Scott No: -
Serial number: 2023-20
Values in set: 6
Date of issue: October 11, 2023
Denomination: 640 fen
Designer: Yu Tianyi
Size of stamps: 30 * 40 mm
Perforation: 13.5
Sheet composition: 12
(Value 1, 2, 3 in Sheet I;
Value 4, 5, 6 in Sheet II;)
Size of sheet: 150 * 160 mm
Printing process: Photogravure
Printing House: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing Works

China Post is scheduled to issue a set of 6 special stamps themed "Medicinal Plants (III)" on October 11, 2023. The stamps bear the design titles respectively: Artemisia annua (Sweet Wormwood), Lonicera japonica (Japanese Honeysuckle), Panax notoginseng (Sanqi Ginseng), Atractylodes macrocephala (Largehead Atractylodes Rhizome), Forsythia suspensa (Weeping Forsythia), and Carthamus tinctorius (Safflower). The total face value of the entire stamp set is 6.40 yuan, with a planned circulation of 6,082,000 sets.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) embodies the Chinese nation’s millennia-old concepts and practical experiences in health preservation and wellness. As a treasure of Chinese civilization, it embodies the profound wisdom of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation. Medicinal plants refer to plants used in medicine for preventing and treating diseases. All or part of their plants are used for medicinal purposes or as raw materials in the pharmaceutical industry. There are numerous types of medicinal plants, and their medicinal parts vary.

Artemisia annua (Sweet Wormwood): An annual herb of the genus Artemisia in the Asteraceae family. It is characterized by a bitter and pungent taste and a cold nature, and functions to clear heat, treat malaria, relieve summer heat, cool blood, and reduce deficiency heat. Chinese pharmacologist Tu Youyou and her team successfully extracted "artemisinin" from it, winning the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Lonicera japonica (Japanese Honeysuckle): A perennial semi-evergreen twining woody vine of the Caprifoliaceae family. It has a sweet taste and a cold nature. Its dried flower buds or newly opened flowers are used as medicine under the name "Jinyinhua" (Honeysuckle Flower), which can clear heat, detoxify, and dispel wind-heat. It played an important role in the fight against the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Panax notoginseng (Sanqi Ginseng): A perennial herb of the Araliaceae family. It has a warm nature and a sweet and bitter taste. Its roots are an excellent hemostatic medicine, capable of dissipating blood stasis, stopping bleeding, reducing swelling, and relieving pain. Its flowers can clear heat, calm the liver, and lower blood pressure.

Atractylodes macrocephala (Largehead Atractylodes Rhizome): A perennial herb of the genus Atractylodes in the Asteraceae family. It has a warm nature and a bitter yet slightly sweet taste. Its rhizomes are used as a qi-invigorating medicine, which can invigorate the spleen, benefit the stomach, dry dampness, resolve phlegm, promote diuresis, stop sweating, and prevent miscarriage.

Forsythia suspensa (Weeping Forsythia): A deciduous shrub of the genus Forsythia in the Oleaceae family. It has a bitter taste and a slightly cold nature. Its fruits are used as medicine under the name "Lianqiao" (Forsythia Fruit), which can clear heat, detoxify, reduce abscesses, and dissipate stagnation. Its seeds are used as medicine under the name "Lianqiaoxin" (Forsythia Seed), which can clear heart fire.

Carthamus tinctorius (Safflower): An annual herb of the Asteraceae family. It has a pungent taste and a warm nature. Its flowers are used as medicine to activate blood circulation, unblock meridians, dispel blood stasis, and relieve pain. Its fruits are used in TCM under the name "Baipingzi" (Safflower Fruit), which can activate blood circulation and detoxify.

The stamp designs are presented in the form of popular science illustrations, featuring bright and moist colors, a well-balanced composition with appropriate density, and plump, vibrant plant forms. They scientifically and completely showcase the growth status and botanical characteristics of the medicinal plants. Designed by Yu Tianyi, the stamps were printed by Beijing Stamp Factory Co., Ltd. using the photogravure process. Scented ink is used in the printing, emitting a faint medicinal fragrance.