Scott No: 1484-86
Serial number: T40
Values in set: 3
Date of issue: July 20, 1979
Denomination: 72 fen
Designer: Liu Shuoren
Size of stamps: 30*40mm
Perforation: 11.5*11
Sheet composition: 50(10*5)
Printing process: Photogravure
Printing House: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing Works

T40 "Northeast Tiger" special stamps were issued on July 20, 1979. The set consists of 3 stamps, printed by photogravure, designed by Liu Shuoren, with original paintings by Liu Jiyou, and printed by the Beijing Stamp Factory. Stamp size 30 mm × 40 mm, perforation gauge 11.5 × 11, 50 stamps per sheet.

Theme of the Set

The Northeast tiger, also called the Siberian tiger, inhabits the forest regions of the Changbai Mountains and the Lesser Khingan Mountains in China and is a national first-class protected animal. At the time, due to indiscriminate hunting and the shrinking of its habitat, its population had sharply declined. This set was issued to popularize knowledge of rare wild animals among the public and to call for the protection of the Northeast tiger and its living environment. It is a highly representative stamp set on the theme of wildlife protection in the early JT period.

Stamp Designs and Historical Background

Echoes in the Rocky Valley

The design paints a Northeast tiger lying alone on a mountain rock, raising its head and roaring, with the roar echoing through the valley. It displays the majestic and vigorous wildness of the fierce tiger, depicting the Northeast tiger's posture of asserting its territory in the mountain forest.

Echoing Across the Wilderness

The design shows a male and a female tiger leaning close to each other, with gentle expressions. Changing the impression of the fierce tiger's ferocity, it presents the tender side of the Northeast tiger leaning on each other, displaying the natural state of the species' reproduction and population survival.

Tumult in the Wild Grass

The design captures the moment a fierce tiger pounces forward, with a vigorous and powerful posture, clear stripes, and full dynamism, restoring the swift and formidable native wildness of the Northeast tiger when hunting.

Artistic Design Features

The set adopts a vertical composition and Liu Jiyou's freehand Chinese painting style, with concise and expressive brushwork and vivid depiction of the tiger's fur, stripes, expression, and spirit. The background is simple with blank space, highlighting the tiger as the main subject, and a blue-gray border sets off the ink-wash picture, antique and elegant. The three designs correspond respectively to roaring, accompanying each other, and pouncing—motion and stillness combined, with rich layers. The photogravure printing well restores the charm of Chinese painting brush-and-ink, with both form and spirit. It is a classic work among animal-themed stamps.