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I can't be of much help regarding #214 as I'd like to be as
I can't make out the words in the top horizontal bar
totally as it is partially covered up by the postmark. Some clues,
however. First, the inscriptions are definitely Chinese. Hence, the
stamp could be Chinese or Japanese but NOT Korean (which uses a
different script from the first two). Second, the right-hand vertical
bar says "Fifty 'qian'". 'Qian' is a currency unit used in early
Japanese or Imperial Korean stamp issues but NOT Chinese stamps,
whatever the era.
Now the problems. The left-hand bar is laterally-inverted (mirror
image) --- which doesn't make much sense and makes the words difficult
to decipher precisely. I had lots of difficulty reading the script because it is written in an old Chinese script while in Singapore, we use the modern script. Moreover, it was inscribed in a fanciful manner. OK, enough excuses. After garnering enough help, here is the verdict. First the horizontal bar. Read from right to left (as with old Chinese writings), it literally says "Taiwan Democratic Country" ('tai wan min zu guo'). I believe that means "Republic of Taiwan". The right vertical bar, as I have told you earlier, says "Fifty 'qian'" ('wu shi qian'). 'Qian' being an old unit of currency measure. It IS used in Chinese but I have yet to see it inscribed on Chinese stamps from any issuing authority. The left vertical bar is NOT laterally inverted as I believed earlier. Instead, it says 'shi xiang bi'. Now that does not make sense at all (at least, to me, anyway). But, 'bi' is most often used to refer to currency units. So my guess is that it means the currency units the stamp is valued in. Now, the image. Look at the upper right part of the picture. Can you make out a face with a bushy beard? The figure is representative of Zhong Kui, a Chinese deity. More specifically, in Chinese mythology, he is the Chinese Ghostbuster as his duty is to deal with errant ghosts. But it is rather surprising that he is featured on stamps, given the Chinese predilection to avoid things of this nature. Besides, in the grand scheme of things Chinese, he, although popular in folktales, is only a minor deity, who is not worshipped often. If you are scratching your head in wonder now, well, so am I! So that's the story with the various parts of the stamp. Now if you put it all together, I really have not a single idea about the stamp at all. The only thing that I can conclude is that it has absolutely nothing to do with Communist China (as it is against these folk religions, it is written in the older script not used anymore in China and, there never was a communist regime on Taiwan). I do not know of a stamp issued in Taiwan AND bearing the name "Taiwan". Also, I am quite sure that there never was the declaration of a Republic of Taiwan. And that just adds to the mystery, eh? |