先睹堂主按：值此辞“猴”迎“鸡”之时，本博发表英文邮文，作者戴定国先生是拙编《上海集邮》以及《集邮》《中国集邮报》《生肖集邮》等邮报邮刊的专栏作者，也是美国《世界周刊》“集邮天地”的专栏作者，他还是生肖集邮研究会的顾问。由他撰写的介绍中国评选世界最佳生肖邮票的英文作品，已经连续6年在美国《林氏邮票新闻》刊登，在世界集邮人群中产生了积极的影响。这些系列报道为美国集邮者和遍布世界各地的《林氏》读者打开了一扇窗口，让他们看到中国集邮者对生肖集邮持续高涨的热情和独到的眼光。这些文章也成为世界英语国家和地区生肖邮票发行部门研究和了解中国生肖集邮爱好者审美情趣的一个渠道。
他最新写作的介绍猴年邮票评选情况的英文作品，将刊登在《林氏邮票新闻》2017年1月9日的第20—21页上，并成为这一期刊物的重点推荐对象。供网上阅读的这期杂志已在今年12月24日发表，然后，《林氏》网站又在12月25日圣诞节当天单独发布了这篇文章。
这篇报道的标题是《列支敦士登、香港、汤加名列2016猴年邮票评选三甲》。戴先生利用这个机会，在介绍评选活动举办的情况以及中国生肖邮票发行的历史后，向世界集邮爱好者详细介绍了中国猴年邮票设计和发行的情况，介绍了美术大师黄永玉以及他绘画的1980年金猴邮票在中国集邮界产生的巨大影响。
这篇文章的看点之一还在于它首次披露了获得最佳猴票前10名的得票数字，因此值得引起国内生肖集邮爱好者的关注。本博用2幅图片展示《林氏》网站上戴先生文章的原貌，并由作者授权，率先在中文网站发表其全文（为方便本博读者的阅读，作者还为这篇英文作品的各个段落加了中文小标题），并以此文来恭贺明年1月5日在苏州举办的生肖集邮研究会成立20周年庆祝活动！
Liechtenstein, Hong Kong and Tonga top 2016 Year of the Monkey contest
列支敦士登、香港、汤加名列2016猴年邮票评选三甲
December 25, 2016 07:00 PM
By Dingguo Dai
上图：《林氏邮票新闻》2017年1月9日第21页
Stamps from Liechtenstein, Hong Kong, and Tonga won a competition for the best Year of the Monkey stamps.
最佳世界猴年邮票的评选情况
The contest included stamps from 55 countries or special administrative regions celebrating the Year of the Monkey. The stamps were issued in late 2015 or early 2016.
The Year of the Monkey began Feb. 8, 2016, and will end Jan. 27.
The contest was organized by the Chinese Shengxiao (Zodiac) Philatelic Society and was also sponsored by the weekly newspaper Philately, the Suzhou Shengxiao (Zodiac) Stamp Museum, and eight philatelic units. This is the seventh competition for the best Chinese Zodiac stamps.
The Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year, follows a 12-year cycle, with each year associated with one of the zodiac signs. The monkey is the ninth animal in the cycle of the Chinese zodiac calendar.
As with the competitions held in 2014 and 2015, voting in the Year of the Monkey competition was only open to the members of Chinese Shengxiao Philatelic Society, not to other stamp collectors.
China’s fastest growing philatelic society, it has more than 6,700 members, gaining 700 members in the last year.
The winning stamps were selected by these members and a jury of 24 experts. Voting took place from Sept. 15 to Oct. 20, 2016.
The members and experts were asked to select not more than three best Year of the Monkey stamps. A total of 3,028 votes from society members in Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao, the United States, and Australia were received.
中国发行的猴年邮票
China’s Year of the Monkey stamps were not eligible because the contest focused on stamps from other countries and special administrative regions. The panel gave the set of two 1.20-yuan stamps issued Jan. 5, 2016, an honorary award.
China Post began issuing Lunar New Year stamps in 1980 with an 8-fen Year of the Monkey stamp (Scott 1586). The 2016 Year of the Monkey issue is the first set in the forth series of Lunar New Year stamps.
Fig.1
The set includes two stamps. One depicts a monkey holding on to a vine with one hand and a peach in its other as a symbol of good luck. The second stamp shows an adult monkey with infants sitting to its left and right, symbolizing happiness, longevity, and family.
黄永玉两次设计猴年邮票
The designer is 92-year-old Huang Yongyu. It has been reported that he was asked to have one stamp feature a mother and infant. His design, however, features two baby monkeys kissing the mother.
Huang said he was merely keeping up with China’s new family planning policy, which on Jan. 1, 2016, began permitting most couples to have two children rather than one, because the country formally ended its one-child policy.
Fig.2
Huang also designed the 1980 Year of the Monkey stamp. Nicknamed the “Red Monkey,” that stamp has grown in value 200,000 times more than its original price of 8 fen in the past 36 years. It has come to symbolize the strong market for collectible postage stamps in China.
Demand has made it one of the most sought-after contemporary Chinese stamps. Although the stamp was initially common, a full sheet of 80 sold for the equivalent of $192,521 at an InterAsia sale in September 2011.
Fig.3
列支敦士登得票1820张而首次夺冠
Liechtenstein issued its fifth Chinese zodiac stamp Nov. 16, 2015, to celebrate the Year of the Monkey. This 1.90-franc stamp was designed as a delicate paper cut and produced using ultramodern laser technology.
The designer, Stefan Erne, chose the color red, the symbol for luck in China.
The stamps were sold in monkey-shaped panes of four.
Liechtenstein placed third in the 2012 Year of the Dragon contest, fourth in 2013 for the Year of the Snake, second in 2014 for the Year of the Horse, and third in 2015 for the Year of the Ram.
Liechtenstein finally won first place in 2016 for the Year of the Monkey contest. Its stamp received 1,820 votes, or 60 percent of the total vote.
The Chinese Shengxiao Philatelic Society’s press release about the competition described the stamp as showing a small, adorable, festive monkey with typical Chinese characteristics.
Fig.4
香港4次问鼎最佳，猴年得票1662张位列第二
Hong Kong’s Lunar New Year stamps won first place four times in a row from 2012 to 2015. However, its Year of the Monkey issue of Jan. 16. 2016, placed second. This set of four stamps and three souvenir sheets received 1,662 votes, or 55 percent.
The four stamps portray monkeys in different forms of traditional Chinese arts and crafts: a colored glass handicraft, $1.70; embroidery, $2.90; silverware, $3.70; and a Beijing paper-cut opera mask, $5.
Fig.5
One of the three souvenir sheets from Hong Kong contains a single $10 stamp. Another is a silk souvenir sheet with a $50 stamp, the fifth such sheet in Hong Kong’s Lunar New Year series. According to the certificate of authenticity, this sheet was produced using 100 percent genuine silk made in Italy.
The third Hong Kong souvenir sheet contains two $50 stamps: a Year of the Ram stamp printed using silver foil, and a 22-karat gold-foil Year of the Monkey stamp. This sheet also is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.
Hong Kong Post began issuing stamps featuring the animals of the Chinese zodiac in 1967. The 2016 Year of the Monkey issue is the fifth set in the fourth series (each series continues for 12 years) of Lunar New Year stamps.
The press release about the contest said that Hong Kong’s souvenir sheets were elegant and beautiful, bringing festive joy.
Fig.6
Fig.7
“黑马”汤加的喜轿猴票得票1230张首次进入前三
With 1,230 votes, or 41 percent, Tonga became the dark horse of the competition, coming in third place This is the first time a Tongan stamp has been one of the winners in the poll.
The South Pacific kingdom issued two stamps Sept. 25, 2015, to celebrate the Year of the Monkey.
The two diamond-shaped stamps are in a pane that can be folded into the shape of a Chinese wedding sedan chair. The sedan chair was a special transportation vehicle in ancient China, specially used to bring the bride to the groom’s home on the wedding day.
The $11.30 stamp, designed by Sophia Zhang, shows a symbolic monkey in shades of green and decorated with a floral motif.
The $16.90 stamp features a Chinese calligraphy painting by Zeng Fan. Born in 1938, he paints in the traditional style, often using a monkey as his model.
This bold and distinctive do-it-yourself project is shown here unfolded and folded into the shape of a sedan chair.
名列第4-10名的国家和地区
In previous years, Canada placed among the top three four times: for the Year of the Tiger, Rabbit, Snake, and Ram. In this 2016 competition, Canada placed fourth, receiving 1,160 votes, only 70 votes fewer than Tonga.
Rounding out the Year of the Monkey top 10 are Guyana (fifth place, 782 votes), France (sixth, 310 votes), Singapore (seventh, 280 votes), Japan (eighth, 215 votes), New Zealand (ninth, 212 votes), and Macao (tenth, 160 votes).
周治华会长签名的评选明信片
The competition committee printed a postcard picturing the three top Year of the Monkey issues. Everyone who voted in the contest received this postcard Dec. 1 signed by the president of the Chinese Shengxiao Philatelic Society, Zhou Zhi-hua.
_________________
《林氏邮票新闻》对作者戴定国的简介
Dingguo Dai is a philatelic columnist and retired chemist living in Arizona. He writes columns for the Chinese monthly Philately, Shanghai Philately, China Philately News, and Shengxiao (Chinese Lunar Zodiac) Philately. He also was a jury member for the contests for the Year of the Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram, and Monkey stamps.
