The correspondence between post station and beacon tower stems from the political and military needs of slave countries. According to historical records, in the era of Zhou Youwang 2700 years ago, there was a method of communication by using beacon towers. There is a story about beacon communication called Daughter Laughs. The central idea of the story is that Zhou Youwang has a lovely princess who praises her. Although she is beautiful, she refuses to smile easily. To this end, Zhou Youwang made a reward: "Whoever can make the empress laugh will be rewarded with one thousand Jin of gold" (copper was called gold at that time). So someone came up with a way to light a bonfire, hoping to get a smile from the queen. One night, Zhou Youwang boarded the tower with a lovely princess and ordered bonfires to be lit everywhere. When the neighboring governors saw the bonfire, they thought that Xirong (a tribe in the west at that time) was attacking, so they led the troops to the city gate to rescue them, but they saw bright lights and loud drums. I didn't know it was a funny thing that Zhou Youwang made fun of the queen until I asked. Every Norhou dared to be angry and dare not speak, so he had to retreat back to camp angrily. Big sister saw it and really smiled indifferently. But not long after, Xirong really attacked. Although the bonfire was lit, no reinforcements arrived. As it turns out, the governors think that Zhou Youwang is doing the same thing again. As a result, Xirong captured the castle and killed Zhou Youwang, thus destroying the surrounding area. This historical story not only vividly depicts the use of beacon communication at that time, but also warns future generations not to take communication seriously no matter who and when the enterprise is.
Using beacon towers to transmit information is faster, but it can only play the role of alarm, which is difficult to meet the needs of grasping the enemy's situation and commanding operations. Therefore, with the development of society and the needs of politics and military affairs, from "Laigu" in Shang Dynasty to Zhou Dynasty, a relatively strict postal system for delivering government documents was gradually formed, and it complemented and cooperated with beacon towers.
After Qin Shihuang unified China (22 BC1year), he practiced Chidao all over the country, "cars are on the same track, books are in the same language", established a network of post stations centered on Xianyang, the capital of China, and formulated post laws, such as how to bind bamboo slips, seal them with ink, seal them for confidentiality, etc. How to supply food and grass for postal personnel; How to receive past officials and servants. By 1960, postal service had formed the earliest postal law in China.
The postal service in Han Dynasty inherited the system of Qin Dynasty, and its unified name was "Postal Service". It is stipulated that five miles is one, ten miles is a pavilion, and three miles is set. With the formation of the "Silk Road", postal services have also reached India, Myanmar, Persia and other countries. By the Tang Dynasty, postal services had developed greatly. There are more than 65,438+0,600 land post offices, water post offices and land post offices in China. It also stipulates the itinerary and has a performance appraisal and inspection system. When performing tasks, the postal department carries with it "mail roll" or "letter card" and other identity documents.
In the Song Dynasty, due to frequent wars, there were a large number of military emergency official documents, which required fast and safe. As a result, the postman served by the civilian worker was changed to a soldier, and an "express delivery shop" was added, with three kinds of gold, silver and bronze medals. The gold medal travels 500 Li a day, the silver medal 400 Li and the bronze spleen 300 Li. Carry out the relay of changing people and horses at each station. In the Yuan Dynasty, due to the expansion of military scope and territory, there were 1496 post stations in the whole country, and the post stations were renamed as post stations.
In the Ming Dynasty, on the basis of following the old system, due to the increasingly developed maritime traffic, the headquarters and seven voyages to the West were established, and a maritime post office was also opened. At the beginning of Qing Dynasty, there were more than 0/600 official post stations/KLOC-,with more than 70,000 postmen and more than 40,000 post horses, which were under the charge of the Ministry of War. /kloc-after the middle of the 0/9th century, the funds of the post office were mostly filled by officials' corruption, and the post office administration was abandoned. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, modern postal services were gradually emerging, and the role of post stations was gradually disappearing. So in 19 13, 1, Beiyang government announced the cancellation of all post stations.
Postal system originated from slave countries, prevailed in feudal society, and ended with the decline of feudal system. Although the communication between post and beacon tower was the imperial tool of feudal dynasty, it was also the beginning of organized communication in China. It not only occupies a certain position in the history of postal communication in China, but also makes an important contribution to promoting social progress and human civilization.
The post office is the government's communication agency, which only delivers official documents. Ordinary people can only convey information by asking people to convey it, but it is slow and easy to delay and lose. There are many stories about "Hongyan's Biography" in China ancient books, which shows how difficult it is for ancient people to communicate. Today, people still regard Hongyan as a symbol of postal communication, which shows that the people have high hopes for postal communication.
The formation of folk communication organizations began in the Tang Dynasty. At that time, it was mainly due to the development of social economy, especially the needs of commerce and trade. First of all, between Chang 'an and Luoyang, there is a "post donkey" serving folk businessmen. At that time, there was another method called "flying money", that is, businessmen from all over the world deposited the money from selling goods in Chang 'an in the office of Chang 'an local government, and then returned it to the local government with a receipt. This is the bud of today's remittance business. It was not until the Ming Dynasty that the People's Information Bureau appeared. In the southwestern provinces, there has also been a "horse meeting" to visit relatives with letters. According to legend, the farmers who moved to Xiaogan Township, Macheng County, Hubei Province, missed their hometown and made an appointment to send representatives back to their hometown every year to bring some local products and letters back and forth. Later, a people's letter bureau was gradually formed.
The Human Resources and Social Security Bureau began to appear in coastal cities with convenient transportation and developed trade, and then gradually developed to the mainland. The People's Information Bureau is a profit-making private organization. On the one hand, they do it in favorable places, and no one cares in remote areas; On the other hand, in order to attract business, they compete with each other to provide convenience for customers, such as sending people to collect letters and remit money, which can also be charged, which has promoted the rapid development of the Human Resources and Social Security Bureau. During the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty (182 1 to 1874), the People's Information Bureau reached its peak, and there were thousands of People's Information Bureaus throughout the country. Some set up their headquarters in Shanghai, a commercial center, and set up branches and offices in various places. The People's Information Bureau is interrelated and forms a non-governmental exchange network.
Since the Song and Yuan Dynasties, some poor people in coastal areas such as Guangdong, Fujian and Zhejiang have been trafficked abroad to work as coolies in order to make a living. These overseas Chinese who live overseas have to correspond with their relatives and friends in the motherland, or send goods and remittances back to the motherland, and the "Overseas Chinese Approval Bureau" came into being. In fact, the Overseas Chinese Information Bureau is the Overseas Chinese Information Bureau. Because Fujian dialect calls "letter" as "batch", it is called Overseas Chinese Information Bureau, which serves overseas Chinese communication. Due to its thoughtful service to overseas Chinese and outstanding reputation, the Overseas Chinese Approval Bureau almost monopolized the business of sending letters and remittances by overseas Chinese.
Hongyan delivers books. Goose is a messenger. The story of Biography of Hongyan comes from Biography of Wu. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Su Wu defected to Xiongnu and was detained in Beihai. Later, Korea and Hungary reconciled, and Korea begged Su Wu and others to release them. Xiongnu lied that Su Wu was dead, and Chang Hui, a subordinate official of Su Wu, met an ambassador in the evening, and told him to tell Xiongnu that when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was hunting in the forest, he would come from the north to see Hongyan, whose feet were tied with silk, saying that Su Wu and others were trapped in a certain jersey. Khan was frightened when he heard the news, so he had to put it back in Su Wu. As a result, later generations will associate letters with wild geese, and geese, as messengers of letters, often appear in the poems of literati. For example, "the geese come without evidence, and the road is difficult to dream." (Five Dynasties Li Yu's "Qing Ping Le") "Fish books are not without geese, and I want to make sad autumn poems." (Sword by Li Mingxian) Not only that, when the ancients mailed letters, they also made them into the shape of geese with bamboo or silk in the middle, which was convenient for mailing. The ancients also used Hong Jing to refer to beautiful women. Cao Zhi described Luo Shen in "Luo Shen Fu": "If you are surprised, you will look like Youlong". Shan Li's Note: "Dancing is like a wild goose's surprise". "The spring waves under the sad bridge are green, which was once a stunning photo" (Two Poems of Shenyuan by Lu You in the Southern Song Dynasty). Here, it is used to describe the beauty of Lu You's ex-wife Tang.
Respondents: w4 1604 18 | Level 1 | 20 10-5-9 17:06.
One is the letter, which is distributed by the postman, rides to various post stations, changes horses, and finally delivers the letter.
There is also a flying pigeon to pass books, that is, a homing pigeon is used to tie the letter to the homing pigeon's leg, and then it is released, and the homing pigeon will return to its original place and write with the homing pigeon brought from where.
There are also some informal things, such as rumors and storytelling. People talk to each other about spreading information.
Or the storyteller will put something into words and sing it in the form of storytelling, which is also regarded as information dissemination. In ancient times:
China is one of the first countries in the world to establish an organized information transmission system. As early as 3000 years ago, there were records of information transmission in Shang Dynasty.
Post-horse relay is an early organized mode of communication. The "Postman" sculpture is located in Jiayuguan Railway Station Square, based on the mural tomb of Wei and Jin Dynasties in Jiayuguan. With a simple document in his hand, the postman galloped at high speed on all fours. This brick mural was taken as the theme of a small stamp by the First Congress of the All-China Philatelic Federation 1982, which shows that Jiayuguan is one of the cradles of information culture in China.
A whole set of evacuation system was formed in Qin and Han Dynasties. Especially in the Han Dynasty, the documents delivered were graded, and the documents of different grades should be delivered by special personnel and special horses in accordance with the prescribed order and time. Sending and receiving these documents must be registered and marked with time to show responsibility.
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the cause of evacuation developed unprecedentedly. The official postal transport line in the Tang Dynasty centered on Chang 'an, the capital city, radiating in all directions and reaching the frontier, with a post station about 30 miles away. According to the Six Codes of the Great Tang Dynasty, at its peak, there were 1 639 post stations in China, with more than 20,000 people specializing in postal services, including 1.7 million post soldiers. The post is divided into three types: land post, water post and waterway merger. Each station is equipped with a station house, a post horse, a post donkey, a post boat and a post yard.
In the Tang Dynasty, there were also explicit provisions on the itinerary of the post station. Lu Yi's trotters walk six posts a day, that is, 180 Li, and then there are about 300 Aliri, and the fastest requirement is 500 Aliri. Pedestrians travel 50 miles a day; Sailing against the current, the river is forty miles, the river is fifty miles, and the other six miles; When it is good, specify 100 to 150 miles. The poet Cen Can wrote in the poem "A Judge on the Road to Longshan" that "after a post, the post rides like a Milky Way; Pingming sent Xianyang, the curtain and the top of the mountain. " Here, he compares the post horse to a meteor. On November 9th, 14th year of Tianbao, An Lushan rebelled in Fanyang. At that time, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty was in Huaqing Palace, three thousand miles apart. Within six days, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty learned the news, and the speed of communication reached 500 miles per day. It can be seen that the organization and speed of postal communication in Tang Dynasty reached a high level.
In the Song Dynasty, all official documents and letters were called "delivery", and "express delivery shop" appeared. There is a bronze bell tied to the collar of the riding whistle in a hurry. Running on the road, ringing the bell during the day and lighting a fire at night, the person killed is not responsible. Shopping for horses, shopping for people, rain or shine, day and night. In the early years of Southern Song Dynasty, Yue Fei, an anti-gold general, was forcibly recalled to Lin 'an from the front with 12 gold medals by Song Gaozong. This kind of gold medal is a gold plate sent by express delivery, indicating urgency.
The way of ancient information transmission:
1. Migratory birds, especially pigeons and geese, are used as communication tools.
2. the way to make stuffing, such as hiding in fish belly, cake, steamed stuffed bun, etc.
3. With special sounds, such as bells, drums and firecrackers.
4. There are lights and firelights, such as Kongming lanterns and beacon towers.
5. There are other signs and decorations. , and other signs to lure the enemy.
Modern information dissemination mode:
1. Wired communication transmission, such as telephone, fax, telegram, television, etc.
2. Wireless communication transmission, such as walkie-talkies, pagers (to be eliminated), mobile phones, radios, etc.
3. Digital communication transmission, the most familiar, networked computers, digital TV.
4. Paper communication transmission, such as letters and newspapers.
There are also bells and drums, fireworks, pigeons, semaphores and wolf smoke to convey information.
1 Feather stick: Feather letters are mostly used in war emergencies.
[2] Chicken hair letter: generally used in folk.
[3] Feather book: used to recruit 1 troops.
[4] Pigeons send books [so-called flying pigeons send books]
[5] Fast horses pass books.
[6] Bamboo tube: dual-purpose for government and people, similar to the current envelope.
[7] Rapid transmission: used to transmit urgent military information, commonly known as "passing the gold medal".
[8] Different dynasties, such as bonfires/wolf smoke, have different modes of transmission.
[9] Postscript
Ancient times:
China is one of the first countries in the world to establish an organized information transmission system. As early as 3000 years ago, there were records of information transmission in Shang Dynasty.
Post-horse relay is an early organized mode of communication. The "Postman" sculpture is located in Jiayuguan Railway Station Square, based on the mural tomb of Wei and Jin Dynasties in Jiayuguan. With a simple document in his hand, the postman galloped at high speed on all fours. This brick mural was taken as the theme of a small stamp by the First Congress of the All-China Philatelic Federation 1982, which shows that Jiayuguan is one of the cradles of information culture in China.
A whole set of evacuation system was formed in Qin and Han Dynasties. Especially in the Han Dynasty, the documents delivered were graded, and the documents of different grades should be delivered by special personnel and special horses in accordance with the prescribed order and time. Sending and receiving these documents must be registered and marked with time to show responsibility.
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the cause of evacuation developed unprecedentedly. The official postal transport line in the Tang Dynasty centered on Chang 'an, the capital city, radiating in all directions and reaching the frontier, with a post station about 30 miles away. According to the Six Codes of the Great Tang Dynasty, at its peak, there were 1 639 post stations in China, with more than 20,000 people specializing in postal services, including 1.7 million post soldiers. The post is divided into three types: land post, water post and waterway merger. Each station is equipped with a station house, a post horse, a post donkey, a post boat and a post yard.
In the Tang Dynasty, there were also explicit provisions on the itinerary of the post station. Lu Yi's trotters walk six posts a day, that is, 180 Li, and then there are about 300 Aliri, and the fastest requirement is 500 Aliri. Pedestrians travel 50 miles a day; Sailing against the current, the river is forty miles, the river is fifty miles, and the other six miles; When it is good, specify 100 to 150 miles. The poet Cen Can wrote in the poem "A Judge on the Road to Longshan" that "after a post, the post rides like a Milky Way; Pingming sent Xianyang, the curtain and the top of the mountain. " Here, he compares the post horse to a meteor. On November 9th, 14th year of Tianbao, An Lushan rebelled in Fanyang. At that time, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty was in Huaqing Palace, three thousand miles apart. Within six days, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty learned the news, and the speed of communication reached 500 miles per day. It can be seen that the organization and speed of postal communication in Tang Dynasty reached a high level.
In the Song Dynasty, all official documents and letters were called "delivery", and "express delivery shop" appeared. There is a bronze bell tied to the collar of the riding whistle in a hurry. Running on the road, ringing the bell during the day and lighting a fire at night, the person killed is not responsible. Shopping for horses, shopping for people, rain or shine, day and night. In the early years of Southern Song Dynasty, Yue Fei, an anti-gold general, was forcibly recalled to Lin 'an from the front with 12 gold medals by Song Gaozong. This kind of gold medal is a gold plate sent by express delivery, indicating urgency.
There are also bells and drums, fireworks, pigeons, semaphores, wolf smoke and other ways to convey information.
Modern communication
abstract
China used drums to transmit information in ancient times, as early as the end of primitive society.
By the Western Zhou Dynasty, China had a relatively complete postal system.
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, with the progress of politics, economy and culture, postal communication gradually became complete.
During the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Wei's greatest achievement in postal history was the formulation of postal orders.
One of the signs of the development of postal service in Sui and Tang Dynasties was the increase in the number of post stations.
During the Yuan Dynasty in China, the postal service developed greatly.
The biggest feature of the post system reform in Qing Dynasty is the combination of "post" and "post".
After the middle of Qing Dynasty, with the establishment of modern postal service, the ancient postal system was gradually eliminated.
Fire spreads military intelligence.
"Beacon" is a communication method used in ancient China to transmit frontier defense military information. It began in Shang and Zhou Dynasties and extended to Ming and Qing Dynasties. We have been learning from each other for thousands of years, especially in the Han Dynasty. At the height of the frontier defense military fortress or transportation hub, a high platform is built at regular intervals, commonly known as beacon tower, also known as beacon tower, trestle, smoke pier, etc. Garrison is waiting on the high platform. When the enemy invades, they burn firewood during the day to give an alarm by "burning smoke" and at night to give an alarm by "bonfire" (fire). When one station lit a beacon, neighboring stations also lit torches one after another, passing by one by one. In a short time, in order to report the enemy's situation, they dispatched troops, requested reinforcements and defeated the enemy.
In the history of our country, there is also a story that "bonfire princes" lit bonfires at will in order to please beautiful women, which eventually led to national subjugation.
Haojiang, the capital of the Zhou Dynasty, was established after the demise of the Shang Dynasty, and was called the Western Zhou Dynasty in history. In the early days, in order to consolidate the state power, Zhou Wang successively enfeoffed his brothers, relatives and heroes to various places as vassals, established vassal states and established a whole set of systems. Agriculture, handicrafts and commerce have all developed to a certain extent.
Letters from Hongyan-Letters from afar
The story of The Legend of Hongyan comes from Hanshu? The story of "Su Wu herding sheep" in Biography of Su Wu. According to records, in the first year of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty (BC 100), Su Wu, the ambassador of the Han Dynasty, was detained by Shan Yu, the messenger of the Huns. He was brave and unyielding, and Khan exiled him to the no-man's land in Beihai (now Lake Baikal) to shepherd sheep. 19 years later, Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty succeeded to the throne, and the fierce Han Dynasty reconciled and married. The envoys of the Han Dynasty were ferocious and asked Su Wu to go back. Khan refused, but he couldn't say it, so he lied that Su Wu was dead. Later, Emperor Hanzhao sent envoys to the Huns, and Chang Hui, the detained deputy envoy who sent envoys to the Huns together with Su Wu, secretly met with the envoys of the Han Dynasty one night with the help of the jailer, told the envoys of the Han Dynasty about Su Wu, and came up with a plan for the envoys of the Han Dynasty to tell Khan: "When Emperor Hanzhao was hunting in Shanglinyuan, he killed a goose with a letter written on silk tied to his foot, which said that Su Wu was not dead. Han was very happy after hearing this, so he blamed Khan according to Chang Hui's words. Khan was surprised after hearing this, but he couldn't deny it, so he had to let Su Wu go back.
Jade bird delivers books.
According to China's ancient rare book Shan Hai Jing, there are three kinds of bluebirds, namely Zhao Lan and Yan Zi (the author has not found the name of another bluebird). They are the attendants and messengers of the Queen Mother of the West, who can fly over Qian Shan to deliver information and good news of good luck, happiness and happiness to the world. It is said that the Queen Mother of the West once wrote a letter to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. The Queen Mother of the West sent a book to the Jade Bird, and the Jade Bird always sent the letter from the Queen Mother to the Chenghua Temple in the Han Palace. In later myths, the bluebird gradually evolved into the king of birds-Phoenix.
In the Southern Tang Dynasty, master Li Jing wrote a poem, "The bluebird doesn't spread the news outside the cloud, and the lilacs are sad in the rain"; In the Tang Dynasty, Li Bai wrote a poem "I wish I could repay Sauvignon Blanc because of three bluebirds". Li Shangyin wrote a poem "Pengshan has no way, bluebird, listen! -bring me what she said! " ; And Cui wrote a poem "When will the bluebird pass".
Letter forwarding from home
Pigeons pass books, and everyone is familiar with it, because there is also the Pigeons Association, and long-distance pigeon flying competitions are often held. The homing pigeon won't get lost in a long flight, which stems from its unique function, that is, it can tell the direction by feeling the magnetic force and latitude.
At present, there is no clear statement about the exact start time of carrier pigeon book transmission, but as early as the Tang Dynasty, carrier pigeon book transmission has become very common. There is a record of "Pigeons Pass Books" in Wang Renyu's "Kaiyuan Tianbao Legacy" in the Five Dynasties: "When Zhang Jiuling was a teenager, he raised a group of pigeons at home. Every time I communicate with my relatives and friends, I only go to the pigeon's foot book department, follow the instructions and fly to vote. I was a flying slave when I was nine years old, and people liked to be surprised. " Zhang Jiuling was a statesman and poet in the Tang Dynasty. He not only used carrier pigeons to deliver letters, but also gave carrier pigeons a nice name-"flying slaves". Since then, homing pigeons have been playing an important role in people's communication life during the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Kite communication
The kite we use for entertainment today played an important role as an emergency communication tool in ancient times.
Legend has it that as early as the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, Lu's skillful craftsman lost the game (that is, Lu Ban) once imitated the shape of a bird. "Cutting bamboo and wood thought it was a magpie and flew three days later." This flying "wooden magpie" made of bamboo and wood is the predecessor of kite. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cai Lun invented papermaking. People made a frame with bamboo sticks and then pasted it with paper, which became a "paper kite". In the Five Dynasties, when people made paper kites, they tied a bamboo whistle on them. The wind blows a bamboo whistle, which sounds like a kite, hence the word "kite".
The original kites were made for military needs, mainly used for military reconnaissance or for transmitting information and military intelligence. It was not until the Tang Dynasty that kites gradually became an entertainment toy and spread among the people.
lighthouse
Lighthouses originated from the bonfires in ancient Egypt. The earliest lighthouse in the world was built in the 7th century BC, located at Baba Point in the Daniil Strait, standing like a huge bell tower. At that time, people burned firewood in the lighthouse and used its fire to guide the course.
In 280 BC, the ancient Egyptians, under the orders of King Ptolemy II Filadelf, built a lighthouse on fallows Island opposite Alexandria, Egypt, which was 85 meters high and burned wood day and night, with flames and smoke columns as navigation signs. Faros Lighthouse, known as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, was destroyed by the earthquake in 1302. At the beginning of the 9th century, the French built a lighthouse in Douang Reef, the surgical site at the mouth of the gironde River, which has been rebuilt twice. The existing lighthouse was built in 16 1 1.
Among the ancient lighthouses, Livorno Lighthouse in Italy is still in use today. The lighthouse was built in 1304, made of stone and 50 meters high. The first lighthouse in America was the Boston Lighthouse built in 17 16. Since then, lens lighthouse was built in 1823, electric lighthouse was built in 1858, lighthouse was built on soft foundation for the first time in 1885, and the first gas flash tower was built in 1906. In 1850, there were only 1570 lighthouses in the world, and in 1900, the number increased to 9400. By the beginning of 1984, including other luminous beacons, the total number of lighthouses had exceeded 55,000.
Communication tower
/kloc-in the 8th century, Claude Chappe, a French engineer, successfully developed a practical communication system to speed up information transmission. The system consists of several communication towers, which are built 230 kilometers between Paris and Lille. A wooden pole is erected at the top of these towers, and a horizontal crossbar is installed on the wooden pole. People can rotate and swing the wooden pole under the operation of ropes to form various angles. The two vertical arms are installed at both ends of the horizontal cross bar and can also rotate. In this way, each tower can form 192 different configurations through wooden poles, and the nearby towers can see the information representing the meaning of 192 through telescopes. In this way, within a distance of 230 kilometers, the information can be transmitted in two minutes. This system made great contributions to the French revolutionary war in the18th century.
signal flag
It has been more than 400 years since signal flags were used for communication on ships. The advantage of banner communication is very simple. Therefore, even today when modern communication technology is quite developed, this simple communication mode is still preserved and becomes an important way of short-distance communication. In sign communication, signal signs can be used alone or in combination to express different meanings. Usually hanging a flag indicates the most urgent, important or commonly used content. For example, the A-flag is hoisted, which means "There are divers under my boat, please stay away from my boat slowly"; Hang the O-flag, which means "someone falls into the water"; Hanging the W flag means "my ship needs medical assistance" and so on.
flag signal
During the 200 years of15-16th century, the commander of the fleet commanded his ships by firing guns or sailing. 1777, Admiral Howe, commander of the British and American fleets, printed a signal manual, becoming the first person to write a signal book. Later, Admiral Sir Popham used some flags as shorthand letters to create a complete set of semaphore letters. 1805, when Lord Nelson commanded the Battle of Trafalgar, the last signal he sent before he died was 16 Pophanqi: "Close to the enemy and fight at close range."
18 17, the British navy colonel Mariette compiled the first internationally recognized alphanumeric. There are also 40 signal flags, including 26 letter flags, digital flags 10, 3 substitute flags and answer flags 1. Flags have different shapes: dovetail, rectangle, trapezoid, triangle and so on. The colors and patterns of flags are also different.