T21 -- Build up Health for Revolution from Childhood

After the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, the central government convened a national congress of physical culture workers, at which the call to "develop a national, scientific and popular new sports cause" was issued.

On June 10, 1952, Chairman Mao Zedong wrote down the inscription, "develop sports, enhance people's physique," which pointed out the new direction China was to take in the world of sports.

On June 1,1978, in celebration of International Children's Day, the Ministry of the Posts and Telecommunications of People's Republic of China released a set of five stamps about children's sport and physical training activities.

(5-1) 20 fen, Build up health for revolution from children  从小锻炼为革命
(5-2) 8 fen, Little football bringing us closer together  小小足球传友谊
(5-3) 8 fen, Not afraid of wind or waves  大风大浪不可怕
(5-4) 8 fen, Gymnastic performance to celebrate bumper harvest  体操表演庆丰收
(5-5) 8 fen, Take long marches and climb high peaks  万里征途攀高峰

(5-1)【Build up health for revolution from children】The first stamp is a larger stamp of the set.  The stamp design showed eight children doing morning exercises, with the rising sun in the far background.  These children are wearing different costumes, symbolizing the different ethnic groups of the nation.

 

Stamps 2 to 5 respectively depicted the sport activities for Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter:

 

(5-2)【Little football bringing us closer together】Spring - The stamp showed children playing soccer in a green field, with migratory birds returning in the backgroundy.

 

(5-3)【Not afraid of wind or waves】Summer - The stamp showed children going swimming at a beach on a summary day.

 

(5-4)【Gymnastic performance to celebrate bumper harvest】Autumn -  The stamp showed two girls performing gymnastic in celebration of a bumper harvest.

 

(5-5)【Take long marches and climb high peaks】Winter - The stamp showed children playing in winter.

T21 – Build up Health for Revolution from Childhood  从小锻炼为革命 Issue Date: 1978.6.1
Serial Number:	T21
Scott Number:	1400-1404
Michel Number:	1410-1414
Number of stamps in Set:	5
Denomination:	20 fen for stamp 1 8 fen for stamp 2, 3, 4, 5
Quantity of Issue:	16,000,000 for stamp 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Perforation:	P11½
Sheet Composition:	40 (4 X 10) for stamp 1 80 (8 X 10) for stamp 2, 3, 4, 5
Size of stamps:	52 X 31 mm for stamp 1 26 X 31 mm for stamp 2, 3, 4, 5
Designer:	Lu Tianjiao  卢天骄
Printing Process:	Photogravure
Printing House:	Beijing Postage Stamp Printing Works