Tag: China stamp

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Kiautschou 1905. The German Navy attempts a model colony in China

The German colonies standard stamp issue was a view of the Kaiser’s yacht. The hope was he would come for them in times of trouble. In 1914 Kaiser Wilhelm announced he would rather turn Berlin over to the Russians than Kiautschou over to the Japanese. Inspired by the Kaiser’s words the colonists mounted a defense of the colony, despite being outnumbered 10-1 and no help coming from Germany, certainly not the Kaiser’s yacht. The Kaiser ended up turning over Kiautschou to Japan. 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.

There was a lot of second thoughts about maintaining far off colonies as was being promoted by German merchants. One proponent was Kaiser Wilhelm. Perhaps given this his yacht instead of his portrait or a battleship should have given colonists pause. Most of the colonies fell at the beginning of World War I without a fight.

Todays stamp is issue A3 a three cent stamp issued by the German naval colony at Kiautschau in 1905. There is an earlier version of the issue denominated in pfennig and marks. This was a ten stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $1.75 used.

In the 1890s, much mapmaking was being carried out by Germans hoping to find a German equivalent of Hong Kong. Germans had both the desire to create a model colony and the need for a coaling station for Germany’s far eastern naval presence. No target was finalized when two German priests in Kiatschou were killed in their beds by 20 armed members of the Chinese Big Swords Society. The Big Swords Society were local units of peasant farmers who fought back against looters, bandits, tax collectors, and apparently missionaries. The group’s members believed themselves immune to bullets based on the magic of their leaders. The far east German naval commander out of Shanghai wired Berlin and suggested taking advantage of the provocation and taking Kiautschou. He was told to sail the fleet immediately. Germany landed 700 rifle armed sailors and faced no opposition from the much more numerous Chinese defenders. The morning they landed and secured the place in two hours they received a further wire telling them not to land but wait for negotiations with China. They wired back saying they had already taken the city and made a public declaration. Berlin told them to then stay and negotiated from strength a Hong Kong style 99 year lease going till 1997.

German depiction of the Big Sword Society killing the Priests in their bedclothes
German landing in 1897

Germans set out to build their ideal colony under a naval administration. A railway was built to the nearest coal mine that Germany owned. A new city plan was devised and then expanded in 1910. By the time of Sun Yat-sen’s visit in 1912. The colony had the highest proportion of schools and students in China. He remarked that the colony was a model for China’s future.

When war came in 1914, the German far east fleet was mostly at sea and did not return to the colony out of fear of being bottled up. Japan declared war on Germany and began a blockade. They landed 25,000 troops that were backed up by 1000 British and 500 Sihks. There were several friendly fire incidents until the Japanese gave the British Japan style raincoats to wear. The blockade and siege lasted 2 months until the Germans gave up. On their way to be prisoners of war in Japan, they spat at the British that fought alongside the Japanese. The Treaty of Berlin from 1885 stated that Europeans should stick together in far off colonies no matter political differences in Europe.

German gun at Bismarck Fort destroyed by Japanese naval bombardment

Japan only held the colony until 1922 until it was returned to China under pressure from the USA. The Japanese were back during World War II. Post war for a few years the American Pacific fleet was based in what was now called Qingdao, using the old German port facilities. They left in 1948. The city now has more than 8 million people. If you are wondering what ever happened to the Big Sword Society. After expending much effort to convert them to the communist cause, in 1953 the government ordered the remnants liquidated. There have been small attempts to relaunch the societies using overseas Chinese who had kept up the traditions.

Well my drink is empty, and so I will have to wait until there will be another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2020.

 

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Taiwan 1964, Your POWs are now here and they hate Communists

Taiwan was in a weird state in the early 1950s. The KMT which had formerly ruled China now just had the island of Formosa. Perhaps it was necessary to kid themselves that the defeat was just a setback in a longer struggle. Maybe if Taiwan could recruit some of the PLA soldiers captured in the Korean War. That would prove that everything isn’t so peachy on the mainland. 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.

This stamp has a strange visual. The prisoner who has broken the chains that bind him appears to be drowning. Perhaps if a helping hand from Taiwan was coming out of the dark sky to save him it would make more sense. The 10th Taiwan World Freedom Day commemorates the day that a ship carrying 14,000 PLA prisoners of the Korean War landed in Taiwan. They had elected to go there instead of returning to mainland China. This event was played as a victory and was the start of a long lasting worldwide anti communist organization, the Asian People’s Anti Communist League. This bunch is now known as the World League of Freedom. I am sure they gave the CIA their banking information.

Todays stamp is issue A205, a $3.20 Taiwan Dollar stamp issued on January 23rd, 1964. The two stamp issue in different denominations marks the 10th celebration of the World Freedom Day holiday. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth $2.75 unused.

After the Korean War ended in 1953, Chinese soldiers who had “volunteered” to fight on the North Korean side but taken prisoner by the United Nations forces were given a choice as to whether they would prefer to repatriate to China or go to Taiwan. This seems a bizarre choice to offer as they were prisoners and therefore it was impossible to know their real intentions. It was of course also bizarre to believe the Chinese Army marching into North Korea was volunteering instead of acting under orders from Peking. In any case, 23,000 of the POWs were sent to Taiwan. Many apparently had served previously in the KMT Army during the late 1940s Chinese Civil War. It was not unusual in that for soldiers or whole units to change sides.

1954 was a time when the USA was formalizing relations with Asian countries as a buffer against the advance of Communists. The most prominent part of this was the South East Asia Treaty Organization, SEATO. This was modeled on NATO and lasted from 1954-1977. Taiwan formed the Asian People’s Anti Communist League in South Korea with the Philippines also a member. It’s goal was to provide support to anti communist activists around Asia and eventually world wide. You hear of course about the Socialist Internationale with all it’s anarchists but not so much about the other side. The organization’s Secretariat went through many homes passing through South Korea, Manilla before a 10 year stay in Saigon in then South Vietnam. The fall of Saigon in 1975 temporarily ended the organization but it was reconstituted in Taipei in 1977. In 1991, the name changed to World League of Freedom to recognize the fall of Communism at least in the Soviet sphere.

Taiwan President Ma at 2011 World Freedom Day greeting foreign guests

Over the years the group has attracted some iffy people. Among them were former SS officer and adventerur Otto Skorzeny, Japanese mobster Yoshio Kodama, and former American General John Singlaub. American Senator and later Presidential candidate John McCain was briefly involved but later resigned and asked that his name be removed from their lists. Taiwan politician Chou Kujen is the current leader.

Well my dink is empty and without a handout from the Asian People’s Anti Communist League I will have to stop drinking. Come again soon for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2019.

 

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Macau 1913, the Tanka try to keep the Han out and the Portuguese in their place

Portugal never made the most out of their colonies. Their explorers had very early on encircled the world but their traders left and did not come back. Eventually leaving the Portuguese as threadbare caretakers. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, tape your first sip of your adult beverage and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

Todays stamp is a universal Portuguese colonial issue that displays Ceres, the Roman Gad of agriculture. She shows up on a fair number of Latin country stamps. See the one from Argentina, https://the-philatelist.com/2018/11/21/argentina-1954-peron-invokes-ceres-to-enobile-the-grain-exchange/  . Macau was a classic trading post colony, so agriculture was not a big part of the place. Food was brought in from China, and so it was their problem and opportunity to feed Macau. An example of the distance between Portugal and her far off subjects.

Todays stamp is issue A16, a 2 Avos stamp issued by the Portuguese overseas province of Macau in 1913. It was a 16 stamp issue with many later overprints to represent changing circumstances. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $1.75 unused.

The offshore island of Macau was discovered by Portuguese explorer Jorge Alvares in the early 17th century. The native people in the area were mainly the tanku people, a seafaring group of Chinese that often even live on their junk style boats. A seafaring group will be more ethnically diverse and among the Han Chinese they acquired a gypsy like reputation. Though relations with the Ming dynasty was rough, a Portuguese trade representative sent by the King was hung, the Chinese agreed to a permanent  lease on Macau. Over time Macau got larger through land reclamation but the Portuguese were never more than five percent of the population. Even their occupying troops tended to be Sepoys hired from India or even Askaris from Africa. The Portuguese traders were often Jews that usually intermarried with the Tanku and Jesuits were sent to make the area Catholic. The schools brought by the Jesuits were used but they did not have much luck converting Macau to Catholicism. See https://the-philatelist.com/2017/11/10/remember-the-divine-duty-of-empire/

A free port was very useful has a place where contract laborers called coolies from China could be sent far and wide. This trade was mostly done by Chinese Tong criminal societies but with the end of the slave trade there was a big market for cheap labor. Macau used its special status to open lucrative casinos but generally was in the shadow of much more successful Hong Kong.

The Portuguese declining position in Macau can be seen in how two riots were handled. In the 19th century, a monthly tax on Chinese junk boats was started. A flotilla of untaxed junks entered the harbor in 1846, landed and clashed with Sepoy police and the Chinese delayed good sales to the Portuguese. They were fired upon, the boats in the harbor were fired on from a harbor fortress and the Governor threatened to burn the Chinese quarter. China sent two Mandarins to apologize for the trouble and Portugal stopped paying the annual rental to China they had paid for many years. In 1967 a communist school for Chinese was allowed  but then progress was slowed after the Chinese refused to pay the customary bribe for building permits. The ensuing  riots saw another delay in supply sales from China and riots tore down Portuguese statues. This time it was the Portuguese turn to grovel and apologize and ban Taiwan KMT presence in Macau. The real issue. Interestingly Portuguese offers to turn over Macau to China were rebuffed. China had not hit yet upon their two systems one China approach of how to bring in these relatively prosperous trading posts into China without destroying their special nature. Portugal willingly ended their administration in 1999, slightly outlasting Hong Kong. The Chinese have agreed to mostly keep out the Han people and open more casinos.

Well my drink is empty and I am left wondering about Chinese governance. The Portuguese were never big on good government and it can be seen how much better off Hong Kong was compared to Macau. Yet through many systems and despite Macau’s gypsy heritage, Portugal did so much better by Macau than China did with the ports they ran for themselves. It is only this generation where this is changing but with Britain and Portugal gone, there is no alternative. Come again for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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China 1961, Remembering Sun Yat-sen for trying to bring peace, order, and good government over from Hong Kong

The Communist and for that matter the Taiwan governments of China look to the memory of Sun Yat-sen  as the father of the revolution that ended the Qing Monarchy. For that he will be remembered but it is reasonable to wonder if his successors lived up to Sun’s hopes and where his hopes came from. 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.

Remembering a dead leader is a safe thing to do since he is no longer a threat. The People’s Republic has done a great job in picturing Sun Yat-sen as one of them. Indeed just looking at the stamp, I thought it was Chou En-lai. Sun was often photographed with a moustache but understandably not by the People’s Republic.

Todays stamp is issue A156, a 10 Fen stamp issued by the People’s Republic of China on October 10th, 1961. It was a two stamp issue marking the 50th anniversary of the 1911 Chinese Revolution that overthrew the Monarchy. According to the Scott catalog the stamp is worth $5 used. It would be worth $75 unused. Taiwan had a stamp honoring the same revolution anniversary showing the KMT flag over both Chinas. It is worth much less.

Sun Yat-sen  was born in southern China in 1866. Interestingly there is American paperwork that he was really born in Hawaii. Sun claims that this was faked in order to get him in the USA during a period when the USA was restricting immigration. In any case, he was educated in Anglican schools in Hawaii and Hong Kong due to the generosity of his well off older brother in Hawaii. He became a Doctor of Medicine at what became the British founded University of Hong Kong, see https://the-philatelist.com/2018/10/26/hong-kong1891-the-british-build-the-premier-university-in-asia-for-the-chinese-but-climb-the-hill-to-avoid-their-filth/  . He also was Baptized a Christian. The relative peace and prosperity of Hong Kong turned him against the old ways of China’s then Monarchy. He formed a Tong in Hong Kong to work against the Monarchy after a list of suggestions was rejected by the Chinese Ambassador in Hong Kong. He traveled around extensively among expatriate Chinese communities in South East Asia, Europe, and the USA seeking support and taking note of the success of such communities relative to the situation in China. This was also noted on racial terms as the success of the Han people, and he regarded the Qing Dynasty as of Mongolian heritage.

In America, Sun founded the Revive China Society. In China his organization was called the KMT, though Sun spent little time in China. There were multiple uprisings that failed but in 1911 success was achieved. This was accomplished by working with Yuan Shikai who commanded the North China Army. This seemed a good fit as Sun’s support was mainly in the South. The Republic did not fare well. Sun yielded the Presidency to Yuan who then splintered the government by declaring himself the new Emperor. Sun was back to exile and China entered it’s warlord period.

Sun then did what got him on this stamp. He had the KMT sign treaties with the Chinese Communist Party and an aid agreement with the Soviet Union. The treaty was signed with Adolph Joffe, a Crimean Jew and Trotskyite. That complicated things when the Soviets went Stalinist but by then that would be Sun’s successors problem. In 1924, in one of his last big speeches, Sun stated that the British traditions of peace, order, and good government that Sun had witnessed in Hong Kong had inspired him to be a revolutionary. Being a revolutionary is fun with all the travel and excitement but Sun’s brief period in power showed actually bringing Hong Kong’s success to China was not going to be quick or easy. Sun died of liver cancer in 1925.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast the former British Administration of Hong Kong for showing the Chinese people how things could be. Come again  for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2019.

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Manchu Empire 1935, an old Dynasty is new again in the co-prosperity sphere

Between 1850 and 1950, China was beset with outsiders trying to strip China of it’s national wealth. The last Quing Emperors discredited themselves by not preventing it. The ultimate discreditment occurred when the last Quing Emperor Puyi allowed himself to be named Emperor of the Japanese puppet state in Manchuria. 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.

Back in 1935, this must have been a scary stamp to the Chinese. An area labels itself the Manchu Empire and displays an ancient pagoda. Not so scary sounding and a pretty typical Chinese stamp. However all the Chinese tradition is just a front for Japanese military occupation. It would still have been a real question in 1935 if this was the future of all of China. The last puppet state stamp declared that Japan’s progress was Manchuria’s progress, there were actually two versions of the stamp, one with Chinese characters, one with Japanese characters. By then the mask was off.

Todays stamp is issue A7, a 3 Fen stamp issued by the Manchu empire in 1935. It was part of a 15 stamp issue in various denominations. There is an earlier version of the stamp issue from 1932 with 5 characters across the top from before Puyi was declared emperor. They have higher values. According to the Scott catalog, this stamp is worth 70 cents used.

Manchuria was eyed covetously by both Japan and Russia. Russia desired more warm water ports south of Vladivostok. The Japanese wanted to expand into China from their new bases in Korea. Both used railroads as a way to stake claims and demand rights of their citizens to work them. After the last Emporer Puyi  was forced to abdicate, China entered a period of division being ruled by regional warlords. Manchuria came to be ruled by Zhang Zuolin. His army was unusually strong by Chinese standards as he acquired a stock of French Renault light tanks left over from the French intervention in Vladivostok during the Russian civil war. This allowed Zhang to defeat the Russians and expand his territory to include Beijing. He had close ties to the Japanese and to Puyi the former emperor. Manchuria was then the richest part of China

In the mid twenties he came into conflict with Chiang Kai-shek’s forces and was defeated. The Japanese were upset at his defeat and murdered him as he made his way back to Manchuria by train. They thought they could better control his son Zhang Xueliang. This proved not to be the case as the son resented the murder of his father and had sympathy with Mao’s communist rebellion. He worked with both the Nationalist and Communist forces to oppose the Japanese. However, when Japan invaded Manchuria, he decided to not contest in order to keep his army intact.

Zhang Xueliang is famous for an incident that happened the year after this stamp.  Communist diplomat Chou en Lai met with Chiang Kai-shek to negotiate a temporary truce so efforts could be combined to fight the Japanese. When the negotiations dragged on, Zhang kidnapped Chiang and held him until was willing to agree. For this, he is remembered as a hero in both Chinas.

The Japanese held Manchuria until it was taken by the Soviets at wars end and turned over to Mao’s forces. Puyi was taken by the Soviets and held for a period until being turned over to China. After a period of reeducation. Puyi was allowed to live out his days. Chiang Kai-shek had expressed the desire to have Puyi shot.

The stamp features the White Pagoda in Liaoyang. It was built during the Kin Dynasty in 1189. It is over 200 feet high and built on a large stone foundation. It is called white for the chalky paint that decorates it. The pagoda still stands today.

Well my drink is empty and I will toast the Renault tank. It fought in both world wars and made surprising differences in battles all over the world when tanks were new. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

Renault tank in Zhang’s army service

 

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China/Manchuria 1950, China figures out how to scare the USA

The Cold War was a time of diplomatic games to get an advantage. Here was a stamp that displayed one of the key turnabouts. 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.

There are both German and Italian stamps from the 30s and 40s that similarly show Hitler an Mussolini, but face it. Italy was a second string power in terms of military if not cultural power. Stalin and Mao signing a treaty that amounted to an alliance is really much scarier to potential rivals like the USA. Just 5 years earlier, Stalin was our ally against Hitler and in the last days at least against Japan. Two years before China was ruled by the USA allied nationalists. Chinese troops at the exact time were pouring into North Korea and pushing back the American gains in Korea. 6 years after World War II the effect of all this must have been terrifying.

Todays stamp is issue 1L177, a 5000 Juan stamp issued by the Northeast China Postal Service (Manchuria) on December 1st, 1950. It was the last days of Manchuria being postally administered separately from the People’s Republic. The stamp honors the treaty of friendship between China and the Soviet Union earlier that year by showing Mao and Stalin shaking hands. The Northeast China issue is in different colors and denominations from the same stamp issued by the PRC. The 4 vertical Chinese characters on the upper right of the stamp also signify it. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $29 in mint condition. There are reprints of this stamp that have a lower value, but they are printed on a duller paper.

Manchuria had been occupied by the Japanese during World War II and before. In the late days of the war, the Soviets invaded in order to be in place to take the Japanese surrender. The area had been important to Russia since czarist times as railroad and port access was helpful to a Soviet Far East presence. After taking the Japanese surrender, the area except the needed ports and railway was turned over to Mao’s communist forces. This explains why separate postal administration lasted into the first years of the PRC.

A treaty of Friendship was signed in 1950 was closely modeled on the one signed with the Chinese nationalists in 1946. It replaced that one and had some additional goodies for China. It allowed for the turnover of the Russian railway and the ports of Dalian and Lushun to China. These were some of the last enclaves of European colonialism except for Hong Kong and Macau and getting them back was an important accomplishment. The treaty also provided to China a 300 million dollar loan at a time when civil war recovery and supporting the invasion of Korea was a big expense to China. The treaty ran until 1979 but did not prevent the Chinese-Soviet communist doctrinal split after the end of Stalinism. Deng Xiaoping did not want to extend or have a new treaty with the Soviet Union. He was then anxious to attack Vietnam, a Soviet ally that the treaty would have prevented.

With Chinese troops pouring over the border into Korea pushing back America’s hard won victory over the North Koreans, the effect of the alliance was profound. The American General Macarthur was removed after suggesting a nuclear attack on China was the only military solution to the Chinese onslaught. Instead the line was stabilized into trench warfare very near the original North-South border until a cease fire was finally arraigned in 1953. Chinese troops in North Vietnam in the 60s also kept America from bringing that war to a successful conclusion, showing how important the treaty was. War with China now meant World War III.

Well my drink is empty and I wonder how scary the early 1970s pictures of Nixon and Mao were to the Soviet Union. Very scary I am sure,  No stamp of that though, the closest I could find was the Chinese ping pong stamp. Come again for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2018.

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China Famine stamps in the 1920s, signal your virtue by decorating your letters

If there was a benefit to China opening up to western countries, it was when there was a crisis, help would come from far away. Probably too late and with a lot of hucksters involved. 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.

Todays stamp is not useful for postage. The idea was that people would buy the stamp, mostly in the USA, to decorate their letters. The proceeds would go to famine relief in China. It was not to be used for postage either in the USA nor China.

Since todays stamp is not an official issue of a government, it is not in any catalog. I did find one identical to mine on Ebay for $5.00. This stamp was issued after the famine by the China International Famine Relief Commission.

The famine of 1920 centered in Northern China in the area south of Beijing. The previous year had been very dry and so the harvest was small. The area had been heavily denuded of trees and it is thought that that contributed to the drought as tree roots tend to hold moisture longer. The area had been hit by a much deadlier famine in 1879. The famine in 1920 was believed to have killed 500,000 people.

China was in it’s warlord period. That does not mean the government did not do things to help. The tax on shipping grain between provinces was dispensed with in order that grain could pass more easily and cheaply from less affected areas. The distilling of grains into alcohol was also banned in Beijing to lessen this demand for grain. 1921 was a wetter year and so the harvest was better and that ended the famine.

During the famine, a different aid agency sold a 3 cent stamp raising over 4 million dollars. The three cents was supposed to equate to feeding one Chinese person for one day. This group wrapped up  with the 1921 harvest that was the end of the famine.

This bunch of sad sacks reports to be victims of the 1920 drought in Shaanxi

Todays stamp was the issue of a later group, the China International Famine Relief Organization. It issued relief stamps in several denominations from 1923-1929, both in the USA and China. They usually sold in the period of Christmas through to Chinese New Year. These were much less successful in raising money. The famine being over the overage was spent on making the area less drought prone. Most years however the stamp sales did not cover expenses.

Here is a much later fake stamp from yet another fake? relief committee. By then perhaps we should of stopped sending money and just sent mirrors

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast those who bought these stamps in order to help people they didn’t know so far away.  Come again for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2018.

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China 1957, Building on Japanese and Russian foundations in Changchun, Manchuria

The first automotive plant in the biggest country by population in the world. Now the biggest automotive market in the world. 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.

You don’t often see smokestacks on a stamp. Today a developing country would probably just show the factory gate. The complex shown with its large size and wide boulevard gives a real sense to its importance to China. A truck factory was a big deal. the first domestic truck factory is a really big deal. Imagine a poor country where all the motorized transportation has to be imported. Inevitably this means there will be too few of them and the trucks will cost far more than they should, both to acquire and maintain.

Todays stamp is issue A73, a 4 Juan stamp issued by the Peoples Republic of China on May Day 1957. It displays the first automotive works that opened the year before. It was a two stamp issue. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth $2.75 mint.

Changchun has been an important center for industry since the 19th century. Located in Manchuria, it was the recipient of Russian and Japanese ambitions. In 1898 the train came to Changchun as a result of Russian construction building off their railroad network. It was for a while the end of the line as Japan fought a war with Russia in 1905 and for a short period their systems did not connect. The Japanese eventually set up a puppet state in Manchuria under old Emperor Puyi with it’s capital in Changchun. The Japanese put much effort into making Changchun a showcase city for the Greater East Asia Co Prosperity Sphere. They lavished much money on architecture and infrastructure. The population skyrocketed and in 1944 contained over 140,000 Japanese workers and 5 times that many Chinese. Some of that carried over  when the Chinese regained control of the city in the late 40s. Even today most Chinese bullet trains come from Changchun.

Japan Co Prosperity era government building still in use as a hospital in modern Changchun. Architectural Brutality with Japanese and Chinese flair. The Co Prosperity Sphere for the win.

The Russians accepted the Japanese surrender in Manchuria in 1945 and played a further role in the future of the Chinese city. When the plant on the stamp opened in 1956, the first product was a Russian truck, the Zis-150. The Chinese rechristened the truck the FAW Jia Fang C-10. It was the most common Soviet truck of the 50s and the Chinese made it until 1986. In 1958, the factory expanded its offerings to include the Hong Qi,(Red Flag), a long running series of limousines and large sedans for high officials.

The Soviet original Zis 150 truck. An image search for Gia Fang just gets you androgenous Chinese people with that name. I miss white wall tires as much as the next guy, but on the towed cannon?

The first factory is still around. The third largest domestic automaker FAW is still based in Changchun. FAW stands for First Auto Works. It is known today for its license production of Audi sedans and its own line of economy cars and commercial vehicles. As of yet, they have been unable to re-launch  the Red Flag series of limousines.

Well my drink is empty. This is perhaps not the story of success it would seem at first blush. Yes China fully supplies it’s own automotive market and indeed exports. What it has not been able to do to date, over 65 years later is design their own instead of licenses and pathetic thievery.  Come again for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2018.

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China 1939. Foreign friends yes, foreign domination no

Today we feature a rather strange stamp from China  celebrating USA ties at a time when the central struggle was to come out from under foreign domination. 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.

Today’s stamp is big colorful and dramatic. As such, it is aimed at stamp collectors more than postal customers. Indeed it was even printed in the USA. Americans might be surprised to see the American dollar sign on it. The Chinese juan was sometimes called the Chinese dollar then. The stamp was not denominated in United States dollars. Another interesting thing to notice is that the island of Formosa is not included in the map of China. Instead it is shaded as foreign territory. That would change a decade later. Notice also the claim on Mongolia. Claim unfulfilled.

The stamp today is issue A58, a 1 Chinese dollar stamp issued by China on July 4th, 1939. It was part of a four stamp issue celebrating the 150th anniversary of the United States Constitution. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth $2.25 in it’s cancelled condition. I should note that the only western writing on the stamp is included in the cancellation.

The first half of the twentieth century was a time when China struggled to unite and throw off many years or foreign denomination. Many western nations had been granted concessions in China under duress from the weak Chinese Emperor. The last Emperor had abdicated and a new Chinese government under Sun Yat-sen  was formed but all was not smooth sailing. The German concession in China was awarded to Japan as part of the Versailles treaty. China indeed refused to sign the treaty as it was their aim to end the foreign concessions. Sun Yat-sen’s rule was complicated by rival warlords and a tenuous alliance of his political party  with the Chinese Communist Party.

When Sun Yat-sen died in 1925, he was replaced by Chiang Kai-shek. He even married the sister of Sun’s widow to add to his premotor of power. The alliance with the communist party ended and there was an attempt to start a cult or personality. The foreign concessions continued, including an American one that was backed by US Marines and a naval Yangtze river patrol.

This seems a strange background for a USA-China friendship stamp. Japan had invaded China and though they were not able to conquer it they were able to take much territory and inflict much damage. There was a Japanese 3 all strategy in China. Kill all, Burn all, and Loot all, though this is not how the Japanese would have described their actions. They imagined East Asia a co prosperity sphere under them with China especially needing more prosperity.  Given the invasion, it is understandable that China would hold it’s nose and ask for foreign military assistance to fight the Japanese. Military help was received from the USA, the Soviet Union and surprisingly, Germany.

The defeat of Japan in 1945 lead to a splintering of China with the communist party in power in Peking and Chiang Kai-shek  having to move to the island of Formosa and declare a second Chinese government in Taipei. By this point, his continued existence as a Chinese leader was due to American support. A far cry from the ideals of Sun Yat-sen.

Well my drink is empty. Come again for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2018.

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China 1947, the KMT’s third and final mainland phase

Chiang Kai-shek had attempted to rule China as a one party state. After the Japanese withdrawal in defeat in 1945-6, it was time to reimagine what post war China would look like. A new constitution was written, that granted the Chinese people new rights and political freedom, but was only in effect for five months. Even afterward in Taiwan it was superseded by emergency provisions for over 40 years. 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.

Today shows the Constitution of 1946 during the brief time it was in effect along with the Great Hall in the then capital of Nanking. The Great Hall had been built in 1936 to house the National Assembly. Interestingly when built it was not expected that the National Assembly would be meeting very often so the building was also to be the host of plays put on by the National Institite of Drama. Nanking experienced some drama itself in late 1937 when Nanking fell to the Japanese. There is some hyperbole about how rough the Japanese occupation was, no there was not a contest between Japanese officers on who could kill a 100 Chinese by sword in the shortest time. It was a much rougher occupation though than say the American occupation of Tokyo. Imagine instead Tokyo being occupied in 1946 by Chinese, Mao or Chiang. Anyway the building still stood to host the National Assembly in 1946 and still stands today.

Todays stamp is issue A89, a $3000 Yuan stamp issued by the KMT government on mainland China on Christmas Day 1947. It was a three stamp issue in high inflation battered denomination. There was an earlier version of the stamp with the same image of the Nanking Great Hall but no constitution. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 50 cents unused.

The constitution granted a great deal of rights to the people of China. It was the KMT’s long promised third stage of Chinese development. There was to be no discrimination based on sex, religion, ethnicity or political party. If arrested, the accused had a right to see the charges against  him in writing and to have a trial within 24 hours of arrest. Julian Assange would appreciate that provision today. The National Assembly was to work a little differently, it elected the President to a six year term. It set out three principles for the people, nationalism, democracy, and livelihood.

Writing the Constitution was mainly the work of John Wu. He was a Chinese born Catholic that was educated at the University of Michigan Law School. For many years he kept up a friendly correspondence with then American Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Oliver Wendel Holmes. At first the Communists participated in the drafting, they proposed dividing the Assembly on a fixed ratio of 33% communist, 33% KMT, and 33% everyone else. When this was not done, they withdrew support and announced that the constitution would not be enforced in areas held by them. After the Revolution John Wu taught law at Setan Hall University in the USA and wrote novels. He eventually retired to Taiwan.

John Wu

5 months after the constitution theoretically went into effect in KMT held areas in China, it was superseded by the National Assembly. The country was in civil war and martial law and emergency powers were the order of the day. These emergency provisions traveled with the 1946 constitution to Taiwan. I guess if if you want to get the third stage of development right, it shouldn’t be rushed. The National Assembly, now in Taiwan in 1954 decided officials elected on the mainland under this constitution in 1947  would remain in office until there could be new elections on the mainland. Thus Taiwan put off those pesky elections until the 1990s.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast John Wu. It is amazing to think how much influence these Christian, American educated folks had in China. I wonder to what extent people worried about them being foreign agents. Come gain tomorrow when there will be another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.