Scott No: 367-369
Serial number: S24
Values in set: 3
Date of issue: August 25, 1958
Denomination: 24 fen
Designer: Sun Chuanzhe
Engraver: Kong Shaohui, Tang Linshen
Size of stamps: 22.5*30.5mm
Perforation: 14
Sheet composition: 120(12*10)
Printing process: Engraving and offset
Printing House: China Modern Times Printing Works

S24 "Meteorology" special stamps were issued on August 25, 1958. The set consists of 3 stamps, printed by offset combined with engraving, designed by Sun Chuanzhe, engraved by Tang Linkun and Kong Shaohui, and printed by the Beijing People's Printing Factory. Stamp size 22.5 mm × 30.5 mm, perforation gauge 14, 120 stamps per sheet (12 × 10), with a total face value of 0.24 yuan for the set; Ancient Meteorological Instrument 8 fen, circulation 8 million copies; Meteorological Observation 8 fen, circulation 8 million copies; Meteorological Service 8 fen, circulation 8 million copies, without gum throughout the set.

Theme of the Set

China has valued observing the clouds and measuring the sky since ancient times, and meteorological knowledge long served farming and shipping. After the founding of New China, a modern meteorological observation network was gradually built, and weather forecasts provided important support for agricultural production, shipping and transportation, and disaster prevention and mitigation. The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications issued this special set, linking ancient meteorological wisdom with the modern meteorological undertaking, popularizing the scientific value of meteorology, and displaying the appearance of New China's meteorological work in serving national economic construction. It is New China's first meteorological-themed stamp set.

Stamp Designs and Historical Background

Ancient Meteorological Instrument

The main subject of the design is the Han dynasty bronze weathervane crow, a classic instrument used in ancient China to observe wind direction: the bronze crow stands on a pillar and turns with the wind to indicate wind direction. The design is supplemented by auspicious clouds, an ancient sailing ship, and the silhouettes of a farmer plowing, representing ancient reliance on weather to arrange navigation and farming, on a warm yellow background, antique and weighty, embodying the ancestors' long-standing wisdom of observing and using the sky.

Meteorological Observation

The design takes a sounding balloon as its main subject, with meteorological detection instruments suspended below the balloon, and mountains, ancient pagodas, rain clouds, and lightning depicted in the background. The sounding balloon can rise to high altitudes to collect atmospheric data such as air pressure, temperature, and humidity, and was the core means of upper-air meteorological observation at the time; the background color is a calm blue, symbolizing the high-altitude atmospheric environment and representing modern meteorological observation technology.

Meteorological Service

The main subject of the design is a meteorological observation tower equipped with an anemometer and wind vane, with simplified silhouettes of farmland, ships, and factories distributed around it, symbolizing that the fruits of weather forecasting benefit agriculture, water transport, and industry in all sectors. The background color is light green, implying favorable weather, and making clear that the ultimate purpose of meteorological work is to safeguard production and construction.

Artistic Design Features

The set uniformly adopts a vertical format and offset combined with engraving; the three stamps have completely identical face values and circulations, with an even threshold for collecting complete sets. The engraved lines are concise and lively, with a strong decorative quality, using a single-color main background paired with a black engraved main image, with colors distinguishing the themes: the ancient meteorological instrument in warm yellow evokes antiquity, meteorological observation in deep blue suggests the vast sky, and meteorological service in light green implies farming. The design progresses from ancient times to the present, presenting traditional scenery, modern detection instruments, and the value of service to industries in a coherent way, with a clear narrative logic; it is a set of considerable ingenuity among the early science-popularization old special stamps.