Gold Foil Specimen of 2000 Seasonal Periods Stamps-Spring,Summer,Autumn,Winter. Formosa(Taiwan), Rep of China.
The official presentation of Hsin Yin Post Office. Scarce.
The designs of the 4 stamps Sheets are as the following:
1st sheet is Spring Season:
1-1. "Commencement of Spring": It is the first day of spring.The warm spring breeze is blowing and waking up everything, and the land is green and enveloped by enchanting spring sunlight.
1-2. "Rain Water": Endless spring rain brings ample water.Farmers go to their fields to work, looking forward to a bumper harvest.
1-3."Waking of Insects": The spring thunder roars, waking up the hibernating insects and animals. The earth is full of life, and everything is growing and flourishing. Wherever you go, you hear birds singing and smell the scent of the flowers.
1-4. "Spring Equinox": On this date, day and night are of equal length. It is said that if it rains on this day, one can expect a bumper harvest in the fall. Therefore, farmers are all busy sowing seeds and transplanting rice seedlings.
1-5. "Pure Brightness": During this time, the weather is warm and the flowers are blooming. It is a time when the atmosphere is clean and clear, and so it is called "Pure Brightness." The whole family goes together to sweep their ancestors´ graves and perform rites in honor of them. These are displays of the traditional Chinese virtue of never forgetting one´s origins. The Chinese put a great emphasis on the performance of funeral.- rites and the making of offerings to ancestors.
1-6. "Grain Rain": Rain helps grain grow. This date is so named to remind farmers that it is going to rain and that they should start to work. Only with ample spring rain will crops grow well. During this time, the weather is very unstable.
2nd sheet is Summer Season:
2-1. "Commencement of Summer": Now the seedlings planted in early spring have already grown, and the fields are green and lush. The temperature is rising gradually, resembling the start of summer, and the warm flower-blooming spring is about to end.
2-2. "Little Fullness": Now the crops in the field have already borne grain, so it is named the “Little Fullness.” Farmers tread water wheels to provide seedlings with ample water.
2-3. "Husks of Grain": Most of the crops planted in early spring have borne ears of grain, which are ripening. The plants sag under the weight. The hot and humid plum rain season is about to begin.
2-4. "Summer Solstice": The sun is directly overhead at the Tropic of Cancer, and it is the longest day and shortest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. All the crops have already ripened, the really intense heat of summer has arrived, and one can hear the calls of cicadas (locust, or harvest fly) everywhere in the trees.
2-5. "Lesser Heat": With the weather growing steadily hotter, people use palm leaf fans to cool themselves. This symbolizes people’s adaptive abilities. As suggested by the name "Lesser Heat", it is not yet the hottest time of the year.
2-6. "Great Heat": This is the hottest time of the year, when people eat watermelon to dispel summer’s heat.
3rd sheet is Autumn Season:
3-1. "Commencement of Autumn " : The torpid heat of summer is soon to pass, and with the imminent arrival of the cool clear days of fall the farmers are busy cutting crops and drying them in the sun, taking joy in the harvest.
3-2. "Bounds of Heat": The heat of summer is gradually dissipating, but afternoons on sunny days are still very summer-like. Therefore, this period is called "Bounds of Heat." In this period, the farmers have finished drying
their harvested grains and have put them in granaries, which can be seen dotting the countryside.
3-3. "White Dew": As the hot summer gives way to cool autumn, the temperature variation between day and night grows, and the cool nights cause the moisture in the air to condense as dew, whose sparkling beads cover the grass,flowers, and leaves, as if to highlight the arrival of the cool autumn weather.
3-4. "Autumn Equinox" occurs when the sun is directly over the equator and the northern and southern hemispheres receive the same amount of sunlight. Night
and day are of equal length on the actual equinox, which is the first of this period. From this point on, there is a stronger sense of autumn in the air. It is also the time of year when the maple leaves turn red.
3-5. During "Cold Dew" it is now deep into autumn.The temperature is dropping, and the leaves are falling from the trees. The green hillsides are turning yellow and brown. Upon the land there is a sense of the coming cold weather.
3-6. By the "Descent of Hoar Frost" the sun is markedly favoring the Southern Hemisphere, and the Northern Hemisphere is turning cold. Sometimes in the early morning you can see a layer of frost upon the grass and trees: "The dew crystallizes into frost."
4th sheet is Winter Season:
4-1. "Commencement of Winter": It is now winter. The weather has turned cold. In order to keep healthy and fit, it is customary to eat tonic foods on this day.
4-2. "Lesser Snow": Now some of the moisture in the air will turn into snow and fall down slowly on the pine trees on high mountains. The land is painted white with
snow.
4-3. "Great Snow": After "Lesser Snow," the temperature in northern China falls under the freezing point. The cold is bone chilling and snow falls heavily. During this time, snow can also be seen in the high mountain areas of Taiwan.
4-4. "Winter Solstice": It is the shortest day and the longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Winter Solstice is regarded as a "little New Year" among
Chinese. On this day, family members would get together and eat glutinous rice balls, which symbolize wholeness and solidarity.
4-5. "Lesser Cold": Though it will not be long before the snow will melt, it is very cold and the temperature has been absorbed by the snow, making it feel even colder. Everywhere one can see plum blossoms, which add color to the chilly winter landscape.
4-6. "Great Cold": "´Lesser Cold´ and ´Great Cold´ are both freezing cold." From this proverb, one can see that these two periods are the coldest time of a year. Snow fills the land and it is extremely cold. After this day, the icy winter will starts to leave and spring approach. The earth has started another round of its never-ending seasonal cycle.
The photo is only an example.
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