The history of tianyi general administration

In Zhangzhou, Fujian, there is a historic building that blends Chinese and western cultures. This historic building witnessed the glory of Tianyige Library, and also gave birth to the folk overseas Chinese approval bureau, which occupies a place in the postal history of China and the financial history of China. The former site of Tianyige Museum General Administration is located in Liu Chuan Village, jiao mei zhen, Zhangzhou Taiwanese Investment Zone. 1992 was designated as the third batch of cultural relics protection units in Longhai County. In 2005, it was designated as the sixth batch of cultural relics protection units in Fujian Province; On May 25th, 2006, the State Council Guofa [2006] 19 approved the publication of the former site of Tianyi General Administration as the sixth batch of national key cultural relics protection units.

Tianyi Tanku opened 16 years earlier than Qing Post Office, and it is a private bank and information bureau specialized in remittance, bill remittance and wire transfer in Southeast Asia. Tianyi Batch Warehouse has won the trust of overseas Chinese and their relatives at home and abroad with its good reputation, strict management, standardized exchange rate and warm and thoughtful service. Most of OCBC Bank's letters are remitted through Tianyi's warehouse approval. Tianyi's warehouse approval business is expanding day by day, and its business area is also increasing day by day. It is located in Luzon, Cebu, Yilang, Sambo Tuyan, Russell, Yikou Lu 'an, Jiayu, Kuala Lumpur and Malaya (now Malaysia). Twenty-four branches have been set up in eight countries, including Jinglivan, Bacheng, Longchuan, Surabaya, Dagang, Bandung, Bangkok and Tongkou in Siam (now Thailand), Saigon and Padang in Annan (now Vietnam), Shili in Singapore, Yangon in Myanmar, Jinta in Cambodia, Xiamen and Anhai in China.

Tianyi batch of warehouses lasted 48 years from the establishment of 1880 to the closure of 19281October 28th. It is the first private international post office recorded in the postal history of China, and it is also the earliest private overseas Chinese approval bureau with the largest scale, the widest distribution and the longest history. Its reputation is outstanding and its influence is far-reaching. Its founding date is earlier than the history of overseas Chinese in Fujian and even the history of China Post. The historical significance of "approving warehouses every day" lies not only in its early operation time, but also in the fact that it has completed the transformation from the primary primitive form of bank letter delivery to specialized and enterprise-oriented commercial operation, and established a set of reasonable mechanisms for bank collection, transfer, entrustment decomposition and fund position allocation, which ensured the efficiency of bank approval operation and the integrity of multinational enterprises, and laid a basic model for overseas Chinese to approve warehouses later.

The "Tianyi" of the "Tianyi General Political Department" is taken from the "Unity of Heaven and Man" in the Spring and Autumn Stories and Personal Names by Dong Zhongshu, a Confucian in Han Dynasty, that is, "Unity of Heaven and Man". Taking "Tian" as the emblem symbolizes the world, which expresses Guo Youpin's goodwill in setting up the Overseas Chinese Approval Bureau and shortens the gap between overseas Chinese in Wan Li and their families.

The "Yuannan Building" in the former site of Tianyi General Administration was built in191year (the third year of Xuantong) and expanded by land purchase. 192 1 North Building and "Taoyuan" completed. The North Building is the office business management building of "Tianyi General Administration". "Tianyi General Administration" has a total construction area of 4495m2, and the whole building has a unique "Nanyang" style. It is a typical combination of Chinese and western architecture, with elegant and generous structure and antique carvings. To the west, the North Building is juxtaposed with a third-order building, with bilateral rain houses bolted on both sides, and the "Southern Anhui Building" is behind the house. There is a reinforced concrete overpass between the North Building and the South Building of Anhui Province. The original "Taoyuan" covers an area of more than 3,000 ㎡, with pavilions, rockeries, monkey caves, fish ponds, flower beds, stone paths and exotic flowers and grasses. In the countryside at that time, it can be said that it stood out from the crowd.

With the vicissitudes of time and the changes of the times, the former site of "Tianyi General Administration" has gone through a hundred years. Although it looks different, its historical value cannot be underestimated as a product of the times that witnessed history.

On May 25th, 2006, the former site of Tianyi General Administration was approved by the State Council to be included in the sixth batch of national key cultural relics protection units.

On June 9, 20 13, overseas Chinese in Fujian were selected into the Memory of the World, which was the first project in Fujian to be selected as a world literary heritage.

The birth of a batch of suburbs in tianyi

"Pi" is a general term for letters from home and even general letters in Fujian, southern Fujian and Chaoshan areas of Guangdong.

"Overseas Chinese criticism", also known as "model criticism", is the product of a specific historical period and historical environment, and originated in the overseas Chinese society in modern Southeast Asia. At that time, with the increasingly frequent economic and cultural exchanges with foreign countries, more and more citizens from Guangdong, Fujian and other provinces migrated to Southeast Asian countries. From time to time, they entrust people to bring some letters and silver tickets back to their hometown, which promotes the formation of overseas Chinese approval and overseas Chinese approval industry, which operates this form of private financial postal service.

Overseas Chinese have worked hard abroad and made great contributions to their hometown and its development. Their pioneering deeds and persistent dedication to the motherland all shine with the lofty spirit of self-reliance, hard struggle, loyalty to the country and patriotism. Criticism letters from overseas Chinese are an objective reflection of this spirit, which contains profound cultural connotations and is very valuable. Those short messages from overseas Chinese are the ties that keep overseas Chinese in close contact with their families, and they are also a true portrayal of their homesickness.

As a precious cultural relic to witness the history of overseas Chinese immigration and entrepreneurship, Overseas Chinese Criticism contains rich cultural connotations of overseas Chinese. Its value lies in fully expressing the affection of overseas Chinese with traditional humanistic significance; It is the reliable transmission system of water passengers and examination and approval bureau that it forms, which shows the high integrity spirit of overseas Chinese examination and approval operators.

According to relevant historical records, during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were about100000 overseas Chinese in China, which were distributed in more than 50 countries in the world, among which Southeast Asia (commonly known as Nanyang) was the largest. There are about 8 million overseas Chinese and Fujian-born foreigners in Fujian province, accounting for about13 of the country, second only to Guangdong province. More than 90% of them live in Southeast Asia, with Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore as the most. As early as the first year of Tang Longshuo (66 1), Zheng Guoxi, a native of Nan 'an County, was buried in Mayasin, Litchi Province, Philippines. In the 10th year of Chenghua (1474), private businessmen in Yuegang, Zhangzhou were active, and a large number of Zhangzhou businessmen moved to the Philippines, Singapore, Malaya, zhina and other places. In the second year of Song Yuanzhou (1087), Quanzhou set up a shipping company, and Quanzhou people went abroad to do business, and the number of people living abroad gradually increased; In the early years of Sheng Yuan (134 1), Wang Dayuan, a big businessman from Quanzhou, went to sea with merchant ships, passing through the South China Sea islands and dozens of countries along the Indian Ocean. After returning home, he wrote a book, An Introduction to Island Planning, which described what Southeast Asian countries saw and heard. In the third year of Ming Dynasty (1438), Ma and Wen Sheng, the minister of Java, said: I was originally from Longxi County, Zhangzhou, Fujian, and drifted to China because I went fishing in the sea. Now Yin Nan wants to take his family back to China and make good use of it. Wensheng wants to worship his ancestors and build an ancestral temple, but he still returns to China. In the forty-five years of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (16 17), Zhang Xie, a native of Longxi County, Zhangzhou, wrote twelve volumes of * * *, which is a document on the history of Sino-foreign relations, economic history, overseas transportation history and overseas Chinese history. In the eighteenth year of Shunzhi in Qing Dynasty (166 1), the Qing court issued a decree to remove the border and included 25,940 hectares of land belonging to Fuzhou, Xinghua, Quanzhou and Zhangzhou in Fujian and Funing-1 county in 19, forcing coastal people to flee overseas to make a living. In the seventh year of Yongzheng in the Qing Dynasty (1729), overseas Chinese living in Fujian established a nursing home, which was the earliest medical charity welfare hospital and overseas Chinese nursing home in Nanyang. Zhangpu people lived in the bar city for seven years and wrote a brief history of Gaci bars. In the fifty-sixth year of Qianlong (179 1 year), Wang Dahai, a native of Longxi county, sailed to Haisheng Java, Batavia, Semarang and Zhaojialang, and wrote his own story in a book "Island Records". 1840 After the Opium War, western colonialists began to lure and kidnap hundreds of thousands of Fujian coastal people on a large scale, acting as coolies for colonialists to plunder and develop local resources, resulting in the second climax of overseas Chinese going abroad in Fujian. From 1876 to 1930, the number of overseas Chinese in Fujian reached1550,000.

There are about 2 million overseas Chinese in southern Fujian. They abide by the legacy of their ancestors' loyalty, filial piety and hard work, and save money to send them back to their hometown to support their parents and family. Due to the inconvenience of shipping at that time, domestic post offices and banks had not yet been established, and overseas Chinese who crossed the sea could not read much, so they had to wait for their honest and literate companions or fellow villagers who could write letters to their families to visit them after returning home and ask them to bring money and write letters for peace. This kind of businessman who brings back silver letters for overseas Chinese is called a "water passenger". When water passengers return to Nanyang, they often lead the villagers who want to "cross Nanyang", take care of the lives of the new guests on the way, go through customs formalities on their behalf, and introduce their work after arrival, so they charge a certain commission, so they do two businesses. This kind of water passenger, also known as "guest head", is mostly served by the old "fan guest", and there are thousands of guest heads in southern Fujian alone. Sailing wooden boats used by early water passengers had to travel back and forth between Minnan and Nanyang only two or three times a year according to the season. Every time we arrive on the ship, the water passengers on board also arrive in batches. As soon as the ship is docked, overseas Chinese relatives will ask the water passengers if they have any silver letters entrusted by their relatives. Over time, "overseas Chinese approval" has become synonymous with overseas Chinese trusting silver, which is still in use today.

On April 5th 1842, Britain opened a post office in Hong Kong. Since June 1844, it has successively opened military postal agencies in Shanghai, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Guangzhou and Shantou. 1859, 165438+ 10. In October, France also opened the "China Expeditionary Force Central Post Office" in Shanghai, with four military postal branches. 1862 changed to Shanghai Public Post Office. 1In July, 863, Britain opened a commercial port post, the Shanghai Ministry of Industry, in Shanghai. In that year, it expanded to Hankou, Fuzhou, Xiamen and other trading ports, and set up branches or postal agencies. HSBC was established in 1864 and set up a branch in Xiamen in 1873. With the rise of these postal services, commercial port postal services and banks, the early water passengers can no longer meet the needs of overseas Chinese communication. Some far-sighted water passengers or overseas Chinese businessmen organized these libraries to send money and letters to overseas Chinese. According to the statistics in On Overseas Chinese Economy written by Japanese Fukuda San, during the thirty years from 1880 to 1909, the number of expatriates leaving Xiamen reached 2 1070 12.

At first, the library only collected the silver letters brought back by the water passengers, and then hired a number of "batch feet" (that is, messengers) to hand them over to the relatives of overseas Chinese to collect "batch work" (that is, wages) from the recipients, but the amount collected was often demanded by couriers, generally ranging from 10% to 20%. In case of a long journey or difficulty, you have to ask for "drinks" or "drinks". Over time, there are more and more complaints from relatives of overseas Chinese, and overseas Chinese also think that this remittance is fast, but it is a great loss.

According to the "Liuyang Guo Family Tree" circulated by Jiaqing Society in Longxi County for nine years, the ancestor Lan Twelve Ambassadors lived in Gushi County, Gwangju. Because Emperor Gaozong rebelled against the imperial army in Fujian and Xinjiang, he was ordered to levy Fujian with the Tang Dynasty, and then settled in Shan Zhinan, Liu Zhang, and built a stream for the field, which was called Liu Yang. As early as the end of the Yuan Dynasty to the period, the descendants of the Guo family in Liuyang migrated to other places. During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, descendants of twelve envoys, including Sun Weiyuan, Guo Ruqian, Guo and Guo Dacai, successively moved to Taiwan Province Province, Shanghai, Suzhou and Nanjing. During the reign of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty, Guo Dazhan, Guo Xidan and Guo Xide, members of the Guo family, went to Nanyang to make a living and died because of the ban of the Qing government. Guo Youpin, the founder of Tianyi batch of suburbs, was born in 1853 (three years of Qing Xianfeng). He is a descendant of the twelve envoys. When he was a child, he was smart and studious, and was highly valued by his teachers. He learned a lot. 1869 (eight years of Tongzhi in Mu Zong in Qing Dynasty), Guo Youpin, who was only 17 years old, went across the sea with his clan to do business in Luzon. Because of his honesty, respect for the elderly and moral people, and his willingness to help others, he won the trust of his compatriots and expatriates. 1874 (13th year of Tongzhi reign), Guo Youpin was entrusted by some wealthy overseas Chinese businessmen and began to bring silver letters back to China as a guest for overseas Chinese businessmen and their Chinese workers in Luzon. Guo Youpin, who learned to be rich in the people, realized the rich income of overseas Chinese in his guest career for several years, which led 1880 to set up the first overseas Chinese bank in Zhangzhou in his hometown of Longxi County, mainly engaged in overseas Chinese banking business between Luzon (now Manila, Philippines) and southern Fujian.

The "Tianyi" of "Yi Tian's approval of suburbs" is taken from the "harmony between man and nature" in Dong Zhongshu's Spring and Autumn Annals, which means "harmony between man and nature, man-made by nature" and is used as the hotel emblem of the approval of suburbs (there is a circle around the word "Tian" with a "one" on it, leaving blank).

The rise and fall of tianyi pavilion

Guo Youpin collected letters from overseas Chinese in the Philippines in the early days when he founded a group of suburbs in Tianyi. All remittances are paid by overseas Chinese themselves, and the remittance amount is written directly on the envelope. Each batch of silver letters was personally collected by Guo Youpin and escorted back to China. When he got home, he hired someone to deliver it as a regular messenger, and the messenger was not allowed to ask for money.

The ship was caught in a typhoon while escorting overseas Chinese and sank into the sea. After being rescued, Guo Youpin returned home, sold his farmland for big silver, and compensated with the only money left in his pocket. Since then, Guo Youpin's reputation has become a household name in Nanyang, and overseas Chinese have also deeply trusted him. Overseas Chinese are willing to send money and letters through Tianyi batch of suburbs, and Tianyi batch of suburban business is increasing day by day. 1882 (the ninth year of Guangxu), Guo Youpin returned to China to get married, so he appointed Zheng Renshui, a friend who was traveling in the Philippines, to take charge of receiving the mail, and he himself supervised the delivery in his hometown. Overseas Chinese letters collected in the Philippines are sent back to China by mail, and the money is remitted to Xiamen by HSBC, and then delivered by Guo Youpin's employees to avoid unexpected losses in the process of transporting overseas Chinese remittances.

1892 (18th year of Guangxu), Xiamen Customs was established, and Guo Youpin set up a semicolon in Zaikou Street, Xiamen Port. In view of the large number of overseas Chinese in Jinjiang, a semicolon was set up in Shicheng Street, Anhai, Jinjiang for the convenience of relatives of overseas Chinese to collect money and send letters, and two small steamboats were quickly purchased, opening two postal routes from Xiamen to Liu Chuan and Xiamen to Anhai.

In Tianyi, in addition to the remittance fee stipulated by overseas Chinese, there are certain procedures for sending and receiving overseas Chinese letters and distributing silver letters. It is said that in addition to Luzon, expatriates from other parts of the Philippines also sent silver letters through Luzon semicolons, and soon semicolons were set up in Cebu, Yilang and Sambo in the Philippines. 1896 (the 22nd year of Guangxu), Daqing Post Office was officially opened to the outside world, and the registration of civil examination and approval bureaus was stipulated, while Guo Youpin officially registered several suburbs of Tianyi as "Guo Youpin Tianyi Information Bureau", and set up a general administration in Longxi County, with branches in Xiamen, Anhai, Luzon, Cebu, Yilang and Sambo, and later added branches in Hong Kong and Annan.

190 1 May 12 (March 24th, 27th year of Guangxu reign) Guo Youpin died while visiting friends in Xiamen. After Guo Youpin's death, Guo Yongzhong, the eldest son of 17 years old, took over the general affairs of Tianyi. Guo Yong Neutron inherited his father's ambition and managed it carefully. In recent years, the business of Tianyi General Administration has increased sharply, with rich profits and increasing branches year by year. Tianyi batch of warehouses has become the best among many overseas Chinese approval bureaus in southern Fujian with "credibility first and convenience first". The office building site of Tianyi General Administration has also been relocated many times, and the existing Tianyi General Administration Building has been built.

19 1 1 year, when China Post and Customs were separated, Tianyi had 28 branches. 19 12, Guo Youpin Tianyi Information Bureau was changed to "Guo Youpin Tianyi Exchange and Bank Information Bureau", and a remittance department was set up separately. From Luzon, Cebu, Yilang and Sambo in the Philippines to Russell, Yi 'an and Kadayu in Malaya, as well as the handles of Penang, Malacca and Dabia in Malaya, Jingliwen, Bacheng, Longchuan, Surabaya, Dagang, Bandung, Bangkok and Tongkou in Siam (now Thailand), and Annan (now Vietnam) in the Netherlands East India.

1965438+On May 20, 2005, Xiamen Branch of Fujian Branch of Bank of China was established, and many libraries started to run bill of exchange business in Tianyi, with more abundant funds. From 19 1 1 to 192 1, four branches were added, namely Kuala Lumpur, Kampuchea, Shanghai and Gangwei. According to Zheng Linkuan 1940' s overseas Chinese remittance in Fujian,1905-191*143.42 million yuan, with an average of 20.49 million yuan per year. Remittances from overseas Chinese in Fujian1912-1920 * *163.38 million yuan, with an annual average of 18 15000 yuan. Every year, a batch of museums in Tianyi remit millions of dollars. At the peak, the total annual remittance of Tianyi batch of museums reached10 million yuan, which was close to two-thirds of that of Minnan.

192 1 year later, due to inflation and economic depression caused by post-war economic changes in southeast Asia, the economic income of overseas Chinese businessmen was seriously frustrated, so more and more overseas Chinese closed their businesses and returned home, and their remittances were not as good as in the past. Coupled with fierce competition in the same industry, the profits of many libraries in Tianyi fell sharply. 1923 (Republic of China 12), Singapore post office abolished envelopes for people's letters and increased the postage for people's letters; 1925, the General Post Office of the Republic of China sent a note to the General Post Office of the Straits Colony to double the postage of people's letters. 1927, Fujian, under the rule of warlords, suffered from all kinds of war disasters, and the people were in dire straits. The military and political authorities extorted money and issued counterfeit money indiscriminately to pay huge military expenses. There are also rumors that the Bank of China will be reorganized into an international exchange bank. On June 1928 and 18, Tianyi General Administration was frequently borrowed by military and political organs, and Hong Kong and Luzon branches suffered serious losses. The closure of tianyi batch of warehouses has caused short-term fluctuations in the financial sector in southern Fujian.

Management of tianyi batch of libraries

Remittances initially sent and received by Tianyi Batch Library will be handed over by overseas Chinese to Luzon Branch Library, which will bind the letters and lists together and bag them, entrust some passenger ships that regularly travel between Nanyang and Xiamen to increase consignment business, or bring them to Xiamen by foreign commercial post offices, and the remittance will be paid by foreign banks through remittance. After receiving the bags, Xiamen Branch sorted them and delivered them to Anhai. The messenger gave the money directly to the relatives of overseas Chinese. After receiving the silver letter, the relatives of overseas Chinese send it back to the messenger (or entrust the messenger to write it). After the domestic bureau has recovered all the money, it will check that there are no omissions according to the letter checklist issued by Dangbang, and then send it back to Luzon Branch, which will forward it to overseas Chinese.

1892 (18th year of Guangxu reign), Xiamen Customs was established in anniversary Customs Post Office, and every time a batch of museums in Tianyi were approved by overseas Chinese, they had to go through Xiamen Customs. 1896 February, the Qing post office was established, stipulating that all overseas Chinese letters must be mailed through the Qing post office. However, because it is impossible for the post office to find the address of the recipient and deliver the letter to the recipient, it has to acquiesce in the illegal behavior of the Human Resources and Social Security Bureau to mail the letters sent to different places in the same bag. According to the ten-year report of Xiamen Customs (1892 ~ 190 1 year), only from 1898 to 190 1 year, 65,438 foreign ships and 65,438 sailboats entered Xiamen.

1900 February (the 26th year of Guangxu), Xiamen Post Office was established, and a postal agency was established in Shima, Zhangzhou on July 20th of that year. Because Xiamen post office had only 23 employees at that time, and each letter charged 20 ~ 30 copper coins, which was as high as 200 copper coins in rural areas. Although overseas Chinese send funds through Daqing post office, most overseas Chinese still rely on the private overseas Chinese approval bureau. In order to compete better, Tianyi Batch Warehouse has set up a special mail and remittance department, paying special attention to credit and rules and regulations. 19 12 years, due to the embezzlement of "tianyi bureau" by some private letter approval bureaus, tianyi batch of warehouses began to use the unified envelopes and seals of tianyi bureau, and the new account books and letter search sheets were unified from192/kloc-0 years, making the management of tianyi batch of warehouses more standardized.

When overseas Chinese send letters, the Ministry of Foreign Exchange issues a ticket stub to the remitter for reference. The general administration has a register indicating which port to send it to. Write off after receiving the reply, and each branch office and the General Administration will hold one copy for verification. Every time the overseas Chinese batch arrives, the General Administration of Tianyi will raise a flag in front of the building, and several nearby villages can be seen from a distance. Overseas Chinese relatives will pass it on to each other for timely collection. Those that haven't been received will be sent by the General Administration of Wings the next day. In case of sending letters overseas for a long distance, the General Administration of Tianyi will also set up a lounge to provide rest or accommodation.

1965438+On February 5, 2002, China Bank opened in the former site of Daqing Bank on Hankou Road; 1 965438+August 20021day, the head office of China Bank was established in Beijing; 19 14 1.5, Fujian Branch of Bank of China was established in Fuzhou. In view of the remittance from southern Fujian reaching 20 million yuan at that time, China Bank Fujian Branch set up a semicolon in Xiamen on May 19 15, with Guo Yuzhong's younger brother Guo presiding over Xiamen Branch, Guo Chengzhong presiding over Hong Kong Branch and Xiamen China Bank respectively. Cash overseas money and send it to relatives of overseas Chinese as soon as possible. At the same time, we use the fluctuation of remittances between overseas Chinese in the market to buy and sell money orders (remittance: exchange rate) through banks. Xiamen Branch of Bank of China was also transferred from Tianyi warehouse when money was tight.

192 1 at the beginning, tianyi batch of libraries advertised in Xiamen. From the gap between the remaining ten years of the Republic of China 1 1 month 13 and1February1day, we can see that: "Please pay more attention to the announcement of banks and credit bureaus on this day", with the emblem of Tianyi batch of libraries printed in the middle. The text of the notice is divided into three paragraphs: the identifiable text in the previous paragraph should be: "... out of concern for all overseas Chinese, I am deeply sorry for this bureau ... the number of letters and photos is distributed to all overseas Chinese ... If the tickets of this bureau are damaged, their families can find a guarantor to collect them. If they have any false feelings, they will be investigated by the insurance. I hereby inform you. The heart will start in February "; In the middle part, it says, "Please vote for ... For more than 30 years, we have been specializing in wire transfer business of Nanyang remittance bills ... The inscription says that in order to facilitate all walks of life, handle affairs in secret service and improve the public in all walks of life ... this Council welcomes remittance clients. It is hereby announced that Xiamen lived at No.26 Narcissus Palace Street in August of the tenth year of the Republic of China "; The following paragraph is "Xinhui Location Longxi Haicheng Zhangpu Changtai Xiao Yun Dongshan Zhaoan Jinjiang Nan 'an Huian Tongan Anxi Jinmen".