| | INDEX | REFERENCES | LINKS | |	Postal History of Imperial China

The Revolutionary Army's uprising at Wuchang / 武昌 on October 10, 1911, soon jointed by other provinces that finally overthrew the Manchurian / 滿清 government. Revolutionists led by Dr. Sun Yat-Sen / 孫逸仙 (中山) founded the Republic of China / 中華民國 on January 1, 1912. Ch'ing (Qing) / 清 Dynasty formally ended with the abdication of Emperor Hsuan Tung (Pu Yi) / 宣統 (溥儀) on February 12, 1912. The Chinese Imperial Postal Service / 大清郵政 became Chinese Republic Postal Service / 中華郵政 and Post of China entered a new era.

Despite of the difficulties and problems under circumstances of late Ch'ing (Qing) / 清 Dynasty, the Chinese Imperial Postal Service made remarkable achievements in her 15 years history. The number of post office grew from 24 in 1897 to 4,250 (general / sub-general office 49; branch office 957; agency 3,244) in 1911. The postal route extended 190,500km (land route 159,500; train route 8,500; ship route 12,500 and boat route 10,000km) long and reached to all provinces. The CIP processed 10 million mail matters in the period of 1987 to 1901, the volume reached 66 million by 1904, passed 100 million mark by 1906 and totaled 420 million by 1911, including 22,090,000 registered mail, 2,690,000 express mails and 4,230,000 parcels. The CIP also signed postal agreements with several countries' postal authorities for exchanging mailbags and recognition of Chinese postage stamps, and laid foundation for China eventually becoming a member of UPU. Thanks to the joint efforts of foreign and Chinese postal staffs, the Postal Service turned out to be one of the most productive sectors at that time. As for philatelist, many of the rarest gems of all Chinese philately were from this period as well as the most colorful postal history treasures.

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