Scott No: 1199-1203
Serial number: T5
Values in set: 5
Date of issue: September 30, 1974
Denomination: 40 fen
Designer: Li Yinqing
Size of stamps: 60*27mm
Perforation: 11
Sheet composition: 35(5*7)
Printing process: Photogravure
Printing House: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing Works

T5 "The Red Flag of Dazhai" special stamps were issued on September 30, 1974. The set consists of 5 stamps, printed by photogravure, designed by Li Yinqing, and printed by the Beijing Stamp Factory. Stamp size 60 mm × 27 mm, perforation gauge 11, 35 stamps per sheet.

Theme of the Set

This set was issued to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the call "Learn from Dazhai in Agriculture." Dazhai is located in Xiyang, Shanxi, with harsh natural conditions. The people of Dazhai relied on self-reliance and arduous struggle, splitting mountains and building fields and constructing water conservancy, transforming barren slopes into tiered terraced fields. Following the thread of ideological mobilization, opening mountains and building land, scientific farming, grain harvest, and spiritual transmission, the stamps present Dazhai's construction course of transforming mountains and rivers and developing agriculture, and record the era's appearance of rural farmland construction and grain production development during this period.

Stamp Designs and Historical Background

Revolutionary Fervor

With Tiger Head Mountain as the background, Dazhai cadres and commune members stand side by side, holding study reading materials and carrying farm tools on their shoulders, with a red flag fluttering nearby, displaying the spiritual outlook of the people of Dazhai, full of fighting spirit and battling heaven and earth.

Arduous Struggle

In the depths of winter, commune members, fearing no severe cold, open mountains, move stones, and build terraced fields, transforming gullies and barren slopes and building Dazhai fields with human power, embodying the hard-working scene of splitting mountains and building land and transforming heaven and earth.

Scientific Farming

In the field experiment scene, commune members use soil testing tools, test tubes, and other instruments to carry out soil testing and field experiments and record data, reflecting that beyond hard work they actively explore agricultural technology and rely on science to raise grain yields.

Great Harvest

Golden grain fills the threshing yard, trucks loaded with grain stand ready to depart, and vehicles transport the harvested grain, presenting the delightful scene of hard work bringing a bountiful grain harvest and outward delivery for sale.

The Dazhai Red Flag Flies for Ten Thousand Generations

Young commune members of Dazhai hold high the red flag, drive tractors, and carry farm tools as they bravely advance, implying that the Dazhai spirit is passed down from generation to generation and inspiring the broad rural masses to continue devoting themselves to agricultural construction.

Artistic Design Features

The set uses a horizontal long strip stamp format, with an intense, weighty poster style, saturated and bright colors, and prominent red elements. The five stamps progress in sequence from ideological fighting spirit, transforming the land, scientific experiments, and harvest results to spiritual transmission, with a coherent and complete narrative and plain, powerful figures. It is a representative work among special stamps on the agricultural theme of the 1970s.