50 Jin - Forage Stamp Hanyang County, Hubei

Forage stamps — grain-equivalent ration coupons issued by county-level bureaus rather than the central government — proliferated across rural China during the 1980s as local authorities retained parallel distribution systems well after the peak of the national ration coupon infrastructure. Hanyang County, situated on the western bank of the Han River opposite Wuhan, operated its own food administration independently of the larger municipal apparatus. The joint issuance by an education bureau alongside a food bureau reflects a specific allocation mechanism: forage allotments tied to institutional populations such as school staff and students, not general household rations.

At 50 Jin, this represents a substantial single-coupon denomination — roughly 25 kilograms of fodder or grain equivalent.