Scott No: 716-731
Serial number: S59
Values in set: 16
Date of issue: October 15, 1963
Denomination: 210 fen
Designer: Sun Chuanzhe
Engraver: Kong Shaohui, Tang Linshen, Gao Pinzhang, Sun Hongnian
Size of stamps:
27.5*48mm for Value 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8;
48.5*27mm for Value 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16
Perforation: 11.5
Sheet composition:
50(10*5) for Value 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8;
50(5*10) for Value 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16
Printing process: Engraving and photogravure
Printing House: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing Works

S57 "Scenery of Mount Huang" special stamps were issued on October 15, 1963. The set consists of 16 stamps, printed by photogravure combined with engraving, designed by Sun Chuanzhe, engraved by Kong Shaohui, Tang Linkun, Gao Pinzhang, and Sun Hongnian, and printed by the Beijing Stamp Factory. The first 8 measure 31 mm × 52 mm, perforation gauge 11.5, 50 stamps per sheet (10 × 5); the latter 8 measure 52 mm × 31 mm, perforation gauge 11.5, 50 stamps per sheet (5 × 10), with a total face value of 2.10 yuan for the set; circulations: the four 4-fen stamps 4 million copies each, the four 8-fen stamps 6 million copies each, the four 10-fen stamps 3 million copies each, 20-fen Shisun Peak 2.5 million copies, 22-fen Stone Monkey Watching the Sea 2 million copies, 30-fen Lion Grove 1 million copies, and 50-fen Penglai Three Isles 1 million copies.

Theme of the Set

Mount Huang is known for its "four wonders" of strange pines, grotesque rocks, seas of clouds, and hot springs, and is a representative of Chinese landscape culture. After viewing an exhibition of Mount Huang landscape photographs, Sun Chuanzhe re-created the designs based on a group of master photographers' works, selecting sixteen landmark scenic spots to form a complete long scroll of Mount Huang's mountains and waters. This is New China's first large set on the theme of famous mountain scenery, one of the "Five Golden Flowers" of the old Ji-te stamps, and was selected as one of the Best Stamps of the 30th Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China. The sixteen pictures are arranged in order, from the Yuping scenic area to Beihai and Xihai, changing scenery with every step, condensing Mount Huang's majestic, wondrous, perilous, and illusory qualities into the square inch of stamps, combining the popular-science value of scenery with the aesthetic artistic conception of traditional landscape painting.

Stamp Designs and Historical Background

Yuping Peak

The design presents the towering mountain body of Yuping Peak, with steep cliffs and layered peak rocks. Yuping Peak is the core of Mount Huang's front mountain; the Yuping Tower stands here, and it is also the spot for viewing the Guest-Greeting Pine. With cold, hard rock lines, the picture opens the prelude to the entire Mount Huang scroll.

Guest-Greeting Pine

The most famous landmark of Mount Huang. The ancient pine grows out of the rock, with a long branch extending slantwise on one side as if leaning out to greet guests; the trunk is vigorous and the posture elegant. The engraved lines focus on depicting the bark texture and the layers of pine needles; it is the most renowned stamp of the entire set.

Back Sea Pines and Rocks

The design depicts the scenery around the Back Sea of Beihai, with peaks standing in rows and ancient pines scattered about. Pointed peaks rise straight from the ground, and wonderful pines cover the summits and cliff edges; pines and rocks lean on each other, fully displaying the unique appearance of Mount Huang's rocks and ancient pines growing together.

Qingliang Terrace

Qingliang Terrace is located in Beihai and is an excellent viewing platform for sunrise and the sea of clouds. The picture highlights the terrain of the stone platform hanging in the air; visitors lean on the railing and gaze into the distance, with layered peaks hidden in thin mist in the distance, with an ethereal and distant artistic conception.

Distant View of Tiandu

Tiandu Peak is one of Mount Huang's three main peaks and is famous for its perilousness. The picture takes a distant view: the summit is steep and abrupt, the cliffs are reddish, and clouds and mist wrap around the mountainside, setting off the majestic, perilous, and wondrous momentum of Tiandu.

Scissors Peak

The top of the peak splits apart, shaped like a giant pair of scissors, hence the name. Twin peaks stand side by side, with sharp outlines and a solitary rock hanging in the air; it is a classic representative of Mount Huang's grotesque rocks, peculiar in form and highly recognizable.

Ten Thousand Pines Forest

A dense pine forest covers the slope, with ancient pines clustering high and low, stretching in continuous stretches. Unlike single famous pines, this stamp focuses on expressing the pine waves across the mountain, layer upon layer, lush and verdant.

Dream Brush Producing Flowers

A solitary rock stands upright, pointed at the top and round at the bottom, like a giant brush inserted upside down; a small pine grows on top of the rock, as if a flower has bloomed at the tip of the brush. Beside it is the Brush Rack Peak; one "brush" and one "rack" set each other off, making it a highly romantic wondrous rock landscape of Beihai.

Lotus Peak

Lotus Peak is the highest peak of Mount Huang, with the peak body encircled in layers like a lotus just opening. The horizontal composition is expansive, with the main peak centered and surrounded by smaller peaks, grand and magnificent, fully displaying the majestic mass of the main peak.

Cloud Tide of the West Sea

In the West Sea gorge, the sea of clouds surges, and cloud waves overflow the peak tips like the rise and fall of ocean tides. The clouds and mist are rendered with light color washes in photogravure, with solid and void generating each other, expressing the dreamy, flowing quality of Mount Huang's sea of clouds.

Ancient Pine of Mount Huang

The design selects another famous pine with an antique posture, rooted in a perilous cliff with gnarled branches, full of antique flavor, focusing on expressing the tenacious, resilient quality of Mount Huang's pines that have weathered wind and frost.

Watching the Tide in the East Sea

In the East Sea sea of clouds, cloud waves surge under the morning light, and the peaks rise and fall like islands in the sea of clouds. The sea of clouds spreads into the distance, with a broad field of view and rich dynamism; it is a famous cloud-viewing spot of Mount Huang.

Stone Shoot Peak

In the Stone Shoot Ridge of Beihai, countless slender stone peaks stand in rows like bamboo shoots after rain, scattered in density, with grotesque rocks abounding; it is one of Mount Huang's most shocking stone forest landscapes.

Stone Monkey Watching the Sea

A grotesque rock squats on the peak top, shaped like a seated stone monkey, bowing its head and gazing at the surging sea of clouds. The stone monkey's expression is remarkably lifelike; it is a landmark pictographic wondrous rock of Mount Huang, full of natural wild charm.

Lion Grove

Lion Grove is located below Lion Peak in Beihai, where ancient temples, wondrous pines, and peak rocks gather; it is a historic touring area of Mount Huang. The picture shows lush trees and encircling peak rocks, quiet and antique.

Penglai Three Isles

The finale of the set. Three island-like stone peaks float above the sea of clouds, as if immortal mountains on the sea, ethereal and unworldly. This stamp has the highest face value of the set and few survive; it is the core key stamp of the entire set.

Artistic Design Features

The set alternates eight vertical and eight horizontal formats, with a well-varied rhythm. It adopts the photogravure-plus-engraving process: the engraved plates are responsible for the solid, hard outlines of rocks, tree trunks, and pine needles, with vigorous, powerful lines; the photogravure plates render the sea of clouds, distant mountains, and rosy light with light, transparent colors, combining solid and void, and transforming photographic material into landscape sketches rich in Chinese painting charm. The sixteen stamps unfold in sequence along the touring route—front mountain, Beihai, Xihai—from solid to void, from pines and rocks to the sea of clouds, with opening, development, transition, and conclusion like a landscape travelogue.