Chinese Year Of The Monkey

Chinese Year of the Monkey, 2004, issued by Sierra Leone.

Chacma Baboon (Papio ursinus), issued by South Africa in 2004 to mark the Chinese Year of the Monkey.

New Caledonia issued a very spectacular and attractive stamp and souvenir sheets to celebrate the Year of the Monkey in 2004.

The stamp features "The three wise monkeys". They embody the proverb "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil." They are known as Mizaru, who covers his eyes and sees no evil; Kikazaru, who covers his ears and hears no evil; and Iwazaru, who covers his mouth and speaks no evil. Traditionally, the motif promotes moral discipline in thought, speech, and action, while in the Western world it is often used ironically to describe willful ignorance or the deliberate overlooking of wrongdoing.

The souvenir sheets were issued at the beginning and at the end of the Year of the Monkey. They are inspired by classical Chinese art, mythology, and Buddhist symbolism. The first sheet, released at the start of the year, features narrative scenes with monkey imagery alongside a tiger, a powerful symbolic figure in Chinese art. The second sheet, issued toward the end of the year, presents a central bodhisattva figure flanked by a monkey figure associated with the Monkey King tradition and a cock (rooster), representing the transition from the Year of the Monkey to the incoming Year of the Rooster.

Single stamps issued by different countries to celebrate the 2004 Year of the Monkey: French Polynesia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Bhutan and Congo.

Chinese Year of the Monkey, 2004, New Zealand.

Hamadryas Baboon (Papio hamadryas hamadryas)
Ring-tailed Lemur (Lemur catta)
Spider Monkey (Ateles geoffroyi)

Chinese Year of the Monkey, 2004, Ireland.

Chinese Year of the Monkey, 2004, Cuba.

Chinese Year of the Monkey, 2004, St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Chinese Year of the Monkey, 2004, Antigua and Barbuda.

- Diana Monkey (Cercopithecus diana)
- Mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx)
- Lar Gibbon (Hylobates Iar)
- Ursine Red Howler (Alouatta arctoidea)

Chinese Year of the Monkey, 2004, Gambia.

Ring-tailed Lemur (Lemur catta), Madagascar, Africa
Common Squirrel Monkey (Saimiri sciureus), America
Mantled Guereza (Colobus guereza), Africa
Golden Snub-nosed Monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana), China, Asia.

Chinese Year of the Monkey, 2004, Guyana.

- Unidentified
- Black-and-white ruffed lemur (Lemur variegatus)
- Southern muriqui (woolly spider monkey) (Brachyteles arachnoides)
- Golden lion tamarin (Leontopithecus rosalia rosalia)

Chinese Year of the Monkey, 2004, Dominica.

The monkeys are probably:
- Proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus).
- species not identifiable
- Vervet monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus)
- Mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx)

Chinese Year of the Monkey, 2004, Grenada Carriacou & Petite Martinique.

The monkeys are probably:
- Black-and-white colobus (Colobus sp.)
- Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes)
- Baboon (Papio sp.)
- Stylized monkey portrait (species not certain)

Chinese Year of the Monkey, 2004, Ghana.

The monkeys shown are stylized and not identifiable to species.

Chinese Year of the Monkey, 2004, Grenada.

From the monkeys I can identified the top right as Proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus) and the bottom left which is probably gorilla.