Scott No: 3253-54
Serial number: 2003-1
Values in set: 2
Denomination: 2.80 yuan
Date of issue: 5th Jan. 2003
Designer: Wang Huming
Size of stamps: 26*31 mm
Perforation: 11.5
Sheet composition: 32
Printing process: Photogravure-engraving
Printer: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing House

This is a set of two special stamps titled Guimao Year, issued on January 5, 2003.

The Guimao year corresponds to the Year of the Sheep in the lunar calendar. This set is the concluding issue of China Post's second cycle of zodiac stamps. The second cycle began in 1992 with the Renshen Year of the Monkey and spanned twelve years. With the issuance of the Guimao Year of the Sheep stamps, the complete second zodiac cycle came to a close. In traditional Chinese culture, the character for sheep (Yang) is homophonous with the character for auspiciousness (Xiang), making the sheep a symbol of good fortune and harmony. The ancients often associated the sheep with beauty and well-being. In folk customs, the sheep also symbolizes a bountiful harvest and family harmony. Drawing on this cultural foundation, the stamps use traditional folk art language to express the auspicious and celebratory significance of the zodiac sheep.

The first stamp features a paper-cut style sheep. Its form is round and full, decorated with scrolling vine patterns. The colors are soft and warm, highlighting the sheep's gentle and peaceful character. The second stamp features the Chinese character for sheep (Yang) in calligraphy, accompanied by auspicious decorative patterns. The calligraphy is simple, grand, and archaic, integrating Chinese character culture with the zodiac theme. The design draws on the stylistic features of northern Chinese folk paper-cutting, with concise and simplified lines that omit intricate details to focus on the sheep's docile and gentle demeanor. The calligraphy uses an archaic clerical script style, surrounded by auspicious cloud-like decorative patterns, creating a harmonious interplay between the image and the text and combining zodiac imagery with Chinese character culture.

Artistic and design features: The set was designed by Wang Huming, using a combination of folk paper-cutting art and calligraphy. The compositions are concise, and the colors are steady and elegant, balancing traditional folk aesthetics with the expressive potential of the stamp format. As the final set of the second zodiac cycle, it echoes the artistic language of the other zodiac stamps in the same series, presenting a complete twelve-year narrative of zodiac culture. The printing is delicate, with soft color transitions that effectively reproduce the rustic, substantial quality of paper-cut art. It continues the classic format of the second zodiac cycle, featuring one image and one character per stamp, making it a highly representative issue within the second zodiac series.