| A bronze night pass inscribed with scripts of five languages of the Yuan dynasty. On one side, the Chinese character "Yuan" is inscribed in the centre, surrounded by the Chinese and Uighur scripts for "Night Patrol Pass, Tian Reference, No. 11". The other side is divided into two sections, the outer one decorated with patterns of curling grass, the inner one inscribed with Phagspa, Mongol, Uighur and Huihe scripts. Usually cast and administered by the court, the night passes were used as a passport at the empire's postal stations at night in the event of military emergencies. The five different scripts on this night pass indicate that the Yuan dynasty was successful in setting up an empire-wide postal system that connected different nationalities together. |
