China Postage Stamps 1930's - Mystery of Chinese Culture, History and Language !

Here are some regular stamps with Dr Sun Yat Sen then stamps from a special Sino-Swedish Expedition published to support the journey of a Swede named Hedin. From wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sven_Hedin "Between 1927 and 1935 Sven Hedin led an international Sino-Swedish Expedition which investigated the meteorological, topographic and prehistoric situation in Mongolia, the Gobi desert and Xinjiang.
Sven Hedin described it as a peripatetic university in which the participating scientists worked almost independently, while he—like a local manager—negotiated with the authorities, made decisions, organized whatever was necessary, raised funds and recorded the route followed. He gave archaeologists, astronomers, botanists, geographers, geologists, meteorologists and zoologists from Sweden, Germany and China an opportunity to participate in the expedition and carry out research in their areas of specialty.
Hedin met Chiang Kai-shek in Nanjing, who thereupon became a patron of the expedition. The Sino-Swedish Expedition was honored with a Chinese postage stamp series which had a print run of 25,000. The four stamps show camels at a camp with the expedition flag and bear the Chinese text, "Postal Service of the Prosperous Middle Kingdom" and in Latin underneath, "Scientific Expedition to the Northwestern Province of China 1927-1933". A painting in the Beijing Palace Museum entitled Nomads in the Desert served as model for the series. Of the 25,000 sets, 4,000 were sold across the counter and 21,500 came into the possession of the expedition. Sven Hedin used them to finance the expedition, selling them for a price of five dollars per stamp."

This is a cover sent by Sven Hedin to his sister Alma I found on the wiki site.

I always liked this set of four, and it is all in old Chinese characters, so I don't have a clue about it. Perhaps someone from the Chinese Stamp Society will help me out. Just found a link to a Chinese Stamp Society http://www.chinastampsociety.org/index.cfm, and wrote the secretary an email. Interesting he is from Columbus OH where my parents met. Perhaps stamps might still be a vehicle for international understanding. I am not into collecting for money, rather for learning about people, values and history. So, we'll see what connections I might make!

Other stamps I think are interesting. Waiting for some history on these too. :-)

I think this commemorates something about the US Constitution and I really don't know. Always liked the cool big map of China!

Preparing for Asian Journey 2011 - Revisiting History through Chinese Postage Stamps of the 1920's

“The Journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Lao-tze - Here is a sample from the 1920's of the postage stamps I collected, that allowed me to think about the ancient culture and people of China - Zhongguo = Middle Kingdom - Just like Minnesota being the center of "Turtle Island" As a boy, I was fascinated by the culture of China, and created a special collection. Now, as I envision a trip to Asia, discerning where to visit and for how long and with whom is a point of discernment. I went to my local AAA office and purchased books on travel in China and Japan, and plan to spend 3 weeks there, cultivating friendships on line and with Skype. Being a man of the 21st Century and looking for balance as a digestive health teacher and supporter of HIV preventive education for internationally, I look forward to seeing how safely I can travel. My experience, driving to the Soviet Union at age 24, and environmental activist will serve me well now. From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postage_stamps_and_postal_history_of_China
"The definitives of the "Junk issue" went on sale 5 May 1913, and continued in use into the 1930s. The low values featured a junk, while values from 15c to 50c showed a farmer reaping rice, while the dollar values depicted the three-part gateway to the Hall of Classics in Beijing. The series was first printed in London, then in Beijing from 1915; they can be distinguished by close examination." Here is the first commemorative issue "25th anniversary of the Chinese Post Office featured then president Xu Shichang in the centre, flanked by Premier Jing Yongbeng and Minister of Communication Ye Gongzuo" Yellow Green Grey and blue.

The Beijing Hall of Classics, and a "junk" - Chinese 船 ("boat, ship"), (Mandarin pinyin: chuán) with overprint, with Commemerative issued 1923-10-17 a set showing the Temple of Heaven commemorated the new constitution.

These colorful commemoratives captured my full imagination as a teen. Looking back at the era of the 1920's and the leadership of China that set the foundation for the split in 1949. From Wiki "On 1928-03-01 a set depicting Marshal of the Army and Navy Zhang Zuolin marked his assumption of that role. On 1929-04-18 Chiang Kai-shek makes a first appearance, commemorating the unification of China. Finally on 1929-05-30, two days before the event, four stamps showing Sun Yat Sen's mausoleum were issued to commemorate his state funeral.[2]" Sun Yat Sen, then on the regular issues below, starting in 1931, captured my interest as he was a "doctor". Not sure how the Chinese of today look back at these men and I still find the stamps evocative!

San Francisco Visit - December 2010 Visit - Rosen Center Berkeley

Cafe Du Soleil, 200 Fillmore Street, here off of Duboce where I walked from a Camera Shop in a mall on Market Street after getting a cable to download my photos. Here I had a warm tea and food in a sweet cyber cafe atmosphere. I local woman suggested this as this is where she goes. During the Wednesday break from the Rosen Method Intensive, I took BART under the bay into downtown San Francisco. I stopped by the World HQ of Landmark Education on California off the Embarcadero and noticed the cable car. On this rainy Wednesday, Dec 15, the ides of December, I decided to check out a meeting on Market Street, walking past a lot of street people, likely homeless stopping at an Information Center that is very multicultural, talking about ebooks, ipads and Kindles with a woman from the Netherlands. As an HIV educator in the GBTQ community it was important to stop by the San Francisco LGBT Community Center at 1800 Market Street. Had a nice meal nearby in a cyber cafe with a local man I met there. Sweet to be back in SF after so many years. Came here in the late 1970's and 80's.

Here is a typical home with a tree fern growing in the front yard in Berkeley as I walked from my motel on University and 8th, close to the Berkeley Rosen Center, to the N Berkeley BART Station. Temps 50- 70 degrees everyday. All the plants thrive here!

Typical progressive bumper sticker on a car in Berkeley on my walk to the BART Sunday Morning Dec 19th, after the Rosen Intensive ended on Saturday.

On Sunday, I returned to the Embarcadero, and this time took the California St cable car to Grace Cathedral pictured here. I lot of artists in the park and just beautiful people watching and chatting a bit.

Locals recommended a concert at 3 PM and the Fairmont Hotel decorated for the season. Beautiful!

Here is the Choir part of Grace Cathedral where a chamber group with harp, accompanied a traditional Men's and Boy's Choir in the Anglican - Episcopal tradition. I introduced myself to the new female Dean of the Cathedral, who was educated in Oxford, as from the First Cathedral in Faribault MN. She didn't seem familiar with our Prairie Lakes area of Central MN :-) lol

I walked from the Cathedral down to Market and found the City Office Building here lite up with Green and Red for the season. Noticed several gay couples having there photo taken here. This is the place where Harvey Milk was assassination November 27, 1978 along with Mayor Masconi.

Known for a large number of gays in SF, this is a place to buy cheap clothes and also doubles as a place to get tested for HIV. This is on Duboce where there are a lot of street cars and near the wifi cafe I returned to prior to a walk to a 12 step meeting on Castro Street Sunday evening prior to my BART trip back to Berkeley. Great walking city and fun to be back!

Philately - What it teaches and How I enjoyed collecting in the mid 20th Century

Here is a first day cover, from 1960, sent to me by a fellow young stamp collector when I was thirteen years old. His name is Isato Yoshimura who then lived in Kumamoto City - Japan. Would be interesting if I  found his name in a search here! I learned that this was the 100 year commemorative of the Kanrin Maru's sailing from Japan to San Francisco Bay in the US. Here is the Wiki summary : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_warship_Kanrin_Maru

Here are coronation issues for the colonies around the Straits of Malacca. 1937 George VI with Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon, his wife, known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II.
In 1936, her husband unexpectedly became King when her brother-in-law, Edward VIII, abdicated in order to marry the American divorcée Wallis Simpson. As Queen consort, Elizabeth accompanied her husband on diplomatic tours to France and the United States in the run-up to World War II. During the war, her seemingly indomitable spirit provided moral support to the British public. In recognition of her role as a propaganda tool, Adolf Hitler described her as "the most dangerous woman in Europe" Going to see The Kings Speech, a new movie about King George VI soon today, Thinking about King George VI, Queen Elizabeth II's father and how I collected stamps with their portraits on them. The Britiish Commonweath was a big deal when I was a little boy, and then many countries became independent in the 60's. I remember mounting the stamps as a boy and looking up where they were on a world map. Here are the stamps of Straits Settlements, then the states of Malaya that began a federation. I hope to learn more of the history as I travel to Asia in 2011!

Here are stamps in 1957 building up to independence. I like the 30 cent one with the neat map showing the states. Always liked maps. a real cartophile :-)

Postage Stamp Collecting - Family Education - Windows into the World mid 20th Century

 

Discovered this photo from 1959-60 with me at age 12-13, sitting with my mom, as she looks in the Scott Catalog, and I have a stamp tongs in my hand -  In 2017, I still had 1/3, 34 albums of stamps from my parents hobby from the 1930's to 60's -  I know how my fun and joy they had, writing in Esparanto starting in 1938, here in Minnesota, and learned from my mom, how to be focused and keep meticulous records if need be -  Looks like I am grabbing my dad's pipe that is filled with tobacco with my right hand, and my mom's stare and body language says it all!  

Here is a photo of Paul H Weaver MD and Peg Weaver working on their stamp collection at their Pelican Lake cabin. Likely in around 1960 when they were still active in collecting and writing people in many nations. In the early 1960’s, Peg began learning more about mushrooms and collection and identifying them and their stamp hobby waned.

Here is a photo of me Christmas of 1956, when I was 9 years old. I remember at that age being interested in collecting stamps and butterflies. By 1960 I had friend in a variety of countries I exchanged stamps with - Japan, New Zealand, Rhodesia, Australia to name a few. I remember being excited to find some stamps under the Christmas tree from special countries like China that I found very exotic, back in the day.

Here is the Temple of Heaven two colored series that I found to be special as a kid. According to the site:
http://www.philatelicdatabase.com/asia/temple-of-heaven-the-stamps-of-china/
"They were issued in 1909 to mark the first year of the reign of Emperor Hsuan Tung. He later became president and emperor of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo, a most interesting story which has been made into a successful movie called The Last Emperor."

This is the first page of my China Collection. Before Nixon Visited Mainland China in 1972, after I had stopped collecting stamps, the only stamps I could get were from Taiwan. These are stamps before the split in 1949.

Here are some Peoples Republic Stamps from 1959 my parents collected with kids with red scarves.

Paul H Weaver Born Dec 24, 1910 Honoring his work in Gratitude.

Here is Paul Henry in 1919 at age nine, at his home 321 E Main Street he shared with his parents, Noah Elwood and Edna Eicher Waver. Perhaps this is on Christmas Day after he opened his presents. I notice there are a lot of books. I know that was a very important part of the family legacy. Today I keep finding family books from that era to pass on to the next generations. A legacy of reading and imagination!

At an earlier age, here is Paul Henry at a desk in the home, working with clay. Noah Elwood was quite a photographer and I am so grateful for the spirit of curiosity for learning, spawned by his early adoption of technology and Edna's having been a country school teacher.

In 1928, the year Paul Henry graduated from West Carrollton OH High School his family took a road trip to the Great Smokies, Virginia and Washington DC. Here he is by a Cedar, Arbor Vitae claimed to be 2000 years old in Virginia. He and my mom were very interested in Nature throughout their lifetimes.

After graduating from Ohio State University Medical School in 1938, he and my mom, moved to Minneapolis where he interned at Swedish Hospital. In 1939 they moved to Faribault some 50 miles south of the Twin Cities, where he joined the Faribault Clinic, then with an office over Payant Drug Store on the NW corner of Central and Forth, across from the Olympia Restaurant, the lights of which can be seen through the window. I remember climbing the long stairway to the second floor to visit my dad here in the 1950's before they built a new clinic building on the east side closer to the hospital.

From Snow to Rain - Rosen Connections in Berkeley

Here is the view from my motel room in Berkeley on University Ave. The fall colors are from tulip trees. Interesting variety of foliage here in the bay area. My first trip back to the area since the 70's and 80's. One of Sue's best friends, Debby and along with her husband Ron and kids lived in the area. I first remember driving out to the coast in our old Rambler station wagon, likely in 1976-77 when we returned to teach botany at Camp Unistar on Cass Lake. Ron and Debby then lived on Clayton Street near Golden Gate park. Back in the day, when Sue and I attended the Duluth Unitarian group on Superior Street with the likes of Hal and Carol Leppink. Anyway, I digress. I flew out to San Francisco to attend my second Rosen Method intensive.

Here is a side street I walk down each day. Lined with older growth sycamores here catching the morning sun. I noticed that like other Mediterranean climate areas, rosemary grows well here. Take a bit off and chew.

Here is the entry way to the Rosen Center in Berkeley, a ten minute walk from 8th and University at the La Quinta.

One of the chief attractions for many of us in this intensive, is that Marion Rosen, the founder of the work, still teaches at age 96. She arrived each morning to teach along with Bill and Gloria. Here are two students, Asger from Denmark and Moa from Sweden with Marion one of the first mornings. I am very inspired by this woman who continues to share her experience, strength and hope in a good way!