Comments on: Manchukuo Stamps

By: Brian Denham

Brian Denham — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 06:59:56 +0000

It has been more than 2 years since the last post on this interesting discussion , I thought this might be a good time for a re-visit to the subject. As a researcher on the subject of Manzhouguo postal history I have acquired a stamp of Manzhouguo which bears a Mongolian postmark. Does anyone know how this could have occurred? The cancel bears the names Rehe and Chifeng ( which is in inner Mongolia ).

By: Alexander Akin

Alexander Akin — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 16:58:23 +0000

Since the long post in response to Lane Harris never appeared, I’ll just recap the main points- Because the titular ruler of Manchukuo was also the last emperor of the Qing dynasty, all of the illustrations of Qing-era buildings such as the North Mausoleum, phoenixes, palaces, the White Pagoda, etc. are all references to the imperial line, and reminders that it stretched back to the foundation of the Manchu state in the early 17th century- thus was “not” some fake lineage established by Japan for its own purposes, as most of the international community believed. In Mengchiang there was a similar effort, though not as well known, where Japan supported Demchugdongrub, who claimed descent from Genghis Khan. (To drive the point home, the only coin issued by Mengchiang has the date according to the Chinese calendar on one side, but on the other is dated in Mongolian in the Genghis Khan era). The Japanese strategy was to support ethnic leaders with a claim to a glorious past, at least as figureheads; I thought that Lane might have missed the significance of some of those bland-appearing illustrations that actually have a deeper historical significance. I am glad to learn more about the postal regulatory situation, which seems to have been complicated. I would not be surprised if the Shanhaiguan illustration was a direct reference to the January 1 agreement with China that Lane has brought to our attention. When can we expect to see the dissertation?
Best regards and happy new year to all,
-Alexander Akin

By: Alexander Akin

Alexander Akin — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 16:34:17 +0000

For that, you have to go to old-fashioned printed books! The Scott catalogs are issued every year with price revaluations, covering all the stamps ever issuedby every country (the set has grown to a number of volumes, as you can imagine). If you only have access to the internet, you can look through the price lists of various stamp dealers. Their prices will vary; some will be higher than catalog while others will be lower. In general, many Manchukuo stamps, including those above, are quite inexpensive.
-Alexander Akin

PS. I sent in a long reply to Lane Harris that never appeared…?

By: ivan read

ivan read — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 23:13:25 +0000

is there a web site that shows the value of the manchukuo stamps?
thks
ivan

By: Diedrik Nelson

Diedrik Nelson — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 20:30:50 +0000

I stumbled across this page and was thrilled to see the picture of North Korea Scott No. 209 (1960). I collect maps on stamps and didn’t know about this one which has a portrait of Kim Jong Ho the creator of the Taedongjido map. The same portrait is used on North Korea Scott No. 3005 (1991). I would appreciate any information you can give me about Kim Jong Ho, the map, or this particular stamp. I will use it on my web page, http://www.danstopicals.com/

Thanks for making me aware of the stamp. I have the N. Korea 3005, and I am looking for the S. Korea 1974d (2000).

Diedrik Nelson

By: Frog in a Well - The China History Group Blog

Frog in a Well - The China History Group Blog — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 21:29:19 +0000

[...] of late. Here at Frog in a Well China, Alexander Akin dropped in to give us a wonderful post on Manchukuo stamps, Alan has continued to offer excellent contributions, including a discussion on Buddhism in [...]

By: Lane J. Harris

Lane J. Harris — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 18:20:14 +0000

Dear Alexander,
I’m very glad to see some discussion of postage stamps at Frog in a Well. I’m currently writing my dissertation on the history of the modern postal system in China (1896-1949) and thought I might offer some opinion on some of the stamps you’ve shown us.
The stamp picturing Changbaishan was specifically designed and issued on 1 January 1935 as a result of the Sino-Japanese Postal Agreement establishing postal relations between the Republic of China and Manzhouguo. The stamp was primarily used on letters sent from Manzhouguo to China. It was issued in both 4 and 12 fen denominations. A second set, of 2 and 8 fen denominations, depicted the Imperial Crest of the Manzhouguo Emperor encircled by two stalks of gaoliang (the typical representative crop of Manzhouguo).
The postage stamp depicting the map of Manzhouguo might, although this is guess-work, include the image of Shanhaiguan not only because it is a symbol of the southern border of Manzhouguo, but also because it is the Exchange Office for mails going to and from China (along with Gubeikou). That is, it is the southern terminus of Manzhouguo postal territory. The symbol at the top of the stamp between “di” and “guo”, as a fun fact, is the imperial crest of Manzhouguo.
Most likely, however, the inclusion of Shanhaiguan was simply done by the artists contracted by the Manzhuoguo Post Office. In my research on Republic of China stamps throughout its early history, almost invariably the Post Office has complete authority in their choice of subject matter with very little oversight by the Ministry of Communications. Interstingly, on 1 December 1937 a set (the seventh) of commemorative Manzhouguo stamps was issued which included another map of Manzhouguo. This map, however, does not picture Shanhaiguan, but instead commemorates Japan’s relinquishment of extraterritorial rights in Manzhouguo (including the transfer of rights of the leasehold on the South Manchurian Railway Zone).
Generally speaking, I would have to disagree that the majority of stamps issued by the state of Manzhouguo issued Manchu iconography or harkened back to any special myths. The following is a list (not complete) of some of the stamps issued by Manzhouguo:
1. First Issue (two separate stamps) (26 July 1932): stamps depict (1) White Pagoda (Buddhist) in Shenyang and (2)Manzhouguo Emperor
2. Second Issue (two separate stamps) (1934):same as above.
3. Third Issue (two separate stamps) (1 November 1934): same as above.
4. Fourth Issue (4 separate stamps) (5 December 1936): (1) State Council Building; (2) Manchurian farmer hauling soya beans; (3) North Mausoleum near Shenyang; (4) a section of Rehe’s Detached Palace.
5. Stamps to China – First Issue (two separate stamps): (1) Imperial Crest and (2) Changbaishan (the stamp text I am referring to [issued by the Manchoukuo Postal Society in 1940] states that “Changpai Mountain…with a fresh water lake at its summit is the home of many legends and is held in the same light by the populace of Manchoukuo as Mt. Fuji is observed by the Japanese.”)
6. New Year Stamp (15 December 1937): depicts upright borders composed of the Chinese characters signifying “happiness” (shuangxi) and the same shuangxi in the center in red.
7. Airmail Service Stamps (5 Dec. 1936; 1 April 1937): (1) depicts an airplane flying over a flock of sheep (2) depicts an airplane flying over the iron bridge across the Songhua River near Harbin.
8. First Commemorative Issue (1 March 1933): two stamps depicting (1) crossed national flags of Manzhouguo with with map of country in background (Shanhaiguan not shown) (2) former State Council building.
9. Second Commemorative Issue (1 March 1934): two stamps depicting (1) Puyi’s Palace and (2) a phoenix with stalks of gaoliang in the background.
10. Third Commemorative Issue (2 April 1935): two stamps depicting (1) Mt. Fuji (in commemoration of the Japanese Emperor’s visit to Manzhouguo; (2) phoenix flanked by symbols of Japanese and Manzhouguo Emperor.
11. Fourth Commemorative Issue (26 December 1935): two stamps depicting (1) outline map of Manzhouguo and Japan with flying goose (traditional symbol of posts in China) between the two countries (in commemoration of postal treaty between Manzhouguo and Japan; (2) former Communication Ministry flanked by crests of Japanese and Manzhouguo Emperors.
12. Fifth Commemorative Issue (1 March 1937): two stamps depicting (1) sun rising over Manchurian plains; (2) general “magnificent” buildings with motor cars in foreground (not a real place).

Anyway, you get the idea. The vast majority of postage stamps issued by Manzhouguo depict symbols of the Manzhouguo state rather than Manchurian myths, etc. The certainly signify the authority of the state and its relations with Japan, but are limited in showing anything I would take to be foundation myths.
As a side note, because Manzhouguo was not recognized as an official state they only signed postal agreements with a few countries (China, Nicaragua, Japan, etc.) so the actual use of the stamps was largely limited to Manzhouguo itself. The stamps issued by Manzhouguo and sent abroad were strictly controlled by existing postal treaties so that no mention could be made of the state of Manzhouguo on the stamps themselves (see the Changbaishan stamp as an exampe – no mention of Manzhouguo found therein).
Cheers and hope you post more on stamps in the future.

By: Alexander Akin

Alexander Akin — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:10:18 +0000

Dear AJ, It really is interesting that Manchu script isn’t used, especially since Mengjiang (the Mongol puppet state) prominently used Mongolian alongside Chinese on its currency. I don’t have an explanation yet for the divergence. Anybody out there know? Was Mongolian more widely spoken among the inhabitants of Mengjiang than was Manchu in Manchuria? Even then, the symbolic value of the script would have meant something. -Alexander