M. D. Chow

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 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. He championed the study of the Red Revenues.

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. 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.

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. 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.