M. D. Chow (1878 – February 13, 1949 Shanghai), also known by the Chinese names Zhou Jinjue () and Zhou Mingda (), was a Chinese philatelist and mathematician. He was nicknamed the "king of Chinese philately".
Names Having multiple names was the custom during the Republic era. He was also known as Zhou Meiquan ( or 周梅泉), Zhou Jinjue (; formerly romanised Chow Chin Tso).
Early life He was born into a salt merchant family in Yangzhou, Jiangsu and moved to Shanghai in 1912. He was home schooled.
Philately
He was most noted as the founding father of Chinese philately and was crowned the King of Chinese Stamps after his acquisition of the rarest stamp, the block of four Red Revenue stamps from the original owner R. A. de Villard in 1927.Ma, Runsheng (1947.) Shanghai: Ma’s Illustrated Catalogue of the Stamps of ChinaWoo, L.Y. () (1983). Taipei: Red Revenue Surcharges Stamp Collection ()Ministry of Transportation Post Office () (1984). Taipei: Red Revenue Surcharge, Part I of 2 () He championed the study of the Red Revenues.Matthew Bennett, Inc. (2001) The "Sun" Collection of the 1897 Red Revenue Surcharge of China. New York: Matthew Bennett, Inc.
To entertain his sick son Wei-Liang Chow in 1923, he brought home many colorful foreign stamps during his recuperation. Soon they both caught the bug and began learning and collecting stamps.Philatelic Bulletin, 1923, 3:3, page 27 He found Chinese Philatelic Society on November 15, 1925.Illustriertes Briefmarken Journal, No. 2, Jan 16, 1926 His bi-lingual Philatelic Bulletin won a Special Bronze Medal at the International Philatelic Exhibition in New York in 1926.New York Times, World Stamp Show to Give 582 Awards 1926.04.18 retrieved 2015.09.10 Chinese stamps eventually became a gold medal contender in 1927 at the Strasbourg International Exhibition in France. He's the first Chinese to be granted a fellow of F.R.P.S.L., the Royal Philatelic Society London.
Math clubs In Yangzhou in 1900, he created Zhixin Math Club () with Bao Mofen () and Yu Yudong (). As one of the finest mathematicians in China, he was highly praised by Japanese scholars.Sotheby’s catalog titled Postage Stamps of the Far East, April 29, 1996 In the 1920s, he created Science Society of China () with Ren Hongjuan () and Hu Mingxia (), and was named co-honorary president with Zhang Jian.
Awards and honors His bi-lingual Philatelic Bulletin won a Special Bronze Medal at the International Philatelic Exhibition in New York in 1926.
References
External links Zhou Jinjue on CNKI