China is one of the birthplaces of mankind. In ancient times, our ancestors evolved from apes, learned to make tools, and then began to carry out targeted transportation and information transmission in hunting for a living. The most primitive modes of transportation are hand-held, overhead, shoulder-carried and back-carried; The most primitive way of information transmission is to make phone calls and gesture. At that time, due to the development of social productive forces, animal husbandry and agriculture had a division of labor and began product exchange, resulting in a small amount of transportation in a place. Later, handicraft industry and agriculture had a division of labor, resulting in money, the exchange of goods increased rapidly, and the scope and quantity of transportation also expanded and increased accordingly. The social division of labor has become more and more detailed, and gradually formed a transportation industry dedicated to transporting passengers and goods and a post and telecommunications industry dedicated to transmitting information.
When transportation became a relatively independent specialized industry, the contents and methods of ancient transportation industry and post and telecommunications industry also developed and enriched with the development of social productive forces and the progress of science and technology. In the long river of human history, the transportation industry has been dragged from ancient manpower to today's air transportation, and the post and telecommunications industry has experienced thousands of years from ancient bonfire alarm to today's satellite communication. Specifically, the development process of China's ancient transportation industry, from ancient times to the late Qing Dynasty, can be roughly divided into the following five stages.
In the pre-Qin period, the ancient means of transportation in China began to take shape. As early as the Shang Dynasty more than 3,000 years ago, the traffic in ancient China was developed. According to Oracle Bone Inscriptions, bronze inscriptions, unearthed objects and ancient books, the Shang Dynasty not only had vehicles such as chariots, horses, treadmills and boating, but also began to establish the system of "priests passing on the day" and conducted organized communication activities. By the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, wars were frequent and many chariot roads were built. The land traffic in the Central Plains is criss-crossed, and "stations" are set up along the way. Waterway traffic not only makes use of natural rivers such as Yangtze River, Huaihe River and Yellow River, but also has dug artificial canals such as Xu He, Hanhangou, Heshui River and Gorge.
During the Qin and Han dynasties, land and water transportation formed a national network. The formation of the national transportation network began in the Qin Dynasty. After Qin Shihuang unified China, he promulgated the law of "cars on the same track", renovated and connected the chaotic traffic routes in the past, and built chidao all over the country, so that vehicles could run smoothly everywhere. At the same time, post roads are set up, post office regulations are promulgated, and a postal delivery system for delivering government documents and military information is established. The Han Dynasty opened up the "Silk Road", a road leading to the west through the western regions. On the basis of the original roads in the Qin Dynasty, the Han Dynasty continued to expand and develop the transportation network centered on Kyoto and radiating in all directions. During the Qin and Han dynasties, the water transport industry developed greatly. The Lingqu excavated in the Qin Dynasty connected the Yangtze River water system and the Pearl River water system, while the Han Dynasty opened a sea passage connecting the two great empires in the world-the Eastern Han Empire and the Western Roman Empire.
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, China's land and water transportation entered a new historical stage. During the Sui Dynasty, the Grand Canal, the earliest, largest and longest canal in the world, was completed. During the Tang Dynasty, maritime trade developed gradually, opening up new maritime routes and strengthening exchanges and contacts between the East and the West. In the Tang Dynasty, Chang 'an, Kyoto developed into an important transportation hub and center at home and abroad, and became one of the largest cities in the world. In the Tang Dynasty, there were many post stations on the main roads of land and water transportation, one every thirty miles, which constituted a post road system with Chang 'an in Kyoto as the center and all over the country. All roads lead to Chang' an
During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, ancient traffic entered its heyday. In the Song Dynasty, the compass was applied to seagoing ships, which greatly improved the navigation technology. In the Song Dynasty, sailboats were used as an important means of maritime transportation, sailing from Guangzhou and Quanzhou to Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean and even the Persian Gulf. The coastal shipping industry in Yuan Dynasty was the most developed. In addition to continuing to dig canals, the Yuan Dynasty also opened up a waterway transportation route mainly by sea, with a maximum annual grain transportation of 3.6 million stones. The territory of the Yuan Dynasty was larger than that of the previous generation. The distribution of postal routes is also inferior to that of the previous generation. On the national land and water channel, stations (post stations) spread all over the country, forming a dense post road traffic network with Dadu (now Beijing) as the center and leading to the whole country and even overseas.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the traffic in ancient China declined gradually. The shipbuilding industry in Ming Dynasty was the largest, and there was a shipbuilding peak. The most important event in the traffic history of this period was Zheng He, a great navigator in Ming Dynasty. He went to the Western Ocean from 1405 to 1433, which pushed the ancient navigation activities of China to the peak. However, the good times did not last long. Soon after, the Ming and Qing dynasties successively implemented the maritime ban, and the navigation industry never recovered. 1840 After the Opium War, imperialism invaded one after another, trains, ships, automobiles and other modern means of transportation rose one after another, and railways, air routes and highways were continuously opened up, which led to the decline and gradual abandonment of ancient water transportation with sailboats as the main tools, ancient land transportation with animal-drawn carts and rickshaws as the main tools, and ancient postal communication with postal services as the main means.
2 changes in the mode of transportation
First, the appearance of ships, cars and roads. Ancient humans engaged in hunting, gathering and frequent migration activities, all relying on human physical strength. In ancient times, most people lived by the river. With the application of fire and stone axe to meet the needs of fishing and crossing the river, the earliest water vehicle-canoe was born. With canoes, people's activities have expanded, and from then on, they can cross the waters, open up new horizons and promote the further development of production. Another important thing in early human transportation is to know how to domesticate animals such as cattle, horses, camels and elephants, and use them instead of manpower to transport goods and also for people to ride. In Shang and Zhou Dynasties, there were hieroglyphics in the inscriptions of Oracle Bone Inscriptions and bronzes, indicating that automobiles had appeared, reflecting that automobiles had shafts and carriages to ride, and people had mastered the technology of "riding for cattle". After the appearance of cars, in order to speed up the transportation and increase the load, there is a requirement to build roads. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, in order to compete for the hegemony of the Central Plains, various vassal states built road chariots in succession. After Qin Shihuang unified the six countries, he overhauled Chidao, "cars on the same track" and implemented road administration, so that vehicles could reach all parts of the country directly. In the Han Dynasty, Zhang Qian and Ban Chao sent missions to the western regions, which opened up the "Silk Road" to the west.
Second, the rise of shipbuilding and shipping. China was able to make wooden boats in Shang Dynasty, and in Zhou Dynasty, there were large inland river boats in the fields of Yellow River, Yangtze River and Pearl River. While using natural inland rivers, lakes and oceans for shipping, human beings have long known how to dig artificial canals to connect natural rivers and expand the scope of shipping. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period, China dug Xu He, Hangou and other canals. Lingqu, an artificial canal in Qin Dynasty, occupies an important position in the shipping history of China and the world, and its overall layout and specific design are very scientific. In the Han Dynasty, a relatively complete water army system was established, and different types of ships were developed. The appearance of shipbuilding in Han Dynasty is a sign of the initial maturity of shipbuilding technology in ancient China. The progress of ship technology in Han dynasty was also manifested in the invention and application of paddle, rudder and sail. China's ancient shipbuilding and shipping have maintained a leading position in the world for a long time.
Third, introduce motor vehicles. /kloc-the invention of the steam engine in the second half of the 0/8th century led to the industrial revolution. Since the beginning of the19th century, steam engines have been applied to ships and vehicles running on railways, and motorboats and locomotives have come out. Since then, a new era of modern transportation has begun. 1840 After the Opium War, imperialism introduced new modes of transportation such as railways into China as tools of aggression. From 65438 to 1930s, there appeared a British-made steam engine ship in China's maritime transportation. 1872, when Li Hongzhang organized China Merchants, China bought his own steamboat and started sailing on sea and inland river routes. The first railway in China was the Songhu Railway built by British businessmen in 1876. Tang-Xu Railway was built in China in 188 1 year. The first trunk railway, which was completely organized by China people, was designed and constructed by Zhan Tianyou, an outstanding engineer, and was completed and opened to traffic on 1909. In China, the car was first seen in Shanghai and 1902 was brought in from abroad. Automobile transportation needs to build hard roads. China's expressway started from Longzhou to Nakan, and 1908 was completed, but it was not opened to traffic. Air transport appeared relatively late. The famous pilot Feng Ru 1909 made the first plane in China. In the early 1920s, the air transport of passengers between Beijing and Tianjin officially started.
Fourth, the birth and development of postal services and telecommunications. The activity of transmitting information appeared very early in human society. The ancient post office came into being to meet this demand. In ancient times, government decrees or military orders were mainly transmitted by human or animal power. It was not until 1896 that modern postal service was formally established in China. China's telecommunications industry is also one of the targets of imperialist control and plunder. 187 1 year, Danish Dabei telegraph company laid submarine cables privately along the coast of China, and set up a telegraph office in the Shanghai Concession to start telegraph business. The telephone first appeared in the British Concession in Shanghai in 188 1 year. It was run by the British businessman St. Regis, apparently serving the imperialist aggressive policy. While the imperialists were operating the telecommunications industry in China, China also started its own telegraph, telephone and radio communication services in the late Qing Dynasty.
The above is a brief cross-analysis of China's ancient traffic history from two angles and sides. First, the general description, and then the sub-description. On the basis of a preliminary understanding of the historical clues of ancient transportation, we divide ancient transportation modes and tools into nine topics, which will be introduced one by one later.