Scott No: 295-298
Serial number: S16
Values in set: 4
Date of issue: October 1, 1956
Denomination: 24 fen
Designer: Sun Chuanzhe
Engraver: Kong Shaohui
Size of stamps: 37*22mm
Perforation: 14
Sheet composition: 96(8*12)
Printing process: Engraving
Printing House: Beijing People's Printing Works

S16 "Eastern Han Dynasty Picture Bricks" special stamps were issued on October 1, 1956. The set consists of 4 stamps, printed by engraving, designed by Sun Chuanzhe, and printed by the Business Branch of the Beijing People's Printing Factory. Stamp size 37 mm × 22 mm, perforation gauge 14, 96 stamps per sheet (8 × 12), with a total face value of 0.24 yuan for the set; Well-Salt Production 4 fen, circulation 12 million copies; Residential Architecture 4 fen, circulation 12 million copies; Hunting and Farming 8 fen, circulation 18 million copies; Carriage Crossing a Bridge 8 fen, circulation 18 million copies, without gum throughout the set.

Theme of the Set

Picture bricks are low-relief decorative bricks prevalent in Eastern Han tomb chambers, with particularly rich surviving relics unearthed in the Sichuan region; their pictures are mostly drawn from the real life of the time and are precious pictorial historical materials for studying Han dynasty production, architecture, travel, and folk customs. The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications selected four original Eastern Han picture bricks unearthed in Chengdu, Sichuan, for the stamps, reproducing the plain brick-carving appearance by engraving and showing the public Han dynasty folk art, letting the social picture of two thousand years ago be passed down through stamps.

Stamp Designs and Historical Background

Well-Salt Production

In a cyan-green tone, the design depicts the full picture of the Bashu well-salt handicraft industry among the mountains. Workers on a tall derrick draw brine with a windlass, the brine is transported through bamboo pipes to the salt-boiling stove, firewood is added beside the stove for boiling, and there are also figures transporting salt and gathering firewood and hunting in the mountains, completely recording the ancient well-salt extraction process; it is an extremely rare image of Han dynasty handicraft industry.

Residential Architecture

In a gray-black tone, the design presents a bird's-eye view of an Eastern Han courtyard house. The layout of the pavilions and corridors within the courtyard is clear, people sit facing each other in the hall, and chickens, cranes, and dogs are in the courtyard, restoring the courtyard layout of Han dynasty powerful landlords and reflecting the residential architecture and courtyard life of the time.

Hunting and Farming

In a brown tone, on the open fields farmers are busy plowing and hunters draw their bows to hunt, with birds flying about; farming and fishing-hunting are placed side by side, presenting Han dynasty rural production and embodying the countryside life of combining farming and hunting.

Carriage Crossing a Bridge

In a deep gray tone, the design depicts a four-horse light carriage speeding across a bridge, the driver raising his whip, the carriage and horses galloping; it is a common Eastern Han subject of chariot and horse travel, reflecting the transportation, travel etiquette, and carriage and horse system of the time.

Artistic Design Features

The set uniformly adopts a horizontal format and engraving; each stamp is flanked by an antique-style pattern border, reproducing the plain antique flavor of picture-brick rubbings. The lines are concise and antique, preserving the vigorous, weighty texture unique to brick-carving relief; the four stamps successively present handicraft, residential architecture, farming, and travel, presenting the secular life of the Han dynasty in all its aspects. This set is New China's earliest stamp set on the theme of ancient stone-carving art and a classic work by Sun Chuanzhe, combining archaeological historical value with printmaking beauty.