J136, 400th Anniv. of Birth of Xu Xiake, Geographer and Tourist of Ming Dynasty《明代地理学家、旅行家徐霞客诞生四百周年》

Stamp Title: 400th Anniv. of Birth of Xu Xiake, Geographer and Tourist of Ming Dynasty
Serial number: J136
Values in set: 3
(3-1), Devoted to travelling all over the country, 8 fen, 31*57.75 mm
(3-2), Conducted surveys in whole country, 20 fen, 31*57.75 mm
(3-3), Made an arduous journey, braved the hardships and dangers, 40 fen, 31*57.75 mm
Date of issue: February 20, 1987
Denomination: 68 fen
Designers: Gao Yun
Size of stamps: 31*57.75mm
Perforation: 11.5
Sheet composition: 30(10*3)
Printing process: Photogravure
Printing House: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing Works

Xu xiake, also named Hongzu (1587 ~ 1641), and born in Jiangyin, Jiangsu Province, was the noted traveler and geographer of the late Ming Dynasty. He refused to take Part in the imperial examination, but devoted himself to travelling all over the country.
During his lifetime, Xu Xiake traveled around and conducted surveys in 16 provinces. He left his footsteps in virtually every part of the country. In the process of conducting his surveys and investigations, he would never blindly embrace the conclusions recorded in previous documents. Instead, he discovered that the documentations made by his predecessors in their geographical studies were not quite reliable in many aspects. In order to ensure that his reconnaissance were real and detailed, he seldom traveled by ship or by wagon. He climbed over mountains and hills and traveled long distances almost entirely on foot. In order to develop a true picture of the natural world, he made it a point of undertaking his expeditions in those mountain areas where roads were difficult to travel and in those woods that were sparsely populated. In this way he discovered many marvelous mountains and beautiful scenes. He frequently chose different times and seasons of the year to make repeated visits to the famous mountains across the country so that he could make repeated observations of their wonderful scenery that kept changing all year round.

J136 明代地理学家、旅行家徐霞客诞生四百周年
发行日期：1987.2.20。影写版。P11.5。 31mm*57.75mm。 30(10*3)。[G]。
设计：高云。
印刷：北京邮票厂。

3-1为“摒绝仕途，矢志远游”。徐霞客身着红袍，夹着竹杖，身背斗笠，腰系葫芦，立于寒风秋叶之中，一副行将远游的模样，表现出他飘然一身，不求功名富贵，立志远游山河的胸襟。画面的章法聚散有致，刷色浓郁苍劲，象是一个特写镜头。
3-2为“岩栖穴处，排日记程”。表现的是徐霞客在溶洞中借助松明火把挥笔撰写游记的情景。在邮票上描绘岩洞内的情景，还不多见。要处理得既不阴暗，又能使人有身临其境之感，尤其不易。设计者采取从洞里向洞外看的角度，较好地解决了这一难题。尤其钟乳石柱，把人物“一分为二”，这大胆的一笔带来了非同一般的艺术效果。
3-3为“登必至极，穷途不忧”。展现的是徐霞客登顶观望、怡然自乐的情景。画面以奇峰怪石置于上、徐霞客居于下，并用浮云虚去脚下山峰的轮廓，造成了大自然的深远、辽阔的意境，又表现了徐霞客超凡脱俗，飘然若仙的风采。
这套邮票分开来看各具特色，而在大构图上，用两道竖线框住了画面的左右，并把文字置于图上，使之成为全图的一个有机组成部分，体现了中国画中传统的立轴画格局。在创作手法上，画家运用中国画中工笔重彩的表现手法，用笔细腻，色彩明丽，使邮票显得古朴典雅，庄重大方。