On the 7th day of the 2nd moon of the 22nd year of Emperor Kuang Hsu (March 20, 1896), the Yamen in charge of foreign affairs (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) obtained a court edict for the conversion of the Postal Service, then under concurrent charge of the Customs, into a separate Postal Administration. After lengthy preparations, the Administration came into existence in the following year. Although the Postal Administration was housed in the Customs House at its inception, it functioned independently. The date of the edict for its formal inauguration has since been taken as the formal establishment of the Postal Administration. On the completion of its 25th year of service on March 20, 1921, the Postal Administration issued a set of commemorative stamps to mark the occasion with a design bearing the portrait of President Hsu Shih-chang (徐世昌) in the middle, Prime Minister Chin Yun-peng (靳雲鵬) on the right, and Minister of Communications Yeh Kung-cho (葉恭綽) on the left, with rice heads as decorations . As the printing was not completed on the Postal Day, the stamps were placed on sale on October 10, the Anniversary of the Republic.