This post features a set of four Chinese musician stamps from 2012. On this blog, I often discuss the way countries celebrate composers and musicians on postage stamps. They can be cultural figures that instill pride and patriotism in the population. For example, you can read about the Japanese koto player Miyagi Michio, Indian musician Vishnu Digambar Paluskar, and Czech composers Smetana and Dvorak. On stamps, the cultural icons are a bit like political figures, who come to represent their country.
The very first set of composer stamps were made in Austria in 1922. Since then, composer stamps and stamp sets have been popular all over the world. For example, you can read about other sets from Germany (1935), the United States (1940), and Czechoslovakia (1951), among others. This article features a set of four stamps featuring twentieth-century musicians from China. The designer of this set is Cun Junwang and each stamp has a similar design, with a black-and-white drawn portrait of the composer on the left. To the right, a five line musical staff swoops across the lower portion of the stamp. Above this is an icon related to the musician and behind this a subtle background that is also related to the musician.
The subjects of the stamps are quite interesting representing a mix of musicians including those who were scholars, teachers, instrumentalists, and composers. They also reflect the changing culture in China at the time, with musicians that were interested in traditional Chinese music and instruments as well as western classical music.
Xiao Youmei
The musician, educator, and composer Xiao Youmei was born in 1884 in Zhongshan, Guangdong. He learned western classical music during his childhood in Macau and later at the Tokyo Conservatory of Music. In 1912, Xiao went to Leipzig to study music at the conservatory of music. He received his Ph. D. and wrote his doctoral dissertation about the history of ancient Chinese musical instrument.
Following his graduation, he went to the philosophy department at the Berlin University in 1916 to continue his research in education. After returning to China in 1920, he became the reviewing editor for the Republic of China’s Ministry of Education. In 1922, he became the managing director of the “Music Research Institute of Beijing University.” Additionally, he wrote many influential instruction textbooks.
In 1927, Xiao Youmei was one of the founders of the National Conservatory of Music in Shanghai. This was the first professional conservatory in China and he served as the institute’s director and also wrote the curriculum for the study of ancient Chinese music.
Furthermore, Youmei was a composer who wrote more than ninety works. Importantly, this includes “Xinnishang Feather Dance,” the first piano concerto by a Chinese composer. Due to all of these accomplishments, Youmei is sometimes known as “the father of modern Chinese music.” He died in 1940.
The stamp features a black and white portrait of Xiaou Youmei on the left. A five-line musical staff swoops from behind him across the right hand side of the stamp. Above the stave are two books that have ancient Chinese bells on their cover. They represent his scholarly publications and interest in ancient Chinese music. In the background appears a musical score in western notation, presumably of one of his pieces.
Liu Tianhua
The musician Liu Tianhua was born in 1895. He was an important instrumental musician who was a master of several traditional instruments including the erhu and the pipa. In 1922, he became an instructor at the Peking University where he would found the Society for the Improvement of Chinese Music. This group also created a music ensemble to play Chinese music, a forerunner of Chinese orchestras made up of traditional instruments. In addition, Liu Tianhua was an innovator in instrument design. He made improvements to the traditional fiddle, the erhu, to make it more suitable for stage performances. He also increased the number of frets on the pipa and spaced them for equal-tempered tuning. Finally, Liu Tianhua is also know for his body of compositions for traditional instruments.
The stamp depicting Liu Tianhua is of the same design as the other stamps. It features a black and white, hand drawn portrait of the musician to the left. A five-line musical stave runs across the bottom of the stamp in a swoop. To the right, is an Erhu, a type of Chinese bowed instrument. In the background can be seen notation for the instrument.
He Luting
Born in 1903, He Luting was perhaps the most important Chinese composer of the early twentieth century. In the 1930s, He was a student at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music where he studied with the Russian composer Alexander Tcherepnin. In 1934, he was the winner of a piano composition contest for his work Buffalo Boy’s Flute, making him famous across the country.
After that, He began composing music for Chinese film scores. His most famous works are “Song of the Four Seasons” and “The Wandering Songstress,” which both came from the 1937 movie Street Angel.
In Shanghai, He became a member of the Communist Party. He even wrote songs for the War between China and Japan (1937-1945) including the “mass song movement” and the “Guerilla’s Song.” After the War, he became the director of the Shanghai Conservator of Music. However, He became a target during the Cultural Revolution, because of his association with western music. He was even tortured due to his defense of Claude Debussy. He retired in 1984 and lived until 1999.
On the stamp, He Luting is seen in a scarf on the right side of the stamp. The design is similar to the other stamps in the set and on the right, in silhouette, appear to be a group of advancing soldiers, obviously an allusion to his songs for the Chinese military. Chinese characters can be seen in the background of the stamp.
Ma Sicong
The final stamp in the set features the violinist and composer Ma Sicong. He was born in 1912 in Guangdong province. Ma was the son of politician who was the finance minister of Guangdong. His interest in music began at the age of five when he began singing along with his grandfather’s gramophone.
In 1923, Ma’s older brother came back to China from studying in France. He also brought home a violin and the eleven-year old fell in love with the instrument. Ma even convinced his parents to let him go to France with his brother to study the instrument. Ma was a quick study and within two years was admitted to the conservatory of music in Nancy. Then, in 1928, Ma became a student at the Conservatory in Paris.
Finally, in 1932, after completing his studies he went back to China. There, he held several teaching positions, concertized around the country, and composed. With the outbreak of the war in 1937, Ma took a professorship in Guangdong. He also became the director of the anti-Japanese choir and wrote many patriotic songs. Ma also wrote the Inner Mongolia Suite, the second movement of which, Nostalgia, is one of the most popular Chinese pieces. This made him a national celebrity.
After the War, Ma’s musical celebrity increased. In 1951, he represented China at the Prague Spring International Music Festival. His international reputation led to him serving on the jury of the First Tchaikovsky International Competition. Due to his incredible success, he gained the title of “The King of Violinists” in China.
Ma became a target during the cultural revolution. After being arrested and sent to a re-education camp, Ma and his family escaped to Hong Kong and then entered exile in the United States, where he died in 1987 in Philadelphia.
The stamp follows the same design as the others. To the left is a portrait of Ma Sicong, while on the right is a violin. The background is actually the violin melody of his most famous piece, Nostalgia.
The piece is definitely worth a listen:
