Scott No: 936-937
Serial number: C118
Values in set: 2
Date of issue: April 15, 1967
Denomination: 16 fen
Designer: Shao Bolin
Size of stamps: 50.5*36mm
Perforation: 11
Sheet composition: 28(4*7)
Printing process: Photogravure
Printing House: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing Works

Issued on 15 April 1967, the set contains two stamps, printed in photogravure, designed by Shao Bolin and produced by Beijing Stamp Factory. Stamp size: 50.5mm × 36mm; perforation: 11; sheet composition: 28 stamps; face value: 8 fen each, with a total set face value of 0.16 yuan. Print run: 6 million of each stamp, 6 million sets in all.

Main Theme of the Set

The Third Five-Year Plan covered the years 1966 to 1970, and work on its formulation began in early 1964. In May 1964 the Central Work Conference approved in principle the "Preliminary Concept" put forward by the State Planning Commission, arranged in the order of agriculture, light industry and heavy industry. Its basic tasks were to develop agriculture energetically, broadly solve the problem of food and clothing for the people, appropriately strengthen national defence, make breakthroughs in sophisticated technology, and strengthen basic industry. In September 1965, following the guideline of "be prepared for war, be prepared for natural disasters, and do everything for the people", the State Planning Commission drew up afresh the "Outline Report on the Arrangement of the Third Five-Year Plan", making clear that the plan must be based on war, put the building of national defence in the first place and accelerate the construction of the Third Front. To mobilise the people of the whole country to complete this plan, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications issued this set; the two designs respectively take representative figures from the industrial and agricultural fronts as their main subjects, expressing the determination to hold high the great red banner of Mao Zedong Thought and strive to fulfil the Third Five-Year Plan.

This set is also the closing work of the old C- and S-series stamps. Both stamps had in fact been printed by mid-August 1966, when the Cultural Revolution had already begun; the stamp-issuing department was especially cautious about releasing new stamps, fearing political problems, and postponed the issue date again and again. They were not put on sale until 15 April 1967, making this the latest-issued set of the old commemorative and special stamps. Thereafter the issue of C- and S-series stamps ceased, and postal affairs entered the W-series stamp period.

Stamp Designs and Historical Context

Industrial Construction

The design shows representative figures from several branches of the industrial front standing side by side. In the centre is the image of a Daqing oil worker, wearing an aluminium helmet and work clothes and standing tall; beside him are a scientific and technical worker holding an atomic model, a woman textile worker and a PLA soldier. The figures are grouped around the era's call to "learn from Daqing in industry", placing the forces of oil, defence science and technology, light industry and textiles, and the army side by side, expressing the spiritual outlook of the working class devoting itself to building the Third Five-Year Plan under the guidance of Mao Zedong Thought. Above and around the figures are red flags, red books and other red elements, a direct presentation of the "red ocean" atmosphere.

Agricultural Construction

The design centres on the image of a Dazhai peasant, a white towel tied around the head and another draped over the shoulder, representing the rural model of "learn from Dazhai in agriculture". Beside him are a woman model worker from the agricultural front, a woman militia member holding a rifle and a Communist Youth League member; the grouping covers agricultural production, the militia and the force of youth. This stamp likewise uses red as its keynote and echoes the industrial-construction stamp in composition and colour, expressing the determination of the broad peasant masses to strive for the fulfilment of the Third Five-Year Plan.

Artistic Features of the Design

The two stamps share the same size and the same compositional logic: both use a horizontally elongated format, with groups of figures spread from left to right and red flags and red backgrounds running across the full width, producing a symmetrical, paired visual effect. The question of symmetry in this set has been much discussed in stamp history; volumes seven and eight of *The History of Chinese Stamps* disclose part of the reasons for the delayed issuance of the set, among them matters concerning the arrangement of the figures and their symmetrical relationship. In placing the figures, the designer Shao Bolin gave attention to the balance of the group image, repeatedly adjusting the positions of the worker, the scientific and technical personnel, the woman and the soldier, so that each stamp could stand as an independent picture while the two together formed a complete pair. The painting style is that of realist propaganda art of the mid-1960s, with solid modelling, intense colours and bright, open expressions on the faces, bearing clear marks of the era. Since the print run was 6 million of each stamp and the face value was low with heavy consumption, both individual mint copies and complete mint sets are hard to obtain today, making this an important physical record for studying the design style and issuing environment of the final phase of the old C- and S-series stamps.