Vietnam Post has issued a set of stamps inspired by Vietnamese fairytale Cây Khế (The Star Fruit Tree). Photo courtesy of Vietnam Post

HÀ NỘI —  A stamp set inspired by Vietnamese fairytale Cây Khế (The Star Fruit Tree) has been released by Vietnam Post.

One of the most favourite stories of Vietnamese children, Cây Khế contains many meaningful messages praising family relationships, brotherhood, industriousness and life lessons.

The set contains four stamps and one block designed by artist Nguyễn Du from Vietnam Post. Each stamp is 32 x 43mm and the block is 120 x 120mm.

The set is like a short and concise fairytale, illustrated with the vibrant colours. The first stamp depicts the scene of the elder brother taking all the belongings and chasing his brother and his wife away. The second has an image of a strange bird taking the younger brother to the island to collect gold. In the third stamp, the elder brother and his wife discuss exchanging their big house for the garden with the star fruit tree and the final features the scene where the elderly brother falls into the sea after greedily taking too much gold.

The stamp block depicts the happy and prosperous life of the younger brother and his wife.

The most basic details of the fairy tale have been selected and illustrated in the set so that the viewers could easily grasp its content. The distinctive images of Vietnamese culture have also been showcased in each stamp, like an ancient house with five rooms, a brick yard, hay cock, a herd of buffalo or a paddy field. The characters, honesty or cunning, hard work or lazy, are portrayed in clear contrast. Particularly, the stamp block illustrates the happy ending of the fairy tale, which reflects the Vietnamese belief in the law cause and effect in life

The Star Fruit Tree stamps are priced at VNĐ4,000, VNĐ6,000 and VNĐ15,000. They could be purchased via the Vietnam postal network until December 31, 2023. VNS