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Nanhua Temple (set with maximum cards) – cover (PR China)
First, we are indebted to Wikipedia for this explanation of the temple itself: “Nanhua Temple (Chinese: 南華寺; pinyin: Nánhuá Sì) is a Buddhist monastery of the Chan School, one of Five Great Schools of Buddhism where Hui Neng, the Sixth Patriarch of the Chan School of Buddhism, once lived and taught. It is located 25 km southeast of Shaoguan, China in the town of Caoxi (漕溪), within Qujiang District. The location is in the northern part of Guangdong province, within a few kilometers from Bei River, formerly an important trade route from Central China to Guangzhou.” Now, to the item: issued by Guangdong Philatelic in 2013, a hardcover set in a cardboard sleeve, measuring 11-3/8″ x 8-3/8″ x 1/2″. Including front and inner back covers, a total of ten facings (four solid pages) with some text, all in Chinese. Of those facings, one has a strip of mint stamps; one has a booklet of stamp sheetlets; four have (postmarked) first-day covers; and four have maximum cards (see 40100056B). Two sets are available. Grades: 1
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Nanhua Temple (set with maximum cards) – sample page with card (PR China)
See 40100056A for description.
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Ngong Ping Buddha and Wanchai Convention Centre, 3D card in frame (Hong Kong)
One unused card in a cardboard frame with a push-out stand on the back so it can sit on your desk like a framed photo. Scanning 3D cards clearly isn’t really possible, and here you can see elements of both photos through the lenticular printing. All this is still enclosed in the original plastic wrap, and we deleted the original price in the top corner of the scan. It’s still on the wrapper, though. Grade: 1
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Asalhapuja Day (Maximum Cards) (Thailand) (set of 4)
This set of four maximum cards has a bilingual Thai/English caption explaining that Asalhapuja is an “Important Buddhist Religious Day.” Issued in July, 1997. Grade: 1
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Visakhapuja Day (May 1995) (Thailand) (set)
Not to be confused with our entry 20326293, with a similar title but different date. This is another set of four maximum cards, captioned in Thai and English, issued in May 1995 (Thai 2538). Grade: 1
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Kaohsiung, Fo Guang Shan Buddha Memorial Center, The Eight Pagoda (Taiwan)
Unused card in original wrapper. Grade: 1
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Kaohsiung, Fo Guang Shan Buddha Memorial Center, Buddha close-up (Taiwan)
Unused card in original wrapper. Grade: 1
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Kaohsiung, Fokuangshan Buddhist Center, lanterns (Taiwan)
Unused card, “New Year Peaceful Lanterns Ceremory at Fo Kuang Shan”. Grade: 1
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Kaohsiung, Fokuangshan Buddhist Center, Alms-Round Ceremony (Taiwan)
Unused card of “The Alms-Round Ceremony in Commemoration of the Twentieth Anniversary of Fo Kuang Shan”. Grade: 1
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Airwalk (USA)
We list this unused American ad card in this category without further comment. The card is just beginning to show some age. Grade: 1
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Monks (Thailand)
Unused card M.168. Two are available. Grades: 1
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Bangkok, Wat Intrawihan, Big Buddha
Unused card. Grade: 1
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Sukhothai, Buddha Image at Wat Sri Choom (Thailand)
Unused card with a little smudging on the reverse. Grade: 2
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Phichit, Loung Poh Phetch, The Buddha Image (Thailand) (Maximum Card?)
Maybe we should call this “in the style of a maximum card” because it is out of the ordinary for two reasons: first, the stamp doesn’t really match the photo exactly, and second, because it was probably not issued by the Thai post office. But we’re not certain about that. Nor can we quite make out the exact date on the official postmark on the front, though there is another more normal one in the postage area on the back: Thai year 2537. So that is what we know. The card is unmarked otherwise. Grade: 1
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Spread Buddhism in the World (folio) – cover (PR China)
A thangka, also known as tangka, thanka or tanka, is a painting usually depicting a Buddhist deity, scene, or mandala of some sort. The thangka is not a flat creation like oil or acrylic, but consists of a picture panel which is painted or embroidered over which a textile is mounted and then over which is laid a cover, usually silk. It is sometimes called a scroll-painting. These thangka served as important teaching tools depicting the life of the Buddha, various influential lamas and other deities and bodhisattvas. We are indebted to Wikipedia from which we have condensed this description, and for this item you should also see our entries 40100072B/C. Buddha blesses you with peace … Unused. Grade: 1
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Spread Buddhism in the World (folio) – postcards (PR China)
See 40100072A. This item is not as large as it looks in the photo (measuring 6-3/4″ x 9-7/8″ x 1/4″) but is very sturdy. The back of each leaf in the accordion-style foldout is fully printed with text in Chinese only, though the name of this item does also appear in English. Unused. Grade: 1
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Spread Buddhism in the World (folio) – certificate (PR China)
See 40100072A. This certificate, printed in detail on both sides, is included.
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Art (set of four) (Maximum Cards) (DPR Korea)
Set of four unused maximum cards from 2003. The stamps are larger than normal, and the captions on the back are in Korean. Grade: 1
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Ayutthaya, Wat Phra Mahathat (under water) (Thailand)
A specific event on this unused card: the flood of November 2011. Grade: 1
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Chiang Mai, The Buddha Images – Wat Chiang Man (Thailand)
Mailed in 2014 with four large and different stamps as only Thailand can do. Two partial postmarks, and red bilingual Air Mail chop. Nice. Grade: 1
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Daibutsu of Kamakura (Japan)
Not postally used, but with a message taking up the reverse and describing the scene. Grade: 4
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I (heart) Taiwan, Buddhas
This card is really extraordinary. The scan doesn’t pick it up, but it’s printed with tiny iridescent speckles that look a little like snow falling, but that’s not the intended effect. So very much in this unused card. Grade: 1
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Cypress Gardens, the Buddha Kami Kura (Florida, USA)
Unused Koppel Color Card FNC 5952 (135371). Grade: 1
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Chiang Mai, Wat Yang Luang, The Principal Buddha Image (Thailand)
Mailed, with stamp, indistinct postmark, and various coloured highlighters on the reverse along with an airmail sticker. Grade: 3
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Kaohsiung, Fo Guang Shan Buddha Memorial Center, daytime (3D) (Taiwan)
Unused, 3D card. Extensive captions in Chinese and English. Grade: 1
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Kaohsiung, Fo Guang Shan Buddha Memorial Center, festival (3D) (Taiwan)
Unused card. Sorry that it doesn’t tell us what the occasion was. Extensive captions otherwise, in Chinese and English. Grade: 1
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Kaohsiung, Fo Guang Shan Buddha Memorial Center (set of 15) (Taiwan)
A sticker on the back cellowrap of this unopened set says there are 15 cards. We think that’s true–but we have not opened it to check. If so, expect 15 different views in and around this massive Buddhist complex. Grade: 1
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Welcome to Fo Guang Shan Monastery (wood) (Taiwan)
From this Buddhist Memorial Center itself, we have two of these, in their original cellowrap. The card is made of plywood, 1/4″ thick, and has a hole in the top with a small cord (included) so you can hang the card somewhere. One of these is unused (Grade: 1, $8) and the other was mailed (by us) with stamp and partial postmark. The postal clerk insisted that the stamp would not stick to the card, and demanded to put some tape across the top of the stamp to hold it in place. If we wanted to mail it then and there, we had no choice. Just FYI, the untaped part of the stamp stuck just fine (Grade: 2, $8).
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Hong Kong Post Office Hologram Postcard Series 3-8 (1997) (set of 6)
Not exactly a dog’s dinner in design, but a jumble nonetheless. First, let’s re-create the English version of the bilingual captions on the reverse: “Hong Kong Post Office Hologram Postcard Series No. (3 through 8, each card a different number) to commemorate HONG KONG ’97 Stamp Exhibition from 12 to 16 February 1997”. Note that the holographic stamp on the lower left is printed into the card, not attached. The same is true for the three other stamps on the right, and the pre-printed actual postage on the reverse.
We have two sets available. One has no special postmarks on the reverse; the other (see scan) does. The scan shows you three of the six cards in each set; the others include a highway interchange, bamboo scaffolding, and a ceremonial dragon. The set without postmarks is Grade: 1 ($22). One of the holographic stamps on one of the cards from the other set–not the Buddha card–has a flaw, so the whole set would be Grade: 3 ($10). Any questions? Please ask us. Unused, and with original cellowrap.
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Central Java, Borobudur (Indonesia)
Billed on this unused card as “the largest Buddhist monument in existence.” That’s probably still true, and in the world’s largest Moslem country, no less. Grade: 1
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Greetings from Bamyan, Statues of Buddha (Afghanistan)
You’ll likely be familiar with the recent history already. Not postally used, this card has a name and address written on the back. One statue was 53m, the other 35m in height. Buddhist postcards span a wide range. Grade: 4
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Bamiyan, The Great Buddah (sic) (Afghanistan)
Unused card, very heavily mottled (foxed) with age on the reverse. Grade: 4
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Gnong (sic) Ping village & the Tian Tan Buddha of Po Lin Monastery (Hong Kong)
Unused 5-1/8″ x 7″ card, and that “Gnong” should be spelled “Ngong”. The Buddha, incidentally, is 34m high and was completed in 1993. Grade: 1
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Precious Relics from Chang’an (set of 6) (PR China)
Scan shows cover and two sample cards from the six (unused) cards in the set from Shaanxi Province. Grade: 1
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Bangkok, Wat Phra Keo, Image of the Emerald Buddha, summer season robe (Thailand)
From a series of (otherwise) unused, aging cards, probably 1970s or earlier, onto which a Buddhist association has overprinted a seasonal greeting in Chinese, in large red characters, on the reverse. In this series, the greeting is always the same. To see it, go to our scan for card #20326413. This card differs from others in the series by having elaborate and ornate artwork on the reverse, with English caption but also a very large “Bangkok in Colour” legend. You could send it as a postcard but without much of a message. Grade: 1
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Bangkok, Wat Phra Keo, Image of the Emerald Buddha, winter season robe
From a series of (otherwise) unused, aging cards, probably 1970s or earlier, onto which a Buddhist association has overprinted a seasonal greeting in Chinese, in large red characters, on the reverse. In this series, the greeting is always the same. To see it, go to our scan for card #20326413. Captioned in English. Grade: 2
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Chinese Arts & Crafts, Buddha Fate (Hong Kong)
This 6″ x 8.25″ ad card was mailed using Hongkong Post’s Chinese-language Circular Service postage. The card’s reverse explains how prestigious Chinese Arts & Crafts is as a company, in English and Chinese. Grade: 1
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Khon Kaen, Wat Chai Si (Thailand)
Unused card, captioned in Thai and English. Grade: 1
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Bangkok, Wat Phra Kaew (Thailand)
Actually there’s a lot more to the caption: “Wat Phra Sri Ratana Sasadaram” in the Grand Palace complex, encompassing the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. Unused card. Grade: 1
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Bangkok, multiple views
Unused. Grade: 1