Scott No: 859-862
Serial number: C115
Values in set: 4
Date of issue: September 3, 1965
Denomination: 32 fen
Designer: He Kongde, Yan Han, Wang Shikuo, Lu Tianjiao
Size of stamps:
50.5*36mm for Value 1;
36.5*26mm for Value 2, 4;
26.5*36mm for Value 3
Perforation: 11
Sheet composition:
35(5*7) for Value 1;
50(5*10) for Value 2, 4;
50(10*5) for Value 3
Printing process: Photogravure
Printing House: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing Works

Issued on 3 September 1965, the set contains four stamps, printed in photogravure, designed by Lu Tianjiao, with original paintings by He Kongde, Yan Han, Zhang Songhe and Wang Hui in that order, and produced by Beijing Stamp Factory. All stamps measure 54mm × 40mm, with perforation 11: (367) was printed in sheets of 35 (5 × 7), while (368), (369) and (370) were printed in sheets of 50 (5 × 10). All four stamps carry a face value of 8 fen, giving a total set face value of 0.32 yuan; the print run of (367) is 8 million, and those of the other three are 5 million each.

Main Theme of the Set

On 2 September 1945 Japan signed the instrument of surrender, and the Chinese people's War of Resistance Against Japan won its great victory. 1965 marked the twentieth anniversary of that victory, and the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications issued this set on the anniversary day of the victory. Following the sequence of theoretical guidance, the army marching out against the enemy, the whole people joining the war and the celebration of victory, the set recreates the course of the anti-Japanese soldiers and people led by the Communist Party of China fighting in bloody battle, commemorates the great achievements of this war of national liberation and extols the mighty power of people's war.

Stamp Designs and Historical Context

Chairman Mao Writing

The design depicts Mao Zedong at his desk writing inside a cave dwelling at Yan'an, the classic scene of his composing *On Protracted War*. That work scientifically foresaw the course of the war and pointed out the direction for the country's resistance, and is the programmatic document guiding the whole nation's resistance. The cave window is bright and an oil lamp stands beside him; the picture is quiet and weighty, giving prominence to the power of ideological guidance.

The Eighth Route Army Crosses the Yellow River Eastward

The design is based on a print by Yan Han and depicts the officers and men of the Eighth Route Army assembled on the bank of the Yellow River, ready to cross and march to the front in north China. In 1937, after the Eighth Route Army was reorganised, its main force crossed the Yellow River eastward and went deep behind the enemy lines, opening up anti-Japanese base areas and lighting the flames of guerrilla warfare behind the lines. The rolling Yellow River and the marching column merge into one, with a powerful and vigorous momentum.

Victory of People's War

The design uses a sculptural form: soldiers of the Eighth Route Army, the New Fourth Army and the guerrilla forces stand shoulder to shoulder, raising their arms and cheering. The sculpture fixes the moment of victory in an exalted group image, symbolising people's war in which army and people are as one, gathering into the mighty force that defeated the aggressor and displaying the glory of the anti-Japanese armed forces in winning the struggle.

Glorious Enlistment

The design depicts the moving scene of young people wearing large red rosettes, taking leave of their families and enthusiastically joining the anti-Japanese ranks. During the War of Resistance countless young people in the base areas left home to join the army, constantly replenishing the anti-Japanese armed forces; they were the mass foundation that enabled resistance behind the enemy lines to be sustained over the long term and to keep growing.

Artistic Features of the Design

The whole set uses a uniform horizontal format, and its narrative order is coherent and complete: from theoretical planning, to the army setting out, to the masses enlisting, and at last to the coming of victory, forming a complete chain of resistance narrative. The original works embrace several artistic forms — oil painting, print and sculpture — in a style weighty and plain, with a strong character of revolutionary-history art. The photogravure printing gives rich gradations and restrained, deep colour, combining historical solemnity with the power of the pictures to move.