Scott No: -
Serial number: 2020-18
Values in set: 2
Date of issue: August 19, 2020
Denomination: 240 fen
Designer: Gao Yun
Size of stamps: 38 * 50 mm
Perforation: 13 * 13.5
Sheet composition:
12 for Sheet I;
6 for Sheet II (3 Sets)
Size of sheet:
190 * 200 mm for Sheet I;
150 * 190 mm for Sheet II
Size of S/S: 86 * 125 mm
Size of S/S stamp: 65 * 90 mm
S/S Perforation: 13 * 13.5
Printing process: Offset
Printing House: Liaoning Provincal Shenyang Postage Printing Works

China Post is scheduled to issue a set of 2 special stamps and 1 souvenir sheet themed "Hua Tuo" on August 19, 2020. The stamps are titled: Invention of Mafeisan (Anesthetic Powder) and Compilation and Creation of Wuqinxi (Five-Animal Qigong Exercises), while the souvenir sheet is titled Portrait of Hua Tuo. The total face value of the complete set is 8.40 yuan. The planned circulation is 7.8 million sets of stamps, 0.95 million sheets of Layout 2, and 6.3 million souvenir sheets.

Hua Tuo, a clinical physician of the Eastern Han Dynasty, also known by his courtesy name Yuanhua and alternative given name Fu, was born in Qiao County of the Pei State (present-day Bozhou, Anhui Province). He was one of the few outstanding surgeons in the history of Chinese medicine, skilled in the use of anesthesia, acupuncture, moxibustion and other therapies, as well as in performing abdominal and thoracic surgeries. Throughout his life, Hua Tuo pursued neither fame nor wealth, devoting himself wholeheartedly to the research of medicine. Book of the Later Han · Biography of Hua Tuo records that he "was proficient in several Confucian classics and well-versed in health-preserving techniques," and especially "skilled in formulating medicinal prescriptions," earning him the title of "Divine Physician" among the people. Later generations often use the phrase "Hua Tuo reincarnated" to praise physicians with exceptional medical skills and ethics, which fully reflects his esteemed status in the hearts of the people.

Adopting the traditional Chinese meticulous painting technique, the first stamp Invention of Mafeisan depicts the scene where Hua Tuo administers Mafeisan to a patient in preparation for a surgical operation; the second stamp Compilation and Creation of Wuqinxi shows Hua Tuo teaching people to practice Wuqinxi; the souvenir sheet Portrait of Hua Tuo presents his image through a scene of him compiling medical books.

This set of stamps was created by Mr. Gao Yun, Vice President of the National Academy of Chinese Painting and Deputy Director of the Chinese Painting Art Committee of the China Artists Association. It is printed by Shenyang Post and Telecommunications Printing House of Liaoning Province using offset printing technology, with the souvenir sheet featuring special irregular perforations shaped like a medicine pestle and mortar.