(World Post Network: Zhang Jingchao), has been authorized
On November 7, 2019, the author and President Chen Guocheng visited the residence of Huang Huaqiang, the designer of the Pu31 "Chinese Bird" ordinary stamp, to discuss the birth process of this set of classic stamps. In the speech, it is said that the bird general ticket is issued more in the world, everyone is familiar with the bird general ticket in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan at the same time, but the real global impact is that Belgium has issued more than 20 years of bird general tickets, close to a hundred, simple and elegant design, meticulous and exquisite printing, can be called classic, in the global modern general ticket is called second only to the level of the British Maychin general ticket, it seems to be too much, the number of gatherers everywhere is very large. As a result, when I went home to check it, it turned out that it had been issued for 34 years, reaching more than a hundred pieces. At that time, the general ticket for birds in Ireland was also mentioned, and the general ticket for birds in Zambia, which I personally prefer. President Guocheng was also interested and gladly proposed.
Bird stamps are the first family of thematic stamps, Known as the King of Birds in China, Li Boqin collected more than 30,000 bird stamps, accounting for more than 90% of the world, he wrote nearly 1,000 pages of large folio weighing 8 kilograms in 15 years "World Bird Stamp Appreciation Dictionary" published by the People's Post and Telecommunications Publishing House in 2007, including tens of thousands of bird stamps in 263 countries and regions on six continents after World War II, it can be said that it is the most authoritative such work, this guide is convenient for the author to quickly find.
The world's earliest bird stamps were the Swan Stamps of Western Australia in 1854, when the stamps were ordinary stamps, with a single pattern, selecting local characteristics, and the symbolism was greater than the thematic significance. The earliest bird stamp in Asia should be a bird cutter issued by Japan in 1875, three patterns are bean goose, bald eagle, the image is vivid, each has a different image, not like ordinary stamps, like special stamps, but there was no such mention at that time. The earliest bird stamp of the State Post of China is the high-denomination three flying geese in the 1897 lithographic dragon stamp, which is vivid but the designer is a mystery. The earliest bird stamp in New China is actually not a "Chinese bird", but a 5-plus-word-changing stamp stamped with a silver circle base stamp printed in the Republic of China period in 1949, and its 5 corners are not stamped.
This article specifically describes a number of modern and contemporary ordinary stamps issued for different birds, because there are more countries that issue animal series of general stamps, some of which involve birds in the whole set, which is really difficult to record; there are some earlier issues, the full set is only based on one or two bird patterns, which is really symbolic and temporarily omitted; and some former British territories, Latin America, Africa, Oceania countries and regions, often issue large sets of biological thematic general notes, also involving birds, although diverse and exquisite, the ticket width is large, However, its actual postal significance does not seem to be large, so it is not considered to be introduced in this article. The author has a principle that stamps without a large number of credit stamps, especially ordinary stamps, are really difficult to be collected. However, there are still many bird tickets that meet the above conditions, choose their essence, and select the three countries of Belgium, Ireland, and Zambia to briefly introduce the series of general tickets. In addition, Burma (1964), Malaysia (1965), Uganda (1965), Australia (1978), New Zealand (1985), Israel (1992), Moldova (1993), Kenya (1993), Iran (1999), Portugal (2000) and other countries are also very distinctive.
The author ranks the belgian bird ticket first, not only because of the spectacular number, but also because of the exquisite design. Designed by Belgian designer André Bouzin, this set of stamps has been issued since 1985 and has been issued in 44 denominations of Belgian francs before 1999, 13 double-denominations at the turn of the century, 48 euros since 2002 and 13 stamps for stamps with stamps of postage units issued without denomination since 2011. The latest one was released on March 16 this year and looks set to continue to be released in the future. All the stamps are displayed together, which is spectacular, and it is said that no one in the country has yet collected them, which is somewhat incredible. The collection of foreign general tickets is too wide, so generally can not afford new tickets, especially in recent years, the face value is getting higher, unable to do it, always think of the future slowly find letters and sales tickets, counted, and even collected most of them. Look closely with a magnifying glass, although it is not a carved version, but the details are rich, the layers are clear, and the typical hand-drawn color sketching technique is both realistic and not like a photo ticket, and the designer's pattern can be described as a big deal. The typical feature of this group of tickets is that it is completely on a white substrate, showing a clear main picture, a variety of birds in different forms, vivid and lively, seemingly alive, birds singing, and the surrounding scenery, blended in with the surrounding scenery. If the patterns are different, I am afraid that the rest of the world's popular votes are unsurpassed.
Ireland also began to issue bird tickets in 1997, the composition and banner are very similar to the Belgian set, if there is no reference, it seems unlikely, incomplete statistics, but also nearly a hundred. The difference is that some denominations produce the same figure sticker version, which is not available in the Belgian bird ticket. In addition, due to postage adjustments, some patterns use two denominations, which are also not available in Belgian bird tickets. This set of general notes also went through the three periods of Irish pound, double-denomination and euro, and inquired about it, and after 2003, it was not reissued and should have ended. Throughout its design, the bird painting method is equally fine, but the details of the surrounding environment seem to be insufficient, too concise, so that the color richness is one level behind the Belgian bird ticket, and the look and feel will naturally be worse. If there is no comparison of Belgian bird tickets, it can also be regarded as an ordinary stamp that can enter the top of the world ranking, but it is too similar, which makes people have the feeling of being born and born brightly, but it is by no means a tiger that is not an anti-dog, it can be said that it is still very good.
Zambia issued a series of ordinary stamps on birds in 1987 and revamped a few years later, which are also displayed on a large scale. There are many unique animals in African countries, animal stamps are a major feature, bird stamps are not easy to come out, and the dazzling of this set of general stamps lies in the design. Zambia is a former British colony, and this set of stamps can reflect the corresponding characteristics, realistic and not showy, which is the biggest difference from many former French colonies in Africa. Or look at the drawing method of birds, in fact, under a closer look, it is still the same as the Belgian general ticket, and the traditional Western techniques should be a master. It is characterized by the use of background colors and no bezel drag, and all stamps are embedded in the same blank space below with black national inscriptions and denominations, which is well-behaved, typical of the British. Although the Belgian bird ticket is in the same position, the denomination is placed with the pattern or left or right, and is often mixed with the background. The position of the Irish bird ticket national name and denomination is more arbitrary, up and down left and right, or horizontal, or vertical, and the font is thicker, relatively white background is somewhat noisy. This set of Zambian bird tickets is the easiest to collect, and the difficulty of new tickets and credit tickets is not very large.
The main reason for listing these three sets of bird tickets of the same period is that the issuance cycle is long, the number of pieces is large, and the series are formed, and the main reason is the high level of drawing, and the reason for not elaborating on the general votes of the Asian, Australian and Non-african countries listed above is that some of the designs are too flat and simple, and some are too realistic and too realistic. Here's a brief comparison with the familiar "Chinese Bird" general ticket. The biggest regret of "Chinese birds" is that the number of pieces is somewhat small, in fact, this series is not short of selected objects, China's unique bird species are nearly a hundred, and the high value is probably more than half, and it is regrettable that it has not been released. The biggest feature of this set of stamps is Huang Huaqiang's drawing techniques, traditional Chinese painting craftsmanship, the author does not know whether this is considered to be influenced by Lang Shining's brushwork technique, this feature is very different from the Western sketch realistic brushwork, a look is Chinese painting, careful study to know that it is a Chinese bird. The author believes that a work can represent the country at a glance, which is the highest evaluation of it, not from the unique characters (such as the current renminbi) or the unique atmosphere of the times (such as the general number), but from the skills and standards of the designer, the understanding of art design and the transparency of the professional field.
From this topic, let's talk about the position of China's popular votes in the forest of universal votes in the world. At present, China's general votes are recognized as able to have world-class standards or the "Tiananmen" series, the "Motherland Scenery" series, and the "Residential" series. In the author's exchanges in foreign forums, it should be said that other Chinese general votes have not yet been recognized, and one of the major reasons is that the style characteristics are not clear enough, the number of pieces is too small, and the use cycle is not long. The "Great Wall" theme and style are very good, but unfortunately, the pattern limited by the ticket is somewhat embarrassing, which is too regrettable. "Beautiful China" has been a very shocking, gorgeous color scheme, breakthrough composition and landscape selection angle, much more than the previous relatively conservative Chinese scenery stamps. At that time, it was rumored that each provincial municipality and special administrative region would produce more than 30 kinds of pieces, which was really expected, and the result was that it had been nearly 7 years, and only two groups of 10 pieces had been issued. With the postal reform, a large number of color postage machine stamps have emerged, the degree of automation has become a trend, and the replacement cycle is approaching, I am afraid that it will be difficult to do anything in the follow-up.
The replacement of ordinary stamps in five to ten years is a rule in many countries, but some series have the potential to become world-class classics after they are issued for a long time. Looking at the long-lasting large series of general tickets in various countries, it is not the British Machinpu ticket, norway's horn ticket issued since 1888, and there are new versions until 1997; the Danish digital ripple tupu ticket has also continued from 1905 to 2005, and there is still a possibility of issuing a new version in the future. These general tickets use the printing technology of the corresponding era, and the transition of the times is obvious, from the classical to the modern, and non-natives can also recognize it at a glance.
The status of the national post in China in the next twenty years should still be difficult to shake, stamp life space is still there, but with the logistics privatization of the competition trend, letters are no longer the mainstream of these two global difficult to avoid the subject, stamps, especially ordinary stamps should attract more people to use and collect, should be worth thinking about and exploring an important proposition.
Extended Reading:
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