Saturday, May 19, 2007

Zhang Zuolin: Large Photo 1928. Very Scarce. 张作霖照片

Zhang Zuolin Photo. Portrait photo with Facsimile signature of this important politician and war lord.


Old photo from the 1930s in perfect shape: 9 x 11,5 inches. No creasing or tears.



Zhāng Zuòlín (张作霖 pinyin: Zhāng Zuòlín, Wade-Giles: Chang Tso-lin) (according to some accounts born in 1873 in Haicheng county in southern Fengtian province, assassinated on 4 June 1928 in Shenyang, although often 21 June is being cited as the official date of his death), nicknamed the "Old Marshal", "Rain Marshal" (or "Mukden Tiger", was one of the major warlords of China in the early 20th century. He was the warlord of Manchuria from 1916 to 1928, and at one time ruled an enormous area of north China.


After the disastrous defeat of 1922 Zhang had reorganized Fengtian Army, started a training program and had bought new equipment like mobile radios and machine guns. In the autumn of 1924 fighting broke out again in Central China and Zhang saw an opportunity to capture North China and Beijing and become head of the Central Government. While most other warlord armies fought along the Yangtze River, Zhang attacked North China. The Second Zhili-Fengtian War had begun. In a surprise move a Zhili commander, Feng Yuxiang, toppled Cao Kun and took control of Beijing.


He shared power with Zhang and both appointed the same Duan Qirui he had ousted in 1920. By August 1925 the Fengtian Army controlled four large provinces within the Great Wall (Zhili, where Beijing was located, but not Beijing itself, Shandong, Jiangsu, and Anhui). One unit even marched as far south as the city of Shanghai. But the military situation was so unstable, that Sun Chuanfang, a Zhili clique warlord whose sphere of influence extended along the Yangzi, managed to push back the Fengtian Army again. By November Zhang held only a small corner of North China including a corridor connecting Beijing with Manchuria. Attacks on Beijing continued into the spring of 1926.
More old Chinese photos: HERE

Friday, May 18, 2007

An Execution in China. Vintage Postcard. Scarce Cancellations.

b/w vintage postcard with 2 horrible scenes of an execution in old China. German Post in China – Peking cancellation.



Sent to Mr. Knorr, a German Oboist who served in the German 4th Company of the 3rd Sea Battalion in Qingdao.

Scarce „ Stab der Gesandtschafts Schutzwache Briefstempel „ strikes on flip and flap side. ( Staff of the Embassy Security Unit Stamp).

Fine condition.

More Chinese Vintage Postcards HERE