Scott No: 337-340
Serial number: S21
Values in set: 4
Date of issue: March 15, 1958
Denomination: 32 fen
Designer: Liu Shuoren
Engraver: Gao Zhengyu, Song Guangzeng, Zhao Yayun, Gao Pinzhang
Size of stamps: 27*32mm
Perforation: 14
Sheet composition: 99(11*9)
Printing process: Engraving
Printing House: China Modern Times Printing Works

S21 "Architectural Art of Ancient Chinese Pagodas" special stamps were issued on March 15, 1958. The set consists of 4 stamps, printed by engraving, designed by Liu Shuoren, engraved by Gao Zhenyu, Zhao Yayun, Song Guangzeng, and Gao Pinzhang, and printed by the China Modern Printing Company. Stamp size 27 mm × 32 mm, perforation gauge 14, 99 stamps per sheet (11 × 9), with a total face value of 0.32 yuan for the set; Dengfeng · Songyue Temple Pagoda 8 fen, circulation 8 million copies; Dali · Qianxun Pagoda 8 fen, circulation 8 million copies; Yingxian · Sakyamuni Pagoda 8 fen, circulation 8 million copies; Hongzhao · Feihong Pagoda 8 fen, circulation 8 million copies, without gum throughout the set.

Theme of the Set

The ancient pagoda is a classic architectural type blending foreign Buddhist culture with native building techniques, with many forms and ingenious craftsmanship, and is an important representative of China's ancient architectural art. The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications selected four famous pagodas of very different styles and extremely high status for this special set, displaying the construction achievements of ancient pagodas of different eras and regions, spreading ancient architectural culture, and highlighting the motherland's precious historical and cultural heritage. The four pagodas respectively represent the Northern Wei brick pagoda, the Nanzhao multi-eaved pagoda, the Liao dynasty wooden pagoda, and the Ming dynasty glazed pagoda, covering almost all the most representative types of ancient pagodas.

Stamp Designs and Historical Background

Dengfeng · Songyue Temple Pagoda

The design is presented in light brown tones, set off by distant mountains and trees. It is the earliest surviving brick pagoda in China, built during the Zhengguang era of the Northern Wei. The pagoda body is twelve-sided with fifteen tiers of close eaves, vigorous and rounded in form, retaining the foreign artistic charm of early Buddhist pagodas; after more than 1,400 years of earthquakes, wind, and rain it remains intact, and it is the pioneering work of the multi-eaved brick pagoda.

Dali · Qianxun Pagoda

Using a pale blue-gray tone, the upward-looking composition highlights the pagoda's tall, towering body. It is the main pagoda of the Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple in Dali, built during the Nanzhao period, square with close eaves and entirely plain white, standing between the Cangshan Mountains and Erhai Lake; it is a landmark relic of ancient architecture and Nanzhao culture in the southwest.

Yingxian · Sakyamuni Pagoda

The design is in purple-red tones, depicting the world-famous Yingxian Wooden Pagoda. Built in the Liao dynasty, the entire pagoda uses not a single nail or rivet, relying on mortise-and-tenon joints of wooden components; it has five visible stories with hidden interior levels, and is the tallest and oldest surviving pure wooden ancient pagoda in the world, with astonishing earthquake resistance, representing the pinnacle of ancient Chinese wooden architecture.

Hongzhao · Feihong Pagoda

Painted in a green main tone, it is the Ming dynasty glazed pagoda within the Guangsheng Temple. The pagoda body is covered with colorful glazed decoration, graceful and exquisite in form, tapering layer by layer, radiant like a flying rainbow; it is the most completely preserved large glazed ancient pagoda in China, embodying the superb skills of Ming dynasty glaze firing and pavilion-style pagoda construction.

Artistic Design Features

The set uniformly adopts a vertical format and engraving, using an upward-looking angle to shape the towering momentum of the ancient pagodas, leaving a large area of plain sky above without adding superfluous cloud patterns, making the subjects stand out especially. One pagoda, one color—relying on monochrome engraving to distinguish the four pagodas; the engraved lines are delicate and solid, accurately expressing the textures of brick surfaces, wooden structures, glazed tiles, and eave corners, with simple, light mountain-and-forest environments in the background, balancing solid and void. The four stamps have the same face value and circulation, with an even threshold for collecting complete sets; it is a classic among the early New China stamps on the theme of ancient architecture and a representative work of the engraved old special stamps.