To acquaint the public with Chinese culture, a series of postage stamps with the portraits of historically famous Chinese would be released on separate occasions. Two kinds of such stamps, the first ones of the series, were issued with the portraits of Confucius and Mencius selected from the Palace Museum collection as the central designs. The original paintings were drawn in color on paper.1.00　　The stamp takes Confucius' portrait as its central design. Chinese characters〝孔丘〞(公元前五五一～四七九) and 〝己所不欲勿施於人〞 in two vertical lines, meaning〝 Confucius (551-479 B.C.)〞 and his famous saying 〝What you do not want done to you, do not do to others,〞 respectively, are written on the right side. Confucius is China's greatest teacher, philosopher, and political theorist. In a sense it may be said he is the counterpart of Christ in the Orient. His teachings form the core of Chinese culture. 3.60　　The stamp adopts Mencius' portrait as its central design. Chinese characters〝孟軻〞(公元前三七二～二八九) and 〝民為貴〞 in two vertical lines, meaning 〝Mencius (372-289 B.C.)〞 and his famous saying, 〝People are of paramount importance in a nation,〞 respectively, are written on the right side. Mencius is China's second greatest teacher, next only to Confucius. He contributed much to defending and expanding the teachings of Confucius.