Scott No: 1586
Serial number: T46
Values in set: 1
Date of issue: February 15, 1980
Denomination: 24 fen
Designer: Liu Shuoren
Size of stamps: 30*40mm
Perforation: 11.5*11
Sheet composition: 50(10*5)
Printing process: Photogravure
Printing House: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing Works

Issued on 26 February 1978, the set contains three stamps, printed in photogravure, designed by Liu Shuoren and produced by Beijing Stamp Factory. Stamp size: 30mm × 40mm; perforation: 11.5 × 11; sheet composition: 50 stamps (10 × 5); total face value: RMB 0.24 yuan; each stamp has a print run of 15 million.

Main Theme of the Set

The First Session of the Fifth National People’s Congress was convened in Beijing from 26 February to 5 March 1978, a national conference at a pivotal historical juncture. Released on the opening day of the session, the three stamps form a progressive sequence, respectively embodying the guiding banner, the foundation of the rule of law, and the goal of modernisation. They record this historic occasion when the Congress adopted a new Constitution and mobilised people of all ethnic groups across the country for socialist construction, expressing the shared aspiration of the whole nation to unite and forge ahead toward the Four Modernizations.

Stamp Designs and Historical Context

Hold High the Great Banner of Chairman Mao and Carry the Proletarian Revolutionary Cause Through to the End

The main motif features a red flag printed with the portrait of Mao Zedong, backed by a row of additional red flags. The front entrance of the Great Hall of the People appears at the bottom, decorated with blooming peonies. Peonies symbolise prosperity and good fortune, while the Great Hall of the People identifies the venue of the Congress, setting a solemn and festive tone for the assembly.

The People’s Constitution

Six red flags surround the text of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China, with the National Emblem placed above the Constitution. The front entrance of the Great Hall of the People and peony motifs reappear at the lower part. This session reviewed and adopted the new Constitution. This stamp highlights the status of the people’s Constitution and embodies the institutional essence of rule of law and people being masters of the country.

We Must Realise the Four Modernizations

An atomic model sits at the visual centre, encircled by motifs of industry, agriculture and science and technology: factory buildings, power transmission towers, golden wheat fields and farm machinery. The front entrance of the Great Hall of the People and peony ornaments are retained at the bottom. The pattern symbolises the modernisation of industry, agriculture, national defence and science and technology, the core vision of the set for national development and building a powerful country in the future.

Artistic Features of the Design

All three stamps adopt a uniform vertical format with consistent compositional frameworks, white backgrounds and dominant bright red tones. The layout is symmetrical and echoing across the set. Decorative patterns are concise and refined; peonies, the traditional auspicious flower, soften the gravity of this political theme. Photogravure printing delivers vivid, rich colour, pure and weighty red hues and clean, crisp layers. There is no souvenir sheet for this set. It stands as a typical example of JT commemorative stamps for major political conferences issued in the late 1970s.