Talking points, February 18 - March 3, 2015

Talking Points

February 17 - March 3, 2015

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Happy Year of the ?  祝羊年快乐！

Tonight is the eve of the lunar new year. We hope that you and those you care about have a great holiday and that the Year of the 羊 (yang) is a great one for all of us. So is this the year of sheep? The year of the goat? The year of the ram? You'll see all of these animals represented in the lunar new year stamps issued by Asian nations, not to mention those issued elsewhere in the world.

Since we’re the U.S.-China Institute, we ordinarily begin our lunar new year stamp collection with stamps issued by those countries. But this year, pride of place has to go to Japan. As you know, the cycle takes twelve years. In 2003, the Japanese postal authorities issued this printed card, a clever design with a sheep knitting something. This year our sheep is sporting a nice new scarf.

Japan, incidentally, issued the first of its lottery new year's greeting cards in 1949. The People's Republic of China did not begin issuing new year stamps until 1980. This, in fact, was a major undertaking. The Chinese Communist Party officially promoted a break from traditional ways, ending family-centered farming and business. When the Cultural Revolution was launched in 1966, one of the targets for destruction were the "four olds" 四旧: old customs, old culture, old habits, and old ideas. The government canceled the three-day lunar new year holiday in 1967 (a 羊 yang year like this year). People were told to not observe the new year in the usual ways, but to embrace the ideals of the Cultural Revolution. Lavish meals, firecrackers, and so on were out; frugality was in. Instead of hanging traditional couplets at their doors, people were to recite the political slogans of the hour.

It was only after Mao Zedong's death and the consolidation

of power by Deng Xiaoping that this changed. In December 1978, the CCP sanctioned a return to family-based farming through the household responsibility system. The economic reforms were underway. And in 1980, the three-day lunar new year holiday was restored and the People's Republic issued its first lunar new year stamp, a monkey painted by the celebrated artist Huang Yongyu 黄永玉.

The CCP's predecessors the Kuomintang (KMT) or Nationalists had also experimented with a break from the lunar new year tradition. In 1928, it pushed to make January 1 the main occasion for celebrations. Society pushed back and the KMT relented. By 1965, the KMT was running only Taiwan and the postal authorities there issued the first Republic of China lunar new year's stamp. The U.S. began issuing lunar new year stamps in 1992.

This evening, most Chinese television viewers will tune in the Spring Festival Gala on CCTV. Dong Qing 董卿 is returning to host the program after a stint as a visiting scholar here at USC. The party-state agenda remains a part of the celebration. CCTV has said anti-corruption messages will be highlighted during the program.

****

The U.S. rolled out its year of the ram stamps in Chinese communities in several cities last week. In 2003, it issued 70 million ram stamps. To illustrate the decline in the use of stamps for postage, though probably not a decline in interest in the stamps from collectors, this year the U.S. Postal Service printed just 17.6 million year of the ram stamps. Chinese authorities went to Guangzhou, nicknamed "goat city," to launch its stamp.

The designations below (goat, ram, sheep) follow the identification used by the issuing authority.

China, 2003

China, 1991

United States, 2003

Hong Kong (Ram)

Macau (Goat)

Macau, 1991

 
Taiwan (Ram)

Taiwan, 2003
 

Taiwan, 1979

 
******
And now for the rest of the world. Every continent is represented.

Aland (Sheep)

 
Aitautaki, Cook Islands (Sheep)

Australia, Christmas Island (Goat)

Azerbaijan (Goat)

 
Bhutan, 2003 (Sheep)

Canada (Sheep)

Cook Islands (Sheep)

France (Chèvre, most commonly goat)

Ghana (Goat)
Ghana chose to mark the year of the goat with paintings by the great Qi Baishi (1864-1957). This will no doubt make the stamp a favorite among Chinese collectors, but also perhaps among those entrusted with “guiding public opinion.” One of China’s heavily promoted films last year was The Story of Mao Zedong and Qi Baishi (《毛泽东与齐白石》) featuring Tang Guoqiang and Liu Zifeng in the lead roles.The film depicted Mao and the new Communist-led government as being concerned about the well-being of artists and intellectuals. Tang joined us at USC and talked about "being Mao" when the film was screened here last fall.

Gilbrator (Goat)

 

Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique (Ram)

Guernsey (Goat)

 
Indonesia (Ram)

Isle of Man (Sheep)

Japan (Sheep)

Japan, 1979

Japan, 1967

Jersey (Ram)

Korea, North

Korea, North, 1991

Korea, South (Sheep)

Korea, South, 1991

Korea, South, 1979

Korea, South, 1967

Kyrgyzstan (Sheep)

 
Liberia (Ram)

 
Liechtenstein (Goat)

Madagascar (Goat)

Malaysia, 2003 (Southern Serow - a variant of a species also found in China)

Micronesia (Ram) - gold foil

Mongolia (Sheep)

Mongolia, 1972 (Yak? part of a space oriented set)

New Zealand (Sheep)

Niuafo’ou (Sheep)

Philippines (Goat)

Samoa (Sheep)

Sierra Leone (Ram)

Singapore (Goat)

 

Slovenia (Goat)

 
Solomon Islands (Goat)

Thailand (Goat)

 
Togo (Goat)

Tonga (Sheep)


 
United Nations
It is striking that while several member states and hundreds of millions of non-Chinese mark the lunar new year, the UN postal authority chooses to refer to the occasion as Chinese new year.

Uruguay (Goat)

Uruguay, 2003

Vietnam

Want more lunar new year stamps?
2022: Year of the Tiger
2021: Year of the Ox
2020: Year of the Rat
2019: Year of the Pig
2018: Year of the Dog
2017: Year of the Rooster
2016: Year of the Monkey
2015: Year of the Ram/Goat/Sheep
2014: Year of the Horse
2013: Year of the Snake
2012: Year of the Dragon
2011: Year of the Rabbit
2010: Year of the Tiger
2009: Year of the Ox

Upcoming USCI events include a March 4 presentation by author Mike Meyer on In Manchuria, his new book. Meyer's The Last Day's of Old Beijing is among the most popular work on how people have experienced the rapid changes of the past decade. On April 3 at the Shangrila Pudong Hotel in Shanghai, we are hosting a symposium on the values and attitudes of Chinese and American young people. We hope that you'll join us in Los Angeles or Shanghai.

In the meantime, please drop by our web magazines, US-China Today and Asia Pacific Arts. APA has launched its Bullet Train podcast. The latest episode involves a search for lunar new year jokes.

Our calendar below covers events and exhibitions across North America. Please share Talking Points with friends. And please subscribe / like / follow us at our social media pages. The links are below. We are always delighted to hear from you at uschina@usc.edu

Happy New Year!

Best wishes,

The USC U.S.-China Institute
 -- a program of the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism
 china.usc.edu
 
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Events
USC | California | North America | Exhibitions   

Click here to visit the full USC U.S.-China Institute calendar.
 
USC Events

California Events

North America Events

Exhibitions  

02/19/2015 - 05/24/2015: High Tea-Glorious Manifestations East and West
Norton Museum of Art
1451 S Olive Ave
West Palm Beach, FL 33401 
The Norton Museum of Art presents an exhibition of objects which illustrate important events in tea culture.

USC U.S.-China Institute
3502 Watt Way, ASC G24
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0281

Tel: 213-821-4382 | Fax: 213-821-2382 | uschina@usc.edu | china.usc.edu