Scott No: 465-466
Serial number: S36
Values in set: 2
Date of issue: December 10, 1959
Denomination: 12 fen
Designer: Wan Weisheng
Engraver: Song Hongnian
Size of stamps: 27.5*22mm
Perforation: 14
Sheet composition: 30(5*6)
Printing process: Engraving and offset
Printing House: Beijing People's Printing Works

S36 "Nationalities Cultural Palace" special stamps were issued on December 10, 1959. The set consists of 2 stamps, printed by offset combined with engraving, designed by Wan Weisheng, engraved by Sun Hongnian, and printed by the Beijing People's Printing Factory. Stamp size 29.5 mm × 24 mm, perforation gauge 14, 30 stamps per sheet (5 × 6), with a total face value of 0.12 yuan for the set; Nationalities Cultural Palace (Red Border) 4 fen, circulation 4 million copies; Nationalities Cultural Palace (Green Border) 8 fen, circulation 8 million copies, without gum throughout the set.

Theme of the Set

The Nationalities Cultural Palace is one of the Ten Great Buildings of the capital for the tenth anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic, located on West Chang'an Avenue in Beijing and completed in September 1959. The building integrates traditional architectural elements of many ethnic groups and houses a nationalities museum, library, auditorium, and exhibition halls, undertaking functions such as the collection of ethnic minority cultural relics, the display of ethnic culture, and ethnic exchange activities; it is a symbol of equality, unity, and prosperity of all ethnic groups across the country. The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications issued this set to record this landmark ethnic building, present it as a gift for the tenth anniversary, and highlight the state's ethnic policy.

Stamp Designs and Historical Background

Nationalities Cultural Palace (Red Border)

The design selects the southeast view of the building, completely presenting the outlines of the main building, the flanking wings, and the peacock-blue glazed dome, with a concise composition; the red border sets off a festive, dignified atmosphere. This building is an important carrier of New China's ethnic cultural undertakings, carrying the mission of cultural exchange among all ethnic groups.

Nationalities Cultural Palace (Green Border)

The main building image, layout, and text are completely identical to the previous stamp, with only the border changed to green to suit different postal rates. The picture faithfully restores the architectural form, with condensed lines, highlighting the building's own elegant and grand ethnic style.

Artistic Design Features

The set uniformly adopts a horizontal format and offset combined with engraving; the engraved lines are neat and delicate, accurately outlining the architectural structure and the details of the upturned eaves. The two stamps share the same design in different colors, distinguished by the border color, with a centered, balanced composition and no superfluous decoration, taking the building itself as the core of expression. The tones are plain and restrained, with distinctive ethnic architectural features; the 4-fen stamp has a smaller circulation and is the bottleneck stamp of the set, and it is a classic among the old Ji-te stamps on the theme of the Ten Great Buildings.