Beauty of Life with Jo: Shanghai Postal Museum

Tuesday, August 24, 2021

Shanghai Postal Museum

Built in 1924. Such a breathtaking Baroque building with a Romanesque clock tower by the Suzhou River. This post office used to be the main hub of China's postal network in the olden days. In 1914, China joined the international postal union and Shanghai became the central exchange for international mail.

Entrance is free!

Zhu Xuefan was the first minister of the postal department.

This was a display of his writing utensils.

Zhu's vermilion seal paste

Zhu's name seal

Zhu's writing brush

"The unearthed was tortoise shells with the inscription reporting the frontier status"

"Huanzi Mengjiang Pot, a bronze vessel handed down from the Spring and Autumn Period ( 770 - 476 BC ). The inscription on the inside wall is to the effect that Duke Zhuang of the Qi State ordered Mr Tian to go to the Zhou State by postal carriage to ask the emperor for instructions."

" The plate pass was issued by the King of the State of Chu for E Jun Qi's tax free transportations."

"The bamboo slip of the Order of the File Transmission in the Qin Dynasty was the first document seen so far which defined the delivery time."

Sealing Clay

Clay used to seal a knot at the end of a string that ties up a package containing a message to be delivered in order to maintain secrecy."

"An inscribed wooden slip with records to verify the delivery time."

"Brick bearing the portrait of a messenger unearthed from a tomb of the Kingdom of Wei ( 220 - 280 ) and the Jin Dynasty ( 265 - 420 )."

"The clay figures of addresser and messenger in the Han Dynasty"

"Galloping horse of the Western Xia Kingdom"

"The Seal of Fu Yu Post Station.

In the 1st year of the period of Huang Qing of Yuan Dynasty, this seal was used by Fu Yu Post Station which was originally set in the Period of Liao ( 907 - 1125 ) "