The Taiwan 2024 stamp program has already produced a couple of great finds and it’s only November 2023. Not only have the first quarter scans arrived, but I also found a trove of fantastic news releases for every issue, past and future. This is exciting I can now offer the correct names for designers and artists, which wasn’t always the case previously.  As well, the press release contains details often missed in previous years, like FDCs and info sheets image.    

Sample news release from 2023

I’m looking forward to filling in the information gaps with better translations. 

The new program starts off with a continuation of Taiwan’s Phonetic Symbols by UP Creative Design and Advertising Corporation.  The Phonetic Symbols made their first appearance in 2023 with this double set: 

What was missing from last year post was a full translation of each stamp and pronunciation guide, which the news releases happily offer. I’ll eventually get around to posting the new details on last year’s list, so look for that. It was one of the best sets of 2023 because of the colours and enduring artwork so it’s a great way to start 2024. 

As usual, as we get closer to the release date, more images will be posted.  If you are looking for the Lunar New Year stamps, they will be released in December 2023. You can find them here Taiwan’s 2023 stamps are inspired beauty. Don’t miss (bittergrounds.com) or LUNAR NEW YEAR – Year of the Dragon 2024 (bittergrounds.com)

January

Mandarin Phonetic Symbols
3rd in series 

10 stamps, FDC, cancel, album pages, folder 
offset 

This set was designed to help promote literacy and appreciation of Taiwan’s history and beauty. 

• ㄙ(s): Sanxia (sān xiá), Golden Croissant
• 一(i): Yilan (yí lán), Kumquat
• ㄨ(u): Wenshan (wén shān), TAIPEI ZOO, TAIPEI Maokong Gondola
• ㄩ(ü): Yuchi (yú chí), Sun Moon Lake Lalu Island
• ㄚ(a): Alishan (ā lǐ shān), Cherry Blossom
• ㄛ(o): Zhuolan (zhuó lán), Grape
• ㄜ(e): Emei (é méi), Ximaopu Suspension Bridge
• ㄝ(ê): Qieding (qié dìng), Qieding Wetland, Black-faced Spoonbill
• ㄞ(ai): Baisha (bái shā), Jibei Island
• ㄟ(ei): Beinan (bēi nán), Sugar Apple

Designer:  UP Creative Design and Advertising Corporation | 歐普廣告設計股份有限公司設計

Release date: January 26, 2024 / 113

Tainan 400

2 stamps on souvenir sheet, FDC, cancel, album pages, folder
offset

Celebration of the founding of Tainan, the first city founded and developed in Taiwan.

In 1624, the Dutch East India Company made Fort Zeelandia on the coast its base. With
that Tainan began to be linked to the whole world. Until the close of the
nineteenth century, Tainan was the key political, economic and cultural center
of Taiwan. It is notable as the town with the longest cultural history in
Taiwan. In 2024 Tainan will mark its fourth centenary.
News release Postage Stamps Issuing Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C. Information No. 2 (2024) 

First stamp shows Chihkan Tower, Koxinga Ancestral Temple, Tainan Theological College and Seminary, and Tainan Art Museum Building 1 (formerly Tainan Police Agency) representing the Dutch era, Koxinga’s Ming Dynasty, the Qing Empire and Japanese Rule.

Second stamps shows the Tainan Public Library (New Main Library) representing the modern IT era.
 

Designer: Delta Design Corporation | 觀視覺顧問股份有限公司

Release date: February 22, 2024 / 113

March

Postal Characters

4 stamps, FDC, cancel, album pages, folder
offset

This series began in 2014. 

Designer: Chart Design Co., Ltd | 查爾特設計廣告有限公司設計

Release date: March 18, 2024 / 113

Mandarin Phonetic Symbols
4th in series

10 stamps, FDC, cancel, album pages, folder
offset 

• ㄠ(ao): Niaosong (niǎo sōng), Chengqing Lake, Bridge of Nine Turns
• ㄡ(ou): Houlong (hòu lóng), Watermelon
• ㄢ(an): Anle (ān lè), Dawulun Fort
• ㄣ(en): Jincheng (jīn chéng), Wind Lion
• ㄤ(ang): Zhuangwei (zhuàng wéi), Cantaloupe
• ㄥ(eng): Hengchun (héng chūn), Onion
• ㄦ(er): Ershui (èr shuǐ), Steam Locomotive
• ㄐ一ˊ(jí): Ji (jí), Philately
• ㄧㄡˊ(yóu): You (yóu), Mail Truck
• ㄏㄠˇ(hǎo): Hao (hǎo), Mailbox

Designer:  UP Creative Design and Advertising Corporation | 歐普廣告設計股份有限公司設計

Release date: March 27, 2024 / 113

April

Constant 150 | Perpetual Stamps

6 stamps, FDC, cancel, album pages, folder
offset 

Designer: Daguan Visual Consulting Co., Ltd. 大觀視覺顧問股份有限公司

Release date: April 22,2024

May

Inauguration of the 16th President and Vice President

4 stamps, souvenir sheet, FDC, cancel
lithography

Designer: Zheng Xinghui 鄭星慧

Release date: May 20, 2024

June

Shimen Reservoir 60th Anniversary

2 stamps, 2 sheets of 20
lithography

Shihmen Reservoir > Taoyuan City > Tourism Administration, Republic of China (Taiwan)

Designer: Brilliant Creative Marketing Co., Ltd  精采創意行銷有限公司

Release date:  June 6, 2024

100th Anniversary of the Army Military Academy of the Republic of China

souvenir sheet, FDC, cancel

Designer: Brilliant Creative Marketing Co., Ltd  精采創意行銷有限公司

Release date: June 14, 2024

July

Leisure Activities Stamps

6 stamps, sheet of 18, FDC, cancel
offset

• Parent-child Philately
• Puzzle Board Game
• Indoor Rock Climbing
• Music Appreciation
• Singing for the Elderly
• Vitality Yoga

Designer: Carden Industrial Co., Ltd 卡登實業股份有限公司

Release date: July 3, 2024

Classical Poetry Stamps

4 stamps

Designer: Carden Industrial Co., Ltd 卡登實業股份有限公司

Release date: July 29, 2024

August

Zheng Chenggong’s 400th Birthday

Zheng Chenggong (1624-1662 AD)
Portrait is held by the National Taiwan Museum and is thought to be the earliest depiction of Zheng.Zheng Chenggong – An Asian hero born in Hirado – Matsura Historical Museum

Designer: Zeng Kaizhi  曾凱智

Release date: August 16, 2024

Birds Conservation

4 stamps, 4 sheets of 18, FDC, cancel
lithograph

• common kestrels (Falco tinnunculus) Kestrel Bird Facts (Falco tinnunculus) | Birdfact
• besra sparrowhawk (Accipiter virgatus) Forest Guardians: The Besra’s Role in Ecosystems – The Worlds Rarest Birds
• pied harrier (Circus melanoleucos)  Foot Harrier – Circus melanoleucos (oiseaux.net) (this one is in French, but has best images)
• black eagle (Ictinaetus malaiensis) The Majestic Black Eagle: A Profile of Nature’s Avian Aristocrat – The Worlds Rarest Birds

Designer: Lai Jiren 賴吉仁

Release date: August 28, 2024

September

Taiwan Railway Sightseeing

5 stamps, FDC, cancel
offset

• Midsummer treasure island steam cruise train and the Mingri sightseeing train, the background is the head of the wild willow queen, Yilan Guishan Island, and Taitung Sanxiantai.
• Taiwan’s high-speed rail trains, the background is Kaohsiung 85 Building, Tainan Confucius Temple, Tainan Chihkan Tower, Taichung Park, West Gate Red Building, and Taipei Fucheng North Gate (Cheng’en Gate).
• Taipei MRT, Taoyuan Airport MRT and Kaohsiung MRT trains, the background is the National Palace Museum, TAIPEI 101, Taoyuan International Airport, Longhu Tower of Lianchitan Scenic Area, and Kaohsiung Pop Music Center.
• Xiayi-style steam locomotive and diesel locomotive of Alishan Forestry Railway, the background is Zhushan Station and Beimen Station.
• Sugar railway, the background is the Qiaotou Sugar Factory Park Club, the five-point station of the garlic sugar factory, and the five-point station of the Xihu Sugar Factory.

Designers: Lin Panzhuo, Weng Yongzhen, Pan Xinyi  林磐聳、翁永圳、潘欣苡

Release date: September 13, 2024

Calligraphy Art Stamps – Song Suhui’s Book in Front of Chibi Fu (Part I)

5 stamps, sheet of 15
offset

This series showcases the beauty of caligraphy and looks at it as an art style. This set is from Song Suhui’s poem “Red Cliff Fu in front of the book”. The images are taken from the front of the scroll, you can see all the pages in digitised form here Song Sushi’s book is written in front of the red cliff (npm.gov.tw)

This is a bit long, but offers a bit of history.  

“Chibi Fu” (former Chibi Fu) is a Fu by the Northern Song Dynasty writer Su Shi. Written in the fifth year of Song Yuanfeng, when the author first visited the Red Nose Rock outside Huangzhou City, he described what he saw and felt. In the following year, Su Shi personally wrote this volume of “Former Chibi Fu” for his friend Fu Yaoyu, with regular script, the knots are short and flat and tight, and the pen and ink are rich and heavy, which is a rare work of intention in his middle age. This volume is now in the National Palace Museum in Taipei.

In the second year of Song Yuanfeng (1079), Su Shi was demoted to Huangzhou (now Huanggang, Hubei) by Song Shenzong because of the “Wutai Poetry Case”. In the fifth year of Yuanfeng (1082), Su Shi visited the Chibi near Huangzhou twice and wrote two Chibi Fu. “Former Chibi Fu” was written when the author first visited Chibi in Huangzhou (July 16). The work depicts Su Shi and his friends boating on the Chibi (also known as Chibi Rock ^[1]) in Huangzhou), talk about the battle of Chibi, and then discuss the life of heaven and earth, expressing the author’s perception of the universe and life. In October of the same year, he revisited and wrote another article “Hou Chibi Fu”, which was recited by later generations and was a masterpiece in the history of literature.

This volume was written by Su Shi (the author was forty-eight years old at the time) for his friend Fu Yaoyu one year after the manuscript was completed. This “Former Chibi Fu”, in regular script, the knots are short and flat and tight, and the pen and ink are rich and heavy, which is a rare work of intention in his middle age. In the process of circulation, the book section is slightly defective, and the first 36 characters are the Ming Dynasty Wen Zhengming, Wen Peng and his son later supplemented the book. Former Chibi Fujuan – Grid (shuge.org)

Designer: Zeng Kaizhi 曾凱智
Kaizhi also designed Taiwan’s Year of the Dragon stamps.

Release date: September 25, 2024

October

Treasure Island Style – Taipei City

4 stamps, 4 sheets of 20
offset

• Taipei Post Office
• Bamboo Lake Alocasia Season
• Beitou Library
• Taipei Pop Music Center

Designer: Grand View Visual Consultants Co., Ltd

Release date: October 9, 2024

November

Treasure Island Style  – Keelung City

4 stamps, 
offset

Keelung is a large port city located in the north east of Taiwan. 

• Zhengbin Fishing Port Color House
• Keelung Port
• Wangyou Valley
• National Museum of Marine Science and Technology

Designer: Grand View Visual Consultants Co., Ltd

Release date: November 1, 2024

Calligraphy Art – Song Suhui’s Book in Front of Chibi Fu (Middle Edition)

5 stamps, 1 sheet of 15
offset

Designer: Zeng Kaizhi 曾凱智

Release date: November 20, 2024 

December

Year of the Snake
New Year’s – Lunar New Year 

2 stamps, 1 stamp on souvenir sheet, 2 sheets of 20
offset

Purple snake: auspicious and noble  … meaning extraordinary agility and stand out.
White snake: : round and vigorous … meaning lucky, sacred and rich.
Souvenir sheet:  … rich and prosperous, and the flowers are in full bloom, symbolizing the prosperity of the New Year and the auspicious harvest every year
Details from Taiwan’s page on the stamps.Chunghwa Post World Wide Web – Philatelic Business – Introduction to New Postal Service

Designer: Grand View Visual Consultants Co., Ltd

Release date: December 2, 2024