China Republic stamps : 03 Hall of Classics issue

Hall of Classics

In the 1913 and 1923 stamp series, there are 3 designs.
The Junk boat and the rice field worker, were discussed in previous posts.
The last design is that of the Hall of Classics (Hall of Culture in Bejing). This design was used for the higher (dollar) issues.

Again the 1923 design is significantly different than the 1913 version.
The most obvious difference is the double line under the country name in 1913, replaced by a single line only in the 1923 version.

1913 double lines
1923 single line

More differences are :
1: dotted sky in 1913 becomes a lined sky in 1923.
2: the tree left and right from the temple are worked out realistically in the redesigned version
3: the path to the hall door is broad in 1913, and narrow in the 1923 version.

It is way more difficult to see the differences between both 1913 printings. 

1913 London printing

For the London printing, we in the middle tower a rectangular shape. Compared to the later 1923 Bejing printing, this rectangle is smaller.
The leafs of the three right, are rather fuzzy in the London printing.
In the right doorway, we see a T-shaped figure.
The path towards the doorway is brighter in the 1913 version than in the 1923 version.

1913 Bejing printing

The panel in the middle tower, has rounded corners, compared to the London print and the later version.
In the Bejing printing, the leafs of the three, right of the building are 5 clear spots.
Looking to the right doorway, we see a Y-shaped  figure.
Compared to the London version, the path to the door is darker shaded

1923 Bejing printing

Compared to the 1913 version, here we see the middle doorway has an uninterrupted figure of two connected T's (TT).
In the 1913 version we can see two vertical lines and one horizontal line, clearly separated from eachother.
In the right doorway, there's no T or Y-shaped figure.

The most valuable set, is the 1913 Bejing printing, followed by the 1913 London printing.
The 1923 is the most common set.

1923 stamps

to be continued...