Scott No: 1603-06
Serial number: T50
Values in set: 4
Date of issue: May 20, 1980
Denomination: 94 fen
Designer: Pan Keming
Size of stamps: 31*38.5mm
Perforation: 11.5
Sheet composition: 50 (10*5)
Printing process: Photogravure
Printing House: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing Works

T50 "Kites" special stamps were issued on May 10, 1980. The set consists of 4 stamps, printed by photogravure, designed by Pan Keming, and printed by the Beijing Stamp Factory. Stamp size 31 mm × 38.5 mm, perforation gauge 11.5, 50 stamps per sheet. The original paintings are drawn from Cao Xueqin's Nan Yao Bei Yuan Kao Gong Zhi (A Study of the Craft of Southern Kites and Northern Hawks), using Beijing swallow kites as prototypes. It is New China's first special stamp set devoted to kites.

Theme of the Set

Kites were called paper hawks in ancient times and are a folk amusement handicraft with a long history in China. Cao Xueqin's Qing dynasty work Nan Yao Bei Yuan Kao Gong Zhi systematically records the frame-making and painted decoration techniques of swallow kites along with accompanying painting formulas, and is an important document of ancient kite craftsmanship. The swallow kite is the most representative kite category in the Beijing-Tianjin region, with stylized forms, and each type of swallow kite carries a corresponding auspicious meaning. This set selects four classic swallow kite styles from the book, restores the painted patterns of traditional kites, displays the aesthetic wisdom of folk craftsmen, and popularizes traditional folk crafts.

Stamp Designs and Historical Background

Fledgling Swallow

The image is a fledgling swallow kite, short, round, and stocky in build—the form of a young swallow. The wing and tail patterns are simple, decorated with small flowers and scrolling grass, with bright, soft colors. The fledgling swallow implies children growing up healthily and innocently lively, and is the most naive and lovable of the swallow kites.

Slender Swallow

The image is a slender swallow kite, with a tall, graceful figure and soft, spreading lines, also called the "beauty swallow." The wing patterns are intricate and exquisite, paired with peony and butterfly patterns, taking the meaning of grace and beauty and corresponding to the image of a young maiden; it is the most beautiful pattern among the swallow kites.

Half-Slender Swallow

The image is a half-slender swallow kite, with a form between the fledgling and the slender swallow, square and full in build, with rich and gorgeous patterns. This type of kite symbolizes youthful spirit and vigor, and its wings are mostly painted with auspicious flower-and-fruit patterns, implying a bright future.

Paired-Wing Swallow

The image is a conjoined double-swallow form: two swallows lean on each other left and right and merge into one, sharing a single head outline—the "paired-wing swallow." The kite patterns come in pairs, implying husband and wife with one heart and harmonious affection; it is a highly romantic form among traditional kites.

Artistic Design Features

The set uses a warm, gentle beige background, simulating the texture of old xuan paper and silk paper and restoring the appearance of traditional kite painting to the greatest extent. All four kites follow the fixed skeletal aesthetic paradigm of the swallow kite, with rigorous proportions of the swallow's head, wings, and tail fork—a typical Beijing-school kite style.

In color, it continues the intense, bright palette of folk New Year pictures, with rich combinations of red, green, blue, and purple, neat and symmetrical patterns, and a strong decorative quality. The four stamps are arranged as fledgling swallow, half-slender swallow, slender swallow, and paired-wing swallow—from child, youth, and maiden to a companion pair—forming a complete sequence of imagery. The pictures are clean, with no superfluous background such as sky or strings to interfere, and the visual center falls entirely on the kites themselves.

This set is a classic of folk craft and arts stamps, and it has also made Nan Yao Bei Yuan Kao Gong Zhi and swallow kite culture better known to more philatelists.