History of Chinese Stamps (Volume 2)

Author: Editorial Committee of the History of Chinese Stamps, Ministry of Information Industry of the People's Republic of China
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-12-01
Features: The History of Chinese Stamps, Volume 2 records the issuance of stamps during the period of the Imperial Chinese Postal Service under the Qing Dynasty, covering the years from 1896 to 1911. It includes items such as the Wan Shou and Little Dragon overprinted value stamps, the Hong Yang overprinted temporary use stamps, the Japanese and London editions of the Dragon stamps, the Xuan Tong commemorative stamps, as well as registered mail stamps, express mail stamps, postal prepaid postcards, and the Dragon overprinted for Tibet use. When the Imperial Chinese Postal Service was established on March 20, 1896 (the seventh day of the second lunar month of the 22nd year of the Guangxu reign), China was in the midst of a turbulent semi-colonial and semi-feudal society fraught with crises. The major powers were engaged in a frenzied scramble for China, and the Qing Dynasty was facing internal and external difficulties, teetering on the brink of collapse. Shortly after its establishment, Britain and France fiercely competed over the appointment of postal officials, directly affecting China's entry into the Universal Postal Union. The political instability and frequent institutional changes during the late Qing Dynasty, with the department responsible for customs (and postal affairs) shifting from the Imperial Household Department to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then to the Customs Supervision Office, and finally to the Ministry of Posts and Communications, introduced numerous uncertainties into postal development. The issuance of stamps for China's modern national postal service began under these complex circumstances.
The Imperial Chinese Postal Service was established by emulating the relevant systems of Western countries (primarily Britain). In the decade following its founding, it was still managed by customs officials. Under the historical conditions of the time, it was through the organizational framework and necessary resources provided by customs that the national postal service managed to survive and gradually grow, competing against foreign "guest posts" and domestic private postal services, despite lacking dedicated funding and professional expertise. From the perspective of stamp issuance and management, the Imperial Chinese Postal Service had three significant impacts on later developments:
First, it established a vertical, centralized management system. This mechanism, derived from the customs organization, facilitated the planning of postal expansion nationwide, laying a foundation for the orderly and effective conduct of stamp issuance, which aligns with the inherent requirements of stamp issuance for information flow and strict enforcement.
Second, it formulated relatively comprehensive rules and regulations. The Imperial Chinese Postal Service developed the Regulations for the Imperial Household Department Stamps and participated in drafting the Regulations for Punishing Counterfeit Stamps, establishing specific rules for stamp storage, preservation, issuance, accounting, and use, which were later adopted by postal authorities in subsequent periods.
Third, it issued stamps and postal items based on the needs of postal services. The Imperial Chinese Postal Service created many "firsts" in the history of Chinese stamps, such as the first batch of overprinted value stamps, the first official commemorative stamp series with issuance regulations, the first set of registered mail stamps, the first express mail stamps, and the first postal prepaid postcards. The successes and failures in the issuance of stamps by the Imperial Chinese Postal Service provided valuable lessons for later generations to learn from.
The editorial style of this volume is similar to that of Volume 1.
Chapter 1 introduces the postal situation, briefly outlining the establishment of the Imperial Chinese Postal Service and the background of postal development necessary for understanding stamp issuance, such as the opening dates of postal offices in various regions, the strategies employed by postal authorities against "guest posts" and private postal services, the general progress of postal expansion, and the evolution of postal management. This chapter also dedicates a section to introducing and analyzing the regulations of the Imperial Chinese Postal Service regarding stamp management and use.
Chapters 2 to 8 describe the various stamp series and postal items in chronological order, covering the reasons for their issuance, design features, printing processes, and distribution and usage. Issues closely related to stamp issuance, such as currency value changes, postal rate adjustments, and printing techniques, are discussed in detail within each chapter in relation to specific stamps. The characteristics of stamp formats, perforation differences, and paper variations are generally not elaborated on excessively.
The overprinted value stamps issued beginning in 1897 are relatively rich in content and are introduced in two chapters (Chapters 2 and 3). The Dragon stamps, officially printed by the Imperial Chinese Postal Service after its establishment, were produced in Japan and Britain with different printing techniques, leading to significant differences in their issuance and usage, so they are also covered in two chapters (Chapters 4 and 5). The Xuan Tong commemorative stamps, registered mail stamps, express mail stamps, postal prepaid postcards, and the Dragon overprinted for Tibet use are relatively independent in content and are discussed in Chapters 6, 7, and 8, respectively.
The stamps issued by the Imperial Chinese Postal Service have been nearly a century old. Although some official documents have been published, their quantity is far insufficient to meet the needs of writing the history of stamps. During the compilation of this volume, a number of previously unused archival documents were discovered, including private and official correspondence of individuals involved in the production of the Japanese Dragon stamps and the late Qing postal prepaid postcards, as well as exchanges of official documents between the Customs Printing Office regarding the printing techniques and prices of the London Dragon stamps, changes in ink colors, the addition of new values, and the overprinting of registered mail stamps. These archival materials provide rich details on the printing and issuance of the Dragon stamps, allowing for the correction of long-standing misconceptions.
For stamps from this period, especially the Wan Shou, Little Dragon overprinted value stamps, Hong Yang overprinted temporary use stamps, and late Qing postal items, stamp collectors and researchers from China and abroad have extensively gathered physical materials and historical records, achieving substantial and convincing results. This volume has incorporated relevant findings where appropriate.
Additionally, this volume has unearthed a wealth of related materials from old stamp catalogs, letter collections, scholarly works, and postal journal articles to cross-reference with archival documents and existing stamps, providing a more detailed discussion of long-standing issues in stamp and postal history research, such as the relationship between "IPC" and "PIC," the 110 watermarked paper stored by the Customs Printing Office, the "Beihai stamps," "Moranduff stamps," and "Hurricane stamps," as well as the ink colors of the London Dragon 5-cent stamp.