Two rare historical postage stamps carrying the name "The Taiwan Republic" in Chinese issued in the late Qing Dynasty were recently unearthed in Italy and have been obtained by a Taiwanese official posted in Rome, philatelic sources said yesterday.
The "Sole Tiger, Taiwan Republic" stamps, believed to have been issued in 1895 by a then-nascent republic government in Taiwan led by self-styled militia leader Liu Yung-fu (劉永福) in Tainan, are said to have appeared in a stamp-collecting exchange market in Rome several weeks ago.
The stamps are almost legendary, so seldom are they seen.
The pair of stamps, each bearing a picture of a tiger and the name of the Taiwan Republic in blue-green and light pink, respectively, lay in the Rome market for weeks without arousing attention from collectors as none of them knew Chinese, until a Taiwanese official came across the stamps and snapped them up on the spot.
According to the Taiwanese, surnamed Lin, the two stamps have greater value to the people of Taiwan in terms of the nation's contemporary history than the stamps' market value.
The two stamps can serve as a mirror on history through which the people can look back at what happened on the island more than 100 years ago and how the Han people, Hakka, Japanese and other foreigners fought among themselves for Taiwan.
According to historical archives, Liu Yung-fu (1837 to 1917) , originally an opium trader between the highlands on the border of Vietnam and Canton, molded his followers into a well-disciplined band skilled in martial arts and ruled an effectively independent fiefdom on the Sino-French border in the 1860s and beyond.
Although initially regarded as a rebel leader by the Qing court, Liu parlayed his way into favor by fighting for the tribute kingdom of Vietnam against the assertive French from 1873 and 1884. After returning to Canton in 1885, Liu and his Black Flag militia proved a problem for the Qing Court, which welcomed the opportunity to dispatch Liu to Taiwan in 1895 with the lure of creating his own tribute state there.
Liu and his famed Black Flag troops arrived in southern Taiwan in early 1895, only months before the Qing Court was forced to cede Taiwan to Japan upon the signing of the Shimonoseki Treaty April 17, 1895, which ended the Sino-Japanese War.
Liu established the Taiwan Republic in Tainan on July 31, 1895, shortly before the Japanese invasion. The Taiwan Post Office was also established during that period, although it lasted for only 80 days.
The "Sole Tiger" stamps are believed to have been issued during that time.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS