Manchuria stamp – The-Philatelist

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.

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.