Scott No: 1053
Serial number: N7
Values in set: 1
Date of issue: November 1, 1970
Denomination: 8 fen
Designer: Xu Yanbo
Size of stamps: 42*34mm
Perforation: 10
Sheet composition: 100(10*10)
Printing process: Photogravure
Printing House: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing Works

Issued on 1 November 1970, the set consists of a single stamp, printed by offset lithography, designed by Xu Yanbo and produced by Beijing Stamp Factory. Stamp size: 42mm × 34mm; perforation: 10, with variants of 10 × 11.5, 11.5 × 10 and 11.5; sheet composition: 100 stamps (10 × 10); face value: 4 fen; print run: 140 million.

Main Theme of the Stamp

From March 1969 onward, Soviet forces provoked armed clashes along the Sino-Soviet border on several occasions. On 2 March, Soviet armored vehicles and trucks crossed into Zhenbao Island on the Ussuri River in Heilongjiang Province, China, and attacked Chinese border personnel carrying out a patrol. On 15 March, Soviet tanks, armored vehicles and large numbers of infantry invaded again under air cover. On 17 March, Soviet forces invaded for a third time. All three incursions were repelled by Chinese border troops. The victory in the Zhenbao Island self-defence counterattack caused a tremendous response at the time. At the Ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Mao Zedong received Sun Yuguo, a hero of the battle, and put forward the call to "be prepared for war." In order to publicise the victory of this self-defence counterattack and inspire the fighting will of the army and people throughout the country to defend the motherland, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications issued this stamp.

Stamp Design and Historical Context

Severely Punish the Invading Enemy

The design depicts two border guards lying prone on a snow-covered position, waiting in strict readiness. The soldier on the left shoulders a Type 140 rocket launcher, aiming at the armored target approaching from the front. This is a light anti-tank weapon for single-person operation that produces no recoil when fired, used to destroy armored targets and strong fortifications at close range. The soldier on the right lies in the snow, pressing cartridges into a magazine, with grenades piled beside him, ready at any moment to enter combat. Across the vast snowy expanse, the figures' tense and focused postures convey the border guards' composure under attack and their resolute readiness to strike back.

The figure is modelled on Yu Qingyang, a combat hero of the Zhenbao Island self-defence counterattack. A native of Xinjin County, Liaoning Province, he kept charging even after being gravely wounded in the head, until he gave his life, leaving behind the vow: "So long as there is life, the charge goes on." Building on this heroic image, the stamp generalises and distils it, so that it serves both as a portrait of the officers and men who fought in the battle and as a representation of the broad ranks of border guards defending the frontier. In that battle, a group of commanders and fighters including Yang Lin, Wang Qingrong, Sun Zhengmin, Chen Shaoguang and Yu Qingyang gave their lives for the country.

Artistic Features of the Design

The stamp is printed by offset lithography and depicts the combat scene directly in a realistic manner, without elaborate background elaboration, focusing instead on the two soldiers' postures and the weapons in their hands. A large area of blank snow establishes the tonal base of the composition, and the cold palette emphasises the severe cold of the northern border region. The dark clothing of the figures contrasts with the snowy surface, drawing the eye naturally to the actions of aiming and loading, so that tension and the atmosphere of imminent battle stand out. Issued as a single-stamp set, the composition is concise and forceful and the narrative direct. It is the only work among the numbered stamps devoted to a border self-defence counterattack, and it forms a thematic pair with the earlier W18 *The Chinese People Armed with Mao Zedong Thought Are Invincible*. With a print run of 140 million, it is the highest-circulation set among the numbered stamps; long affixed to everyday letters, it saw heavy consumption.