In the 70s of last century, the portrait brick "Yi Envoy Map" from the Wei and Jin Dynasties was unearthed in an ancient tomb in the Gobi Desert northeast of Jiayuguan City, Gansu Province.
As an ancient form of communication, the post post is an institution specially set up in ancient times to transmit government orders and military information, which not only serves the official government, but also sends letters to civilians, and has a long history in the mainland.
More than 3,000 years ago, there was a large-scale postal system in the Zhou Dynasty. After Qin unified China, a network of post stations centered on Xianyang was established, and there were many post houses on the main roads for post envoys to eat and lodg, and horse exchanges, and at the same time promulgated the earliest postal law in the mainland, "Xingshu Law". The post system of the Han Dynasty was administered by the prefecture, county, and county levels, and Emperor Wudi of Han used to "list four counties (Dunhuang, Zhangye, Jiuquan, and Wuwei) in the Hexi corridor according to two passes (Yumen Pass and Yangguan)" to facilitate the transmission of official documents and letters. During the Three Kingdoms period, the "Post Order" formulated by the Wei State combined "post" and "post", which was the first regulation in the history of mainland postal posts. Post posts became increasingly perfect in the Tang Dynasty, and the Six Classics of the Great Tang recorded that there were 1,639 post stations in various places, with more than 20,000 post workers. After the Song Dynasty, in order to transmit urgent military information, a fast mail delivery system "urgent foot delivery" was specially set up to serve the army. In the Qing Dynasty, there were more than 1,600 official posts in the country, with more than 70,000 pawns and more than 40,000 stagecoaches, which is a huge number.
In early 1972, two sheep herds in Xincheng Village, Xincheng Township, Jiayuguan City, Gansu Province, accidentally discovered a secret tomb while herding sheep in the Gobi Desert. Soon, experts from the China Museum of History discovered more than 1,400 underground tombs from the Wei and Jin dynasties scattered on the Gobi Desert, nearly 13 square kilometers east of Jiayuguan and west of Jiuquan. Later, archaeologists carried out many excavations of this "new city Weijin tomb complex" and successively found a number of exquisite tomb brick murals. Most of these frescoes are well preserved and in the same color as new.
Among them, the portrait brick "Picture of the Messenger" depicts a person and a horse on the long yellow sand road, rushing to the end of the world. 35 cm long, 17 cm wide and 5 cm thick, with a beige base, black contour lines, a yellow horse body, dotted with red patches, painted around the 3rd century AD, artistically reproduces the situation of a post post on the northwest frontier, and is recognized as the earliest ancient post post image found on the mainland so far.
On the screen, the envoy who resembles today's "courier brother", wearing a black crown on his head, wearing a wide-sleeved shirt on his right, riding a red-maned horse, pedaling boots, holding the document of the Legend (a token certificate when passing the customs) in his left hand, and galloping with his right hand tightly controlling the reins, riding on four hooves into the air, moving and quiet, highlighting the importance and urgency of the delivery task. The envoy had a solemn expression and no mouth on his face, which pointed out that this was aimed at emphasizing that in the past, the post post was related to military affairs and government orders, had strong confidentiality, and the duty requirements must be tight-lied. The "Yi Envoy Drawing" has simple brushwork, smooth lines, refined painting style, and a combination of realism and freehand, which highly reflects the creative techniques and artistic style advocated by Wei and Jin murals.
After the unearthing of the "Emissary Map", it became famous, and once participated in the World Universal Post Expo as the symbol of China Post, and stood on the railway station square as the city symbol of Jiayuguan City, interpreting the loyal, responsible, trustworthy, efficient humanistic character and urban spirit.
On August 25, 1982, the first congress of the All-China Philatelic Federation was held in Beijing, the former Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications used the "Envoy Map" as the stamp design (the background and character clothes were changed to light blue), and issued a small sheet of the "First Congress of the All-China Philatelic Federation" with a face value of 1 yuan, the ticket picture is simple and elegant, lined with wild goose shading, which not only fits the commemorative theme, but also symbolizes the beautiful meaning of the Hongyan book, so it is highly sought after by the philatelic community after its launch. With the image of "speeding up, keeping the mouth tight, and living up to its mission", "Yi Messenger Map" has become a household name and widely spread as the "image ambassador" of China Post.
In 1994, when the former State Postal Savings and Exchange Bureau issued the first national savings green card, it also chose the culturally rich "Messenger Map" as the card face pattern. Since then, "Yi Zhi Tu" has been continuously republished in the field of China Post and its savings, especially the most extensive financial debit card, going abroad and circulating overseas, and it is not lacking in many countries and regions in Asia, North America and Europe.
In 2007, the stamps of the "Postal Savings Bank of China" were publicly issued, and the postal green card with the main design of the "Messenger Map" was still used on the ticket, and this was also the second time that the "Postal Savings Bank of China" stamp was taken to the top.
Today, "Emissary Map", which has become the "image ambassador" and "spokesperson" of China Post, continues its past mission, as always, interprets the legend of "one person, one horse walks the world", and fully shows the world its classical beauty and majestic power from the ancient civilization of the East.
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