Scott No: 661-680
Serial number: S56
Values in set: 20
Date of issue: April 5, 1963
Denomination: 252 fen
Designer: Liu Shuoren
Size of stamps: 23.5*36mm
Perforation: 11
Sheet composition: 70(10*7)
Printing process: Photogravure
Printing House: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing Works

S56 "Butterflies" special stamps: the first group (the first 5 stamps) was issued on April 5, 1963, and the second group (the last 15 stamps) on July 15, 1963, making a set of 20 stamps. Printed by photogravure, designed by Liu Shuoren, and printed by the Beijing Stamp Factory. Stamp size 27 mm × 40 mm, perforation gauge 11, 70 stamps per sheet (10 × 7), with a total face value of 2.52 yuan for the set; circulations: 4 million copies each for the Tibetan Clouded Yellow, Three-Tailed Bhutan Glory, Qingcheng Arrow Ring Butterfly, Washan Swordtail, and Pearl-Linked Eye Butterfly; 6 million copies each for the Pink-Green Swallowtail, Double-Crescent Swallowtail, Orange-Red Copper Butterfly, Golden-Banded Birdwing, and Wushe Green Hairstreak; 3 million copies each for the Black-Edged Orange Butterfly, Y-Marked Camphor Swallowtail, Orange-Striped Silver Riodinid, Hainan Purple Beak Butterfly, and Emei Skipper; 2.5 million copies each for the Fluorescent Birdwing and Qilian Red Apollo; and 1 million copies each for the Sky-Blue Purple Butterfly, Congling Copper Hairstreak, and Yunnan Splendid Nymphalid.

Theme of the Set

China is very rich in butterfly resources, with more than 1,300 known species, including large numbers of endemic, rare, and even national-treasure-level butterfly species. With the assistance of the butterfly expert Li Chuanlong of the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the designer Liu Shuoren spent a long time selecting twenty species from a vast number of butterflies, balancing different regions and different families and genera—including rare high-mountain species of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the Hengduan Mountains, and the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, as well as distinctive butterflies of the tropical and subtropical forests of South China.

This set is the special large set with the largest number of stamps on an animal theme in New China. The creative process went through repeated deliberation, finally settling on the scheme of "one butterfly, one scene": each butterfly is paired with a simple, light background of its native habitat—streams, bamboo groves, high mountains, woods, and meadows—suggesting the place of origin and habitat, balancing the scientific rigor of entomology with painterly beauty. The work integrates nature popularization with decorative art. It was selected as one of the Best Stamps in the 1980 "Best Stamps of the 30th Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China" selection, and it is a famous classic large set among the old Ji-te stamps, known together with Special 44 "Chrysanthemum" and Special 61 "Peony" as the three great famous sets of flowers, birds, and insects of the old Ji-te stamps.

Stamp Designs and Historical Background

Tibetan Clouded Yellow

The main subject is the Tibetan clouded yellow, a butterfly species unique to the plateau, with soft pale yellow wing surfaces edged with a ring of black spots, set against pale blue distant mountains of the plateau. This type of butterfly inhabits the high-cold meadows of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and is adapted to the high-altitude cold environment; it is the species in this set representing the snowy-plateau ecology.

Three-Tailed Bhutan Glory

The three-tailed Bhutan glory is a rare protected swallowtail of China, mainly produced in the Hengduan Mountains of western Sichuan and northern Yunnan. The wing ground color is deep brown, with several pale yellow transverse bands; the hindwings trail three slender tails, and the hind margin bears orange-red eye-shaped markings. The background depicts steep mountain rocks, highlighting its characteristic of inhabiting high-mountain gorges.

Qingcheng Arrow Ring Butterfly

The arrow ring butterfly inhabits the mountain forests and bamboo groves of the southwest. Its wings are yellow-brown, and the wing margins are neatly arranged with a string of arrow-shaped ring markings, hence the name. The picture is set off by deep bamboo groves, restoring the arrow ring butterfly's habit of flying low under bamboo clumps, with warm, weighty tones and a strong mountain-and-field flavor.

Washan Swordtail

The swordtail is light in build, with semi-transparent pale gray-white wings, black stripes running across the wing surface, and slender sword-like tails on the hindwings flowing and spreading. The background is a pale mountain stream; this type of swallowtail often flies near streams and is a representative butterfly species of the upper Yangtze mountain region.

Pearl-Linked Eye Butterfly

A type of satyr butterfly, with a string of round eye spots like linked pearls distributed on the wing surface, in brownish tones. The eye spots are its important camouflage, used to confuse natural enemies. The background is a hillside meadow, expressing the characteristic of this type of satyr butterfly often active in the grass under the forest.

Pink-Green Swallowtail

The swallowtail is a highly recognizable tropical swallowtail, extremely small in build, with two long tails like a swallow's tail on the hindwings, flying like a dragonfly. The wings carry a faint pink-green tone; the picture is paired with waterside greenery—the swallowtail often hovers above tropical streams to drink water.

Double-Crescent Swallowtail

A swallowtail, with several rounds of crescent-shaped markings distributed on the wing surface; bright white and pale blue markings are set against a black ground, the markings arranged in layers with a rich rhythm. Native to the mountains of South China and Taiwan, the picture is set off by broad-leaved trees, with a deep and secluded atmosphere.

Orange-Red Copper Butterfly

The copper butterfly is small in size; this stamp's wing surface is covered with warm orange-red, edged in black. Copper butterflies are mostly active among low flowers and grasses; the picture uses pale grass leaves as a base, with bright, warm colors.

Golden-Banded Birdwing

Hailed as the "queen of butterflies" and a national first-class protected insect, it is the most important famous species in the entire set. The ground color is ink black, the wings are dotted with large patches of bright emerald-green scales, the hindwings bear golden markings, and the tails are slender and luxurious. It is produced in the primitive evergreen forests of South China, Fujian, Guangxi, and Hainan, and is an extremely rare swallowtail worldwide.

Wushe Green Hairstreak

A small hairstreak, with a clear, beautiful emerald-blue metallic luster on the wing surface, its radiance changing with the light. Native to the mountains of Taiwan, the picture is set off by understory shrubs—small and exquisite, with delicate colors.

Black-Edged Orange Butterfly

A butterfly with soft orange-yellow wings as the main body and a neat black edge on the outer margin, with a clean, crisp contrast. Mostly seen in tropical open country and roadside flower fields of South China, the picture is set off by tropical vegetation, with bright tones.

Y-Marked Camphor Swallowtail

A swallowtail, with markings on the wings forming a pattern resembling the character "丫," the wing color mainly black and white, with crisp lines. Its larvae feed on camphor leaves, hence the name; it is a common swallowtail of the broad-leaved forests of the south.

Orange-Striped Silver Riodinid

The riodinid's wing shape is round and smooth like a small shell, the wing base silvery white, covered with orange-red zigzag lines, the lines fine and intricate, with a delicate decorative quality of its own; it inhabits the understory of South China.

Hainan Purple Beak Butterfly

The beak butterfly is an ancient butterfly type, with a well-developed beak; the wing surface is largely dark purple-brown with pale markings. It is a representative butterfly species of the tropical forests of Hainan Island, and the picture's background is tropical rainforest vegetation.

Emei Skipper

The skipper is stocky in build, with rather dark brown wings and fine, broken markings, flying fast and in short bursts. Produced in the Emei Mountain area of Sichuan, it is a representative skipper of the southwestern mountains, set off by mountain shrubs.

Fluorescent Birdwing

A large tropical swallowtail, with the wing surface giving off a yellow-green fluorescent texture in the light, a broad wingspan, and gorgeous colors; it is mainly produced on the tropical islands of the South China Sea. The picture is set off by tall tropical trees, highlighting its tropical-species temperament.

Qilian Red Apollo

The Apollo is a typical high-altitude cold-resistant butterfly species, produced in the Qilian Mountains. Its wings are like thin silk, with a creamy white ground dotted with dark red and black spots, light and elegant in texture. The background is a pale shadow of the Qilian snow mountains, high-cold and clear.

Sky-Blue Purple Butterfly

A nymphalid, with a rich purple-blue wing surface bearing a metallic luster, elegant markings, and a calm, dreamy color. This stamp has a scarce circulation and is one of the important key stamps of the set; it is produced in the mountains of the southwest.

Congling Copper Hairstreak

A plateau hairstreak, with a bronze metallic luster on the wing surface, inhabiting the plateau around the Pamirs and the Congling range and adapted to the arid, high-cold mountain environment. It is the butterfly species with the westernmost geographical distribution in the entire set.

Yunnan Splendid Nymphalid

The highest face value of the set and the finale variety. A large nymphalid, with huge wing surfaces, intricate and gorgeous markings, and deep, magnificent tones; it is produced in the tropical rainforest of southern Yunnan. With a circulation of only 1 million copies, it is the most core key stamp of the entire set.

Artistic Design Features

The set uniformly adopts a vertical stamp format, with each stamp independently composed. A single butterfly occupies the visual center of the picture, and the background uses only a minimalist, pale environmental silhouette, never overshadowing the main subject. The twenty stamps are arranged in sequence, with the butterflies at different heights and their wing postures varying in pitch and angle; when arranged in a row, the whole forms an undulating, flowing wave rhythm, as if a flock of butterflies were flying in continuous succession—the most ingenious touch of this design.

The photogravure printing accurately restores the delicate scale texture, metallic luster, and marking layers of the butterfly wings, with transparent, soft colors, ensuring both the scientific accuracy of insect classification features and the beauty of decorative painting. The twenty stamps are arranged along the regional thread of plateau, mountains, subtropics, and tropics, with the butterfly species going from small to large and the tones gradually moving from elegant to intense and gorgeous.