Scott No: 1864-1871
Serial number: T87
Values in set: 8
Date of issue: July 20, 1983
Denomination: 188 fen
Designer: Li Wei
Size of stamps: 27*40mm
Perforation: 11
Sheet composition: 49(7*7)
Printing process: Photogravure
Printing House: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing Works

T87 "Female Roles in Peking Opera" special stamps were issued on July 20, 1983. The set consists of 8 stamps, printed by photogravure, designed by Li Wei, and printed by the Beijing Stamp Factory.

Theme of the Set

The dan role is one of the four major role types in Peking Opera, specifically referring to female characters in opera, and is further divided into branches such as qingyi, huadan, daomadan, and guimendan. This set selects eight widely circulated traditional Peking Opera plays, creating eight images of ancient women of different personalities and statuses, covering various types such as young ladies of prominent families, heroines, immortal maidens, and Daoist nuns. Through opera makeup, bearing, and expression, it displays the unique stylized performance aesthetics of Peking Opera, carries forward the quintessence of Chinese culture—Peking Opera art—and lets the charm of traditional opera characters unfold within the square inch of stamps.

Stamp Designs and Historical Background

Sun Yujiao

Taken from Picking Up the Jade Bracelet, a guimendan role. Sun Yujiao is doing needlework alone in front of her house when she happens to meet Fu Peng; he drops a jade bracelet, and Sun Yujiao picks it up, shy and joyful inside. The image captures her looking down and playing with the jade bracelet, shy and affectionate, with delicate movements, vividly expressing a young girl's restrained and subtle feelings.

Chen Miaochang

Taken from Autumn River, a Daoist nun image. Chen Miaochang was originally a nun at Miaochang Nunnery and fell in love with Pan Bizheng. Pan Bizheng hurried off to take the imperial examination, and Chen Miaochang hastily took a small boat to pursue him. The image depicts her standing at the bow, her garments fluttering in the wind, full of anxiety and reluctance, with the vast, misty river setting off the mood of parting and longing.

Bai Suzhen

Taken from The Legend of the White Snake, a qingyi image. Bai Suzhen was originally a white snake transformed into human form; she married Xu Xian and went through many hardships, including flooding Jinshan Temple. In the image Bai Suzhen is dressed in elegant white, with a gentle posture—a kind and deeply affectionate immortal maiden known to every household.

Thirteenth Sister

Taken from Yuelai Inn, a daomadan role. He Yufeng, also known as Thirteenth Sister, is highly skilled in martial arts and generous in temperament, and she draws her sword to help whenever she sees injustice. In the image she wears a short, tight martial outfit, full of heroic spirit, displaying the bold and righteous temperament of a heroine.

Qin Xianglian

Taken from Qin Xianglian, a qingyi zhengdan role. Qin Xianglian travels a thousand li in search of her husband but is abandoned by Chen Shimei; she fears no power and accuses the faithless man. In the image Qin Xianglian's expression is sorrowful yet resolute, embodying the unyielding resistance of a woman from the lower strata.

Yang Guifei

Taken from The Drunken Beauty, a classic huashan role. Yang Guifei waits for Emperor Xuanzong of Tang at the Hundred Flowers Pavilion; when he does not arrive after a long wait, she drinks alone and becomes charmingly drunk. The figure's headdress is luxurious and her dress gorgeous—a classic opera image of a noble lady of the High Tang.

Cui Yingying

Taken from Romance of the Western Chamber, a guimendan role. Cui Yingying lives deep within the mansion, constrained by feudal ethics, longing for the free spring light, and falls in love with Liu Mengmei. In the image she is dignified and serene, with longing for beautiful love hidden between her brows and eyes.

Mu Guiying

Taken from Muke Fortress, a representative daomadan role. Mu Guiying is superb in martial arts and valiant and heroic; at Muke Fortress she captures Yang Zongbao alive, and later they go to the battlefield together to defend the country—a household-known heroine.

Artistic Design Features

The set adopts a narrow vertical hanging-scroll format, imitating the mounting form of traditional opera figure paintings. The style is soft and realistic, and the figures' forms fit the stage makeup of Peking Opera; details such as headdresses, water sleeves, back banners, and cloud capes are depicted meticulously. The eight characters' expressions differ distinctly—shy, melancholy, grief-stricken and indignant, or martial and heroic—and their color schemes are differentiated. The whole set is like a long scroll of opera figures. It is a classic work among Peking Opera-themed stamps; the last two stamps are relatively scarce in surviving quantity and are the key stamps of the set.