Scott No: 1487-91
Serial number: T39
Values in set: 5
Date of issue: August 10, 1979
Denomination: 38 fen
Designer: Zou Jianjun
Size of stamps: 62*26mm
Perforation: 11.5
Sheet composition: 35(5*7)
Printing process: Photogravure
Printing House: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing Works

T39 "Five Trades Flourishing in the People's Commune" special stamps were issued on August 10, 1979. The set consists of 5 stamps, printed by photogravure, designed by Zou Jianjun, and printed by the Beijing Stamp Factory. Stamp size 62 mm × 26 mm, perforation gauge 11.5, 35 stamps per sheet.

Theme of the Set

This set was issued to support the publicity of the rural development policy of "taking grain as the key link and developing in an all-round way," selecting the five categories of farming, forestry, animal husbandry, sideline production, and fishery to present the vigorous development of diversified rural operations. At the time, China was in the early period of reform and opening up, and rural production was gradually regaining vitality. With plain and vivid labor scenes, the stamps record the thriving scene of all trades in the countryside and carry the beautiful vision of increased rural production and income and the simultaneous flourishing of all undertakings.

Stamp Designs and Historical Background

Mechanical Harvesting

The image shows an agricultural machinery operator driving a combine harvester to harvest wheat in a golden wheat field. The field is expansive, and in the distance are power transmission towers, transport vehicles, and flying swallows, displaying the harvest scene brought by agricultural mechanization and representing agricultural production.

Tree Planting and Afforestation

The image depicts commune members planting saplings on a hillside, with flowers and grasses growing around them. Everyone works together to plant trees and green the barren hills, developing forestry and fruit growing, representing forestry construction.

Herding Ducks in the Water Town

In a Jiangnan water town, with clear blue water, commune members pole a bamboo raft to drive a flock of white ducks. The bamboo groves on the banks are green, and the ducks swim in flocks, presenting the thriving scene of livestock and poultry breeding in the water town and representing animal husbandry.

Weaving

An indoor scene: several women sit together doing straw weaving, making various straw-woven utensils. It was an important household sideline in the countryside at the time, representing sideline production.

A Busy Fishing Port

The fishing port wharf is full of fish and shrimp, fishermen are busy loading and unloading the catch, and fishing boats are moored at the shore—a lively scene of bountiful catch and busy trading, representing fishery.

Artistic Design Features

The set uniformly adopts a horizontal long stamp format, like five continuous rural genre paintings. The style is bright and realistic, with bright, saturated colors, full of a rich flavor of rural life. Each stamp focuses on one type of production activity, with natural and vivid figures' movements and scenes close to real rural labor sites. The photogravure printing has transparent colors and clear narrative structure. The five pictures correspond in sequence to the five trades, and combined together they completely present the era's appearance of diversified rural operations. It is a representative work among rural-themed stamps of the late 1970s.