Scott No: 1209-10
Serial number: J4
Values in set: 2
Date of issue: November 29, 1974
Denomination: 16 fen
Designer: Sun Chuanzhe, Chen Xiaocun
Size of stamps: 30*40mm
Perforation: 11.5*11
Sheet composition: 50(10*5)
Printing process: Photogravure
Printing House: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing Works

J4 "30th Anniversary of the Liberation of Albania" commemorative stamps were issued on November 29, 1974. The set consists of 2 stamps, printed by photogravure, designed by Sun Chuanzhe and Chen Xiaocong, and printed by the Beijing Stamp Factory. Stamp size 30 mm × 40 mm, perforation gauge 11.5 × 11, 50 stamps per sheet.

Theme of the Set

On November 29, 1944, Albania was liberated, and 1974 marked the 30th anniversary of that liberation. At the time China and Albania maintained friendly exchanges, and the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications issued this commemorative set to commemorate the victory of the Albanian people's anti-fascist struggle, praise the Albanian people's fighting spirit of fearing no strong enemy and striving for national independence, and express the Chinese people's friendly sentiments toward the Albanian people.

Stamp Designs and Historical Background

Monument to the Victorious Guerrilla Fighters

The background is continuous green mountains and a clear blue sky. The monument stands among flowers, with a guerrilla fighter statue in front of it; the monument bears the Albanian national emblem and is marked 1944–1974. The monument is the symbol of Albania's anti-fascist resistance movement, commemorating the guerrilla fighters who sacrificed themselves for the country and remembering the history of the Albanian people's bloody struggle and victory in national liberation.

Pick in One Hand, Rifle in the Other

At the top of the design is the Albanian national emblem. A young Albanian man and woman stand side by side, jointly holding high a pick and a rifle, and the woman waves a red silk ribbon. The pick represents production and construction, and the rifle represents self-defense; it embodies Albania's slogan at the time, "pick in one hand, rifle in the other," implying that while building the homeland and developing production, the country is always ready to defend the motherland.

Artistic Design Features

The set has a simple, dignified composition and sharp color contrasts. The first stamp uses cool blue-green tones to set off the solemn, weighty atmosphere of the monument; the second uses red as the main tone, passionate and high-spirited. The two stamps echo the theme from the two levels of remembering the revolutionary martyrs and persisting in construction and self-defense. It is a set among the diplomatic-themed commemorative stamps of the 1970s.