Legend states that, when the great Buddha found enlightenment beside an old oak tree, he invited all the animals to his kingdom to celebrate. Only 12 animals arrived, and Buddha promptly rewarded them by naming each new year in honour of them. The order in which the animal arrived at Buddha’s side is significant, for he gave each a special characteristic. The Dog was the eleventh animal to reach Buddha and he was given the motto ‘I am loyal’ and stands for loyalty and justice.

People born in Dog years are idealistic and highly principled. They have strong beliefs and stand by their morals. To a Dog everything in life is either black or white, right on wrong, good or bad: there is no middle ground. Dogs hate injustice and disloyalty.

Dogs are champions of the downtrodden, loyal supporters of just causes, and totally self-sacrificing. They need a purpose in life in order to feel content and will often put the interests of others before their own. Alert, watching and perceptive. Dogs are cautious and rely on their instincts to pick just the right time to jump and make their mark. The fire element builds passion in Dogs.

Fire Dogs can balance the needs of others with their own and, as such, are less humble and more confident than most Dogs. They are charismatic, and can win support easily.The Fire Dog year commences on the 29th of this month and finishes February 17 next year. This year will see plenty of political action. Things veer suddenly towards a more liberal approach. A year, in fact, favourable to the Left, to grandiose schemes and to disinterested, generous acts. For children born this year it is better not to be born at night. Those who are ceaselessly on the alert, will stay that way for the rest of their lives.

Fig 1 Japanese ‘mihon’ lottery card

Many world postal administration now issue stamps and other philatelic material for the Chinese Lunar New year. Japan, however, was the first country to do so. as it commenced issuing stamps, back in December 1935. A break occurred from 1938-48 encompassing the war years. A single stamp was issued in December 1948. The first New Year Lottery postal cards were issued on 1st December 1949 and the first miniature sheet was issued on February 1, 1950. A miniature sheet and two lottery postal cards were then available for all subsequent issues.

Fig 2 1958 Japanese Miniature Sheet.

Japan’s first ‘Dog’ stamp and miniature sheet plus postal cards were issued on 20th December 1957 for the 1958 Year of the Dog. The stamp design featured a paper mache dog. However, while the stamps with some early exceptions (and a period from 1972-75) featured zodiac animals the lottery cards featured other designs. A ‘mihon’ (specimen – with zero numbers) of one of the cards, is shown in Figure 1. Every issued card has a number on the bottom of the card. The last two digits of this number (depending on the lottery draw) are the winning number, entitling the lucky owner to one of the many miniature sheets issued as the 5th Prize. The miniature sheets are not available for sale at post offices, they are only available as the fifth prize. The miniature sheet illustrated in Figure 2 was issued on January 20, 1958. On December 10, 1969, Japan issued a design depicting a dog-amulet made by the Hokki-ji, Nara for the 1970 Dog year, Scott 1021. In 1982 the third stamp was issued with the design featuring a local clay figure of Yamagata Prefecture Prefecture (Scott 1486). The 1994 issue consisted of two stamps, miniature sheet, two lottery cards and the fourth issue of lottery stamps (Scott 2221/2224).

Fig 3 1983 P.R.C. Booklet Cover

The Peoples Republic of China issued its first Lunar New stamp on February 13, 1980. Its first Year of the Dog issue included a New Year booklet (Scott 1764) issued on January 5 1982. It is interesting to note that the booklet pane was printed using both the engraved and photogravure printing methods. The booklet cover is featured in Figure 3.

Fig 4 1994 Hong Kong

Hong Kong issued its first Lunar New Year stamps on January 28, 1970 for the Dog year. The design featured ‘Chow’ dogs. Hong Kong stopped issuing their Lunar New Year stamp issues from 1979 – 1986 so there was no Dog issue for 1982. However, the Post Office commenced the series again in 1994 with a set of four stamps (Scott 689-92). Scott 689 is shown in Figure 4.

Fig 5 1994 Korea with matching postmark

Korea also commenced issuing ‘Year of the Dog’ stamps’ back in 1970. The first issue consisted of two stamps on December 11,1969 with designs of toy dogs and a lattice pattern (Scott 697/8). The 1982 stamps had designs of a camellia and dog plus children playing (Scott 1283/4). The 1994 designs (Scott 1479/50) included a stuffed toy puppy and the dog illustrated in the stamp and New Year commemorative postmark featured in Figure 5.

Christmas Island issued its first ever New Year stamps and miniature sheet for the 1994 Dog year (Scott 35819). The stamp designs comprised a small dog of indeterminate breed called ‘Mickey’ and a Pekingese, a breed often associated with China. The miniature sheet is featured in Figure 6.

Fig 6 1994 Christmas Island

The Republic of China commenced its Lunar New Year stamp issues in 1968. The first ‘Dog’ set of stamps and miniature sheet were issued on December 1, 1969 with a charming design of a pair of Pekingese dogs. In 1982 another set of dog stamps and miniature sheet with a schematic design (Scott 2273/4) were issued. A stylised design was selected for the set of 1994 stamps (Scott 2930/31). This year’s R.O.C design features the work of two stamp designers – the two stamps designed by Miss Wu Jen-fang and the miniature sheet by Mr. Hung-tu Ko as shown in Figure 7. The three different dogs featured on the sbeet were chosen to express group harmony and to convey to society best wishes for peace, health and happiness. ROC normally issues a set of New Year Postal Cards but as yet I have not received confirmation of their issue.

Fig 7 R.O.C Miniature sheet

This year there will no doubt be flood of Chinese Lunar New Year Chinese issues. Remember you do not need to purchase them all. Personally I limit my collection to those countries that have been issuing Lunar New Year stamps and philatelic material for thirty years or more plus Singapore and Christmas Island.