A woman who lived in 3 centuries and who was first lady of China deserves a stamp and that stamp has a story. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
The design of the stamp today is fairly austere. That made me hope that it was a stamp from mainland China. The reason to get excited by that is that stamp collecting is growing in China and as a result the mainland offerings are quite valuable in comparison with Taiwan. It is easy to test this hypothesis. Madame Chaing’s sister was the ceremonial head of state of Mainland China. A stamp with her from the same year is worth 50 times what my stamp is worth. If the hobby could pick up some steam in Taiwan the disparity could be made to disappear. Get to work Taiwan stamp collecting!
Todays stamp is issue A163, an 80 cent stamp issued by Taiwan on March 8th, 1961. The stamp features First Lady Chaing on the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Woman’s Anti-Aggression League. It was part of a three stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 30 cents used.
Madame Chaing was born Soong Mei-ling in Shanghai, the daughter of a wealthy American educated, Methodist, Chinese businessman in the printing field. Mei-Ling and her sisters were educated at Wesleyan College in Macon, GA USA. As she was only 13 she stayed with friends of her sister in Demarest, Georgia and enrolled in eighth grade. Wesleyan took her at age 15 and gave her tutors to help her get caught up. Both her and her sister, later Sun Yat-sen’s wife, afterward spoke English with a Georgia accent.
Back in China, her sister Ching-ling acted as Sun Tat Sen’s secretary and later his second wife. Upon Sun Yat-sen’s death, Chinese leader Chaing Kai-shek wooed Mei-Ling and married her. Becoming brother in law to Sun Yat-sen enhanced his position. The marriage lasted 48 years but there were no children. At the end of the civil war in China in 1949, Ching-ling remained in China as she was a much honored communist. Mei Ling went to Taiwan and continued as First Lady.
Todays stamp celebrates Madame Chaing’s charity work so lets talk about that. Her cause were the orphaned children of soldiers in the Chinese Civil War and that with Japan. She founded schools, one for boys and one for girls for such children that she referred to as warphans. She even picked the teachers in the schools. Many years after Madame Chaing left Taiwan, her organization was accused of being a front for political kickbacks to the political party and dissolved.
When Chaing Kai-shek died in 1975, he was succeeded by his son from a previous mairrage. Mei-ling did not have good relations with him and moved to New York. She lived quietly until her death in 2003 at the age of 105 years old. For the most part, by then she was remembered fondly in both Chinas for her accomplishments.
Well my drink is empty and so I will pour another to toast Madame Chaing. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.