Scott No: -
Serial number: 2018-13
Values in set: 4
Date of issue: May 26, 2018
Denomination: 480 fen
Designer: Li Chen
Size of stamps: 33 * 44 mm
Perforation: 13.5
Sheet composition: 12
Sheet Size: 162 * 172 mm
Printing process: Offset
Printing House: Liaoning Provincal Postage Stamp Printing Works

The commemorative stamps of "Ancient Chinese Scientists and Their Works (I)" were issued by China Post on May 26, 2018. The full set consists of 4 stamps, which use sketching techniques to present four themes: Li Shizhen, Compendium of Materia Medica, Song Yingxing, and The Exploitation of the Works of Nature. Designed by Li Chen, a professor from Luxun Academy of Fine Arts, the set highlights the historical value of the scientists' research achievements by combining the practical scenes of the figures with the details of the classics. It is the first series of stamps that systematically presents the achievements of ancient Chinese science and technology.

The stamps depict two ancient Chinese scientists and two scientific works through sketching techniques.

Theme of Li Shizhen

The first stamp portrays Li Shizhen wearing a bamboo hat and holding a medicinal hoe while observing the pseudo-ginseng herb. Below the figure, his years of birth and death, "1518-1593", are marked. The background features an excerpt from the preface of the Jinling edition of Compendium of Materia Medica, and the bottom right corner of the image shows illustrations of four kinds of medicinal materials, including ardisia crenata and millennium mugwort.

Theme of Compendium of Materia Medica

The second stamp takes the unfolded manuscript as its core element. The left side shows the scene of Li Shizhen writing at his desk, while the right side emphasizes the information of 1,892 kinds of medicinal materials recorded in the classic. The background adopts the pattern from the title page of the first edition of Compendium of Materia Medica, and the desk is furnished with stationery of the Ming Dynasty, such as writing brushes, ink sticks, paper, and inkstones.

Theme of Song Yingxing

The third stamp depicts Song Yingxing in a dynamic posture researching textile technology beside a loom. The background includes the rural scenery of Fengxin County, Jiangxi Province. The bottom right corner of the image shows a double-acting piston bellows, and the left side presents the structural diagram of a water-powered trip hammer, demonstrating the characteristics of handicraft technology in the Ming Dynasty.

Theme of The Exploitation of the Works of Nature

The fourth stamp takes the illustrations from the first engraved edition as its main body, with the background showing production scenes of the Ming Dynasty such as iron smelting and porcelain making. The bottom left corner focuses on the rice cultivation diagram from the chapter "Nai Li" (On Grains), and the top right corner depicts the grain processing equipment from the chapter "Cui Jing" (On Refining Grain).

The stamps measure 33×44 millimeters with a perforation gauge of 13.5 degrees, and each full sheet contains 12 stamps. Four anti-counterfeiting technologies are adopted: anti-counterfeiting paper, special anti-counterfeiting ink, special-shaped perforations, and fluorescent coding, ensuring the collection security of the stamps. Through line drawing and light-dark contrast techniques, the designer accurately depicts the expressions of the figures and the details of the classics within the 33-millimeter width. For Li Shizhen's portrait, the artist uses a combination of solid and void brushstrokes to highlight his facial features, while for the patterns of medicinal materials, 0.1-millimeter-level lines are used to represent the forms of plants.