By Sun Ruifa

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Monkey Stamps in 2016

By Sun Ruifa

On January 5， 2016， China Post issued two Monkey stamps of the lunar Bingshen Year （of the Monkey）， themed “the nimble monkey brings forth good omen” and ”both felicity and longevity come”， with a face value of 2.4 yuan （US$0.37）， the frst of the fourth cycle of PRC's zodiac， designed by Huang Yongyu， who designed the Monkey stamp of the frst cycle 36 years ago.

According to the Chinese zodiac， 2016 is the Year of the Monkey. As usual， China Post has issued special commemorative stamps. Before the Chinese Spring Festival which falls on February 8， 2016， the China Post issued a set of two Monkey stamps of the lunar Bingshen Year， attracting philatelists to queue up to buy them.

Design of Monkey Stamps

The two Monkey stamps in the set have a combined face value of 2.40 Yuan（US$0.37）， and feature the themes that “the nimble monkey brings forth good omen”and “both felicity and longevity come”. They are designed by Huang Yongyu， 92，a leading authority in the Chinese art circle. He was also the designer of the first Monkey stamp issued by the China Post in 1980.

One of the two new Monkey stamps adopts golden， black and red colors to depict a vivid smiling monkey holding a peach， a symbol of longevity； and the other displays a golden monkey embracing two orange little monkeys who are kissing their mother. Te whole set expresses a wish for harmonious and happy family life in the Year of Monkey.

Interestingly， the original pattern had the golden monkey holding one child. However， from January 2016， to promote balanced population development， China implements a new policy to allow one couple to have two children. Mr. Huang Yongyu sighed with emotion： “Since China has begun to implement the two-child policy， I will draw a big monkey embracing two little monkeys in the design.”

Thus， this stamp shows not only a happy monkey family but also reflects social change. Moreover， this set of Monkey stamps， the fourth round issued， also adopts the leading carving craft in China. Zhao Chuan and Ma Rong personally carved the designs of the two stamps. Ma Rong is also the carver for RMB bank notes.

In Beijing， Shanghai， Nanjing and other cities， in order to buy the new “Monkey stamps” as early as possible， philatelists stayed up all night to queue in a cold wind，and some even went to occupy a position at the entrance of the business hall a few days in advance.

“I have loved collecting stamps since childhood. I began to buy zodiac stamps from 1980 and queued up to buy them every year. I have collected three complete rounds of zodiac stamps. This time， I am also determined to get it，” said Mr. Shang， a 84-year-old citizen of Nanjing.

A letter attached with a zodiac stamp sent to express lunar New Year wishes must amaze and delight the addressee. Today， zodiac stamps increasingly become favorite traditional souvenirs.

Inside Stories

Stamps are known as “a name card of a country” and “never-closing museum”. The rat actually ranks first among the 12 Chinese zodiac animals， others including ox， tiger， rabbit， dragon， snake， horse，sheep， monkey， rooster， dog and pig. However， China began to issue the the special stamps from February 15， 1980 or the Gengshen Year of the Monkey. Since then，three rounds of zodiac stamps have been issued. Te year 2016 is the beginning of the fourth zodiac cycle.

Since Mr. Huang Yongyu designed the first zodiac stamp， he was also invited to design the Monkey stamps of 2016. The two sets of stamps separated by 36 years echo each other well.

It happened that on the same day of the issuance of Chinese Monkey stamps， the Tailand Post also issued a Monkey stamp designed by Thai Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. After Japan issued the first zodiac stamp in the world in 1950， South Korea， Vietnam， Mongolia， Laos and other countries followed suit. China began this work from 1980.

By 1997， 56 countries and regions had issued zodiac stamps， which add festive color to the folk custom of celebrating the lunar New Year. A letter attached with a zodiac stamp sent to express lunar New Year wishes must amaze and delight the addressee. Today， zodiac stamps increasingly become favorite traditional souvenirs.

Hot Collection

In philatelic circles， the great appreciation of the frst Monkey stamp has become a topic enthusiasts never tire of talking about. “Te 1980 version of Monkey stamp cost only 0.08 Yuan （US$0.01） when issued，but its price has rocketed now，” said Yang Xiaomin， General Manager of the Anhui Provincial Philatelic Co. “At present， a single Monkey stamp has been priced at over 10，000 Yuan （US$1，526.3）. It is just the 1980 version of Monkey stamp that created the ‘stamp miracle' - one set of Monkey stamps could be exchanged for one car.”

On the stamp collection market， zodiac stamps are well-deserved stars. Repeated reductions of interest by the Central Bank has driven some capital to fow into the collection market in recent years， which has to some extent stimulated the stamp market and made zodiac stamps hot items.

According to Wang Lijun， Director of the New Stamp Committee of the Guangdong Collection Investment Association， it is generally recognized that zodiac stamps have relatively high value for collection and investment， and the Chinese people， holding zodiac animals as their respective patron saint， would buy the zodiac stamps even if they are not philatelists，laying a broad mass foundation for zodiac stamps. Tis is also the main reason for the popularity of zodiac stamps in recent years.

Generally speaking， the first round of zodiac stamps undoubtedly is most valuable for collection and investment right now. However， Wang Lijun thinks the third round has great potential to appreciate in value and will continue to rise， thus worthy of being followed by collectors and investors.

1980 was the Chinese lunar Gengshen Year of the Monkey， when China began to issue zodiac commemorative stamps.

Commemorative stamps of the Year of the Monkey， designed by Chinese artist Huang Yongyu，themed “the nimble monkey brings forth good omen”（left） and ”both felicity and longevity come”（right）， the frst of the fourth cycle of PRC's zodiac stamps.