Scott No: -
Serial number: 2024-8
Values in set: 3
Date of issue: May 20th, 2024
Denomination: 360 fen
Designer: Lu Jienan, Guo Xianlu
Size of stamps: 30 * 40 mm
Perforation: 13.5
Sheet composition: 12
Size of sheet: 150 * 190 mm
Printing process: Offset
Printing House: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing Works

China Post is scheduled to issue a set of 3 special stamps themed Yue Opera on May 20, 2024. The stamps depict three iconic plays: Butterfly Lovers (Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai), Girl Jiujin, and Lu You and Tang Wan, with a total face value of 3.60 yuan. The planned circulation of the stamp set is 6.7 million.

Renowned for its melodious singing and elegant stage aesthetics, Yue Opera is one of the most important representatives of traditional Chinese operas and has been included in China’s first batch of national intangible cultural heritage. Originating in Shengzhou, Zhejiang Province, it flourished in Shanghai. With its unique charm, Yue Opera has become a brilliant highlight in the landscape of Chinese traditional operas. Generations of Yue Opera artists have made unremitting efforts to promote the prosperity of this art form, which has embraced a new vitality in the new era.

The stamps are created using traditional Chinese meticulous painting techniques with refined coloring. The delicate and graceful compositions echo the soft, elegant artistic style of Yue Opera, highlighting the inherent grace of the Jiangnan region. Combined with the subtle background hues, they fully embody the unique charm of Yue Opera. The three stamps feature representative plays of the genre, while the borders of the full-sheet stamps are adorned with motifs of the Shanxi River and the ancient stage of Shengzhou City God Temple. The Shanxi River symbolizes the origin of Yue Opera’s vocal music—rooted in the folk ballads and field songs along its banks, where the clear waters and green mountains of Yue land nurtured the tender and soul-stirring melodies of Shengzhou. The ancient stage of Shengzhou City God Temple, meanwhile, served as a crucial venue for renowned Yue Opera performers to showcase their skills to fellow townsfolk and a testbed for their artistic craftsmanship.

Printed using offset lithography, the stamps vividly reproduce the exquisite details of traditional meticulous painting through their delicate character portrayals and subtle backgrounds. To enrich the content, each stamp incorporates colorless fluorescent technology tailored to its storyline:

Under ultraviolet light, the first stamp (Butterfly Lovers) reveals fluttering butterflies, bringing the classic scene of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai transforming into butterflies to life;

The second stamp (Girl Jiujin) displays an image of a wooden barrel under UV light, expanding the cultural context of the story;

The third stamp (Lu You and Tang Wan) presents two lines of poetry that overlap scenes from different times in the same space, evoking an indescribable sense of emotion. Additional printing details such as microtext are also integrated into the stamps.

This stamp set is designed by Ding Xiaofang and Ding Yang, edited by Wen Wenya, and printed by Beijing Stamp Printing Co., Ltd. using offset printing technology.