Scott No: 1989-1991
Serial number: J112
Values in set: 3
Date of issue: June 26, 1985
Denomination: 108 fen
Designers: Li Yinqing
Size of stamps: 30*40mm
Perforation: 11.5*11
Sheet composition: 50 (10*5)
Printing process: Photogravure
Printing House: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing Works

J112 "Friends of the Chinese People" commemorative stamps were issued on June 25, 1985. The set consists of 3 stamps, printed by photogravure, designed by Li Yinqing, and printed by the Beijing Stamp Factory.

Theme of the Set

This set pays tribute to three American journalists and writers who, in difficult times, sympathized with and supported the Chinese revolution. They risked danger to go deep into China's revolutionary base areas and objectively spread the story of the struggle of the Communist Party of China and the Chinese people to overseas audiences, breaking down information barriers from the outside world. The stamps remember the profound friendship they formed with the Chinese people, highlight justice and conscience that transcend national borders, and bear witness to the history of friendly Chinese-foreign exchange.

Stamp Designs and Historical Background

Agnes Smedley

The image is a portrait of Smedley. After coming to China, she devoted herself over the long term to China's progressive cause, went to the front lines of the War of Resistance, recorded the fighting course of the Eighth Route Army, and wrote a large number of documentary works, reporting the Chinese people's anti-Japanese struggle to the world and actively supporting China's revolutionary cause.

Anna Louise Strong

The image is a portrait of Strong. She visited China many times, long followed the Chinese revolution and construction, once recorded important revolutionary theses, and in her later years settled in China, continuing to tell the true story of China to the international community.

Edgar Snow

The image is a portrait of Snow. He went deep into the Shaanxi-Gansu Soviet area for interviews and wrote a famous documentary work, publicly introducing to the whole world for the first time the true appearance of the Red Army, the Long March, and the base areas, letting the world come to know the revolutionary forces led by the Communist Party of China.

Artistic Design Features

The set adopts the expressive form of sketch portraiture, with delicate and vivid depiction of the figures' expressions, fitting their calm and wise temperaments. The three stamps are paired with different soft background colors. The compositions are concise and dignified, without superfluous decoration, placing the visual focus on the figures themselves. The style is plain and restrained, making it a classic set of commemorative figure stamps on the theme of foreign friends.