Scott No: 3237-38
Serial number: 2002-24
Values in set: 2
Denomination: 1.60 yuan
Date of issue: 12th Oct. 2002
Designer: Qian Zhongping and Zhu Zhengeng
Size of stamps: 30*40 mm
Perforation: 11.5
Sheet composition: 20
Printing process: gravure
Printer: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing House

The stamp set is cataloged as 2002-24, titled 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Comrade Peng Zhen. It was issued on October 12, 2002. The set consists of two stamps in a photogravure edition printed by Beijing Stamp Printing Works. The designer is Cheng Guorong. The total face value is 1.6 yuan. Each stamp measures 30×40 mm, with a perforation gauge of 12 degrees. Each sheet contains 20 stamps.

Peng Zhen (1902–1997), a native of Quwo, Shanxi, originally named Fu Maogong, was a great proletarian revolutionary and statesman, an outstanding state activist, a steadfast Marxist, the main founder of China's socialist legal system, and an outstanding leader of the Party and the state. This stamp set features images of Comrade Peng Zhen from two important historical periods, commemorating his enduring contributions to national independence, people's liberation, and the construction of national democracy and the rule of law.

Stamp Designs and Historical Background

Comrade Peng Zhen During the War of Resistance Against Japan

The stamp features a portrait of Comrade Peng Zhen during the War of Resistance. Peng Zhen joined the Communist Party of China in his early years and was one of the founders of the Shanxi Party organization. During the War of Resistance, he served as Secretary of the Northern Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. Together with Nie Rongzhen and others, he consolidated and built the Jin-Cha-Ji Anti-Japanese Base Area, turning it into a model anti-Japanese base behind enemy lines. He led guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines, united front work, and base area political power construction, laying a solid foundation for the anti-Japanese struggle behind enemy lines in North China. The stamp depicts his steady and resolute revolutionary image from his youth to middle age, recreating the demeanor of a leader of a base area behind enemy lines.

Comrade Peng Zhen During the Reform and Opening-Up Period

The stamp presents a portrait of Comrade Peng Zhen in his later years. After the founding of New China, Peng Zhen participated in the drafting and formulation of New China's first Constitution. After the reform and opening-up, he served as Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Sixth National People's Congress. He presided over the legislative work of the National People's Congress, promoting the enactment of a large number of basic laws, improving the people's congress system, and laying the foundation for China's socialist legal system. The stamp presents his dignified and composed image, paying tribute to this pioneer of China's democracy and rule of law.

Artistic and Design Features

The stamps use the photogravure process, with delicate and soft portrait layers and natural transitions between light and shadow. The stamps use a vertical portrait format, with a simple and elegant background and no elaborate decorative elements, focusing visual attention on the figures' expressions. The two portraits correspond to different historical periods. The style is dignified and realistic, with steady and substantial colors. Through the artistic form of documentary portraiture, the stamp set presents Comrade Peng Zhen's life spanning the years of revolution, construction, and reform, expressing deep remembrance of this veteran proletarian revolutionary.