China’s first stamp was the 5-cent Silver Dragon, issued on July 24, 1878. In 1861, Robert Hurd, an Englishman who served as the Customs and Excise Department, suggested to the Qing government to establish a modern postal service. In 1866, the Qing government established a postal service office within the Customs and Taxation Department to also run the postal service. No stamps were issued at that time. In 1876, Tianjin Customs and Taxation Department De Cuilin issued a postal announcement, which stipulated the weight of the mail and adopted the method of paying cash in advance or registering in the "postage register" and settling the accounts on a monthly basis. This method of using silver coins to pay postage was very inconvenient. At this time, there was a precedent for using stamps in foreign countries, and it was natural for China to follow suit. Therefore, the Shanghai Customs Registration Office began to design stamps. The first set of stamps was designed in various forms, such as "Dragon and Phoenix Playing with Pearls", "Liuhe Pagoda", etc. The final pattern selected was the "Big Dragon" pattern. In 1878, the Qing government established postal agencies in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Yantai and Niuzhuang (Yingkou), which were attached to the customs. The Shanghai Customs Registration Office printed a set of three stamps with the dragon as the pattern that year. , a five-clawed golden dragon is painted in the center of the stamp pattern, lined with clouds and waves. The color and face value of the stamps are different. The face value is calculated in silver taels: "One cent of silver (green, postage for sending printed matter), three cents of silver (red. Postage for sending ordinary letters) ). Five cents of silver (orange, sent with registered postage). This is the first stamp issued by my country. It is commonly called "Customs Dalong" in the philatelic circles, and is often referred to as "dragon stamp" in the Qing Dynasty. This is because "dragon" embodies supreme authority and is a symbol of the supreme ruler. Recently, according to research by Dalong stamp experts, it is believed that the designer of the Dalong stamp pattern is a Chinese, not a foreigner as previously speculated, but the designer's name It is difficult to ascertain the exact time of issuance, which has become an "unsolved case" in the study of the history of early stamp issuance in China. The "Dalong" stamps are made of copper templates and are carved one by one by the sculptor. Due to the difference in imported paper, It was printed and issued in three parts. The first one was issued in 1878. It was called "Tissue Paper Dragon" because it used rigid translucent tissue paper. The second one was issued in 1882 because the distance between each stamp was slightly larger during typesetting. It is 2 millimeters wider vertically and horizontally than the first one, and is called a "wide-bordered dragon". Among them, unused new 5-cent silver notes are extremely rare. Only one new 25-piece full sheet exists, which is an early example of China's The most famous unique stamp. The third one was issued in 1883. The paper is thicker than the previous two. It is commonly known as "Thick Paper Dragon". Due to the punching machine, the holes punched out have both smooth teeth and rough teeth. The ones with smooth teeth are also called "thick paper smooth-toothed dragons", and those with fibrous hairs around the perforations are called "thick paper hairy-toothed dragons". The stamps and Dalong stamps were not printed again due to damage to the copper mold. Dragon stamps are the first set of stamps issued by China. They play an important role in the history of stamp issuance and are therefore relatively precious