To promote an appreciation for the beauty of ancient Chinese art, Chunghwa Post will release a souvenir sheet “Nine Elders of Mt. Hsiang” (Issue of 2011) on the painting Nine Elders, from the National Palace Museum collection, on September 9, 2011. In 2010 a souvenir sheet was released on a painting with similar motif, which was the first issue in the series. The designs follow:  Painted on a long scroll, Nine Elders depicts a scene from a party on Mt. Hsiang during Tang Emperor Wuzong’s reign in 845 A.D. The party’s host, Tang poet Bai Ju-yi, had retired to the mountain. He and his eight guests were all well over 70 years of age. The se-tenant strip of three stamps features a garden. From left, the individual stamps respectively show guests who are absorbed in a game of chess (NT$5), conversing while strolling or dancing with flower in hair (NT$25), or reading (NT$25). The color palette of the painting is elegant; the lines of the trees, the boulders, and the figures’ clothes are flowing; and the expressions of the figures are vivid and natural. The painting’s Shangri-La-like setting is beautiful and secluded. Large pines sway and lush green bamboos stand tall. The painting is unsigned but thought to be painted by Liu Song-nian of the Song Dynasty. To coordinate with the release of these stamps, Chunghwa Post specially issues a stamp pictorial and a set of maximum cards. Details are as follows: 1. Stamp pictorial: A pictorial containing souvenir sheets from both 2010 and 2011 issues of “Nine Elders of Mt. Hsiang”, “Ancient Chinese Art Treasures (Issue of 2009)”, and “Ancient Chinese Jade Articles (Issue of 1998)”, etc. will be also issued on September 9, 2011. The first sewn-bound pictorial issued by this Post, it features simple, hand-painted Chinese landscapes as illustrations. 2. Maximum cards: This set of three cards has two editions: mint and pre-cancelled. For the pre-cancelled edition, the postmark of National Palace Museum Post Office is used.