On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Youth League of China, China Post is scheduled to issue a set of 2 commemorative stamps entitled "The 100th Anniversary of the Founding of the Communist Youth League of China" on May 5, 2022. The names of the stamp designs are: always follow the party, please rest assured of the party, and the country has me. The two stamps are denominated at 80 cents and 1.20 yuan respectively, and the planned number of stamps is 7.3 million sets. The reporter specially interviewed Chang Shana and Zhang Lei, who participated in the design of this set of stamps, and listened to them share the beginning and end of the design of these two stamps.
▲ Chang Shana (left) and Zhang Lei (right) at the scene of the interview. Photojournalist Wu Longzhen
Born in 1931, Chang Shana is 91 years old this year, as a well-known Dunhuang art and arts and crafts design expert at home and abroad, Chang Shana has participated in the design of the emblem of the Chinese Communist Youth League, the architectural decoration of the façade of the Great Hall of the People and the architectural decoration design of the banquet hall, as well as the architectural decoration design of national key architectural projects such as the National Cultural Palace and the Capital Theater, and this is her first time in the field of stamp design. Born in 1963, Zhang Lei is a student of Chang Shana, and is now an associate professor at the Center for Art and Scientific Research of Tsinghua University, where he has designed many sets of documentary and special stamps such as "The Beginning of the Century - Entering the 21st Century" and "Teachers' Day", and has also participated in the design of the emblem and flag of the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China and the licensed goods of the Beijing Olympic Games.
In the interview, Chang Shana shared her experience of participating in the design of the emblem of the Chinese Communist Youth League, when she was only 28 years old. She formed the initial plan after referring to the Soviet regimental emblem and receiving guidance from the regimental central committee and relevant leaders. After being compared with other schemes, after many rounds of revision, the final version was formed - gears, ears of wheat, the rising sun and its rays, with the ribbon of the five words "Chinese Communist Youth League" written on it, which symbolizes that the Communist Youth League, under the brilliant illumination of Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought, unites the youth of all nationalities and marches courageously in the direction guided by the Party. Chang Shana said, "This thing (the emblem of the Chinese Communist Youth League) was done by combining the things reflected in society at that time, and there was my creativity in it, but it was completed by everyone." "In order to commemorate the centenary of the founding of the regiment, the emblem of the regiment will appear in the stamps issued this time.
Zhang Lei introduced the design concept of the stamp in the interview, "When I received this commission, it was a theme - 'the centenary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Youth League', this concept is more abstract, for me, there is a very specific scene, that is, in tiananmen Square, the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China, when the young people shouted out the eight words 'please rest assured that the party, the strong country has me', I seem to be moved somewhere in my heart." So, he and the team started from these eight words to design, "a hundred years, let me remember not to forget the original heart." The concept of the original heart will have an image association - the party emblem, we must always follow the party, so that the theme of the first piece will come out. Zhang Lei said that the visual language of this stamp is not how fresh it is, but whether the expression is accurate. It is not very self-expression, but to understand the public, to present the public's artistic language, visual language.
Zhang Lei showed reporters the original draft of this piece, which had two young people taking an oath under the party flag, and he and the team believed that the concept of this picture was correct, but the sense of the times of the character image was not strong enough. So, under the same concept, they carried out formal innovation. On the advice of other experts, there are youth group portraits in the final plan. This group of young people is positive and uplifting, showing their youthful style. "For example, there are 'big whites' fighting the epidemic, courier brothers, workers, farmers, scientific researchers... These group portraits are more specific than the images of two people swearing an oath, and they are more in-depth into the details. "Although it can't be all-encompassing, it can clearly let young people in different industries see themselves in it." Finding himself on this group portrait, he has an intrinsic relationship with the stamp. There is also a young man who has taken an oath under the party flag, and Zhang Lei believes that he represents faith and will always follow the party.
It is worth mentioning that the two stamps issued this time are two consecutive printings, and both stamps have 100 years written in them, Zhang Lei explained the epochality of them, "Because the time of our design from conception to release is exactly the historical intersection period of our two centenary goals." In the past hundred years, we have achieved moderate prosperity; the next step is to start a new journey of comprehensively building a modern socialist country, which also coincides with the big concept of 'a strong country has me'. Therefore, two hundred years appear on the stamp, and these two are in the same vein and inherit the past. ”
In the second stamp "The Country Has Me", you can see high-rise buildings, high-speed rail rockets, and many pictures of pastoral and rural buildings in the background. Zhang Lei explained, "A modern country is inseparable from scientific and technological innovation and ecological construction, and at the same time, it must also have the integration of urban and rural development. This village is also different from the previous countryside, when we first drafted the countryside were bungalows, and later when we really went to the new socialist countryside, we found that most of them were small Western-style buildings with more than two floors, or even three or four floors. Today's rural areas, like the cities, also have their own unique beauty, so the design has been changed to small buildings. The emblem of the regiment, designed by Chang Shana, hangs above "Beautiful China", representing the struggle of countless Members of the Communist Youth League and young people in the process of building a beautiful China. In addition to urban development and the integration of science and technology, Zhang Lei's team embellished "Beautiful China" with peonies representing China, and there are turquoise color patterns similar to those in the dance "Only This Green" at the bottom of the picture, representing a cultural heritage and the "context" that Chang Shana has always mentioned in the interview.
In addition to the picture, color is also the highlight of the stamp design. Zhang Lei introduced, "Usually this design uses more red, this time we (the background) deliberately did not use red but used orange red, I was thinking about what the color of the sun at eight or nine o'clock is, maybe it is orange, it represents youth, youth and vigor." ”
It is reported that the set of stamps is sold at designated postal outlets, philatelic network halls, China Post mobile phone clients, China Post WeChat Philatelic WeChat Mall and China Post Mall WeChat Mini Programs for sale for a period of 6 months. In order to display the stamp content more abundantly, China Post will release digital content through the "China Philatelic Stamp Encyclopedia" WeChat Mini Program, and stamp collectors can use the AR function to watch. China Philatelic Co., Ltd. will issue the first day cover and edition of the "Centenary of the Founding of the Communist Youth League of China" at the same time.
Text/Wu Longzhen
Duty Editor Lee plus minus