Scott No: 2121-24
Serial number: J144
Values in set: 4
Date of issue: November 20, 1987
Denomination: 96 fen
Designers: Lu Dehui
Size of stamps: 30*40mm
Perforation: 11.5*11
Sheet composition: 50(10*5)
Printing process: Photogravure
Printing House: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing Works

J144 "The 6th National Games of the People's Republic of China" commemorative stamps were issued on November 20, 1987. The set consists of 4 stamps, printed by photogravure, with a stamp size of 30 × 40 mm, perforation gauge 11.5 × 11, and 50 stamps per sheet (10 × 5). Designed by Lu Dehui and printed by the Beijing Stamp Factory.

Theme of the Set

The 6th National Games were held in Guangzhou, the first national multi-sport games held in South China. The stamps select four competitive events and use modern abstract art to express the athletes' dynamic bearing, setting off the striving and upward sports spirit of the games and showcasing the vigorous development of China's sports undertakings.

Stamp Designs and Historical Background

Pole Vault

The design uses the technique of overlapping images to show the moment an athlete leaps over the crossbar, with colored arc-shaped bands in the background to highlight the dynamic feeling of being airborne.

Women's Softball

The image depicts a softball player swinging the bat to hit the ball. Women's softball is also a relatively novel sports subject in this set.

Weightlifting

The design overlays the continuous movements of an athlete exerting force to press the barbell, with layer upon layer of overlapping images showing the process of bursting strength.

Diving

The image depicts a diver's midair tumbling posture, graceful and extended, like a swallow soaring into the sky.

Artistic Design Features

The set adopts a modern abstract overlapping-image decorative style. The four stamps can be joined into a four-panel strip, and the colored arcs in the background form the imagery of the numeral "6," echoing the 6th National Games. The colors are bright, and the forms are simple and exaggerated, breaking through the realistic conventions of traditional sports stamps, with a strong sense of the times. It is a highly experimental sports stamp set of the 1980s.