Two smaller stamps show a cartoon-style pig set against a background of the red drums used to celebrate the New Year's arrival.
On the main stamp, according to Chunghwa's Web site, "two roly-poly red and gold piglets E smile at each other E representing nobility and joy." Their plump bodies and smiles, it continues, convey the abundance and festivity of the year of the pig. To the left is a traditional paper-cut design showing a child holding a fish and lotuses. This is a coded message wishing that babies will have an abundance over successive years, since the words "fish" and "abundance" are both pronounced yu in Mandarin, and "lotus" and "successive" are both pronounced lian.
As the last of the 12 animals in the zodiac, the pig brings to a close the fourth series of zodiac stamps issued by Chunghwa since it started the annual tradition in 1968. As usual, keen stamp collectors queued outside post offices throughout Taiwan to buy first-day covers and send seasonal greetings to friends and family postmarked Dec. 1, 2006.
An exhibition covering the 38-year history of Taiwan's zodiac stamps opened Dec. 1 at the Postal Museum, located on the 6th floor above the Nanhai 5th Branch Post Office. As Chunghwa Chairperson Lai Ching-chyi noted in his speech at the exhibition launch, "the zodiac is part of our folk customs and possesses great traditional value. In addition to the large number of stamp collectors here in Taiwan, the stamps allow us to introduce this cultural custom overseas. Wherever Han Chinese people reside, there will be zodiac stamps."
This was manifest at the exhibition, which included Lunar New Year zodiac stamps from 28 countries. In addition to Taiwan, Hong Kong and China, there were examples from Japan, Thailand and Vietnam--which all have their own versions of the New Year zodiac--and also countries, such as the United States, Switzerland, New Zealand and Tahiti, which do not celebrate the Lunar New Year but simply like the imagery of the animal zodiac.