Scott No: 2194-95
Serial number: J157
Values in set: 2
Date of issue: January 29, 1989
Denomination: 28 fen
Designers: Yan Baozhen
Size of stamps: 40*30mm
Perforation: 11*11.5
Sheet composition: 50(5*10)
Printing process: Engraving and photogravure
Printing House: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing Works

The commemorative stamp set 90th Anniversary of the Birth of Comrade Qu Qiubai, catalog number J157, was issued on January 29, 1989. It consists of two stamps, produced using the photogravure process. The stamps measure 40×30 mm, with a perforation gauge of 11 degrees. Each sheet contains 50 stamps (5×10). The stamps were designed by Yan Baozhen and printed by Beijing Stamp Printing Works.

Thematic Focus of the Set

Qu Qiubai was one of the principal early leaders of the Communist Party of China, a great Marxist, proletarian revolutionary, theoretician, and propagandist, and an important founder of China's revolutionary literature. This stamp set commemorates the 90th anniversary of Qu Qiubai's birth. One stamp focuses on his portrait, showcasing the refined temperament of a literati revolutionary. The other draws on the imagery of his classic poem to express his revolutionary ideal of pursuing light and yearning for rebirth, commemorating his outstanding contributions to the Chinese revolutionary cause and his noble integrity of preferring death to surrender and meeting death with composure.

Stamp Designs and Historical Background

Portrait of Qu Qiubai

The image is a half-length portrait of Qu Qiubai in his youth wearing glasses, with a calm and refined expression. Qu Qiubai once presided over the work of the Party, translated Marxist works, founded publications, and promoted the spread of revolutionary ideas. In 1935, he was captured in Changting, Fujian. Before his execution, he was calm and composed, leaving behind the famous last words, "This place is quite good."

The First Swallow of Jiangnan

The image shows a half-length image of Qu Qiubai in a long gown, paired with the artistic conception of his poem. The subject is taken from Qu Qiubai's poem "The First Swallow of Jiangnan": "Ten thousand fields of furious green battle the cold tide; inspecting new mud to build the old nest. I am the first swallow of Jiangnan, carrying spring colors up to the clouds." The poet uses the spring swallow as a self-metaphor, expressing his lofty aspiration to break through the cold winter, bring spring colors to the world, and deliver light for the revolution.

Artistic and Design Features

The set uses a watercolor portrait painting style. The tones of both stamps are soft and elegant. The first stamp has a simple and clean background, highlighting Qu Qiubai's gentle and scholarly temperament. The second stamp has a stronger atmosphere, with understated poetic meaning, integrating the revolutionary's ideals and sentiments into the image. The style is delicate and expressive, dignified and restrained, combining literati elegance with the solemnity of red commemoration. It is coordinated and unified in artistic style with the portrait stamps of the older generation of revolutionaries from the same period.