamp Magazine of London.
Eighteen art treasure stamps including reproductions of bronze, porcelain, and jade pieces were issued in 1961 in groups of three. Designs were taken from Chinese art items now on display at the Sun Yat-sen Museum at Waishuangshi in suburban Taipei and the National Historical Museum in Taipei. The Postal Museum is open daily except Monday and the days after national holidays. The curator is Pan An-shen.
Stamp Catalog
Philately enjoys increasing popularity in free China. Stamps sold through the philatelic service of the Directorate General of Posts were valued at only NT$271,941 (US$6,798) in 1954. In 1964, the service earned NT$11,364,663 (US$284,116). Nearly half of the 1964 sales was to foreign collectors. The China Philatelic Society (P.O. Box 18, Taipei) is active and there are dozens of local clubs. The Directorate
General of Posts publishes the following publications:
1. Philatelic Bulletins—For every issue of new stamps; detailed descriptions are included.
2. List of philatelic items on sale, giving particulars and prices.
3. Postage Stamp Catalog and supplements, listing all stamps issued since 1878.
China became a member of the Universal Postal Union on March 1, 1914, and has attended every convention since 1920.
On Taiwan, postal services have grown with the rapid development of transportation and communications during the last two decades. When the Japanese left in 1945, the transportation system was in ruins. Allied bombings had knocked out half of the rail and road networks. Many key bridges had been destroyed. Damage to harbor installations ran as high as 70 per cent.
Difficult Geography
Although reconstruction began as soon as Taiwan was returned to the Republic of China, initial progress was slow. The provincial government lacked money and materials. The national government was preoccupied with the Communist rebellion on the mainland. Rehabilitation and new construction did not begin in earnest until after the national government had established Taiwan as its base for national recovery in 1949. Substantial help was forthcoming through the U.S. aid program. In 'the 1950-1964 period, US$52,852,982 and US$1,090,936,106 worth of grants or loans was provided for railway, highway, and communications facilities.
Stamps were overprinted after 1911 Revolution. (File photo)
Geographically, Taiwan, which has 13,885 square miles and is 244 miles in length and from 60 to 90 miles in width, affords several obstacles to the easy development of land transport. Seventy per cent of the island is mountainous, with about 200 peaks rising above 7,000 feet. The rib of the Central Range extends the length of the island from north to south and cuts off one coast from the other. The Japanese built north-south trunk lines and highways along the fertile plains of the west coast. However, nothing was done about cross-island transportation, the rich mountain hinterland, and the isolated east coast.
Taiwan's first rail line, connecting Keelung and Hsinchu in the north, was built by the Chinese in 1887. By 1945, standard-gauge track totaled 917.3 km. (570.8 miles). Since then several new lines have been built: Hsinchu and Neiwan (17.4 miles) and Fengyuan and Tungshih (8.9 miles). Trunk lines total 985.4 kilometer (615.9 miles). Private trackage, most of it narrow-gauge, also has increased.
Traffic has more than doubled in the two decades. In 1945, an average of 114,087 passengers were carried 4,601,441 kilometers (2,875.900 miles) daily. Comparable figures for 1965 were 293,000 passengers and 10,467,998 kilometers (6,542,498 miles) . Daily runs have increased from 170 to 973.
Centralized traffic control was first installed on the Changhua-Tainan line, which previously was a bottleneck. Modernization plans call for extension of ere to three lines which are not yet included. The system has speeded up operations, saved manpower, reduced costs, and improved 1he safety record.
West coast lines constitute 80 per cent of the total trackage. Linking 1he two main ports of Keelung in the north and Kaohsiung in the south, the western trunk line of 408.5 km. (255.3 miles) passes through important cities and industrial centers. Much of Taiwan's agriculture and most of its mines and industries depend on this line.
Fifty per cent of 1945's 6,959 km. (4,350 miles) of highways suffered damage in World War II. The Taiwan Highway Bureau began reconstruction immediately after the war ended and then started to build new roads. Today's total is 16,231 kilometers (10,144 miles), 17 per cent paved, reaching all parts of the island.
Keelung in the north and Kaohsiung in the south are the principal ports. Both have been rehabilitated and deepened in the last 20 years. Hualien in the east was opened as a third international port on September 1, 1963.
Shipping Services
There are five Chinese shipping services with regular sailings between Taiwan and the United States, Japan, Hongkong, Europe, and Southeast Asia. Irregular service is provided to the Philippines, Korea, the Ryukyus, Mediterranean ports, Europe, Africa, Central and South America, and Australia.
Air transportation is booming in1949, Sungshan airport in Taipei had only a 1,000-meter runway and one small waiting room. The 2,600 meter strip of today accommodates the newest jets and a new air-conditioned terminal has a capacity of 3,000 persons.
Scheduled overseas flights are flown by Civil Air Transport, Northwest Airlines, Thai Airways, Japan Air Lines, and Cathay Pacific Airways. Domestic carriers are Civil Air Transport, China Air Lines and Far Eastern Air Transport.
Many Post Offices
With this rapid growth of transportation, Taiwan's postal services have become outstanding. In 1946, the province had 196 post offices and branches. Eleven years later, in 1956, the total was 849. Today the number exceeds 2,053, not counting stamp-selling agents. There is one post office for every 18 square miles, second only to Lebanon.
Domestic mail totaled 124 million pieces in 1955, or an average of 12 per person. The figure in 1965 was 379 million, or 32 per person. This is third in Asia behind Israel and Japan.
Service is fast and reliable. In Taipei, where the post office is open 13 hours a day, there are eight special and four regular deliveries daily. Airmail receives special handling, with 3 to 5 pickups daily from special boxes. Nearly 10,000 letter boxes were in use at the end of 1965, each serving an average area of 3.9 square kilometers or about 1,400 people. The network of mail routes at the end of 1965 had it length of 166,766 kilometers.
Mayling orchid stamp is among world's most beautiful. (File photo)
Postal employees numbered 6,110 at the end of 1964, compared with 2,538 in 1954. The work load has risen several times during the same period.
To improve its service, the Directorate General of Posts holds seminars in a variety of topics, including English and French languages. Some 1,400 workers received training in 1965.
Postal services also include savings, money orders, bill collection, sale of public securities, and payment of pensions to retired servicemen. More than 3,500 items can be ordered from a postal mail order catalog. The service, begun in 1957, has been popular with foreigners as well as Chinese. Goods include embroideries, handicrafts, ceramics, tea, and fresh fish and lobsters. Money orders purchased in 1965 totaled NT$2.68 billion (US$67 million). Postal savings totaled NT$2.4 billion (US$60 million) for the year. Postal revenues for 1964 totaled NT$571,341,792.03 and expenditures NT$492,614,351.36.