Communication is an important means of people's social communication, which has a long history, so many interesting stories related to it have been produced at all times and all over the world. In ancient China, there were post stations where people rode horses to deliver letters. In an emergency, put chicken feathers on the envelope as a signal. Kites are also used as communication tools. According to historical records, during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Hou Jing rebelled and trapped Liang Wudi in Taicheng, cutting off contact with the outside world. Later, Prince Xiaogang and Minister Yang Kan proposed to send urgent documents by kite communication, and only when reinforcements arrived could they be rescued. In addition, Cen Can, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote "Don't use paper and pencil to report peace with your news", which is another way of communication-news. Foreign countries have unique ways of communication. They draw a skeleton and crossed bones on the dispatch, or a hanging corpse on the gallows. 1870 At the height of the Franco-Prussian War, the Prussian army surrounded Paris, and ground communication was impossible. At that time, the French authorities used more than 80 balloons to transport more than 9 tons of letters to let the outside world know that Paris was trapped, which became the earliest "airmail". The shortest letter in the world is a good news letter written by Julius Caesar during his expedition to ancient Rome. There are only three words in the full text: "Come! Check! Won! " . The longest letter was written by Jones of Texas to his sister in May 1976. It is 1 13747, and it took him eight months. The longest delivery time in history is the "bottled letter" written by Columbus to the Queen of Italy, which was found after drifting at sea for 359 years. Hugo, a great French writer, received a letter on which was written "The greatest poet in France". He didn't open it, but sent it to Miao Sai, who sent it to Lamartin. These literary giants don't think they are qualified to open this letter. This letter has also become an unopened letter. Interesting letters related to Hugo and the publication of his masterpiece Les Miserables. After sending this manuscript, Hugo wrote a letter to the publisher with only one word "?" Then the reply he received was only a punctuation mark "!" . In this way, a world famous book was published, which brought a sensation to the world.
In China, the wild goose has always been a symbol of letters. The story of "geese plucking their hair" is also widely circulated. According to Su Han Wu Chuan, the Han Dynasty sent Su Wu to Xiongnu. Khan, the leader of Xiongnu at that time, tried to persuade Su Wu to submit, but Su Wu was indomitable. In the end, Khan exiled Su Wu to Beihai to shepherd sheep, claiming that Su Wu would be released back to the Han Dynasty only after the ram gave birth to a lamb. Su Wu went through hardships and never gave in. 19 years later, the relationship between the Han Dynasty and Xiongnu was reconciled, and Emperor Wudi sent people back to Su Wu. Khan lied that Su Wu was dead. A Han Chinese living in Xiongnu told the messenger of the Han Dynasty the truth, so the messenger condemned Khan, saying that the emperor of the Han Dynasty killed a flying goose while hunting, and there was a letter from Su Wu on his foot, saying that he was herding sheep in Beihai. Khan's lies were exposed and Su Wu had to return to the Han Dynasty. Su Wu's indomitable spirit has been praised by people for thousands of years, and the story of "The Flying Goose Delivers Books" has been circulated for a long time, so the flying geese have become a symbol of letters and communication.
Letters can't be separated from envelopes. As a necessity of communication, envelopes attract less attention than stamps, but they appeared thousands of years before stamps. In 3000 BC, Assyrians and Egyptians carved the contents of letters on clay tablets, then sealed them in pottery blanks and burned them into pottery, which was the earliest envelope form in the world. More than 500 years BC, the envelope that appeared in China was a small box with wooden slips and bamboo slips, which were delivered. People also sew complete sets with cotton and silk, and put wooden slips and bamboo slips together, which can be said to be the originator of China envelopes. After Cai Lun improved papermaking in the Eastern Han Dynasty, people not only used paper to write letters, but also used paper to paste them into envelopes to keep them secret, put them into envelopes and seal them before delivering them. Around the Three Kingdoms period, China began to use paper envelopes. With the development of postal industry, envelopes are used better and better. On June 1838+065438+ 10 1, Australia's New South Wales Post Office issued the world's earliest postage paid envelope, one and a half years earlier than the appearance of the world's first stamp.
After thousands of years of development, the envelope is no longer just a simple tool for confidential communication, but has become a multi-functional carrier, mainly including cultural functions and commercial functions. In China, starting from 1993, china national philatelic corporation and CCTV jointly issue "Happy New Year Cover" every year to celebrate the Spring Festival. Every New Year greeting letter is designed with the national characteristics of China. What is particularly commendable is that the Spring Festival couplets on each New Year greeting letter can best reflect the folk cultural characteristics of China. For example, "There are several rows of new snow in Mei Duo, and thousands of families are happy to welcome the Spring", "The fragrance of new snow makes thousands of families have plenty of food and clothing" and so on. On the occasion of the Spring Festival, a traditional festival in China, it is undoubtedly an excellent New Year gift to send such a New Year greeting letter to friends and relatives. Needless to say, the commercial function of envelopes has been best proved in the overwhelming business letters and advertisements.
Although the appearance of envelopes makes people's communication confidential, with the development of society, a new thing-postcard was born in the history of human communication. Postcard is a kind of hard card, which is used to write simple content, and it doesn't have to be mailed in a jacket. The first person in the world to send a letter by postcard was a German painter, the first person to suggest that the postal department print postcards was Heinrich von Stephens, the German postal counselor, and the first country to officially issue postcards was Austria. /kloc-one day in 0/865, a German painter wrote a letter to a friend, drew a picture on a piece of cardboard and wrote the contents of the letter on the back of the picture, but the post office didn't have such a big envelope to hold. The staff suggested that he write the address and name of the recipient on the back of the picture and then send it. After learning about this, Stephen realized that this novel communication method could simplify procedures and reduce postage, so he suggested that Deutsche Post issue postcards, but it was not adopted. 1 869 65438+1October1day, the Austrian postal authorities accepted a professor's suggestion and officially issued a postcard with a postage map, which is the first postage postcard in the world. Postcards became very popular as soon as they came out, and countries followed suit. Not to be outdone, Deutsche Post issued a postcard on July 1, 1, 870, but gave up this "the best in the world". Since then, postcards have become popular all over the world.
The history of affixing stamps on envelopes is only 160 years, which can be said to be the youngest among various components of letters. 1 may 8401day, the world's first stamp was born in Britain. The design is Queen Victoria's head, printed in black ink, with a face value of 1p, so this stamp is called "black penny". The earliest stamps in China appeared in 1878, with dragons as the main body and Xiangyun water waves as the background. China has regarded the dragon as the symbol of the emperor since ancient times, and the national emblem of the Qing Dynasty is also marked by the dragon. Stamps imply that feudal rulers are like flying dragons jumping out of the water. Therefore, this set of three stamps is called "dragon stamps". /p-3436994394453.html Of course, post offices are indispensable for postal communication. The world's most primitive "post office" is located in the southernmost Cape of Good Hope in Africa. /kloc-at the beginning of the 0/7th century, the European fleet had to stop here to replenish fresh water and supplies on its voyage to India. At the same time, the crew also pressed the letters from home under the smooth stones, so that the ships returning from India could take them home when they arrived here. Sometimes, the crew will engrave the date of their arrival, the name of the crew and the name of the captain under the pressure stone. This kind of big stone can also be said to be the embryonic form of modern mailbox. In ancient China, letters were delivered through the post office. At the earliest time, Buchuan was called "Hou" and Ma Chuan was called "Hou", and later they were collectively called "Hou Hou". It was not until 1896 that China Modern Post was established.
In today's world, due to the rapid development of modern communication technology and network technology, traditional communication is gradually forgotten by people and is only regarded as nostalgia or even backwardness. However, with the development of human civilization for thousands of years, traditional letters will never disappear completely in a short time. Because we can learn too much cultural and historical connotation from it, which is exactly what modern science and technology can't bring us. .......