Scott No: 2916-19
Serial number: 1998-25
Values in set: 4
Date of issue: November 24, 1998
Designers: Jiang Weijie; Li Qingfa
Size:
30*40mm for Value 1, 2
40*30mm for Value 3, 4
Perforation: 11.5
Sheet composition: 40
Printing process: gravure

Issued on November 24, 1998, this commemorative stamp set contains four stamps printed in photogravure. Each stamp measures 30×40 mm with a perforation degree of 11.5. There are 40 stamps per full sheet. Designed by Jiang Weijie and Li Qingfa, and printed by Beijing Stamp Factory.

This stamp set was issued to mark the centenary of Comrade Liu Shaoqi’s birth. Liu Shaoqi was a great Marxist, a great proletarian revolutionary, statesman and theorist, and one of the principal leaders of the Party and the country. The stamps select images from four key stages of his revolutionary career, covering the labour movement, the Yan’an period, state governance after the founding of New China and grassroots contact with the masses. They review his immortal feats for China’s revolution and socialist construction, embodying the profound remembrance and respect of people nationwide.

Stamp Patterns and Historical Background

At Anyuan

The portrait depicts Liu Shaoqi in his youth. Dispatched by the Party organization, he led the Anyuan Miners and Railway Workers’ Great Strike. The strike was an important victorious labour movement led by the Party in its early years. Liu Shaoqi demonstrated outstanding organizational capability in the struggle and wrote an important chapter for the development of China’s labour movement.

At the 7th National Congress of the Communist Party of China

The pattern shows Liu Shaoqi delivering a report at the 7th CPC National Congress in Yan’an. At this congress, he systematically elaborated on Mao Zedong Thought and established its guiding position within the Party, marking a major milestone in his revolutionary theoretical career.

In Zhongnanhai

The painting portrays Liu Shaoqi as an important leader of the Party and the country after the founding of New China. After the founding of the People’s Republic, he actively explored a path of socialist construction suited to China’s national conditions, presided over national economic development, and dedicated himself wholeheartedly to the recovery and growth of the national economy.

Among the People

The pattern captures Liu Shaoqi conducting grassroots surveys and chatting cordially with ordinary people. He always cared deeply about the people, attached great importance to investigation and research, upheld seeking truth from facts, and retained the true nature of a public servant all his life.

Artistic Design Features

The stamps are artistically recreated based on historical photographs, with calm and vivid depictions of portraits. Each stamp is decorated with bamboo patterns in the background. Bamboo symbolizes integrity and constancy, echoing Liu Shaoqi’s noble moral character. Arranged in chronological order, the four stamps fully show his life journey from devoting himself to revolution in youth to governing the country after the founding of New China. With solemn and elegant tones, the stamps reproduce the spiritual demeanour of the great man through realistic and dignified artistic expression.