Yizhan means "hotel" in modern times. The hotel originated from the original inn. It was originally a place where officials traveling between various places took a rest to send letters or feed their horses. Moreover, the inn was a place for travelers in ancient times to stop and rest, providing comfort during the journey.
The inn was a place where officials delivering military intelligence in ancient times could eat, stay, and change horses on the way. The border defense force transmits information and is under the control of the ancient customs, navy, and navy. During the Twelfth Dynasty of ancient Egypt, there were records of transmitting messages.
The original meaning of the word "Postal" can be understood from China's postal stations and the evolution of postal services: In ancient Chinese books, records of communication affairs are often referred to as "Zhuan" and "Jiu". As for the word "Post", it comes from "Mencius·Gongsun Chou": "Confucius said that the spread of virtue is faster than the transmission of orders by post."
China is one of the first countries in the world to establish an organized information delivery system. It can be traced back to the oracle bone inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty more than 3,000 years ago. Riding a horse to deliver a message was an early form of organized communication. The "Post Envoy" sculpture located in the square of Jiayuguan Railway Station is based on the mural tombs of the Wei and Jin Dynasties in Jiayuguan. The post envoy is holding slips and documents in his hands, and the post horse is flying with all four legs in the air at a very fast speed. This brick mural was used as the theme pattern for small stamps by the First Congress of the All-China Philatelic Federation in 1982. This shows that Jiayuguan is one of the birthplaces of Chinese information culture.
From the descriptions in the Spring and Autumn Period, Zuo Zhuan and other books, we can know that there were three ways of communication at that time: the first was "Zhuan", which was delivered by car; the second was "Mail", which was delivered by foot; and the third was "Post" , is a horse delivery station, collectively known as "Zhuanyu". Later, because the cost of car delivery was too high, it was gradually discontinued and only step delivery and horse delivery were left, so it was renamed "Mail Station".