Chinese Military Booklet...Hey Rick, Are you out there??

[David Wheatley]

What can you tell us about this one?

[David Wheatley]

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last

[Rick Research]

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[Dave Danner]

On the cover (image #1), it says, on the right, "Chinese Peoples Liberation Army Air Force" (Zhongguo renmin jiefangjun kongjun), and in the center, "Certificate of Meritorious Service" (ligong zhengmingshu).

Scan #3 has some biographical information, but I can't make much of it out. It appears his family name is "Liu", but I'm not certain of that. There is something that mentions Shandong (Shantung) province, but I'm not sure in what context.

Scan #4 has some handwriting I can't read on the righthand page, and a citation of some sort on the left hand page. It repeats the title on the cover - "Certificate of Meritorious Service" - and has some text with his name written in, so I assume this is the "Comrade Liu ________ is hereby awarded the ..." page. The columns of characters just to the right of the date, where the red seal is, say "Chinese Peoples Liberation Army Air Force Headquarters Political Office" (Zhongguo renmin jiefangjun kongjun siling zhengzhi bu). The date, as Rick mostly got, is 28 April 1954.

Scans #5 and #6 are of Chief Marshal Zhu De and Chairman Mao.

The last scan appears to be the full name of the decoration. The first three columns (from right to left) say Renmin gongchen wusheng guangrong bujiao buzao. I am sure there is a cleaner way to render this, but more or less literally, it is "Supreme Honor to one who has rendered meritorious service to the people humbly [not proud] and thoughtfully [not rash]..." The last column throws me. I know what each character means literally - gong="merit" or "achievement", shang="higher" or "upper", jia="increase" and gong="merit" again - but together I think it is an idiom that doesn't show up in my dictionary, something like "greater and greater achievement".

Hope this helps!

[kennethc]

Dave, do you read chinese??

cool.

Ken

[Gene T]

It's hard to make out all the characters but . . . The man's name is indeed Liu, from Shandong province, of working class family background, who was a cook in his unit. He was cited for demonstrating personal initiative and caring for the health of his comrades (in his menu selection?) on 4/21/54, exactly a week before he was issued this citation. He must have made the commander's favorite dish that day

[Rick Research]

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[Gene T]

So NOT a pilot then! Thanks Gene!

Glad to pitch in, Rick. I've been quietly enjoying this amazing board for some time now, and have always experienced some sort of 'lurker's guilt', seeing how guys like you are so willing to freely share your knowledge and collecting experience, the depth and breadth of which suggest decades of investment in time and material resources in the gathering and studying of primary references. You have my unsolicited and unreserved respect!

Gene T
(I hope the 'Gene' who is already established here is ok with having another 'Gene' around ; I'd have registered under an alias if the membership guideline didn't make a point of discouraging the practice)

[David Wheatley]

Guys,

Thanks for your help & Gene T, welcome to the forum.
It looks like I have a true rarity here- how many combination chef/Chinese fighter pilots could there be?

[Rick Research]

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