Scott No: 398-401
Serial number: S30
Values in set: 4
Date of issue: January 1, 1959
Denomination: 32 fen
Designer: Zhang Ding, Sun Chuanzhe
Engraver: Gao Zhengyu, Sun Guangzeng, Jia Binkun, Gao Pinzhang
Size of stamps: 18.5*23mm
Perforation: 14
Sheet composition: 150(15*10)
Printing process: Engraving and offset
Printing House: Beijing People's Printing Works

S30 "Paper-Cuts" special stamps were issued on January 1, 1959. The set consists of 4 stamps, printed by offset combined with engraving, designed by Sun Chuanzhe, with original works from northern Shaanxi folk paper-cuts collected and organized by Zhang Ding, engraved by Gao Zhenyu, Gao Pinzhang, Song Guangzeng, and Jia Bingkun, and printed by the Beijing People's Printing Factory. Stamp size 18.5 mm × 23 mm, perforation gauge 14, 150 stamps per sheet (15 × 10), with a total face value of 0.32 yuan for the set; Camel 8 fen, circulation 8 million copies, Pomegranate 8 fen, circulation 8 million copies, Rooster 8 fen, circulation 8 million copies, Opera Figure 8 fen, circulation 7.5 million copies, without gum throughout the set.

Theme of the Set

Paper-cutting is a traditional Chinese folk art with a long history, already popular in the Han and Tang dynasties, with widely differing styles from region to region; northern Shaanxi paper-cutting is known for its rough, vigorous, concise, and powerful character. This set selects four classic northern Shaanxi paper-cut works and brings rural folk art onto stamps, displaying the unique plain charm of northwestern paper-cutting and exploring the value of traditional folk art. It is also New China's first special stamp set themed on paper-cutting.

Stamp Designs and Historical Background

Camel

The design shows a black paper-cut camel carrying goods, with a concise, condensed form, on a light purple background. The camel was an important transport animal of the northwestern deserts, tenacious and hard-working, and is a representative of the Loess Plateau and the lands beyond the Great Wall; the lines make extensive use of paper-cutting's signature sawtooth pattern, with vividly depicted fur texture.

Pomegranate

The pomegranate paper-cut is placed on a green background, with a full fruit flanked by flowers and leaves. In folk custom the pomegranate implies many offspring and is a folk auspicious pattern, often used in festival window flowers, carrying the common people's beautiful wishes for prosperity and continuous descendants.

Rooster

On a red background stands a rooster with its head raised, its tail feathers spreading out and flying, with a concise, unrestrained outline. The rooster carries the auspicious meaning of announcing the dawn and warding off evil and is a very common subject in folk paper-cutting; the passionate red background and the black cutout form set each other off, with a rich festive atmosphere.

Opera Figure

A blue background sets off a paper-cut of an opera figure, drawn from the traditional play The Third Lady Teaches Her Son, depicting the image of the Third Lady leaning on a loom and holding a scroll. The figure's form is concise, retaining the costume characteristics of opera figures, integrating a traditional story into folk paper-cutting and combining narrative quality with decorative beauty.

Artistic Design Features

The set uniformly adopts a horizontal format and offset combined with engraving; the engraved lines are solid and clear, accurately restoring the knife flavor of paper-cutting. The four stamps use solid flat backgrounds of purple, green, red, and blue respectively, with black silhouettes independently centered and no superfluous background added, as if the paper-cuts were pasted directly onto colored paper, in their original flavor. The forms are simplified and concise, making good use of the sawtooth pattern to express feathers and fur; the bold, plain temperament of northern paper-cutting stands out, with a strong rustic flavor.