Scott No: 3221-25
Serial number: 2002-17
Values in set: 5
Denomination: 4.00 yuan
Date of issue: 1st Aug. 2002
Designer: Wang Hongjian
Size of stamps: 30*40 mm
Perforation: 12
Sheet composition: 20
Printing process: gravure
Printer: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing House

2002-17 Commemorative Stamps: Early Generals of the People's Army (Series 1), issued on August 1, 2002, this set contains 5 stamps, printed in photogravure by Beijing Stamp Factory. Designed by Wang Hongjian, the total face value of the full set is 4 yuan. Each stamp measures 30×40 mm with perforation of 12 degrees, and 20 stamps per full sheet.

The set features five distinguished senior early commanders of the Red Army during the Agrarian Revolutionary War. They fought bravely for the founding of the People’s Army and the establishment of revolutionary base areas, and all sacrificed their lives in revolutionary struggles. These stamps commemorate the revolutionary martyrs, honour the arduous pioneering course of the People’s Army in its infancy, and carry forward the red revolutionary spirit. It is the first installment of the *Early Generals of the People's Army* stamp series.

Stamp Designs and Historical Background

Huang Gonglue

Huang Gonglue (1898–1931), native of Xiangxiang, Hunan Province. He was one of the principal leaders of the Pingjiang Uprising. Together with Peng Dehuai and Teng Daiyuan, he founded the 5th Red Army and established the Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi Revolutionary Base Area. A renowned Red Army general, he commanded many campaigns against the Kuomintang "encirclement and suppression" operations. His fame was on par with Mao Zedong, Zhu De and Peng Dehuai, hence the popular reference "Zhu-Mao-Peng-Huang". In 1931, while moving troops during the Third Anti-Encirclement Campaign, Huang Gonglue was killed in an enemy air raid, dedicating his young life to the revolutionary cause in the Soviet Area. The stamp presents a sketch portrait with a calm and resolute expression, recreating the heroic demeanour of this valiant Red Army commander.

Xu Jishen

Xu Jishen (1901–1931), native of Liu’an, Anhui Province. A graduate of the first intake of Whampoa Military Academy, he was an outstanding Red Army commander. He took part in the Northern Expedition, then was ordered to go to the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Base Area and served as Commander of the 1st Red Army. He reorganised local armed forces and expanded the Red Army, making outstanding contributions to the foundation and consolidation of the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Soviet Area. In 1931, he was framed and killed during the Counter-Revolutionary Purge Movement. Xu Jishen was one of the founders of the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Red Army. His portrait on the stamp in military uniform fully shows his martial valour.

Cai Shengxi

Cai Shengxi (1906–1932), native of Liling, Hunan Province. A graduate of the first intake of Whampoa Military Academy, he participated in the Nanchang Uprising and Guangzhou Uprising. He was the principal founder of the 15th Red Army. For a long time he fought in southeastern Hubei and the Hubei-Henan-Anhui region. He excelled at military command and kept directing battles even when seriously wounded. He died from severe battle injuries in 1932. Devoted all his life to building armed forces in base areas, he was an excellent early political and military commander of the Red Army. His military uniform portrait on the stamp depicts his firm and decisive bearing.

Wei Baqun

Wei Baqun (1894–1932), native of Donglan, Guangxi. He was one of the core leaders of the Baise Uprising. Together with Deng Xiaoping and Zhang Yunyi, he founded the 7th Red Army and established the Youjiang Revolutionary Base Area. He rooted himself in the Zhuang homeland, mobilised ethnic minority masses to carry out the Agrarian Revolutionary War and sowed the seeds of revolution among ethnic minorities in Guangxi. After the main force of the 7th Red Army marched northward, Wei Baqun stayed in the base area and persisted in guerrilla warfare. He was murdered by a traitor in 1932. The plain and solemn portrait on the stamp embodies the traits of this Zhuang revolutionary leader: grounded in local land and caring deeply for the people.

Liu Zhidan

Liu Zhidan (1903–1936), native of Bao’an, Shaanxi Province. He was the main founder of the Northwest Red Army and the Shaanxi-Gansu Revolutionary Base Area. He waged armed struggles in northern Shaanxi for years, established the Northwest Red Army and opened up the Shaanxi-Gansu Base Area, which later became the destination of the Central Red Army’s Long March. In April 1936, Liu Zhidan heroically sacrificed his life in the Eastern Expedition Campaign. His portrait in plain clothes on the stamp is gentle yet steadfast, portraying the revolutionary leader who rooted in the northwest and pioneered the revolutionary base.

Artistic Design Features

Printed by photogravure, the stamps accurately reproduce the delicate pencil hatching texture of the sketches with soft and rich light-and-shade gradations. Adopting vertical portrait composition, all stamps use a uniform pale cream background. On the right side of each stamp sheet lies a vertical red label inscribed with the general’s name and lifespan, forming a neat and unified layout. The whole set employs sketch portraits without complicated backgrounds, drawing visual focus to the facial expressions of the figures. With simple and solemn artistic language, the stamps pay tribute to the early martyrs of the People’s Army. The style is grave, weighty and full of historical sense.