Stamp Issue “The Eighteen Arhats”
21/11/2022 15:30
Macao Post and Telecommunications Bureau will
issue the stamp theme “The
Eighteen Arhats” on
1st December,
2022. The Arhat,
“Luohan” or “Aluohan”
in Chinese, is a transliteration from
Sanskrit. The word has three denotations: the
first is “to kill the thief”,
which means to eliminate all the
disturbances; the second is “to be
venerated”, meaning gaining the
veneration of other living things; and the
third is “not to be reborn”,
which means achieving Nirvana and not being
subject to the suffering of
“Samsara”, the cycle of
reincarnations.
Among the Buddhist deities, images of Arhats
appeared relatively late and are often
depicted in sculptures and paintings. Zen
Buddhism, flourishing in both the northern
and the southern parts of China during the
period of the Five Dynasties, advocated
introspection and emphasized that the mind
should focus on religious practices rather
than external factors. The Arhats reflected
the relevant Buddhist perspectives and,
therefore, won the admiration of the people.
Artistic images of the Arhats first appeared
during the Liang Dynasty, and Arhats became a
dominating theme in Buddhist sculptures and
paintings during the Song Dynasty which
emphasized “realism”.
This issue includes a set of eighteen stamps.
The oil painting “Eighteen
Arhats” is skillfully painted by the
Macao painter Sou Farong on rice paper based
on his enormous knowledge of Buddhism. The
Arhats are delineated as traditional Buddhist
monks, each in a different
“realistic” posture, some posing
relaxingly, and others sitting rigidly and
solemnly. In the background of the painting
are banana trees, willows, rocks and so on,
added with a lion, a dragon, a tiger, a deer
and an elephant. Each Arhat is presented in
his own style in relation to what precedes
and succeeds him, thus revealing the
extraordinary imagination and creativity of
the painter.
The above issue will be available for sale at
the General Post Office (9:00a.m. to
5:30p.m.), the Communications Museum
(9:00a.m. to 1:00p.m., 2:30p.m. to 5:30p.m.),
and the “Rua do Campo” Post
Office (9:00a.m. to 6:00p.m.). The mail
service for the philatelic products cancelled
with the commemorative postmark of this issue
will be available on the issue date at the
above locations. The philatelic products are
as follows:
Among the printing quantity of stamps, 150,000
sets are printed as sheetlets and 10,000 sets
are printed as long scroll stamps, packaged
as “Gift
set of long scroll stamps”. The
prestigious gift box contains one sheet of
long scroll stamps that is of the size 570 x
120 mm and consists of a series of 18 stamps
on a long horizontal roll. It is a
magnificent philatelic product of high
artistic and collection value. The gift set
is priced at 60.00
patacas each and
available in a limited quantity. Grasp the
opportunity to expand your collection!
The stamp designer of this issue is
Mr. Sou Farong (Adapt. Macao
Post and Telecommunications Bureau), and the
text of the information brochure is written
by Ms. Erica, Li I.
This is the last of the sixteen themes in
2022. The previous issued stamps are
“Lunar Year of the Tiger” on
05/01/2022, “Olympic Winter Games
Beijing 2022” on 25/01/2022, the label
stamp “Lunar Year of the Tiger”
on 15/02/2022, “Red Cotton Tree
Flower” on 01/03/2022, “Sixth
Patriarch – Hui Neng” on
10/03/2022, “70th
Anniversary of the Nursery Service of the
Women’s General Association” on
21/05/2022, “50th
Anniversary of the Promulgation of the
Convention Concerning the Protection of the
World Cultural and Natural Heritage” on
10/06/2022, “Feast of Saint John”
on 24/06/2022, “Macanese
Gastronomy” on 20/07/2022,
“Historical School Buildings in
Macao” on 09/09/2022,
“120th Anniversary of Banco
Nacional Ultramarino” on 20/09/2022,
“400th Anniversary of the
Chapel of Our Lady of Penha” on
09/10/2022, “Contemporary
Buildings” on 28/10/2022,
“Transmac – 70 Years in
Macao” on 08/11/2022, “Chinese
Classical Poetry – Poems of Song
Dynasty” on 18/11/2022, and
“130th Anniversary of Tung
Sin Tong Charitable Society” will be
issued on 22/11/2022.
Technical Data of Stamp “The Eighteen
Arhats”
Details