The Philatelic Database – Archive of Stamp Collecting Articles

The Republic Stamp Issues of China (1927)

First published in “Stanley Gibbons Monthly Journal” (June 1, 1927) and written by Gordon A. Clayton.

The Chinese have, for many centuries past, been in a very lethargic state of mind: their rulers have been able to overawe them, and rule them very despotically; and their very religions have taught them to bow their heads to the inevitable, without murmur, and without attempting to kick over the traces. However, during the last three decades the people have slowly come out of their lethargic state, and have realised how downtrodden they were by their Manchu rulers. Events have moved swiftly since 1909, culminating in the mutiny of the army at Wuchang on the 11th October, 1911. An army was sent down from Sze-chuen to suppress the rebellion; but on the way down the Yangtse River the soldiers heard of the mutiny at Wuchang, and they also mutinied – in sympathy with their comrades, murdering Tuan-fang, their Manchu leader.

After the mutiny at Wuchang the revolution spread rapidly. Hankow was captured and burned, and Hanyang with its arsenal was also taken. The various provinces south of the Yangtze one by one seceded from the Empire and set up independent governments. The Regent induced Yuan Shih-k’ai, who had retired in 1908 to save his own head, to take up office again as commander-in-chief of the army and navy. Yuan brought the army from Pekin to Hankow, and recaptured that city and Hanyang before his funds ran out. The Regent, being unable to effect a loan, was forced to come to terms with the revolutionists.

At this moment, Dr. Sun Yat-sen returned from abroad, arriving in Shanghai on the 27th December, 1911, and on the 29th was elected President by the representatives of the revolting provinces, except Chekiang, which objected. The southern provinces, with Dr. Sun as their President, set up their new capital at Nanking, and drew up a provisional constitution.

In the meantime, pressure had been brought to bear on the Empress Lungyu, Regent and fostermother of the boy Emperor, and she abdicated the throne on the 12th February, 1912. At the same time she commissioned Yuan Shih-k’ai, who was then Premier, to establish the Republic.

Yuan Shih-k’ai made an agreement with Dr. Sun Yat-sen and the Southern Republic for a temporary government to be set up at Pekin with himself as the temporary President. Yuan took the oath of office in Pekin as provisional President on the 10th of March, 1912, and immediately called together a new National Assembly.

At this juncture the Post Office, finding that their stock of stamps was running short, decided to print a commemorative set of stamps. They could not wait until the new National Assembly had elected the first President, as the supply of stamps would not last. Neither dared they invoke the wrath of the first President by not printing his portrait. There were two candidates for the Presidency – Yuan Shih-k’ai and Dr. Sun Yat-sen. So the Post Office, to get over the difficulty, printed two complete sets of stamps; the one portraying Yuan Shih-k’ai, commemorating the proclamation of the “United Republic on the 12th of February, 1912 (Type 1); the other bearing the portrait of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, commemorating the start of the revolution at Wuchang on the 10th of October, 1911 (Type 2).

Each of these two sets comprised twelve stamps, with values from 1c. to $5.

The stamps were printed on white wove paper, in sheets of 100 stamps, with a perforation of 14½. The stamps with Sun Yat-sen’s portrait measure 36×24 mm., and those with Yuan Shih-k’ai’s portrait measure 34×26 mm. Neither set was watermarked. The engraving and printing were done by the Chinese Bureau of Engraving and Printing at Pekin. The two sets were issued simultaneously in November, 1912.

In the meantime the Post Office had placed an order in London for a new set of stamps. These were issued on their arrival in 1913. This new set comprised nineteen stamps, values ½c. to $10. There were three distinct designs for the stamps: the main features of the design of the ½c. to 10c. being a junk and a railway train, representing “Communications” (Type 3); the design of the 15c. to 50c. stamps being a reaper, representing “Agriculture” (Type 4); and the design for the $1 to $10 being the Pai-lou (or arch) in the enclosure of the Hall of Classics at Pekin, representing “Literature” (Type 5).

The stamps were printed on white wove paper; each stamp measuring 26×22 mm., the perforation being 14. The stamps had no watermark. The ½c. to 50c. stamps were printed in sheets of 200 stamps, each sheet being marked off into panes of 25 stamps by thin lines. These lines were supposed to run down the perforation holes, but more often than not the perforating machine missed the line altogether, so stamps are often seen with the line on one of its margins, sometimes on two adjacent margins. The $1-$10 stamps were printed in sheets of 50. The engraving and printing were carried out by Messrs. Waterlow & Sons, London.

Mr. Church Chu, a leading Chinese philatelist, states that stamps may be found imperf. between either vertically or horizontally in most of the values. The writer, however, has only seen a 2c., 3c. and 8c. imperf. between horizontally, and a 4c. stamp imperf. between vertically. Distinct shades, however, are to be found in all values, and these are especially marked in the ½c., 1c., 2c., 8c. and 20c.

Towards the end of 1914 the Chinese Post Office decided to have their stamps printed in China. This decision was reached partly because the continuity of the supply of stamps from London was becoming very uncertain – due no doubt, to the labour and shipping problems of that time.

The work of re-engraving the dies and the printing of the stamps was entrusted to the Chinese Bureau of Engraving and Printing. The same designs were used for the stamps, but the re-engraving of the dies involved various minor alterations in the details of the designs. The most easily noticed alterations are: In the Junk design, first issue, the three waves in front of the junk appear as almost regular dots, and the sail of the highest mast of the junk has a thin hair-line running all the way along it; whereas, in the second issue, the three waves appear as two short lines and a dot, and the hair-line above the sail does not continue past the mast (this hair-line is absent entirely on many specimens, due to the wearing of the plate). In the Reaper design, first issue, the instrument in the reaper’s hand has an outer line which starts down from the hand; in the second issue, however, this line does not start from the hand, but ends in a sharp point just below the hand. In the Arch design, first issue, the middle window on top of the arch is rectangular, but in the second issue this window is oblong.

The set, at first, comprised 20 stamps, a $20 stamp having been added. In 1919, however, two other values, the ½c. and 13c., were also added to the set.

Just before the issue of these two new values in 1919, a Postal Notification appeared in the Press announcing various changes in the postal tariff; and with these changes of tariff, a revision of the colours of the stamps was announced. At the same time, notice of the issue of the two new values, viz. 1½c. and 13c., and the withdrawal of the 7c. and 15c. was given. The postal tariff certainly was changed, the two new stamps were issued, but the 7c. and 15c. were not withdrawn, neither were the colours revised until the 1923 issue (and then not all the changes first announced took place).

One wonders why the Post Office issues stamps as high in value as $10 or $20. The reason for this is that the Post Office uses these high-value stamps on money orders. High-valued stamps have been seen postally used – but they must have been passed through the post, overstamping some packet many times over, with the sole purpose of getting the stamp postmarked! The post offices often postmark stamps to oblige collectors.

Each stamp of the second issue measures 25½-22½ mm., and has a perforation of 14, 14½. The stamps were printed in sheets similar to the sheets of the first issue. In 1922, however, an experiment was made to equalize the monetary value of the sheets of stamps, by altering the number of stamps to a sheet, and by inserting blanks to make the sheets regular in shape. The experimental sheets were issued to the public, but the experiment was not a success, and it was discontinued as soon as the sheets were used up.

The greatest difficulty is experienced in completing this set on account of the variations in the paper. The following papers have been seen ;

(a) ½c.-$20 on thin white wove paper.

(b) ½c.-$20 on thick white wove paper.

(c) ½c.-$2 on thick smooth Chinese paper.

(d) ½c.-$2 on thick chalky, rough-surfaced Chinese paper. Stamps printed on this paper have a blurred appearance – especially the 4c., red.

(e) $1-$10 on a thin greyish blue paper.

As in the first issue, so in this second issue distinct shades are to be found, but they are not so pronounced. The variation in shade is mostly due to the different absorbent powers of the various papers used, so one should differentiate between various papers before attempting to discriminate between the shades of colouring.

A very rare Chinese stamp is the $2 of this set with its arch-centre inverted. A complete sheet (50 stamps) was printed in error, and issued at the post office of Tai-yuen-fu. One of the fifty was used on a money order, and is in the hands of the Post Office; the others are at large.

This series was not issued as a complete set; but as the corresponding values of the first issue were used up, so the stamps of this set were released. All values except the 1½c. and 13c. were issued sometime in 1915.

Postal activities extended to Chinese Turkestan (the Chinese province of Sinkiang) early in 1915. A special overprint (Type 6), consisting of five Chinese characters meaning: “Exclusively for Postal use in the New Dominion,” was prepared by the Postal Supply Department at Shanghai, and sixteen denominations of the 1915 issue of stamps were overprinted; the values thus overprinted being ½c. to $1; and all except the $1 stamp were overprinted in black; the $1 stamp being overprinted in red. This first overprint differs from the second overprint in that the first (top) Chinese character of the overprint is slightly out of alignment, to the left, with the other four characters.

A rather rare error occurs in the overprint of the $1 stamp of this issue. The second and third characters became transposed on one of the stamps on the sheet. This was noticed later and was rectified, but not until a good few errors had been issued.

The second set of Chinese stamps overprinted for use in Sinkiang was issued in 1917. The same stamps and the same overprint were used, but this time the first character falls in line with the other four (Type 7). The whole set was overprinted, and later, in 1919, the new 1½c. and 13c. were also overprinted. The ½c. to 50c. stamps were overprinted in black, and the $1 to $20 stamps in red. The preparing of the second overprint and the printing were done by the Chinese Bureau of Printing and Engraving at Pekin.

An error occurs in the surcharge of the 20c. stamp, the overprint being broken, the bottom one and a half characters being missing entirely. All values, except the two highest, of this issue were perforated with the outlines of four Chinese characters – being for official use. These perforated characters may be found inverted or reversed.

When Yuan Shih-k’ai called together the first National Assembly, he was elected the first President of the Republic. Immediately after his installation as President, he set to work systematically to destroy the two Houses of the Parliament. Charges were made against many of the members, and they, remembering the summary executions of the previous summer, fled. When a quorum could not be formed in either House, Yuan dispersed the rest of the members, and called together a new National Assembly, the members of which were well under his control. Then there began a skilfully conducted propaganda to make it appear that the people were calling upon Yuan to make himself Emperor. With feigned indignation he put the prize from him, until after many entreaties, all concocted by his subordinates, with pretended reluctance he consented to accept the crown. He duly announced that the Empire would be proclaimed on the 1st of January, 1916.

To commemorate this great event Yuan ordered a set of three stamps to be prepared and printed. They were to be issued on the day of his coronation. Yuan, however, never came to the throne, so these stamps were not issued to the public for postal use. The stamps were, however, surcharged in black with the word “specimen,” and sold to the public (at face value) as curiosities. The stamps were engraved and printed by the Chinese Bureau of Engraving and Printing at Peking. Each sheet comprised 100 stamps. Each stamp measured 25½x34 mm. and had a perforation of 14. The printing was done on white wove paper. The values, colours and designs of the stamps were:

5 c., red. Gate of Chien Men at Pekin.
10 c., blue. Gate of Tien An Men at Pekin.
50 c., green. The Temple of Tai Ho Dien at Pekin

These “specimen” stamps may also be seen overprinted for use in Sinkiang. These stamps were never sent to Sinkiang, but were sold with the others at Pekin.

Chinese history records many famines, especially in the North of China, near the Huang Ho or Yellow River. But the books of history have never recorded such a famine as that which occurred in 1919-21, during which time over ten million lives were lost! Every society, guild and association in China raised funds for the succour of the needy in the famine-ravished districts, and the Post Office helped in this good work by the issue in 1920 of three specially surcharged stamps. The stamps used were the 2c., 4c. and 6c. of the 1915 issue, surcharged to the new postal values of 1c., 3c. and 5c. These stamps were sold at their original face values, but could only be used at their surcharged value for prepaying postal matter. Thus 1c. was contributed by every surcharged stamp used.

On the 20th of March, 1921, there appeared four Commemorative stamps, commemorating theTwenty-fifth Anniversary of the issuing of the Imperial Edict recognising the Post Office as a national institution (Type 8). The stamps bear the portraits of H.E. President Hau Shih-chang, H.E. Chin Young-peng, the ex-Premier, and Yeh Kung-cho, the Minister of Communications, the values being 1c., 3c., 6c. and 10c.

The stamps were engraved and printed by the Chinese Bureau of Engraving and Printing at Pekin, in sheets of 100, on white wove paper. Each stamp measured 26×34 mm. The paper was not watermarked; and the stamps had a perforation of 14.

This set was also surcharged horizontally in black, for use in Sinkiang. The 10c., blue, thus overprinted is rare; two thousand copies only were overprinted, as this value was little used.

On the 1st of July, 1921, a direct aerial service was inaugurated between Pekin and Tsinan; it was however, suspended on the 10th of the same month, after an irregular service. Later, a service was started between Pekin and Pehtaiho, the summer resort. This service operated intermittently until the close of the summer season. A special set of five stamps was prepared for the new Air service, but very few of them were used for what they were intended for. The values are 15c., 30c., 45c., 60c. and 90c.

The design shows an aeroplane passing over the Great Wall of China (Type 9). The stamps were engraved and printed by the Chinese Bureau of Engraving and Printing at Pekin. The sheets, each consisting of 25 stamps, were printed on white wove paper, each stamp measuring 31½x41 mm. Perforation 12, No watermark.

A special obliterating chop was prepared and used on the mails taken on the first flight. The chop was rectangular in shape and consisted of twenty Chinese characters, which meant: “the first Air-Mail delivery in the Republic of China.”

During 1922 the stock of 2c. stamps suddenly ran out. The Post Office at that time had rather a large number of 3c. stamps in stock, so they decided to surcharge a certain quantity of the 3c. stamps with a red surcharge, and to use them provisionally as 2c. stamps. This surcharging was done by the Chinese Bureau of Engraving and Printing at Pekin.

Two slight errors may be found in the surcharge. Both occur in the Chinese character to the left of ” Cts.,” which is to be found broken either at the left-hand side of the oblong portion, or in the left “leg.”

The third main general Republican issue appeared in 1923. The designs of the stamps are the same as those of the 1913 and 1915 issues. The stamps, however, were entirely re-drawn and much of the detail omitted. The following are the chief points of difference between the 1915 issue and the re-drawn 1923 issue: In the ½c. to 10c., the shading lines of the arabesques and pearls above the top of the Chinese inscription have been removed; the waves in front of the junk have been altered, and the water is made to appear darker; and the inner shadings at the top and along the sides of the picture have been cut away. In the 13c. to 50c., the heads of rice now have fine shading lines, instead of appearing as coarse dots; five pearls in a row have been introduced each side of the Chinese inscription; the arabesques above the inscription have been altered; and the temple is made to stand out much more clearly. In the $1-$20, the centres are in colour, instead of being printed in black; there are four instead of eight vertical lines each side of the picture; and the trees each side of the Pai-lou are now bare of their foliage.

Many of the colours of the stamps were revised (in accordance with the Postal Notification of 1919).

The stamps are unwatermarked, and are perforated 14. The ½c.-50c. were printed in sheets of 200 stamps, and the $1-$20 in sheets of 50. (The 1c., 4c. and 10c. were issued in sheets of 140, the 2c. in sheets of 160 stamps, and the 5c. in sheets of 180, for a short period only. These sheets, however, were marked off in rows of twos, so it is presumed that these stamps were printed to make up into booklets, but were issued to various post offices in error.)

The $5, $10 and $20 stamps were withdrawn in July, 1925. At the same time, the Post Office issued a new set of stamps for use on money orders only, the denominations being I, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50c., $1, $2, $5, $10, $20 and $50. The colours are the same as those of the ordinary stamps (the $50 being grey), the design being a pagoda. These stamps, however, are not on sale to the public.

In 1926 the colour of the 4c. stamp was changed from grey to bronze-green. At the same time the paper seems to have been changed from smooth surfaced wove paper to a chalky paper that tends to absorb the ink. Thus the new paper of the 2c. green stamp has a yellow tinge, and the paper of the 10c. blue stamp has a bluish tinge. The redrawing of the designs and the printing were done by the Chinese Bureau of Engraving and Printing at Pekin

The complete issue was overprinted for use in Sinkiang, with the same surcharge as used in 1917. The set, up to $5, was also punched with the four Chinese characters for official use. In 1926 the new 4c. bronze-green stamps were overprinted, and replaced the 4c. grey stamps as they were used up.

In 1923 a Commemorative issue appeared, commemorating the tenth year of the Republic, the design being a reproduction of the Temple of Heaven (Type 10). The set comprised four stamps, 1c., 3c , 4c. and 10c.

Each stamp measures 28×34 mm., the perforation being 14, 14½. Each sheet, composed of 100 stamps, was printed on wove paper. The Chinese Bureau of Engraving and Printing was responsible for the engraving and printing.

The four stamps were also surcharged for use in Sinkiaug. This surcharge is easily missed, three of the Chinese characters being down one side of the stamp, the other two down the other side, the characters being smaller than those usually used on the Sinkiang surcharge.

During 1923 the postal tariff was again altered. Under the old tariff the 4c. stamp had been greatly used, so the stock of these stamps was large. However, under the new tariff the 3c. stamp was in great demand. To rid themselves of their large stock of 4c. stamps the Post Office had them surcharged in red, reducing their value to 3c. The stamps were surcharged by the Chinese Bureau of Engraving and Printing in sheets of 200 and 120. The surcharge is to be found inverted; and the top bar of the Chinese character at left of “Cts.” is missing on one stamp in the sheet of 200. (This error was corrected later.)

Postage Due Stamps
With the first general issue of Republican stamps issued in 1913, a set of eight Postage Due stamps was also issued. Their design (Type 11) is ornamental, and they were all printed in blue. The values of the stamps are: ½c., 1c., 2c., 4c., 5c., 10c., 20c., 30c. They were engraved and printed by Messrs. Waterlow & Sons, London. The stamps measured 17×25 mm., and were perforated 14. The paper was thick wove, unwatermarked.

In 1915, when the Post Office decided to print the stamps in China, a new issue of these Postage Due stamps appeared. The stamps were identical with those of the first issue, except that the perforation was changed to 14, 14½, and the paper was much thinner.* The printing of this second issue of Postage Due stamps was done by the Chinese Bureau of Engraving and Printing at Pekin. In each of these two issues the stamps were printed in sheets of 200 stamps, divided off into panes of 25 stamps.

On the 15th of November, 1925, the supply of Postage Due stamps at Hankow ran out, and for five days ordinary postage stamps, handstruck with one of three wooden chops, were used as Postage Due stamps.

The three chops (Types 12 to 14) were very roughly made, and the marks they leave on the stamps may easily be mistaken for ordinary postmarks.

Fiscal Stamps
During 1919, the Post Office issued two stamps overprinted perpendicularly in Chinese for “Exclusive use of the Savings Bank” (Type 15). The stamps thus overprinted were the 5c. and 10c. of the 1915 general issue.

They were sold to savers to stick on the special forms issued by the Post Office, much in the same way as the British Post Office Savings Bank issues forms on which to stick penny stamps. When the form is filled up with stamps, it is taken to the post office, and a sum of money, equal to the value of the stamps on the form, is credited to the account. The overprint was in red.

In 1920, these Savings Bank stamps were also overprinted horizontally with two Chinese characters (Type 16). These stamps served the same purpose as those of the 1919 issue, but they were only for use in the province of Kwang-tung.

In 1921 a series of eight Famine Relief stamps superseded the issue of 1920. The 1920 issue of stamps had a franking value, but this new issue had none. The design of the stamps shows wild geese in flight on the shores of the river Hwang Ho.

In 1913 there appeared a series of five Revenue stamps, the design being the new Republican flag flying from one of the towers of the Great Wall of China.

These stamps are often stamped by the local post offices, with hand-stamps indicating the province, and in some cases the town, in which the stamp was sold.

Many other Fiscal stamps have been issued in China since 1913, and the Commission of Taxes is responsible for the issue of most of them. Many of these Fiscals are Tobacco and Opium Tax stamps.