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. 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 Yangzhou, postal romanization Yangchow, is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province (Suzhong), East China. Sitting on the north bank of the Yangtze, it borders the provincial capital Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, Yan ...

and moved to

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

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 The Red Revenues () are Qing dynasty Chinese revenue stamps that were overprinted (surcharged) to be used as postage stamps in 1897. Their limited number, fine design and the intaglio (printmaking), intaglio process made the stamps in this series ...

stamps from the original owner R. A. de Villard in 1927.Woo, 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. To entertain his sick son

Wei-Liang Chow Chow Wei-Liang (; October 1, 1911, Shanghai – August 10, 1995, Baltimore) was a Chinese mathematician and stamp collector born in Shanghai, known for his work in algebraic geometry. Biography Chow was a student in the US, graduating from the ...

in 1923, he brought home many colorful foreign stamps during his recuperation. Soon they both caught the bug and began learning and collecting stamps. He found Chinese Philatelic Society on November 15, 1925. His bi-lingual ''Philatelic Bulletin'' won a Special Bronze Medal at the International Philatelic Exhibition in New York in 1926. 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 The Royal Philatelic Society London (RPSL) is the oldest philatelic society in the world. It was founded on 10 April 1869 as ''The Philatelic Society, London''. The society runs a postal museum, the Spear Museum of Philatelic History, at its he ...

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 Zhang Jian may refer to: Name * Zhang Jian (fencer) (born 1962), Chinese fencer * Zhang Jian (football) (born 1965/66), Chinese football administrator * Zhang Jian (businessman) (1853–1926), courtesy name Jizhi, Chinese entrepreneur, politician ...

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 {{DEFAULTSORT:Chow, MD 1878 births 1949 deaths Chinese philatelists 20th-century Chinese writers Mathematicians from Anhui People from Chizhou Writers from Anhui