Yucheng Postal Stop ( simplified Chinese: 盂城驿; traditional Chinese: 盂城驛; pinyin: Yúchéng yì ), also called Yucheng Post is located in the Postal Lane outside the South Gate of Gaoyou, Jiangsu, China, west of the Grand Canal. It is currently the largest, and most completely preserved, ancient courier station in China, where couriers changed horses and rested. The stop has been listed in the fourth group of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units since 1996.
| Yucheng Postal Stop | |
|---|---|
盂城驿 | |
 | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Address | No.9, Postal Lane, South Gate Street of Gaoyou city |
| Town or city | Gaoyou, Jiangsu Province |
| Country | China |
| Completed | 14th century |
History
editThe Postal Stop was built in 1375 during the Ming dynasty. [1]: 270 [2]: 152 It derives its name from a line by Qin Guan, who was a famous poet in the Song dynasty: "My hometown Gaoyou is shaped like an upside down bowl and it is located on the higher altitude of the Yangzhou and Chuzhou District." (i.e. In Chinese, the word "Yu" in the "Yucheng Postal Stop" means an upside down bowl and "Yucheng" is also the nickname of Gaoyou city. The original line is: "吾乡如覆盂，地处扬楚脊".[3][4][5]: 41 )
It was renovated during the Yongle era in the Ming dynasty, but was later destroyed in a fire in 1557. Then in 1568, renovations were made again. In the Qing dynasty, three emperors, namely the Kangxi, Jiaqing and Daoguang emperors, all had it carefully restored.
At present, the Yucheng Postal Stop occupies an area of 3,000 m2 and consists of the entrance hall, the front hall as well as the back hall. Among the extant buildings, the entrance hall was built in the middle of the Qing dynasty, the back hall in the late Ming dynasty, and the rest in the late Qing dynasty. Large-scale repair and expansion were carried out in 1890. The post was abandoned after the founding of the Republic of China in 1911.
Yucheng Postal Stop is now open to the public as the Museum of Chinese Postal History.[6]
References
edit- ^ 江苏省志. Vol. 84. 江苏人民出版社.
- ^ 江苏省志. Vol. 34. 江苏人民出版社.
- ^ A more detailed Chinese explanation for the origin of Gaoyou and its name.
- ^ 娄华东 (2012). "水陆两栖揽下一路仆仆风尘——盂城驿". 中华民居 (8). doi:10.3969/j.issn.1674-3954.2012.08.004.
- ^ 万象更新：揚州建国后史料专辑. Vol. 97. 江苏文史资料编辑部. 1997.
- ^ National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units (Group 1 to Group 5, Volume I). Beijing: Cultural Relics Press. 2004. ISBN 7-5010-1525-2.
- Jiang Wending (姜文定) (1995). 古盂城驿 （Ancient Yucheng Postal Stop）. Gaoyou: Gaoyou Bureau of Culture.
- "保护和传承中国邮驿文化遗产——兼谈如何利用邮政文化拓展业务" (The Preservation and Inheritance of Chinese Postal Culture)". China Postnews (中国邮政报)).