Scott No: 2478-80
Serial number: 1993-17
Values in set: 2
Souvenir Sheet 1
Date of issue:
November 16, 1993 for Souvenir Sheet
December 26 , 1993 for Stamps
Designers: Wei Chuyu; Peng Bin
Size: 30*40mm
Size of S/S: 82*137mm
Size of S/S stamp: 52*62mm
Perforation: 11.5
Sheet composition: 40
Printing process: gravure

Issued on 26 December 1993, this commemorative stamp set consists of 2 stamps plus 1 souvenir sheet, printed by offset lithography. Each stamp measures 30×40 mm with a perforation gauge of 12 degrees, 40 stamps per sheet. The souvenir sheet has an outer size of 92×70 mm and a stamp image size of 52×40 mm. Designed by Wei Chuyu, the set was printed by Beijing Stamp Factory.

Theme Overview

This stamp set marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Comrade Mao Zedong. Mao Zedong was a great Marxist, a great proletarian revolutionary, strategist and theorist, and one of the principal founders and leaders of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army and the People’s Republic of China. The two stamps feature representative images of him from the revolutionary war years and the peaceful construction period respectively, while the souvenir sheet presents his bearing in the early days of New China. The set honours his immortal feats for China’s revolution and construction, and commemorates his lifelong struggle for national independence, people’s liberation and national prosperity. It was selected as the National Best Stamp of that year.

Stamp Designs and Historical Background

Mao Zedong in Northern Shaanxi

The painting portrays Mao Zedong wearing a cotton-padded jacket, marching along the loess plateau of northern Shaanxi after the Long March, with rolling loess mountains stretching behind him. Northern Shaanxi served as the base of the Chinese revolution. Here he devised brilliant strategies to steer the Chinese revolution toward new victories, encapsulating the arduous revolutionary years.

Mao Zedong in Zhongnanhai

This design depicts Mao Zedong poring over documents at his desk in his study in Zhongnanhai, surrounded by bookshelves under quiet lamplight. After the founding of New China, it was here that he pondered state-building strategies and mapped out the path for socialist construction, embodying his governance responsibilities in peacetime.

Souvenir Sheet: Mao Zedong in the Early Years of New China

On the souvenir sheet, Mao Zedong stands upon the Great Wall, gazing far across the rivers and mountains with high spirits. As a symbol of the Chinese nation, the Great Wall in this scene signifies the rebirth of New China after hardship and the return of the vast land to the people, embodying the grand vision of enduring rivers and mountains and national rejuvenation.

Artistic Features

The whole set adopts a realistic oil-painting style, with vivid and weighty portraits and rich light-and-shadow layers. The two stamps form a temporal contrast: one evokes the war-torn revolutionary era and the other the construction period. The souvenir sheet elevates the theme through the imagery of the Great Wall. With its sedate, solemn tones and strong atmosphere, the set carries striking artistic appeal and ranks among the most celebrated classic works on great figures in Chinese stamp art.