Page 136 - Bonhams Fine Chinese Art Nov 2013 Hong Kong

The Property of a Western Collector
329
An extremely rare Chinese ‘one hundred dollar’ currency note
Republic Period, dated 1942, signed by Mao Zedong, Zhu De, Huang
Hua and Ma Haide
One side printed in Chinese and the other side in English, stating the
value of ‘one hundred’ or yibai yuan, issued by the Bank of Shaan Gan
Ning in 1942, illustrating the local council assembly hall on one side,
the other portraying the pagoda mountain in Yanan, both sides within
enclosed cartouches encircled by archaistic scrolls and leafy designs, one the Red Army in 1936, serving in the northern areas of Shaanxi province
side impressed with two four-character zhuanshu seal marks and the
print-run number ‘W491884’ twice in red ink, the surface signed with
multiple signatures of the four Communist luminaries in black ink, all
within a lacquered wood frame.
16.7cm wide. x 7.7cm high.
HK$1,000,000 - 1,500,000
US$130,000 - 190,000
民國三十一年（1942） 陝甘寧邊區銀行壹百元紙幣 毛澤東、朱德、
黃華、馬海德簽名
Provenance 來源：
Paul C. Richards collection
Herman Darvick Autographs, 6 August 1992, lot 200
Herman Darvick Autographs, 19 April 1993, lot 257
Sotheby’s New York, 3 June 1997, lot 185
Kenneth W. Rendell collection
These currency notes issued by the Bank of Shaan Gan Ning border
area in 1942 were in circulation for a very short period between 1941
and early 1943, where they were eventually recalled and exchanged
for commercial currency on 1 July 1944 by the newly created Business
bank from this liberated territory. Only a few rare specimens survive in
private hands. The current lot is an extremely rare example as it bears
the genuine authentic signatures of four Communist luminaries from
this turbulent and historical era of multiple wars and revolutions. They
are: Chairman Mao Zedong, Vice-Chairman Zhu De, Huang Hua and Ma
Haide.
Mao Zedong (1893-1976) was the Communist leader who took part in
the ‘Long March’, became the chairman of the Communist party and
subsequently the chairman of the new People’s Government. Mao has
signed his name twice on the current lot, both in Chinese characters and
in Roman alphabets. So far, there appear to be no other known records
or documents where Mao has signed his name in both writing forms
next to each other.
134 | Bonhams
Zhu De (1886-1976) founded and commanded the Eighth Route Army
(also known as the Red Army) in the United Front with the Nationalists
against the Japanese. Zhu later established the People’s Liberation Army
as its first Commander-in-Chief. Zhu is considered one of the greatest
military strategists and tacticians of the twentieth century, and he
formed a very close political relationship with Mao by 1928.
Huang Hua (1913-2010) was employed as a scribe and translator for
assisting Edgar Snow and Ma Haide. Between 1941 and 1942, he
served as the policy secretary for Vice-Chairman Zhu De and represented
China in joining the Armistice negotiation ending the Korean War in
1953. He also accompanied Zhou Enlai as the counselor and spokesman
for China at the Geneva Conference in 1954. Later he was posted as
the Ambassador of China in Ghana, Egypt and Canada respectively
between 1960 to 1971. Huang was also part of the three-member
team negotiating with Henry Kissinger, the Nobel Peace Prize winner,
regarding President Richard Nixon’s visit to China. Huang became the
first resident delegate of China to the United Nations and its Security
Council. In 1976, he was made the Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs
before retiring in 1982.
Ma Haide (1913-1988) was born George Hatem in Buffalo, New
York, receiving his MD in 1933 from the University of Geneva and the
American University in Beirut. Ma travelled to Shanghai to begin medical
practice that same year, and by 1936 he travelled to Yanan with Edgar
Snow and became Mao’s personal physician. Ma became the first foreign
member of the Chinese Communisty Party, and following the formation
of the People’s Republic of China, Zhou Enlai also assisted him in
becoming the first foreigner granted citizenship of the new Republic. Ma
received the Lasker Medical Award in 1986, for his lifelong devotion in
eliminating Leprosy and reducing venereal disease in post-war China.
The reverse side of the currency note also shows the two signatures
of Lin Boqu and Zhu Lizhi. Lin Boqu or ‘P.K. Ling’ (1886–1960) ranked
eighth in the Eighth Politburo of the Communist Party and he was
appointed as the Economy Minister and Finance Minister in March 1934.
Zhu Lizhi or ‘L.Z. Chu’ (1907-1978) was governor and director of the
Shaanxi Gansu Ningxia bank.
The current lot is believed to have been an important document in
Ma Haide’s personal possession. Ma carried the signed currency note
wherever he went. It served as an official identification document
allowing him safe passage during the Sino-Japanese War, which allowed
him to travel without interference amongst the Communists and
Nationalists (Kuomintang).