近代中国邮政网络与信息可达性(1907-1936)

Postal Networks and the Efficiency of Information Dissemination in Modern China(1907-1936)

自1896年大清邮政建立至1937年抗战全面爆发导致国内邮政网络大规模破坏,此间40年是中国信息传播网络从官方驿站体系转换到官民混用的国营邮政体系的关键时期。邮政舆图是近代邮政地理网络的载体,此期间四个版本的邮政舆图(1907年、1920年、1933年、1936年)数字化,提供了四个截面的邮政地理网络。其中,1936年邮政地理网络是目前可见的近代地理空间数据中规模最大且可重建完整拓扑网络结构的典型个案。同时,基于中国第二历史档案馆馆藏的各邮区邮路《时间表》所载之“时间成本”,综合利用CIS手段,可计算得出1936年六大代表性城市与全国各地的邮政时间成本矩阵,并最终获取其邮政可达性的可视化结果。近代邮政网络空间渐次拓展,重塑了政府与民间对时间和空间的理解,使全国各地的信息可达性显著提高。近代中国信息传播网络,从明清驿站时代的单中心空间结构,演进到国营邮政时代的“多中心分布”。

The 40-year period from the establishment of the Imperial Post Office in the Qing Dynasty in 1896 to the full outbreak of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression in 1937-when the national postal network was in tatters—was pivotal in transitioning China's information network from the official courier station system to a state-run postal system that were accessible to government and civilians alike.National Postal Network Maps(NPNM)shed important light on the geographic distribution of postal services in modern China.For this purpose,researchers digitalized the NPNM of 1907,1920,1933 and 1936,in which the 1936 NPNM is the most comprehensive one,with a complete topological network structure.Based on the"Postal Service Delivery Time"data collected by the Second Historical Archives of China(Nanjing),researchers create the"Postal Service Delivery Time"matrix for six major cities in 1936 by using the GIS method,which provides a visual demonstration of postal service accessibility at the time in China.The gradual geographic expansion of the postal service in modern China profoundly altered the perceptions of time and space among Chinese officials and ordinary people,remarkably improving the efficiency of information dissemination across the country.In sum,information dissemination network in modern China experienced a transformation from the monocentric structure of official courier station network during the Ming and Qing dynasties to the polycentric structure of state-run postal system during the era of Republican China.