The Hidden History of China’s Post Office (2024)

When a young Robert Hart arrived in Shanghai in 1854 as a translator for the British consulate, he could hardly have anticipated that his life would be so closely intertwined with China’s evolution into a modern state. Few people have heard of Hart today, but in a career spanning nearly 60 years, this official from the rural market town of Portadown in what is now Northern Ireland played a transformative role in Chinese history.

When a young Robert Hart arrived in Shanghai in 1854 as a translator for the British consulate, he could hardly have anticipated that his life would be so closely intertwined with China’s evolution into a modern state. Few people have heard of Hart today, but in a career spanning nearly 60 years, this official from the rural market town of Portadown in what is now Northern Ireland played a transformative role in Chinese history.

The Hidden History of China’s Post Office (1)

This article is adapted from The Making of China’s Post Office: Sovereignty, Modernization, and the Connection of a Nation by Weipin Tsai (Harvard University Asia Center, 450 pp., $75, February 2024).

As the inspector general of China’s Imperial Maritime Customs Service from 1861 to 1911, Hart initiated major infrastructure projects, from port facilities and lighthouses to meteorology and mapmaking services. But his most important program had to do with postal services.

From his very first meeting at the newly established Zongli Yamen, China’s foreign affairs ministry, Hart arrived with a comprehensive vision for Chinese modernization—one that included plans for a modern, state-run national post office based on the model recently adopted by countries such as Britain, Germany, and the United States.

Yet for all his successes, and despite dogged persistence, it took Hart 35 years to materialize a post office. This delay is one of the most intriguing historical questions of the period, and it takes us into the heart of Qing political dynamics and the struggle to direct the course of Chinese modernization. Whether to adopt foreign models of reform remains a tense issue in China today—as do the struggles of reformers to change entrenched institutions.

By 1861, the Qing court was finally prepared to accept that Western foreigners were in China to stay—along with their innovative weapons, an international treaty-based order, and new types of trade. Western powers had recently defeated China in the Second Opium War, and China was forced to ratify new treaties with Britain, France, Russia, and the United States. Though these treaties were different, they all included the opening of new ports, provisions for foreign legations to be stationed in Beijing, and permission for foreigners to travel in China.

In response to this new reality, China established the Zongli Yamen and launched a reform program called the Self-Strengthening Movement. Empress Dowager Cixi authorized many of these reforms. In the summer of 1861, after her husband’s death, Cixi staged a successful coup d’état against other imperial regents. The empress dowager—who liked to compare herself to her contemporary, Britain’s Queen Victoria—effectively ruled China from behind the curtain for most of the next 50 years.

The modernization projects of the Self-Strengthening Movement included agricultural reform; naval procurement and training; the creation of schools and military colleges with new curricula; and the establishment of railroads, telegraph, steamship routes, modern mining, and textile operations. Many of these projects relied on foreign capital, and foreigners helped deliver them.

Hart was one of these foreigners. In the years following the outbreak of the 1850 Taiping Rebellion, the largest civil war in China in centuries, many foreigners were employed by the Qing government in support of its military campaigns. They were also recruited to work in various modernization programs. The fledgling Customs Service that Hart inherited and shaped to his vision was a hybrid institution: Its highest-ranking officials were foreigners, while the organization collected tariffs for the government and represented the Qing Empire’s sovereignty.

Hart established a high degree of confidence and trust among the Manchu royal family, which ruled the Qing Empire, and high officials in Beijing who oversaw the Zongli Yamen. By the 1880s, the Customs Service had become one of the largest and most reliable sources of government revenue. China used the service’s tariff collections to service its foreign loans and pay its treaty indemnity obligations, but also as collateral to finance new projects. This brought Hart respect, but also suspicion, particularly as nationalist sentiment rose. This wariness was one factor that made it difficult for Hart to realize his plans for a post office.

Before the national post office was established, China had two main postal systems: military courier and private letter hongs. By the mid-19th century, the centuries-old military relay courier system, used only for important official communications, was moving toward collapse, as corruption was endemic and maintenance costs extremely high.

Meanwhile, private letter hongs—family-owned courier firms—had long proved their usefulness for merchants and ordinary people. The hongs operated with a storefront and would collect and deliver mail and small packages across a specified area. They also handled remittances, in conjunction with traditional Chinese banks. While firms were local or regional, they also participated in cooperative networks enabling deliveries over long distances. They often had their own dedicated transportation methods, such as on foot, by animal, or by boat. Networks of private letter hongs covered the whole of China, and indeed operated beyond its borders and at many locations overseas to service the Chinese diaspora. The hongs continued to exist after the establishment of the post office and were its most important rival.

The Hidden History of China’s Post Office (2)

Left: The exterior of the Fuzhou Post Office, circa 1905-06. Two wooden boards behind the group read: “The Postmaster orders – Important official bureau” (right) and “The postmaster orders – Noise prohibited.” Right: The postal agency as a local information hub in Yongchun, Fujian province, circa 1904-07.Harvard University, Edward Bangs Drew Collection, Harvard-Yenching Library; John Preston Maxwell, Cadbury Research Library, University of Birmingham

Hart clashed with provincial governors, who repeatedly prevented his postal plans from being approved, in some cases in response to lobbying from private letter hongs. Li Hongzhang, the powerful governor-general of Zhili province and long-term ally of Cixi, commented in 1876 that some Chinese officials feared that if Hart were to succeed in launching and controlling a national post office, it might leave him with too much power, and it would become too difficult to ever remove him from his post. Li was also concerned about the extent of British power in China, and he was instrumental in shifting his country’s military procurement away from Britain to its rising European rival, Germany.

After several attempts to win approval from the central government for the establishment of an Imperial Post Office, Hart’s moment finally arrived when China suffered a humiliating defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895. China had to cede Taiwan to British-equipped Japan, and the Qing court was swamped by petitions arriving from officials and intellectuals in all corners of China to remove Li and to implement further reforms. These roundly criticized China’s tactical failures, and many of the petitions blamed them on Li, who had led naval affairs in northern China and signed the Shimonoseki Treaty that ended the war.

As Li became the scapegoat for the wider military failures, Hart found a powerful ally in Weng Tonghe, a member of the Grand Council and teacher of Cixi’s nephew, the young Emperor Guangxu. Weng supported reform and was willing to give backing to Hart. Despite Cixi’s reluctance, Li was not only removed from his governor-general position, but also sent to Russia to attend the coronation of Czar Nicholas II, an intentional move to take him out of the capital. On March 20, 1896, not long after Li left Beijing for Shanghai to catch a French ship to Europe, the Zongli Yamen presented the long-awaited proposal to establish the Imperial Post Office to the emperor, who approved it the same day.

The Hidden History of China’s Post Office (3)

A drawing of a letter pillar box, circa 1906. On the front of the pillar box there is a note, deliberately made in the design of a traditional Chinese letter cover. On a letter cover, the red central area was the customary place for the recipient’s name, the white area on the right was for the recipient’s address, and the sender’s name was placed on the left. Postal Circular/Tianjin Municipal Archives

Hart’s success in establishing a post office with a national presence mainly came down to the fact that it was left to develop without much direct interference from either central or local government. With only a modest budget to start with, provided by the Chinese Maritime Customs Service, the post office was placed under the care of a core group of the agency’s foreign and Chinese staff. They had little or no prior experience running postal services, but they were given space to learn from mistakes and proceed at their own pace.

Hart also kept the post office away from the Universal Postal Union (UPU) because he thought full membership too early would be costly and interfere with the institution’s development. He complained that both France and Germany wanted to bully China into joining the UPU before it was ready for all incoming mail from abroad; China would also have to accommodate postal rates decided by other countries and pay UPU fees. There was a political dimension, too: Hart was concerned that joining the UPU might give the French greater leverage in how China’s post office was developed and run.

Hart and his team needed to make the post office acceptable to the Chinese public and win the collaboration of local governments. To achieve this, they introduced measures that would project the postal service’s “Chinese” elements, including placing Chinese employees in positions of authority in local branches, designing postage stamps and pillar boxes that featured Chinese characters and symbolism (such as Qing dragons), and establishing post offices in busy market locations or the precincts of larger temples. Hart’s team also co-opted local shops to double as postal agencies, which helped the post office expand outside major cities. This proved to be mutually beneficial: The locations became information hubs for communities, bringing with them greater social status for their owners.

The post office’s arrival had a striking visual impact on city, town, and even village landscapes, with new signboards, letterboxes, and grand post office buildings. Collectively, these helped project a new image for the Qing empire of a rising modern state.

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On a practical level, the communication networks that Hart’s team developed intentionally moved away from the old military relay courier approach, which focused on finding the most direct routes between regional centers and the imperial capital of Beijing. Postal route design now had different priorities: Hart’s team emphasized the creation of more contact points on routes to maximize the speed and usability of services for the greatest number of people. Based on this logic, the team set up post offices in hinterland towns on borders between provinces. It also established express delivery points in non-treaty port cities and smaller towns that may have ranked poorly in the traditional administrative hierarchy but that had developed important commercial neighborhoods with significant mail traffic.

When the Qing government reassessed its central administration in 1906, it set up a new Ministry of Posts and Communications to bring together railway, steam transportation, telegraph, and postal services under one banner. This marked a significant shift in the government’s approach to managing transportations and communications to suit the need of a modern state. Prior to this time, these areas were considered foreign affairs and placed under the supervision of the Zongli Yamen; this change saw them formally re-designated as domestic matters.

For the government, the Imperial Post Office materialized at the right time, and not only because it showcased the country’s reform program. Efficient, cost-effective communications across the empire’s vast territory had been a problem for many decades, particularly at its periphery where its sovereignty was increasingly under challenge. For the frail Qing empire, the post office presented itself as a solution.

Consequently, along with its visible but seemingly mundane role of collecting and delivering mail, the post office carried the flag for two important missions: the construction of a unified communications network across China’s enormous land mass for use by the general public for the first time in Chinese history, and the projection of national sovereignty. The final reaches of postal routes were the end points of sovereign power over a vast territory.

The final years of the Qing empire, which met its end in the revolution of 1911, were a trying time as it struggled to reform amid widespread calls for change in the streets. While prestige projects struggled, the post office—quietly and humbly rolled out at ground level without a grand plan—provides a rare example of a reform initiative that was an unequivocal success.

The Hidden History of China’s Post Office (2024)

FAQs

What is the history of postal service in China? ›

Early history

Regular government postal service is known from the Zhou dynasty in the 1st millennium BC. During the Yuan dynasty under Kublai Khan in the 12th century, China was integrated into the much larger Mongolian Örtöö system. Marco Polo reported that there were 10,000 post stages during that time.

What is the Chinese post office called? ›

China Post
China Post Group Company
Literal meaningChina Postal Services Group Limited Corporation
show Transcriptions
Alternative Chinese name
Simplified Chinese中国邮政
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How many post offices are there in China? ›

The total number of post offices increased gradually in China from 2009 to 2020. In 2020, there were 349,075 post offices located in China, up from 318,516 postal places counted last year.

What is the postal company in China? ›

China Post, the official postal service of China, provides two kinds of international delivery service: postal service and EMS (Express Mail Service). If you choose EMS service, you can order online through the "EMS" WeChat mini-program.

What is the history of Chinese postman problem? ›

It is called the Chinese postman algorithm because it was studied in 1962 by a Chinese mathematician called Kwan Mei-Ko, who was interested in minimising the total distance walked by a postman delivering mail. It is based on Euler's findings for traversable graphs.

What is the story behind postal service? ›

In 1775, before the Declaration of Independence was even signed, the Continental Congress turned the Constitutional Post into the Post Office of the United States, whose operations became the first—and for many citizens, the most consequential—function of the new government itself.

What carrier does China Post use in the USA? ›

China Post and the USPS have an agreement between them, which has helped speed up deliveries to the continental United States. Alternatively, if you want an even speedier delivery, you can contact the seller about choosing ePacket shipping for an even faster package delivery service.

Can China use USPS? ›

There are many carriers who can ship to China from the US. We recommend working with USPS, UPS, FedEx and DHL because they're reliable and can get your packages to China within a matter of days.

What mail does China use? ›

Chinese Mailbox Providers: Netease: 126.com, 163.com, yeah.net. Tencent: qq.com,vip.qq.com, foxmail.com. Sina: sina.com, sina.com.cn, vip.sina.com.cn, sina.net.

What is the most unique post office in the world? ›

Sitting at the top of our list is the underwater post office in Vanuatu. It's a post office like no other, located deep beneath the South Pacific Ocean. This remarkable underwater post office allows adventurous visitors to send waterproof postcards while scuba diving.

Who has the largest postal service in the world? ›

The U.S. Postal Service delivers more mail than any other post in the world, serving nearly 167 million addresses in the country — covering every state, city and town.

Where is there an underwater post office? ›

Underwater Post Office, Vanuatu

The Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu, lying 1,750km (1,090mi) to the east of Australia, is home to the world's only underwater post office.

Does Hong Kong use China Post? ›

Founded in 1841, it was known as Postal Department or Post Office (Chinese: 郵政署) before the handover of Hong Kong in 1997. It has been a sub-member of the Universal Postal Union since 1877, and is a separate entity from China Post.

Who owns the China Post Group? ›

China Post Group is a state-owned company headquartered in China. In 2021 its revenue was USD 101.58 billion. China Post provides postal services in mainland China, it is the second largest postal service in terms of revenues behind the USPS and second in terms of number of offices behind India Post.

What is the biggest postal company in the world? ›

Industry Leaders. Several major companies dominate the global courier market, each contributing to the sector's growth and innovation. As of 2024, United Parcel Service (UPS) leads the sector with a market cap of $126.04 billion.

What is the oldest postal service in the world? ›

About Sanquhar Post Office

Sanquhar Post Office is the world's oldest working post office and has been in operation for over 300 years, opening in 1712. It has had 17 owners in the span.

When did China first use postage stamps? ›

Short History of Chinese Stamps. Postage stamps first appeared in China after the Opium War in 1840. Some Western countries established postal systems in China's trading ports and issued stamps. These stamps were used mainly for business exchanges and were not issued by China's Postal Ministry.

What was the postal service before 1971? ›

The United States Post Office Department (USPOD; also known as the Post Office or U.S. Mail) was the predecessor of the United States Postal Service, established in 1792. From 1872 to 1971, it was officially in the form of a Cabinet department. It was headed by the postmaster general.

What postal service does China use? ›

China Post is the official postal service in China, offering both domestic and international mail and parcel services. With the rapid development of online shopping and international trade, more and more parcels and packages are transported by post from China to the whole world.

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