Scott No: 3199-3203
Serial number:2002-10
Values in set: 5
Denomination: 4.00 yuan
Date of issue: 18th May 2002
Designer: Fan Jingnan
Size of stamp: 30*40 mm
Perforation: 11
Sheet composition: 20
Printing process: gravure-engraving
Printer: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing House

The stamp set is cataloged as 2002-10, titled Historic Lighthouses. It was issued on May 18, 2002. The set consists of five stamps in a combined offset and intaglio printing edition printed by Beijing Stamp Printing Works. The designer is Fan Jingnan, with engraving by Hu Zhenyuan, Yan Bingwu, Jiang Weijie, Li Qingfa, and Hao Ou. The total face value is 4 yuan. Each stamp measures 30×40 mm, with a perforation gauge of 11 degrees. Each sheet contains 20 stamps.

Lighthouses are important navigational aids. This stamp set features five classic historic lighthouses from different eras and styles in China, including ancient pagodas that also served as navigational markers and modern steel sea lighthouses. It showcases China's long maritime culture and the history of navigational aid construction, documenting the development of maritime shipping through the ages.

Stamp Designs and Historical Background

Maota

Maota is located on Sun Island in the Mao River in Qingpu, Shanghai. It was first built during the Qianfu period of the Tang Dynasty and is the oldest surviving ancient pagoda in Shanghai. This five-story square brick pagoda was originally a Buddhist pagoda. In ancient times, the Mao River was vast, and people lit lamps at the top of the pagoda to guide passing boats, making it one of China's earliest inland river navigational towers. The stamp depicts the antique pavilion-style pagoda, with the outline of an ancient map in the background, reflecting the unique historical value of this ancient pagoda that served as both a Buddhist pagoda and a navigational marker.

Twin Pagodas of Jiangxin Island

The twin pagodas stand on Jiangxin Island in the Ou River in Wenzhou, Zhejiang. They are divided into the East Pagoda and the West Pagoda. The East Pagoda was built during the Tang Dynasty, and the West Pagoda was first built during the Northern Song Dynasty. In ancient times, oil lamps were placed at the top of both pagodas to illuminate the Ou River at night, guiding ships entering and leaving Wenzhou Port. They are a model of ancient river and sea navigational aids. The stamp shows the two pagodas facing each other from east and west, one tall and one short, standing on a hill on the river island, with an ancient map of the Ou River in the background, bearing witness to the prosperity of Wenzhou as a port for a thousand years.

Huaniaoshan Lighthouse

Huaniaoshan Lighthouse is located on Huaniao Island in Shengsi, Zhejiang, in the waters outside the mouth of the Yangtze River. It was first built in 1870 and is a well-known large sea lighthouse in the Far East, known as the "First Lighthouse of the Far East." It guards the mouth of the Yangtze River, guiding ocean-going vessels entering and leaving Shanghai Port. The lighthouse is equipped with a large lens lamp assembly with a precise optical structure. The stamp focuses on the lighthouse's lamp room, showing the huge glass lens and presenting the precise industrial structure of a modern navigational aid.

Laotieshan Lighthouse

Laotieshan Lighthouse is located at the Laotieshan Cape in Lüshun, Dalian, Liaoning. It was completed in 1893 and stands at the boundary between the Yellow Sea and the Bohai Sea. It is a key navigational aid in northern waters, designed by the French and built by the British. It has a white cylindrical tower equipped with a large optical lamp and is still in normal operation today. It has been listed by the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities in the World's One Hundred Historic Lighthouses. The stamp shows the lighthouse tower, with the weathered feeling of the cape's sea breeze vividly conveyed, bearing witness to the modern history of northern shipping.

Lingao Lighthouse

Lingao Lighthouse is located at Lingao Cape, Hainan. It was completed in 1894 and is the best-preserved modern lighthouse in Hainan. It is an iron truss structure, entirely black, standing on the shore of the Qiongzhou Strait. It guides ships traveling through the Qiongzhou Strait and the Beibu Gulf and is an important international navigational aid in the South China Sea. The stamp fully presents the open steel frame tower, with a simple and robust form. It represents modern navigational architecture along the coast of southern China and bears witness to the shipping years of the South China Sea section of the Maritime Silk Road.

Artistic and Design Features

The stamps use a combination of offset and intaglio printing. The engraved lines are strong and solid, and the offset colors enhance the environmental atmosphere of different regions, accurately reproducing the textures of brick, stone, steel, and glass. The stamps use a vertical format, with each stamp featuring a light-colored ancient sea map pattern in the background, enhancing the maritime geographic character. Each of the five lighthouses has its own background color, distinguishing the regional characters of the Jiangnan inland river, the East China Sea, the Bohai Sea, and the South China Sea. Each lighthouse has its own scene, balancing ancient and modern. The stamp set brings together ancient architecture and modern industrial lighthouses, using an engraved print style to express the profound historical feel of the lighthouses and showcasing their image as guardians of rivers and seas through the ages.