Scott No: 992-996
Serial number: W10
Values in set: 5
Date of issue: July 20, 1968
Denomination: 40 fen
Designer: Sun Mingchun
Size of stamps: 31*52mm
Perforation: 11.5
Sheet composition: 40(10*4)
Printing process: Photogravure
Printing House: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing Works

Issued on 20 July 1968, the set contains five stamps, printed in photogravure by Beijing Stamp Factory. The five stamps are printed as a joined horizontal strip of five. Stamp size: 31mm × 52mm; perforation: 11.5; sheet composition: 40 stamps; face value: 8 fen each, with a total set face value of 0.40 yuan. Print run: 15 million sets (about 75 million stamps counted individually).

Main Theme of the Set

During the Cultural Revolution, Mao Zedong's speeches, written instructions and comments were often excerpted as quotations and published in newspapers and periodicals, and were referred to at the time as "latest instructions". In April 1968, worker representatives at Beijing Stamp Factory proposed to the stamp design group that a set of stamps on Mao Zedong's "latest instructions" be issued. The design group adopted the suggestion, selected five passages from the series of instructions published between November 1967 and April 1968, designed them as five stamps, and printed them in the form of a joined horizontal strip of five. The titles of the stamps are taken directly from the original wording of the instructions. The stamps carry no serial numbers, and the postal inscription is in Mao Zedong's handwriting.

Stamp Designs and Historical Context

The National Situation Is Excellent

This passage is taken from an instruction published in the PLA Daily on 9 November 1967. It stated that the situation of the proletarian Cultural Revolution throughout the country was excellent, not merely good, that the whole situation was better than at any time before, and predicted that in a few months the whole situation would become even better. As the first stamp of the strip of five, it serves to introduce the whole set.

The Three-in-One Combination of the Revolutionary Committee

Taken from an instruction published in the People's Daily on 30 March 1968, this passage states that the basic experience of the revolutionary committees consisted of three points: first, representatives of revolutionary cadres; second, representatives of the army; and third, representatives of the revolutionary masses, thus realising the revolutionary three-in-one combination. The establishment of revolutionary committees in various places was a major event in political life at the time, and this passage is precisely a summary of that founding principle.

Unified Leadership and a Leaner, Simpler Administration

Also taken from the instruction published in the People's Daily on 30 March 1968, this passage requires revolutionary committees to exercise unified leadership, to break down overlapping administrative bodies, to reduce staff and simplify administration, and to organise a revolutionary leading body that maintains close ties with the masses. Its content focuses on how the new bodies were to be set up and how they were to operate.

Reform of State Organs Must Maintain Close Ties with the Masses

Taken from the instruction published in the People's Daily on 30 March 1968, this passage points out that the most fundamental requirement in reforming state organs is maintaining close ties with the masses. This text is the shortest of the five and the most clearly directed, emphasising the relationship between the work of the organs and the masses.

The Nature of the Cultural Revolution

Taken from the instruction published in the People's Daily on 10 April 1968, this passage discusses that the proletarian Cultural Revolution was in essence, under socialist conditions, a great political revolution in which the proletariat opposed the bourgeoisie and all exploiting classes; that it was the continuation of the long struggle waged by the Communist Party of China and the broad revolutionary masses under its leadership against the Kuomintang reactionaries; and that it was the continuation of the struggle between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. This passage is the longest and, as the closing stamp of the set, has a summary character.

Artistic Features of the Design

All five stamps have a red ground across the full width, with the full text of the instructions set in gold lettering. The text itself constitutes the main subject of the picture, with no separate scene provided; the set belongs to that category of W-series stamps in which documentary text serves as the design. The vertical format is matched with densely set lines of text, giving the stamps a solemn and closely packed appearance. The five stamps are printed in a single horizontal strip of five in order of publication date, advancing from an assessment of the situation to the formation of the bodies, the reform of organs and a discussion of the nature of the movement, thus forming a complete documentary sequence. Because the set was issued as a joined strip of five, collectors mostly keep the whole strip intact; soft creases readily form at the perforations between the joined stamps, so strips of five in perfect condition are comparatively rare, and this has become a collecting characteristic of the set.