Research On Delivery Station In Song Dynasty

After the establish of Northern Song Dynasty, they set up a more complete and reasonable postal delivery system which is based on the former Dynasty ,Tang. Particularly, the separation of delivery and the relay, makes the delivery stations more outstanding in the Postal delivery system in Song Dynasty.The Northern Song delivery stations called "Sheng station", they played a active role of a timely and effective delivery of information. However, due to the economy, politics, war and other reasons, at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, the beginning of Southern Song Dynasty, the postal delivery system was failed to functional properly. Until the Southern Song Dynasty, the Sheng stations was reset up again, but not as fast and effect as it was in the Northern Song Dynasty . Additionally, because there were tension relationship between Song and King from time to time, the Chihou stations and the Bai stations are in need, they have been set up or in disuse now and then based on the current situation and changes in relationships between Song and King. Sheng station, the Chihou stations, and the Bai stations formed a complex relationship in the Southern Song Dynasty. These three type of postal stations had an immeasurable impact on the Southern Song Dynasty. This article attempts to discuss the issue of the delivery station in Song Dynesty, to help to complete the research of the history of Communications and Traffic in Song Dynesty.This article is divided into six parts. The first part is the introduction, including the significance of this research, the basic information about the delivery station in Song dynasty and the innovations of this article. The second part is about the management and organization of the Sheng stations, including two sections, namely, the transmission levels of the Sheng stations , and the management system. It mainly discussed the three ways of transmission including foot-delivery , horse-delivery or urgent-delivery. And the administration and management of the Sheng stations . The third part is about the administration and management of the Chihou Stations and the Bai stations. And it divided into four sections, namely, the background of the establish of the Chihou Stations and the Bai stations, the administration and management of the Chihou Stations, the administration and management of the Bai stations, the influence of the changing relationship between Song and King dynasty on the set up and disuse of the Chihou Stations and the Bai stations. The forth part discusses about the relationship among the Chihou stations, the Bai stations and the Sheng stations. It includes two sections, the changing relations between the Chihou stations and the Bai stations, the relationship among the Chihou stations, the Bai stations and the Sheng stations. Focused on the different functions at different times in their relationship. The fifth part Vanalyzes the pros and cons for the postal delivery system, divided into two sections which are how the delivery stations ensure the information delivery between the central and local goverments, central and the front line of war. And it also analysis the disadvantage of the system and the reason why it happened. The last part of this article is the conclusion.