Scott No: 1005-06
Serial number: W16
Values in set: 2
Date of issue: August 1, 1969
Denomination: 16 fen
Designer: Li Dawei
Size of stamps: 40*30mm
Perforation: 11*11.5
Sheet composition: 50(5*10)
Printing process: Photogravure
Printing House: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing Works

W16 "Piano Accompaniment to The Red Lantern" Wen-prefix stamps were issued on August 1, 1969. The set consists of 2 stamps, printed by photogravure, designed by Li Dawei, and printed by the Beijing Stamp Factory. Stamp size 40 mm × 30 mm, perforation gauge 11 × 11.5, 50 stamps per sheet (5 × 10).

Theme of the Set

Piano Accompaniment to The Red Lantern is a revolutionary literary and artistic work jointly created by the Central Philharmonic Orchestra and the China Peking Opera Troupe. It premiered in Beijing in 1968, combining Western piano accompaniment with Peking Opera vocal music, and was a representative revolutionary model work of the time. This set selects stage performance photographs of two core characters in the opera, displaying this revolutionary stage art that fuses Chinese and Western artistic forms and publicizing the achievements of revolutionary literature and art.

Stamp Designs and Historical Background

Li Yuhe

The design is a stage photograph of Li Yuhe, played by Qian Haoliang, singing: Li Yuhe wears blue work clothes, his arms spread out, singing loudly. Beside him a pianist sits upright playing the piano, with a blue curtain as the background, freezing the classic stage moment of the aria "Bold and Mighty in Every Way" and shaping the image of the underground Party member Li Yuhe—brave, fearless, and upright.

Li Tiemei

The design shows Li Tiemei, played by Liu Changyu, wearing a red top, raising her arm and dancing with a high-spirited posture. Beside her is likewise piano accompaniment, corresponding to the aria "Be the Kind of Person They Are," depicting Li Tiemei awakening amid suffering and inheriting the revolutionary will.

Artistic Design Features

The two stamps share a unified composition, both showing the performers together with the piano accompaniment in the same frame, with a simple, clean blue-curtain background highlighting the stage performers. The color contrasts are sharp, and the characters' costumes, one blue and one red, echo each other. This set is also the first among the Wen-prefix stamps whose margin bears the factory inscription "Beijing Stamp Factory" written by Guo Moruo. It is a set of unique style among model-opera-themed stamps.