No. 13
Very interesting set with an altered /and re-stamped/ numbers of the sash badge and the breast star that was awarded to Victor Hoo Chi-tsai (1894-1972).
Sash badge.
Silver, gilt, enamel.
Size 122 x 61 mm.
Reverse
采玉勳章 - Brilliant Jade Order
印铸局 - Bureau of Engraving and Printing
A new plate is welded over the old number and stamped "13".
Breast star.
Silver, gilt, enamel.
Size 76 x 75.3 mm.
Reverse
采玉勳章 - Brilliant Jade Order
國民政府文管處印铸局製 - Made by Cultural Affairs Bureau of the National Government Printing and Engraving Bureau
A new plate is welded over the old number and stamped "13".
Victor Chi-tsai Hoo father Hu Weide, was the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Qing Dynasty, and briefly served as the Premier of the Republic of China after Duan Qirui was ousted from Beijing in 1926. He was instrumental in bringing democracy to the Qing Dysnasty and was a member of the Chinese delegation at both the Treaty of Versailles as well as the Hague Peace Conference. Victor Hoo, coming from such an illustrious family, continued in his father's footsteps as a diplomat for the Republic of China. Having represented China at the League of Nations, Dr. Hoo was later named Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1945, and later became the highest ranking Nationalist Chinese at the United Nations, becoming Undersecretary General. The only member of the higher staff of the United Nations to speak all five official languages fluenty (Chinese, Russian, English, French, and Spanish), Dr. Hoo was socially adept and extremely active on the international stage. He was both a participant and contributor representing the Republic of China's wishes at the most seminal events of the 20th Century, including the Versailles Treaty, the San Francisco Conference creating the UN, Dumbarton Oaks, and many others. It is perhaps for this reason, that Chiang Kai Shek ordered Dr. Victor Hoo to remain at office at the United Nations as long as possible, which he did until the end of his life, at the age of 77.