Scott No: -
Serial number: 2016-15
Values in set: 4
Date of issue: June 18, 2016
Denomination: 510 fen
Designer: Xiao Yutian
Size of stamps: 40 * 54 mm
Perforation: 13
Sheet composition:
16 for Sheet I;
8 (2 Sets) for Sheet II
Size of sheet:
190 * 246 mm for Sheet I;
216 * 144 mm for Sheet II
Size of S/S: 138 * 93 mm
Size of S/S Stamp: 52 * 70 mm
S/S Perforation: 13
Printing process: Photogravure
Printing House: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing Works

On June 18, 2016, China Post issued a set of special stamps themed A Dream of Red Mansions – A Masterpiece of Classical Chinese Literature (Series II), which includes 4 individual stamps and 1 souvenir sheet.

A Dream of Red Mansions, originally titled The Story of the Stone, is a chapter-style novel. Set against the backdrop of the four prominent families – Jia, Shi, Wang and Xue – the novel takes the tragic love story of Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu as its central thread, depicting the decline of the Jia clan’s two mansions, Rongguo and Ningguo, from prosperity to ruin. Covering an extensive range of subjects across multiple disciplines, the novel encompasses traditional cultures such as poetry, ci, fu, guqin playing, chess, calligraphy, painting, architecture and pavilions, carriages and sedan chairs, costumes and makeup, weddings and funerals, sacrifices, diet and medicinal cuisine, tea and wine culture, as well as Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian ideologies, almost leaving nothing out. With its vivid and elegant language and masterful character portrayal, the novel creates a host of artistic figures with typical personalities and achieves remarkable artistic accomplishments. The four stamps in the second series respectively depict scenes from Chapters 14, 30, 31 and 33, namely Wang Xifeng Abuses Her Power, Lingguan Draws the Character "Qiang", Qingwen Tears Up a Fan and Baoyu Receives a Flogging. The souvenir sheet features a scene from Chapter 18 with the theme Yuanchun Returns Home to Celebrate the Lantern Festival.

Designed in the style of traditional Chinese meticulous painting with heavy colors, the stamps vividly and meticulously portray the characters' personality traits. The scenes are magnificent in presentation, with accurate details in costumes and props, and elaborate scene design. In particular, the design of the souvenir sheet Yuanchun Returns Home to Celebrate the Lantern Festival not only strikes a balance between the primary and secondary roles of the numerous characters in the scene, highlighting the lively atmosphere of the Lantern Festival, but also perfectly captures the demeanor of characters of different social statuses.

The stamp designs select four representative scenes from the original novel:

Wang Xifeng Abuses Her Power (from Chapter 14): Depicts Wang Xifeng’s shrewd political acumen when she assists in managing the affairs of Ningguo Mansion.

Lingguan Draws the Character "Qiang" (from Chapter 30): Shows the infatuated scene of the opera singer Lingguan writing the character "Qiang" repeatedly in the rain.

Qingwen Tears Up a Fan (from Chapter 31): Portrays the classic episode of Qingwen willfully tearing up fans.

Baoyu Receives a Flogging (from Chapter 33): Reflects the family conflict where Jia Zheng flogs his son Jia Baoyu.

Centered on Yuanchun’s visit to her family in Chapter 18, the souvenir sheet Yuanchun Returns Home to Celebrate the Lantern Festival presents the luxurious Lantern Festival feast of the Jia clan through exquisite composition, with a striking contrast between the demeanor of the characters and the architectural layout in the scene.