← Explore on the interactive map

Mongol Postal Relay Stations (Zhanchi)

Type Object Region East Asia Time 1230–1368

Zhanchi was the Mongol-Yuan postal relay system spanning Eurasia, providing horses and rest for envoys, officials, and military communications across…

Timeline

  1. 1230–1260Relay roads of the Mongolian Plateau · Mongolian PlateauÖgedei Khan ordered zhanchi stations set up across the empire at set intervals, providing horses, food, lodging, and guards; envoys with tablets could pass freely, and the system was later inherited and extended to all of China by Kublai Khan.
  2. 1271–1330Yuan relay road system · Yuan EmpireThe Yuan established the Bureau of Transmission to manage the postal relay system; overland, two major north-south trunk lines connected Dadu with the provinces, and station boats also ran on waterways; the burden on stations was heavy, and the Yuan court repeatedly reduced taxes and corvée for station households to keep the system running.
  3. 1331–1340Relay roads of the Yuan provinces · Yuan EmpireIn the 1330s, zhanchi remained the backbone of imperial administrative and military communications, with couriers carrying edicts and military reports; but overissuance of tablets and official harassment of stations worsened, station households bore heavy burdens, and some stations struggled to operate.

Sources