Scott No: 1376-78
Serial number: J26
Values in set: 3
Date of issue: March 5, 1978
Denomination: 24 fen
Designer: Sun Chuanzhe
Size of stamps: 30*40mm
Perforation: 11.5*11
Sheet composition: 50(10*5)
Printing process: Photogravure
Printing House: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing Works

Issued on 5 March 1978, the set contains three stamps, printed in photogravure, designed by Sun Chuanzhe and produced by Beijing Stamp Factory. Stamp size: 30mm × 40mm; perforation: 11.5 × 11; sheet composition: 50 stamps (10 × 5); total face value: RMB 0.24 yuan; each stamp has a print run of 15 million.

Main Theme of the Set

On 5 March 1963, Comrade Mao Zedong wrote the inscription "Learn from Comrade Lei Feng." This set was issued on the fifteenth anniversary of that inscription. Comprising two inscriptions together with a portrait of Lei Feng, it revisits the spirit of Lei Feng. Lei Feng stood at an ordinary post, ready to help others, willing to give selflessly and dedicated to his work — a model of the socialist era. Led by the inscriptions and paired with Lei Feng's iconic image of study, the stamps call on the whole of society to carry forward the Lei Feng spirit, foster a culture of serving the people in every walk of life, and inspire the broad masses to follow Lei Feng's example in devoting themselves to socialist construction.

Stamp Designs and Historical Context

Chairman Mao's Inscription

The stamp bears Mao Zedong's handwritten inscription "Learn from Comrade Lei Feng" in gold characters on a red ground, framed by a gold border. The calligraphy is vigorous and unrestrained, standing as the iconic call to the nation to learn from Lei Feng.

Chairman Hua Guofeng's Inscription

The stamp reproduces Hua Guofeng's handwritten inscription: "Learn from Comrade Lei Feng, and carry the proletarian revolutionary cause pioneered by Chairman Mao through to the end." It follows the same format of gold characters on a red ground, in a solemn and measured style.

Lei Feng Studying

Taken from a classic historical photograph, this stamp depicts Lei Feng sitting in the cab of a military truck, earnestly reading a volume of *Selected Works of Mao Zedong*. The steering wheel sits beside him, symbolising revolutionary thought as the guiding wheel of life, and conveys how Lei Feng seized every spare moment to keep studying.

Artistic Features of the Design

All three stamps share a uniform vertical format. The first two adopt a consistent layout of gold characters on a red ground, solemn and eye-catching; the third shifts to a coloured portrait of the figure. All three are finished at the bottom with a gold decorative border and the words "Learn from Comrade Lei Feng," so that the formats echo one another. Photogravure printing delivers clean, weighty colour: the two inscription stamps emphasise the force of the calligraphy, while the portrait stamp is rendered in soft, bright light and shade. There is no souvenir sheet for this set. It stands as the representative Lei Feng-theme stamp of the JT period.