the portrayal of women in propaganda posters during the...

The Portrayal of Women in Propaganda Posters During the Chinese Cultural Revolution

Yu Yang (Sally) Lin

(Art) History

Supervisor: Mrs. K. Puzio

Sir Winston Churchill Secondary

0227

May 2015

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Abstract

China's Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (19661976) was a ten year sociopolitical

movement that not only changed many social aspects of life but drew emphasis to a unique form of art

visual propaganda. Cultural Revolution propaganda posters are visually impacting both in terms of

colour use and composition, and convey strong political messages and nationalism. Due to these

aspects, propaganda posters hold irreplaceable importance in the study of gender equality and the

portrayal of women during the Cultural Revolution. The essay aims to analyze the message of the

propaganda posters, and to what extent were they effective.

The essay is composed of four major components, including historical context, method, analysis

and conclusion. 208 posters within the Cultural Revolution time frame were taken from collector

websites in the randomized order they appeared. The posters were then analyzed for their portrayal of

women in Cultural Revolution propaganda posters with the use of visual analysis, numerical analysis and

historical evidence.

The analysis found three important connections between the female image and the Cultural

Revolution. Firstly, the existence of women in the Cultural Revolution posters was not about gender

equality, but to serve the CCP’s socialist ideological campaigns and industrial production needs.

Secondly, this political drive behind the messages caused the portrayal of genders to become form of

gender neutralization that favoured masculinization. Thirdly, the reduction genders inequality due to

traditional confines prompted the loss of social diversity and exposed women to a new form of

marginalization, where any aspects of femininity was ostracized.

Word Count: 250

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Table of Contents

Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………… 1

Method Defined………………………………………………………………………………. 25

Analysis………………………………………………………………………………………. 57

Numerical Analysis……………………………………………………………………………711

Visual Analysis……………………………………………………………………………… 1121

Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………... 2122

Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………….2324

Appendix……………………………………………………………………………………. 2543

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1

Introduction

Upon its establishment in 1949, The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had the goal of

thought reform and justified propaganda as protection for the “ideological lapses” of the

proletariat.1 The use of propaganda allowed the CCP to “integrate [an] ideology into everyday

life through aggressive information campaigns,” which included behaviour correction,

indoctrination of values, dissemination of policies, and regulation of gender identity and

sexuality.2 Prior to 1966, the Propaganda department, under the Central Committee, took these

policies and spread it through other administrations such as the Ministry of Culture, the Youth

League, and the Women’s Federation, which would then be distributed amongst the people.3 The

Cultural Revolution was launched in 1966 and ended in 1976 with Mao Zedong’s death,

followed by the arrest of his wife Jiang Qing. Mao had said that the revolution was “absolutely

necessary and most timely for consolidating the dictatorship of the proletariat, preventing

capitalist restoration and building socialism.”4 In other words, it was driven by Mao’s fear that

the party had become impure, that capitalism was infiltrating the inner parts of the party. He

aimed to purge all that were becoming bureaucratic, revisionists, and lacking motivation for the

revolution. The Cultural Revolution forced the intelligentsia to go back to the countrysides to

perform manual labour along with farmers, and it demanded the end of class struggles.

A result of the Cultural Revolution was its severe obstruction of industrial and

agricultural production nationwide due to redirection of human resources towards ideological

campaigns rather than production. Consequently, the demand for workers increased substantially.

1 Stefan Landsberger, Chinese Propaganda Posters: from revolution to modernization (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1995), 30.2 Yue Yin, “Cultural changes as reflected in portrayals of women and gender in Chinese magazines published in three eras” (master’s thesis, Iowa State University, 2010), 5.3 Landsberger, Chinese Propaganda Posters, 30.4 Mao Zedong, “Report to the Ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of China” in Important Documents on the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in China, ed. Lin Piao (Peking, Foreign Languages Press, 1970).

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The CCP turned to women as a source of labour supply, and encouraged women to break old

traditions and enter society as workers. To achieve integration of female workers in society, it

required thought reform of the general populace’s mindset regarding women as professionals in

the workforce. The “Cultural Revolution group” led by Jiang Qing replaced the Propaganda

department in 1966, and it widely exploited the use of propaganda posters in order to make these

changes.5 Propaganda posters were a popular method because they are deemed by party officials

as “easily-understood visual information that spelled out the desired behaviour”.6 As a result,

these posters were distributed everywhere within every level of administration. This essay aims

to decipher the message of gender equality in the propaganda posters of China’s Cultural

Revolution (1966-1976) and to what extent were these messages effective. Through the selection

of diverse ranges of data, with analysis and historical evidence, the essay hopes to fill in research

gaps of gender equality during the Chinese Cultural Revolution and draw attention to the

significant role propaganda posters played in gender equality.

Method Defined

In Pingree, Hawkins, Butler and Paisley’s Journal of Communication: A Scale for Sexism,

they described the 5 different levels of gender portrayal of females in the media.7 Women in

level 1 are decorative objects for marketing, victims, or sexual items.8 Level 2 speaks of women

5 “Circular of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (May 16, 1966)” in Important Documents on the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in China (Peking, Foreign Languages Press, 1970), 108.6 Landsberger, Chinese Propaganda Posters, 29.7 Huang Hai Hong, 黄海红, “cong meijie nvxing xingxiang chuanbo shijiao kan wenge shiqi haobao zhongde

nvxing xingxiang” 从媒介女性形象传播视角看文革时期海报中的女性形象 [Looking at the Female Image during the Cultural Revolution’s Propaganda Posters from the Perspective of Media’s Portrayal of the Female

Image], Dongnan Chuanbo 东南传播 Southeast Communication no. 8 (2009): 96.8 Lorie N. Bonham, “Gender Images and Power in Magazine Advertisements: The Consciousness Scale Revisited” (Communications MA Theses, Georgia State University, 2005), 2.

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who occupy a traditional role in society: as mothers, nurses, etc.9 Level 3’s are professional

women in the family setting, ultimately indicating that a woman's place is still at home.10 Level 4

is where men and women are equal.11 Level 5 depicts women as various individuals with their

own unique characteristics.12

This consciousness scale was originally published in 1976.13 The scale was created

several years after the start of the second-wave feminism, which deviated from its predecessor by

drawing attention to cultural and social oppression rather than exclusive focus on political

equality. Similarly, certain movements in Mao’s China also aimed to promote gender equality

and women’s integration into society. Although the consciousness scale examines the differences

between women in reality and media portrayals of women in the western world, it can be applied

to this analysis after readjustments of scope because it holds no political bias, and exists in an era

where feminist movements began to emerge globally.

The CCP had purged Confucian principles, but ironically, it held on to the Confucian

belief of the “perfectibility of people”.14 This belief formed the basis of the propaganda method.

The CCP favoured the use of models in propaganda “as a means to bring about social or

attitudinal change”.15 It is believed that by delineating both desired behaviour and unorthodox

conduct, these models will prompt self-improvement and assist in achieving higher levels of

human perfection by process of emulation.16

9 Ibid.10 Ibid.11 Ibid.12 Ibid., 3.13 Ibid., 2.14 Landsberger, Chinese Propaganda Posters, 24.15 Ibid., 26.16Ibid., 26, 27.

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The selected images for analysis are taken from two different websites - Landsberg17 and

Maopost18. All posters between May 1966 and October 1976 were taken from Landsberg.19 From

Maopost, the first 10 webpages of posters during 1960s were taken, and the first 5 webpages of

posters during 1970s.20 There were more posters within the time frame for 1970s, thus the

reduced number of pages.

With both the consciousness scale and model method in mind, the categorical frames

were adjusted for the analysis. The posters to be analyzed are divided into three gender-based

categories of ‘men only’, ‘women only’, and ‘men and women’. The focus of this analysis is on

women, therefore posters that are ‘men only’ are left in its gender-based category. ‘Men and

women’ is further divided into compositional-subcategories of ‘background’, ‘foreground’, and

‘featured’. Women in ‘background’ means they are not the focus, are either barely identifiable as

women or are used to frame the main visual object. In ‘foreground’, men and women share the

spotlight of the visual attention. ‘Featured’ shows women as the main character with other men

or women as background. The compositional-subcategory of ‘featured’, along with the gender

based-category of ‘women only’ are both divided into five more identity-subcategories based on

the consciousness scale by Pingree et. al.21 There is ‘family’, ‘traditional’, ‘technical’,

‘unidentified’, and ‘individual’. ‘Family’ is based on level 1, ‘Traditional’ is level 2 and level 3

combined together, a quick sweep through the collected posters did not differentiate the two.

Level 4 is ‘technical’, meaning women in the type of profession that is usually for men. Level

5’s ‘individual’ portrays specific women models with identification of name and unique

17 Chinese Posters, accessed September 4, 2014, http://chineseposters.net18 Maopost.com - Chinese Propaganda Posters, accessed September 8, 2014, http://maopost.com19 See Appendix: Selected posters from Chinese Posters and Maopost20 See Appendix: Selected posters from Chinese Posters and Maopost21 Bonham, “Consciousness Scale Revisited”, 2.

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characteristics. ‘Unidentified’ is a new category to accommodate for posters that did not show

enough context to place it in any other category.

This paper also identifies four key symbols and five stylistic elements. These symbols

and elements help analyze the message of the posters. ‘Leader’ is where there are portrayals of

Mao, other significant people in power, or communist leaders like Karl Marx. ‘Antagonists’ are

people that are criticized, which include Confucius, the Gang of Four, and Lin Biao. Another key

element is the ‘little red book’ that contains Mao’s quotations, symbolic for Maoism. The last

items are the ‘red scarves’ or ‘armbands’. The armbands identified someone as a Red Guard.22

And the red scarves identified children as Young Pioneers.23 Lastly, the identification of stylistic

elements include a main slogan, and a subtitle/definition. Posters have main slogans in order to

explain events or methods, and subtitle exists for further clarity. In terms of colours, they are

categorized as mainly red, black & red, and coloured.

Analysis

In order to fully address the research question, there needs to be understanding of where

the message came from. Propaganda Posters in China were made by many different artists, but

are only printed through a publisher. The two most popular publishers were the Shanghai

People’s Publishing House and the People’s Publishing House, both of them nationalized.24 In

article 87 of the 1954 Constitution of the People’s Republic of China, it reads “Citizens of the

People’s Republic of China enjoy freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly,

22 “Chairman Mao Receives Red Guards and Revolutionary Teachers and Students”, Peking Review, Vol. 9, No. 37, ed. Marxist.org, September 9, 1966, https://www.marxists.org/subject/china/peking-review/1966/PR1966-37g.htm.23 Erik Eckholm, “After 50 years, China Youth Remain Mao’s Pioneers”, The New York Times, September 26, 1999, http://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/26/world/after-50-years-china-youth-remain-mao-s-pioneers.html.24 Data acquired from personally conducted analysis.

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freedom of association, freedom of procession and freedom of demonstration… ”25 Though in

1956, a turn of events proved the constitution an empty promise. The Hundred Flowers

Campaign was a period of time where Chairman Mao encouraged the people to speak out about

their opinions and give constructive criticism.26 By 1957, criticisms became increasingly vicious

and were directed towards Mao and the CCP.27 The campaign took a sharp turn and transformed

into an anti-rightist purge to suppress those who criticized the state.28 Following the Hundred

Flowers Campaign and purge, the regime tightened censorship.29

In 1975, at what was thought to be half way through the Cultural Revolution, the

Constitution was updated. Article 12 and 28 best illustrate the new censorship policy. In Article

28, it states “Citizens enjoy freedom of speech, correspondence, the press, assembly, association,

procession, demonstration and the freedom to strike. [… ]”30 Yet in the same constitution,

Article 12 states “[… ] Culture and education, literature and art, physical education, health work

and scientific research work must all serve proletarian politics, serve the workers, peasants and

soldiers, and be combined with productive labour.”31 The conflicting articles ultimately describe

a state in which citizens “enjoy [a] freedom” that is limited by “proletarian politics". With the

limitation of freedom on "culture and education, literature and art", the miscellaneous artists of

the propaganda posters thus had no choice in the message of the artwork, it had to serve purpose

of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and party ideologies. The values of these posters are

that they carry the message of the party, and its limitations are a truthful reflection of the 25 “Constitution of the People’s Republic of China 1954”, Chapter III Fundamental Rights and Duties of Citizens, Article 87 (Peking, Foreign Languages Press 1954), 49.26 Gilbert King, “The Silence that Preceded China’s Great Leap into Famine”, Smithsonian.com, September 26, 2012, http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-silence-that-preceded-chinas-great-leap-into-famine-51898077/?no-ist.27 Ibid.28 Ibid.29 Ibid.30 “Constitution of the People’s Republic of China 1975”, Article 12, (Peking, Foreign Languages Press, 1975), 16.31 Ibid., Article 28.

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people’s public and private lives. The two most important differences between the 1954

constitution and the 1975 constitution is the is the newly introduced communist jargon, and the

omission of executive power roles.32 These allows us to draw inferences that the ambiguity of

executive power was required for the Party Central Committee to exercise its power when it sees

fit, be it for censorship or other policies.33

Numerical Analysis

Upon completing numerical analysis, it seems that the propagated gender equality during

the Cultural Revolution was not women’s rights or gender equality, but gender masculinization.

It was not the liberation of women, it was for the revolution. Mao had developed his own

thoughts based on that of Engels, who said "[...] The emancipation of women becomes possible

only when women are enabled to take part in production on a large, social scale, and when

domestic duties require their attention only to a minor degree.”34 This idea is supported by

numerical data as presented in the Table 1 (p8).

32

Jerome Alan Cohen, “China's Changing Constitution” (Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business, Northwestern University of Law Scholarly Commons, 1979), 68, 76.33 Ibid., 76.34 Friedrich Engels, ed., New Women in New China, (Peking, People’s Republic of China: Foreign Languages Press, 1972), 4. Friedrich Engels is a German who co-authored of the Communist Manifesto (1848) with Karl Marx, outlining the marxist theory.

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Table 1. Gender Count in Propaganda Posters35

Gender-based Category Compositional-Subcategory Identity-Subcategory Frequency

Men only 62

Women and Men Background 44

Foreground 46

Featured Family 4

Traditional 4

Technical 9

Undefined 0

Individual 0

Women Only Family 1

Traditional 6

Technical 12

Undefined 5

Individual 0

In the table, under ‘featured’ and ‘women only’, the number of women in ‘technical’ far

outnumbers number of women in the other identity-subcategories. This represents the masses of

women entering the workforce and taking up jobs that men would traditionally do. Although

women seem to be more empowered than ever, equality has yet to be reached.

35 Table 1. Gender Count in Propaganda Posters, data of personally conducted analysis.

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Figure 1. Gender Count (Percentage)36

Figure 1 helps illustrate this imbalance. Firstly, the fact that 55.4% of all posters featured

men and women indicates that most of the time, there is equal representation in numbers of both

genders. The ‘men only’ category’s more than doubled the ‘women only’ category, with 32.1%

versus 12.4%, which demonstrates that although there is some equal representation of both

genders; the men are preferred over women when posters only portray one gender.

Table 2. Gender Count of Individual in Identity Category37

Category Frequency

Individual men 10

Individual Women 0

Secondly, according to the 1954 Constitution of the People’s Republic of China, Article

91 states that women have “equal rights with men in all areas of political, economical, cultural,

36 Figure 1. Gender Count (Percentage), data of personally conducted analysis.37 Table 2. Gender Count of Individual in Identity Category, data of personally conducted analysis.

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social and domestic life.”38 Numerical statistics from table 2 (above) contradicts the constitution.

Out of 208 posters, men had 10 posters in ‘individual’, whereas women had none. The 10:0 ratio

also corresponds to the communist practice of model emulation having preference for men. Other

than preference for masculinity, the following tables helps identify the CCP’s real objectives.

Table 3. Frequency Table of Symbols39

Symbols Frequency

Leader 34

Antagonist 12

Little Red Book 79

Red Sleeve/Scarf 42

In the table above, symbols show the significance of Mao Zedong Thought. 37% of the

posters had the little red book, it is the most important item that represents Mao.40 My father, Lin

Zhiming, who was one of the last of the youth generation who were sent to the countryside to

work by the revolution, compared its importance to that of the Bible in Christian Communities,

he said that if he went to school without it, the teacher would send him back home to get it.41The

red sleeves or red scarves represent the red guard or children who will become them. Antagonists

or Villains are also frequent in the posters because the revolution was designed to criticize and

purge non-socialists.

38 “Constitution of the People’s Republic of China 1954”, Article 91.39 Table 3. Frequency Table of Symbols, data of personally conducted analysis40 percentage calculated from personal conducted analysis’ Table 2. 41 Lin Zhiming, personal interview over phone with author, September 4, 2014.

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Table 4. Frequency Table of Elements42

Elements Frequency

Main Title 191

Subtitle 37

Red 12

Red/Black 29

Colour 164

Under elements, 191 have main titles or slogans. These phrases outlines the direct

message, and assure that nothing is up for interpretation. It indicates that the posters are visual

aid for the slogan, rather than a creative piece of work with a title. The 164 posters that are in

colour make up 80% of all the posters. Red and red/black collectively only take up 20% of all.

According to Russell Hill and Robert Barton of the University of Durham, the colour red

represents aggression and anger.43 These feelings that contain powerful outburst was desirable

during the revolution, hence the colour use. Although images with colour do not arouse

aggression, it paints the idea of a perfect, harmonious world. The choices of colours are used to

guide the proletariat's emotional response, and assist the slogans in communicating their message.

Visual Analysis

The inclusion of women in propaganda posters was necessary for two reasons. The

slogan of “women hold up half the sky” made the presence of women in posters irreplaceable.44

The second being in order to show the entire country involved in the revolutionary movements,

42 Table 4. Frequency Table of Elements, data of personally conducted analysis.43 John Roach, “In Sports, Red is Winning Colour, Study Says”, National Geographic, May 18, 2005, http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/05/0518_050518_redsports.html44 Yihong Jin 金一虹, “ ‘铁姑娘’:再思考 - 中国文化革命期间的社会性别与劳动” [“Rethink: ‘Iron Maiden’ -

Gender and Work in Society during the Chinese Cultural Revolution”], (南京师范大学金陵女子学院 - Nanjing University Jinling Women’s College, 2006), 7.

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both men and women must be present. Yet more often than not, this portrayal of women is weak

in accuracy of advocating for women’s rights, and it is mutilated to suit political purposes. In

regard of different aspects of life - economical/work, political, and social - two images will be

analyzed for the female image in each category.

The economical situations are best described in the work of the proletariat. Women all

over China joined the workforce in factories and mills; they became commune leaders and

formed parts of the militia, positions previously unavailable to women.45

Figure 2. The world is chock-full of new growth in the spring, and women are shouldering their

half of the heavens46

45 Ibid., 14.46 The World is Chock-full of New Growth in the Spring, and Women are Shouldering Their Half of the Heavens, 1976, Maopost.com Chinese Propaganda Posters, accessed September 27, 2014, http://www.maopost.com:8000/wcat=mao&wlan=en&wreq=posterpage&posterid=0119-001M&srcname=c_women&selected=11&total=165&srcreq=http:%2F%2Fwww.maopost.com:8000%2Fwcat=mao%26wlan=en%26wreq=postercat%26catref=c_women%26displistindex=1

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In the poster above, these women outline a few stylistic elements that were shared by

most women in the propaganda posters. First, they all have a round face, happy smile, large eyes

and thick brows. Secondly, they have uniformly short cropped hair. Thirdly, they always carry

work tools, one girl in the image also drives a tractor. Fourthly, they all sport unisex clothing,

and thus have lack of feminine curves.

These distinctly new characteristics are the visually symbolic of the “iron maiden”. The

“iron maiden” were heroines unique to the Cultural Revolution Era.47 Girls who had the

desirable traits, underwent attitudinal changes, and now consequently carried the party ideologies

were developed into visual representations48. As a result of these models and the need to define a

recognizable image of a hero, traditionally distinct characteristics of women - a defined waist,

wide hips, and long hair - have melted away by process of masculinization. Iron maidens were

competitive women who were passionate about the revolution, and were just as strong as men in

the workforce, if not better.

As demonstrated in the poster below, women take on a new role of hard labour work that

is increasingly technical. These girls beam with positivity at their ability to stand in the front of

the blast and to pave the way through a steep mountain. Interestingly, despite the ratio of men to

women being 1:7, the man is placed taller than all the girls and seems to hold the position of a

leader over the team of women.

47Jin, [“Rethink: ‘Iron Maiden’”], 2.48 Landsberger, Chinese Propaganda Posters, 29.

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Figure 3. New Dynamiters49

While it is undeniably true that women are for more empowered in their career options

than before, Jin from Nanjing University, argues that it is still a form of masculinization,

identifying that in many cases it is the replacement of male workers by female workers in field of

work that are neither traditional nor advanced enough to be technical.50 Supported by the image

of the New dynamiters where girls take up technical work, but are not leaders. She expresses that

this mindset has not created equality between men and women, but the competition to be

stronger in all fields of work. This motivation to win from the women’s side is fueled by past

oppression and misogyny. Contradictingly, a female educated youth that left to work on farms

49 New Dynamiters 0017-001M, 1974, 55x75 cm, Maopost, accessed September 9, 2014, http://www.maopost.com:8000/wcat=mao&wlan=en&wreq=posterpage&posterid=0017-001M&srcname=c_worker&selected=4&total=112&srcreq=http:%2F%2Fwww.maopost.com:8000%2Fwcat=mao%26wlan=en%26wreq=postercat%26catref=c_worker%26displistindex=150 Jin, [“Rethink: ‘Iron Maiden’”], 3.

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felt she “... was free from social expectations of the roles of wife and mother…. [and ]never

worried about being seen as unfeminine for surpassing men in our job performance.”51 It is

important to note that the girl was unmarried and did not have concerns with family life.

These two posters depict the feeling that hard work results in good life. The parties

ideologies paved way for women to demonstrate their strength, but it also encouraged

competition. In an interview with a past iron maiden Yin Zhu, she described herself doing heavy

labour and carrying 120kg of carpets or other products, and then proceeded to give birth to her

child the next day.52 What sounds like a heroic story of dedication and patriarchal love, is also

the negative effects of the revolutionary ideologies. It assumed that women did not have

menstrual cycles, criticized and ostracized any hint of traditional values pr feminine

characteristics.53 The Cultural Revolution made men the ideal model of gender equality to serve

its purposes of economic improvement.

Jamie Burnett identifies that what Jin has previously stated to be advancements in

women’s social status, that regardless of the revolution, many social norms were reluctant to be

let go.54 The strong belief that “women are the foot soldiers and men are the generals” was put

aside as the demand for female workers increased.55 Yet when the other economic or political

aspects of the state are threatened, women’s rights are put off and “always secondary to that of

the nation”.56 Regardless of negativity or positivity, the posters played an effective role in

changing the perspective of women in the workforce, where many of them held technical jobs. It

51 Enaemaehkiw Túpac Keshena, “The Cultural Revolution & The Struggle to Liberate Women”, bermudaradical (blog), December 14, 2014, http://bermudaradical.wordpress.com/2012/03/03/the-cultural-revolution-the-struggle-to-liberate-women/52 Jin, [“Rethink: ‘Iron Maiden’”], 12.53 Yin, “Cultural changes reflected in Chinese magazines”, 20.54 Jamie Burnett, “Women’s Employment Rights in China: Creating Harmony for Women in the Workplace”, Indiana Journal for Legal Studies, Volume 35, Issue 17, Article 8 (2010): 294.55 Ibid., 294.56 Yin, “Cultural changes reflected in Chinese magazines”, 21.

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also contributed to the understanding that women should work just as much as men but still

receive less pay.

Figure 4. Posters showing measures against atomic, chemical and bacteriological warfare57

In the political front, even in posters of ‘men and women’ in the foreground category,

there is unequal representation where the men:women ratio is 3:1, as shown by the poster above.

Of the woman portrayed, we see a young girl with short hair. She shares the same determined,

strong facial features and revolutionary pose as the men. Other aspects of femininity are

unrepresented. Although feminine characteristics lost, many women took advantage of the

liberation. Recall Engels belief of integration of women in the workforce to achieve equality, the

57 Posters showing measures against atomic, chemical and bacteriological warfare BG E13/670 (Landsberger

collection), 1971, 53x76 cm, General Department of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (中国人民解放军总参

谋部), Chinese Posters, acccessed on September 4, 2014, http://chineseposters.net/posters/e13-670.php

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revolution is the cause for the number of female red guards spiking, these young women were

permitted to act with confidence that had never before been allowed.58

Figure 5. To go on a thousand 'li' march to temper a red heart59

In the poster above, where the proletariat are on a march to demonstrate their love and

passion for the country, there is one girl in the foreground with two other men. She is portrayed

as a leader of the long train of marchers. The size of her thighs are the same as her male

58 Jin, [“Rethink: ‘Iron Maiden’”], 10.59 Shanghai No. 3 glass household utensil factory rev. committee pol. prop. group, Xuhui district residential building

and repair company No. 3 construction brigade rev. committee pol. prop. group collective work (上海玻璃器皿三

厂, 徐汇区房屋修建公司第三工程队革委会政宣组供稿), To go on a thousand 'li' march to temper a red heart

BG E13/708 (Landsberger collection), 1971, 53x77 cm, Shanghai renmin chubanshe (上海人民出版社), Chinese Posters, accessed September 4, 2014, http://chineseposters.net/gallery/e13-708.php

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counterparts, her figure equally confident and her gait resembles that of other members in her

row. If the shirt was not a stereotypical girl colour, she could have been easily mistaken as a man.

Jin states that slogans like ‘men and women are the same’, are enforcing male gender

stereotypes on women not just politically, economically, but also socially.60 To test the validity

of this statement, a poster is examined from the first category of ‘family’, which makes up 0.02%

of the total posters.61

Figure 6. For Revolution’s sake, Marry Late and Practice Family Planning62

60 Jin, [“Rethink: ‘Iron Maiden’”], 16.61 Percentage calculated from personally conducted analysis.62 For Revolution’s Sake, Marry late and Practice Family Planning 0035-001M, 1975, 55x75 cm, From Maopost,http://www.maopost.com:8000/wcat=mao&wlan=en&wreq=posterpage&posterid=0035-001M&srcname=c_civic&selected=4&total=75&srcreq=http:%2F%2Fwww.maopost.com:8000%2Fwcat=mao%26wlan=en%26wreq=postercat%26catref=c_civic%26displistindex=1

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In figure 6, there is the perceived existence of a family. Many other posters that involve

families resemble this in message and composition. The little girl holds a book that reads “yu

wen” for Language Arts, she sports both the red scarf and the red arm band. The mother

character of the poster wields a pickaxe. The father figure holds a wrench and has a bayonet

strapped to his back. Both females in this image are well covered with short hair. The mother has

thick eyebrows, large eyes and a wide smile. This image of a family contrasts greatly with our

common perception of a family; which often includes hugging or holding a child, but not

weaponry or agriculture tools. The slogan calls for late marriage and “family planning”, in other

words, birth control. This was part of the birth control campaign that aimed to control China’s

population size, but also free up women to take part in revolutionary causes.63 This details visual

evidence to support Jin’s concept of masculinization. It is true that not all women want to have a

family, but there are also many that do. The revolution has again oppressed traditional women

roles.

In figure 7, it is set late at night where one young woman is writing things down from the

little red book, another girl who is cleaning takes interest in her work. The girl who takes interest

models someone who is keen in the pursuit of knowledge, the other is a diligent worker who

lives up to the poster title, “never stop trying to improve service”. it shows how the CCP’s

policies of work infiltrate private life after work.

63 Keshena, “The Struggle to Liberate Women”.

20

Figure 7. Never Stop Trying to Improve Service64

What propaganda did not change is the social stigma of women being conservative. Since

late marriage was enforced, a girl’s purity or virginity was prized and public displays of affection

or any romantic contact were frowned upon.65 Ping Fu is a woman who was separated from her

slightly-bourgeois family and sent to the countryside under the red guard to be “brainwashed,

starved, tortured and gang raped, [she then became] a factory worker […] without proper

64 Never Stop Trying to Improve Service 0032-001M, 1976, 55x75 cm, From Maopost, http://www.maopost.com:8000/wcat=mao&wlan=en&wreq=posterpage&posterid=0032-001M&srcname=c_women&selected=4&total=165&srcreq=http:%2F%2Fwww.maopost.com:8000%2Fwcat=mao%26wlan=en%26wreq=postercat%26catref=c_women%26displistindex=165 Yin, “Cultural changes reflected in Chinese magazines”, 20.

21

schooling.”66 Rather than receiving help she was ostracized by her peers and bullied for her rape,

getting called “broken shoe”, meaning a ruined woman. Ping Fu’s bitter life is an example of the

CCP’s violent and faulty antics of sending women to work in order to establish gender equality.

Conclusion

The ten year long Cultural Revolution was a period of thought reform to consolidate

maoist communist ideologies. Much of the reform was done with propaganda posters through

attitudinal, behavioural, and thought modeling. As a result of these reforms, the female body

image and consciousness became victims to an utopian political fantasy. The image of women

during the Cultural Revolution’s propaganda posters took on political symbolism by portraying

euphemised scenarios of collectivised revolution and maoist communist moral.

The propaganda poster’s ‘gender equality’ was not gender equality in its truest sense.

Under the socialist belief that equality needed to be achieved by inclusion of all people in the

workforce, the definition of gender equality changed into a form of gender neutralization that

favoured masculinization. This so-called equality disregarded gender and age, and forced people

to actively engage in revolution and construction. The role of women and their existence in

posters was merely the representation of a social class in order to call the Cultural Revolution a

‘national revolution’. Thus, women lost any sense of individualism and their only appeal is to

show off revolutionary ideologies.

The effects of these posters in real life had both positive and negative consequences. The

constant exposure to the propaganda posters empowered women in leaving their traditional posts

as family caretakers to become part of the industrialization movement, and to take on “double

66 Jenna Goudreau, “One Woman’s Journey from China’s Cultural Revolution to Top American Tech Entrepreneur”, Forbes, January 23, 2013, http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennagoudreau/2013/01/23/one-womans-journey-from-chinese-labor-camp-to-top-american-tech-entrepreneur/

22

shifts”. But this act of liberation also limited women. It oppressed women’s values of family and

femininity, and ostracized those who did not fit under the rigid socialist ideologies.

Word Count: 3993

23

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Bonham, Lorie N.. “Gender Images and Power in Magazine Advertisements: The Consciousness Scale Revisited” Communications MA Theses, Georgia State University, 2005.

Burnett, Jamie. “Women’s Employment Rights in China: Creating Harmony for Women in the Workplace”. Indiana Journal for Legal Studies, Volume 35, Issue 17, Article, 2010.

“Chairman Mao Receives Red Guards and Revolutionary Teachers and Students”. Peking Review, Vol. 9, No. 37, ed. Marxist.org, September 9, 1966. https://www.marxists.org /subject/china/peking-review/1966/PR1966-37g.htm.

Chinese Posters. accessed September 4, 2014. http://chineseposters.net

Cohen, Jerome Alan. “China's Changing Constitution” Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business, Northwestern University of Law Scholarly Commons, 1979.

Goudreau, Jenna. “One Woman’s Journey from China’s Cultural Revolution to Top American Tech Entrepreneur”. Forbes, January 23, 2013.http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennagoudreau/2013/01/23/one-womans-journey-from-chinese-labor-camp-to-top-american-tech-entrepreneur/.

Eckholm, Erik. “After 50 years, China Youth Remain Mao’s Pioneers”. The New York Times, September 26, 1999. http://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/26/world/after-50-years-china-youth-remain-mao-s-pioneers.html.

Engels, Friedrich, ed. New Women in New China. Peking, People’s Republic of China: Foreign Languages Press, 1972.

Huang, Hai Hong, 黄海红. “cong meijie nvxing xingxiang chuanbo shijiao kan wenge shiqi

haobao zhongde nvxing xingxiang” 从媒介女性形象传播视角看文革时期海报中的女

性形象 [Looking at the Female Image during the Cultural Revolution’s Propaganda Posters from the Perspective of Media’s Portrayal of the Female Image]. Dongnan

Chuanbo 东南传播 Southeast Communication no. 8 (2009).

Important Documents on the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in China. Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1970.

Jin, Yihong. “ ‘铁姑娘’:再思考 - 中国文化革命期间的社会性别与劳动” [Rethink: ‘Iron

Maiden’ - Gender and Work in Society during the Chinese Cultural Revolution]. 南京师

范大学金陵女子学院 - Nanjing University Jinling Women’s College, 2006.

Keshena, Enaemaehkiw Túpac. “The Cultural Revolution & The Struggle to Liberate Women”,

24

bermudaradical (blog). December 14, 2014. http://bermudaradical.wordpress.com /2012/03/03/the-cultural-revolution-the-struggle-to-liberate-women/.

King, Gilbert. “The Silence that Preceded China’s Great Leap into Famine”. Smithsonian.com, September 26, 2012. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-silence-that-preceded-chinas-great-leap-into-famine-51898077/?no-ist.

Landsberger, Stefan. Chinese Propaganda Posters: from revolution to modernization. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1995.

Maopost.com - Chinese Propaganda Posters. accessed September 8, 2014. http://maopost.com.

National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China. The Constitution of the People’s Republic of China. Peking, Foreign Languages Press, 1954.

National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China. The Constitution of the People’s Republic of China. Peking, Foreign Languages Press, 1975.

Roach, John. “In Sports, Red is Winning Colour, Study Says”. National Geographic, May 18, 2015. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/05/0518_050518_redsports.html.

Yin, Yue. “Cultural changes as reflected in portrayals of women and gender in Chinese magazines published in three eras”. Master’s thesis, Iowa State University, 2010.

25

APPENDIX: Selected Posters from Chinese Posters67 and Maopost68

TITLE YEAR CALL # PUBLISHER ARTIST SIZE

1 Criticize the old world and build a new world with Mao Zedong Thought as a weapon

1966 BG E15/699 (Landsberger collection)

Shanghai renmin meishu chubanshe

Propaganda Poster Group Shanghai renmin meishu chubanshe

108x77 cm

2 Hold high the great red banner of Mao Zedong to wage the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution to the end - Revolution is no crime, to rebel is justified

1966-1967

BG E13/764 (Landsberger collection)


Revolutionary Rebel Command of the Shanghai Publishing System; Revolutionary Rebel Committee of the Shanghai People's Fine Arts Publishing House

53x74.5 cm

3 Hold high the great red banner of Mao Zedong Thought - thoroughly smash the rotting counterrevolutionary revisionist line in literature and the arts



Unknown 76x50.5 cm

4 The 3 July and 24 July proclamations are Chairman Mao's great strategic plans! Unite with forces that can be united with to strike surely, accurately and relentlessly at the handful of class enemies


Unknown Unknown 105.5 x75.5 cm

5 Scatter the old world, build a new world

1967 BG D29/184 (IISH collection)

Unknown Unknown 37x26 cm

6 There is irrefutable evidence that the rotten heads of the United Departments plotted to instigate a "Second Shanghai Riot"! They cannot get away with it!

1967 PC-1967-009 (Private collection)

Unknown Red Flag Commune of the "Shanghai Art Department" of the Worker-Peasant-Soldier Film Studio, Red Flag Corps of the "Publishing Department" of the Shanghai Municipal Print Technology Research Office

78.5x55 cm

67 Chinese Posters, accessed September 4, 2014, http://chineseposters.net68 Maopost.com - Chinese Propaganda Posters, accessed September 8, 2014, http://maopost.com

26

7 Red Rebels unite! 1967 PC-1967-016 (Private collection)

Unknown Jilin LuYi great revolutionary

rebel army a.o. (吉林鲁艺革

命造反大军等)

78x54.5 cm

8 The mobilization of revolutionary peasants is excellent!


Jilin renmin

chubanshe (吉林人

民出版社)

Jilin Lu Yi Great

Revolutionary Rebel Army (吉

林鲁艺革命造反大军)

76x53.5 cm

9 The masses of the United Headquarters have been hoodwinked and are without crime, it is glorious to turn one's weapon around and strike!

1967 PC-196b-015 (Private collection)

Unknown "Shanghai Art Headquarters" workers-peasant-soldiers movie studio Red Flag Commune, "Print Headquarters" Shanghai Municipal print technology research institute red soldier corps

78.5x54 cm

10 Struggle Meeting 1967 PC-1967-013 (Private collection)

United Committee of Revolutionary Rebels to Smash the Rotten Ministry of Culture

United Committee of Revolutionary Rebels to Smash the Rotten Ministry of

Culture (革命造反派砸烂文

化部联合委员会)

78.5x54 cm

11 Resolutely uncover "1 June", massacre the murderers of the East Workers Sports Academy!


United Committee of the Lu Xun Art Academy, Mao Zedong Thought Red Guard Battle Corps of the North East Workers University

United Committee of the Lu Xun Art Academy, Mao Zedong Thought Red Guard Battle Corps of the North East

Workers University (鲁迅美术

学院联委会，东北工学院毛

泽东思想红卫兵战斗团)

78x53 cm

12 Stop the armed struggle at once!


Qingdao Municipal General Command of the Revolutionary

Trade Unions (青

岛市革命职工总

司令部)

Qingdao Municipal General Command of the Revolutionary Trade Unions

(青岛市革命职工总司令部)

76x53.5 cm

13 Chairman Mao teaches us: It is up to us to organize the people…

1967 PC-196b-002 (Private collection)

Revolutionary Rebel Command of the Shanghai Publishing system, Revolutionary Rebel Committee

Revolutionary Rebel Command of the Shanghai Publishing system, Revolutionary Rebel Committee of the Shanghai renmin meishu chubanshe

77x53 cm

27

of the Shanghai renmin meishu chubanshe

14 The world is yours, as well as ours, but in the last analysis, it is yours…


Renmin meishu

chubanshe (人民美

术出版社)

Beijing Film Academy

Jinggangshan Commune (北京

电影学院井冈山公社)

52.5x77.5 cm

15 The Chinese people have high aspirations

1970 PC-1970- l-001 (Private collection)

Shanghaishi Chuban Gemingzu

Shanghai no. Three printing and dyeing mill -Revolutionary committee political propaganda group

77x106 cm

16 The Chinese people have high aspirations

1970 PC-1970- l-003 (Private collection)

Hubei renmin

chubanshe (湖北人

民出版社)

Art Creation Group of Workers Constructing the No. 4 Blast Furnace at WuGang

(Wuhan Steel) (建设武钢四号

烤炉工人美术创作组)

77.5x107.5 cm

17 Win honor for our great leader Chairman Mao, bring credit to our socialist motherland

1970 BG G1/244 (IISH collection)

Central Industrial

Arts College (中央

工艺美术学院)

Central Industrial Arts College

(中央工艺美术学院)

106x77 cm

18 At home 1973 BG E15/684 (Landsbergercollection)

Shanghai renmin

chubanshe (上海人

民出版社)

Chen Jiren (陈纪仁) 77x106 cm

19 The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution must be waged to the end


Renmin meishu


术出版社)

Hou Yimin (候一民), Deng

Shu (邓树), Jin Shangyi (靳尚

谊), Zhan Jianjun (詹建俊),

Luo Gongliu (罗工柳), Yuan

Hao (袁浩), Yang Lin'gui (杨

林桂)

53x56.5 cm

20 The situation is gratifying 1974 BG E13/825 (Landsberger collection)

Renmin meishu


术出版社)

Yan Guiming (阎贵明) 77x63 cm

21 Four not-having-to-bend scrolls (1, 2)


Shanghai renmin


民出版社)

Nanhui District Spare Time

Art Group (南汇县业余美术

创作组)

77x53 cm

22 Four not-having-to-bend scrolls (3, 4)


Shanghai renmin


Nanhui District Spare Time

Art Group (南汇县业余美术

77x53 cm

28

民出版社) 创作组)

23 Our brigade leader 1976 BG E15/93 (Landsberger collection)

Shanghai renmin


民出版社)

Guo Zhiming (郭志明) 53.5x77 cm

24 A new scene in Xiangyangyuan


Shanghai renmin


民出版社)

Cao Ziqiang (曹自强) 54x77 cm

25 Bombard the capitalist headquarters


Shanghai renmin


民出版社)

Cultural Revolution Collective

Painting Creative Group (文化

大革命组画创作组)

54x78 cm

26 One Hundred Clowns -Drag out the counter revolutionary revisionist elements and expose them!


Propaganda Troupe of the Mao Zedong-ism Red Guards of the Politics and Law Commune of the Institute of Political Science and Law, Beijing

Unknown 77.5x54.5 cm

27 A host of demons 1967 BG E15/816 (Landsberger collection)

Tianjin tiyu

chubanshe (天津体

育出版社)

Unknown 80x54 cm

28 Band of clowns - Ferret out the counter-revolutionary reactionary elements and expose them to the masses!

1967 BG PC-1967-014 (Private collection)

Xi'an District Northwest University General Department Red Guard Revolutionary Rebel General Command, Propaganda Department of Cultural Revolution Preparatory Committee of Northwest University, Revolutionary Unified

Unknown 77.5x53 cm

29

Headquarters of the Revolutionary Rebels of State-run Factory 544

29 Thoroughly expose Ulanfu's anti-Party clique


Unknown Hohhot Revolutionary Rebel Liaison Headquarters Fine

Arts Group (呼和浩特革命造

反联络总部美术组)

53x75 cm

30 A Crowd of Clowns 1967 BG E39/563 (IISH collection)

Red Guards. Capital Department no. 1

Weng Rulan (翁如蘭) 54x77.5 cm

31 The New Socialist Things are fine

1976 BG G2/54 (Landsberger collection)

Jiangsu renmin

chubanshe (江苏人

民出版社)

Cheng Lizhi (成励志) 103x75.5 cm

32 Protect the great results of the Great Cultural Revolution


Sichuan renmin

chubanshe (四川人

民出版社)

Jian Chongming (简崇明),

Zhang Mingsheng (张明生)

77x53.5 cm

33 To go on a thousand 'li' march to temper a red heart


Shanghai renmin


民出版社)

Shanghai No. 3 glass household utensil factory rev. committee pol. prop. group, Xuhui district residential building and repair company No. 3 construction brigade rev. committee pol. prop. group collective work

53x77 cm

34 Long live the Paris Commune; Commemorating the centenary of the Paris Commune



(上海人民美术出

版社)

Revolutionary Committee of the Shanghai Drama College

(上海戏剧学院革委会供稿)

77x106 cm

35 Warmly welcome another great victory of Mao Zedong Thought - the birth of the Shanghai People's Commune


Shanghai People's

Commune (上海人

民公社)

Unknown 109x78.5 cm

36 Revolutionary Committees are good


Renmin meishu


术出版社)

Lin Kanghua (林康华); Chen

Yuqiang (陈聿强); Zhang

Gufeng (张鼓峰); Zhang

Huaijiang (张怀江)

53x77 cm

37 Resolutely protect the 1976 BG E15/562 Unknown Conference of Representatives 78x54

30

policy of the revolutionary three-in-one combination!

(Landsberger collection)

of Revolutionary Organizations of Jinnan

Region (晋南区革命组织代表

会议)

cm

38 Warmly hail the formation of the revolutionary committee of Beijing

1966-1967

BG E13/761 (Landsberger collection)

China Film Production and Projection

Company (中国电

影发行放映公司)

Unknown 52.5x71 cm

39 Firmly uphold and defend Chairman Mao's correct policy of the "Three-in-one combination", all power must return to the Shanghai revolutionary committee


Shanghai Revolutionary

Committee (上海

革命委员会)

Unknown 76x53 cm

40 Warmly celebrate the formation of the revolutionary committee of the Foreign Languages Training School of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province



41 Warmly welcome the establishment of the revolutionary committee of the Shanghai East-is-Red diesel locomotive factory!



42 Going to live and work in a production team to wage revolution


Liaoningsheng

xinhua shudian (辽

宁省新华书店)

Unknown 78x107 cm

43 Develop the spirit to wage bitter struggle


Shanxi renmin

chubanshe (山西人

民美术出版社)

Wang Dexing (王德兴) 78x54 cm

44 The university takes care of our mountain village


Renmin chubanshe

(人民出版社)Hong Tao (洪涛), Worker-

Peasant-Soldier student of the revolutionary literature and art department of Peking Normal University

75.5x53 cm

45 Advance courageously along the glorious road of

1971 BG E13/625 (Landsberger

Renmin meishu Museum of the Chinese Revolutionary Army collective

53x76.5 cm

31

Chairman Mao's "7 May instructions

collection) chubanshe (人民美

术出版社)

work (中国人民革命军事博

物馆供稿)

46 Walk the road of the May 7 Cadre Schools to persevere in continuing the revolution


Renmin meishu


术出版社)

Peasant Propaganda Painting Study Group of Jinxian, Liaoning Province, Liu Zhangshun collective work

77x53 cm

47 The glory of going up the mountains, going down to the countryside-presented to the Revolutionary Committee of Tianjin



48 Temper one's red heart on the road of the 7 May (cadre schools), call forth all one's vigor to wage revolution


Shanghai renmin


民出版社)

Shang Xuanbin (尚宣斌) 106x77 cm

49 To villages we go, to the borders we go, to places in the fatherland where we are most needed we go

1970 BG E16/331 (IISH collection)

Shanghaishi

gemingzu (上海市

革命组)

Unknown 77x53 cm

50 Educated youth must go to the countryside to receive re-education from the Poor and Lower-Middle peasants!


Sichuan renmin


民出版社)

Revolutionary Committee of

Sichuan Art Academy (四川美

术学院革命委员会供稿)

54x77 cm

51 Spring breeze in Yangliu 1975 BG E15/178 (Landsberger collection)

Renmin meishu


术出版社)

Zhou Shuqiao (周树桥) 54x78 cm

52 Give a warm send-off to educated youth who go up the mountains and down to the villages to wage revolution


Shanghai renmin


民出版社)

Shi Fuguo (施福国); Wang

Youjun (汪幼军)

106x77 cm

53 Posters showing measures against atomic, chemical and bacteriological warfare


Unknown General Department of the Chinese People's Liberation Army

53x76 cm

54 Untitled (last sheet) 1971 BG E13/699 (Landsberger collection)

Unknown General Department of the Chinese People's Liberation Army

53x76 cm

55 Deepen the criticism of Lin (Biao) and Confucius,

1975 BG E13/339 (Landsberger

Renmin meishu


Lüda Cultural Palace, Zhou

Jianzhi collective work (旅大

53x77 cm

32

energetically increase industrial production

collection) 术出版社) 市文化艺术馆，周建志供稿)

56 Fight the people's battle of criticizing Lin Biao and Confucius well


Renmin meishu


术出版社)

Zhang Ruji (张汝济), Wang

Jue (王角)

77x53.5 cm

57 Relentlessly criticize China's Confucius of today and Lin Biao


Shanghai renmin


民出版社)

Unknown 106x76.5 cm

58 Ruthlessly criticize Lin Biao's "resurrection of the self, restoration of the rites", resolutely follow the road of socialism!


Shaanxi renmin

chubanshe (陕西人

民出版社)

Wang Xijing (王西京), Xi'an

Ribaoshe collective work (西

安日报社供稿)

108x77 cm

59 The historical struggle of the working people against Confucius/Confucianism (first sheet)


Hebei renmin

chubanshe (河北人

民出版社)

Hebei People's Publishing

House (河北人民出版社)

76.5x53 cm

60 Criticize the reactionary thought of Lin Biao and Confucius, firmly walk with the workers and peasants on the road of unity


Tianjin renmin meishu chubanshe

(天津人民美术出

版社)

Che Yongren (车永仁), Yu

Huali (于华鲤)

53x77 cm

61 Study Lu Xun's revolutionary spirit to become a pathbreaker in criticizing Lin Biao and Confucius


Renmin meishu


术出版社)

Chen Yaoyi (陈尧伊) 77x105.5 c

62 Starting the criticism of "Shuihu"




版社) Unknown

76.5x53 cm

63 Thoroughly criticize the capitulationist clique


Shanghai renmin


民出版社)

Feng Zhengjian (冯正建) 54x77 cm

64 Study well and grasp the theory of the dictatorship of the proletariat


Renmin meishu


术出版社)

Lu Juding (路巨鼎) 77x106 cm

65 Create powerful Marxist 1975 BG E13/562 Renmin meishu Dalian High Pressure Valve 77x10

33

theoretical troops in the midst of battle

(Landsberger collection)


术出版社)

Factory, Zhu Yeqing collective

work (大连高压阀门厂，朱

也青供稿)

6 cm

66 Earnestly study the theory of the dictatorship of the proletariat


Hebei renmin

chubanshe (河北人

民出版社)

Li Naizhou (李乃宙) 77x53 cm

67 Carry on the struggle to the end to strike against the right deviationist wind of reversing verdicts


Hunan renmin

chubanshe (湖南人

民出版社)

Gui Runnian (桂润年) 53x76 cm

68 Deepen the criticism of Deng Xiaoping, strike against the right deviationist wind of reversing verdicts


Guangdong renmin

chubanshe (广东人

民出版社)

Wu Qizhong (伍启中) 76.5x51 cm

69 Wage the struggle against the right-deviationist wind of reversing verdicts to the end!


Sichuan renmin


民出版社)

Du Xianqing (杜显清) 77x54 cm

70 Completely finish the struggle of counterattacking the Rightist deviation of reversing verdicts




版社)

Li Dongsheng (李东升), Sun

Jianping (孙建平)

53x76 cm

71 Deepen the criticism of Deng's earthquake relief work




版社)

Tianjin People's Fine Arts Publishing House collective

work (天津人民美术出版社)

77x53 cm

72 The all conquering People's Liberation Army 1968 0077-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

73 We respectfully wish great leader Chairman Mao long life 1967 0100-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

74 Permanent revolution for life, read Chairman Mao's book for life 1966 0127-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

75Sister-in-law chooses a pen 1966 0131-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

76 Iron horses in wind and snow 1966 0139-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

34

77 Chairman Mao and his trusted fellow soldier, Comrade Lin Biao, review the ranks of the massive Cultural Revolution Army 1968 0179-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

78 Long live the great Chinese Communist Party! Long live the great leader, Chairman Mao! Enthusiastically celebrate the successful convening of the 9th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party.

1969 0186-001L Unknown Unknown75x105 cm

79 Long live Chairman Mao's victorious revolutionary line of the rule of the proletariat. 1969 0203-001L Unknown Unknown

75x105 cm

80We must liberate Taiwan! 1969 0205-001L Unknown Unknown

75x105 cm

81 Bravely follow the great leader chairman Mao forward. 1969 0227-001L Unknown Unknown

75x105 cm

82 We not only excel at destroying the old world, we excel at building a new one. 1967 0244-001M Unknown Unknown

51x76 cm

83 Lei Feng, the Great Warrior. 1966 0249-001M Unknown Unknown

77x53 cm

84 Shanghai Great World Entertainment Center. 1966 0250-001M Unknown Unknown

77x53 cm

85 If the enemy sharpens his knife, we shall sharpen ours. 1969 0269-001M Unknown Unknown

54x77 cm

86 Warmly hail the successful opening of The Autumn 1967 China Export Commodities Fair! 1967 0272-001M Unknown Unknown

50x78 cm

87 Let the new socialist arts occupy every stage. 1967 0280-001S Unknown Unknown

35x38 cm

88 Firmly respond to Chairman Mao's call to support the revolutionary 1969 0321-001L Unknown Unknown

77x107 cm

35

cause in the hinterlands!

89Follow the Dazhai road. 1966 0335-001M Unknown Unknown

77x53 cm

90 Hail the triumphant birth of the Liuzhou Steel Factory Revolutionary Committee! 1968 0373-001M Unknown Unknown

78x54 cm

91Cotton doctor. 1966 0377-001M Unknown Unknown

53x77 cm

92 When navigating the sea depend on the helmsman, and when carrying out revolution depend on Mao Zedong Thought. 1969 0447-001M Unknown Unknown

54x77 cm

93 Strive for a greater wheat harvest. Turn wheat flour into a staple food ingredient. 1968 0462-001M Unknown Unknown

78x54 cm

94 Our Motherland's territory shall not be violated! 1969 0493-001M Unknown Unknown

54x77 cm

95 Battle against the forces of nature. Combat drought to ensure grain harvests. 1966 0494-001M Unknown Unknown

77x53 cm

96 Our most beloved leader Chairman Mao meets revolutionary teachers and students of the masses at Tiananmen Gate Tower. 1966 0502-001M Unknown Unknown

77x53 cm

97 Everyone is trying to be she who holds the red banner aloft. 1967 0508-001M Unknown Unknown

77x53 cm

98 Closely follow Chairman Mao's strategic plans, and set in motion a new upsurge of great revolutionary criticism. 1967 0526-001M Unknown Unknown

78x55 cm

99 Hail the triumphant birth of the Revolutionary Committee of the Yi Ma Mining Affairs Bureau, Jianan Branch. 1967 0531-001M Unknown Unknown

77x54 cm

100 With our Motherland in our hearts, open your eyes to the world. 1966 0557-001M Unknown Unknown

78x53 cm

36

101 Serve the people wholeheartedly by fostering the spirit of hard labor. 1966 0608-001M Unknown Unknown

54x78 cm

102 All proletarians of the world, oppressed peoples and ethnic minorities rise together and unite! 1966 0641-001L Unknown Unknown

39x106 cm

103 Learn from Comrade Wang Jie and be a revolutionary successor. 1966 0671-001M Unknown Unknown

76x52 cm

104 The intellectuals must integrate with workers, peasants and soldiers. 1968 0419-001M Unknown Unknown

77x53 cm

105 Long live the triumphant People's War! 1966 0426-001M Unknown Unknown

54x77 cm

106 The Junior Red Soldiers respectfully wish Chairman Mao a long life. Commemorating the 2nd anniversary of Chairman Mao's first review of the Red Guards on August 13, 1968. 1968 0714-001S Unknown Unknown

53.5x39 cm

107 Remember August 18 1966 forever. The revolutionary hearts of the Red Guards shall burn eternally. Commemorating the 2nd anniversary of Chairman Mao's first review of the Red Guards on August 13, 1968. 1968 0715-001S Unknown Unknown

53x38 cm

108 Reinvigorate the military prowess of the Red Guards, and sweep away bad elements of all types. 1968 0716-001S Unknown Unknown

39x53 cm

109 The Junior Red Guards will closely follow our revolutionary commander forever. 1968 0717-001S Unknown Unknown

54x38 cm

110 Carry forward our excellent revolutionary traditions and learn the ways of arduous struggle. 1968 0732-001M Unknown Unknown

77x53 cm

37

111 Courageously advance forward guided by the red flag of Mao Zedong Thought! 1966 0783-001M Unknown Unknown

53x72 cm

112 Strive for a greater harvest and support national construction. 1966 0790-001M Unknown Unknown

77x53 cm

113 Waste not. Be thrifty in running business. 1966 0811-001M Unknown Unknown

76x53 cm

114 Resolutely annihilate the invaders. If imperialists or socialist imperialists insist on forcing a war upon the Chinese people, we will take them on right to the very end! 1969 0825-001M Unknown Unknown

54x75 cm

115 Learn from Comrade Jiao Yulu who alwaysmaintains the natural character of working people. 1966 0826-001M Unknown Unknown

76x54 cm

116 Warmly celebrate the establishment of the Worker's Representative Committee, Jiangxi Province. 1966 0829-001M Unknown Unknown

54x78 cm

117 Commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution! 1966 0832-001M Unknown Unknown

54x77 cm

118 Warmly celebrate the establishment of the Revolutionary Committee in Yichun County. 1966 0836-001S Unknown Unknown

39x55 cm

119 Seven hundred million Mainland Chinese vow to be a powerful backup force for our patriotic compatriots in Hong Kong and Kowloon. 1966 0857-001M Unknown Unknown

53x76 cm

120 Warmly celebrate the establishment of the Workers Representative Committee in Yichun Special Zone. 1966 0889-001S Unknown Unknown

37x53 cm

38

121 Warmly hail the establishment of Xiamen Revolutionary Committee. 1966 0916-001M Unknown Unknown

78x54 cm

122 To navigate on the high seas, one needs a helmsman. To carry out revolution, one needs Mao Zedong Thought. 1969 0928-001S Unknown Unknown

31x67 cm

123 Learn from Comrade Mao Zedong's good student, Comrade Jiao Yulu. 1966 0929-001M Unknown Unknown

76x53 cm

124 Learn from Cai Yongxiang, the Communist warrior who devoted himself wholeheartedly to the public interest. 1967 0934-001M Unknown Unknown

76x52 cm

125 Unite and strive for a greater victory! 1969 0935-001M Unknown Unknown

53x77 cm

126 For the sake of the revolution, try to surpass advanced practices wherever they are implemented worldwide. 1966 0942-001M Unknown Unknown

78x53 cm

127 Long live Chairman Mao, our great tutor, great leader, great commander-in- chief and great helmsman. 1966 0958-001S Unknown Unknown

53x39 cm

128 Pledge to defend our great socialist motherland to the death 1969 0974-001M Unknown Unknown

54x77 cm

129 Our soldiers and civilians are united like one soul. We shall see: Who in this world can defeat us? 1966 0997-001M Unknown Unknown

77x53 cm

130 Studying and working in the field cultivates both crops and people. 1966 1061-001M Unknown Unknown

77x53 cm

131 Long live invincible Mao Zedong Thought! 1967 1070-001M Unknown Unknown

77x53 cm

132 Make sure that we closely steer toward the main direction of struggle. 1967 1088-001M Unknown Unknown

76x53 cm

39

133 Do good environmental sanitation work, and keep the city looking neat and clean. 1975 0002-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

134 May your friendship spread all over the world. 1974 0005-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

135 Poster for popularizing aerial defense know-how. 1975 0006-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

136 Let's make the best plan, let's build well, let's make Chairman Mao satisfied. 1972 0008-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

137 Hold aloft the glorious banner of the "Angang Constitution" to gain agreater victory in industrial production. 1970 0009-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

138 May all asians come together, drive the US aggressor out of asia. 1975 0011-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

139 Kill the bastard Chen Zai-Dao as a sacrifice to the souls of our brave martyrs. 1975 0012-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

140 Learn from Pan Dongzi how to be a good child of the Communist Party. 1975 0015-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

141 New dynamiters 1974 0017-001M Unknown Unknown

142 Seedling at Jin gang -where Chairman Mao founded the first Soviets. 1976 0018-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

143Long live Chairman Mao. 1971 0020-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

144 Innovative workers improve industrial production. 1975 0021-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

145 Be alert to protect our country, be ready to annihilate any aggressors at any moment. 1970 0023-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

146 Propaganda poster: "The Three Defenses" - Against atomic, chemical and biological warfare. 1975 0024-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

147 Long live the great 1971 0025-001M Unknown Unknown 55x75

40

Chinese People's Liberation Army.

cm

148 Unite for an even greater victory. 1975 0027-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

149 Heighten vigilance to protect our Motherland. 1970 0029-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

150 Develop sporting activities in the military to safeguard our socialist motherland. 1975 0030-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

151 Never stop trying to improve service. 1976 0032-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

152Exhibitions are good. 1972 0033-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

153 Take the classroom into the fields 1975 0034-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

154 For the revolution's sake, marry late and practice family planning. 1975 0035-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

155 Sing revolutionary war songs with fervor, and move forward in victory. 1970 0036-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

156 Shift the emphasis on medical treatment work to the countryside. 1975 0037-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

157 From now on we have to prepare. 1970 0038-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

158 Times have changed. Girls and boys are equals now. 1975 0039-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

159 Be alert, strengthen combat readiness. 1971 0041-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

160 Go forward through great difficulties following Chairman Mao. 1975 0042-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

161Peasant artist. 1974 0043-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

162The rising sun 1971 0044-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

163Red detachment of women. 1975 0045-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

164 Don't trash your worn out leather shoes - recycle them into fertilizer. 1975 0046-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

41

165 Practice combat skills with all your energy. 1972 0047-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

166 Support the army, love the people. 1970 0048-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

167 Strengthen the union of the army and the people, be ready to annihilate aggressors at any time. 1970 0049-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

168We must liberate Taiwan 1972 0050-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

169 Serve the people with all my heart 1975 0051-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

170 Both people's postman and party's spokesman

1976 0052-001M Unknown Unknown53x77 cm

171 Imperialism and all reactionaries are paper tigers. Revisionism is just a paper tiger too. 1971 0054-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

172 Push patriotic sanitation work to new heights. 1973 0055-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

173 Anti-aircraft and combat training. 1971 0056-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

174Love the people. 1972 0059-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

175 When I grow up I want to be a commune member too. 1976 0062-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

176 Lei Feng, Chairman Mao's fine soldier. 1975 0063-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

177 Save money, make more effort to realize the Four Modernizations. 1975 0064-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

178 That's the kind of person one should strive to be. 1973 0065-001M Unknown Unknown

75x53 cm

179 Growing up amidst class struggle 1975 0068-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

180Happy voyage 1971 0071-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

181 Perseverance is the most precious. 1974 0073-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

182 Vigorously promote 1975 0074-001M Unknown Unknown 55x75

42

patriotic sanitary activities. cm

183 Salute the fighters of the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea 1975 0075-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

184 The sun shines brightly over the pasture. 1972 0076-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

185 Camping in the rough trains our patriotic spirits to follow Chairman Mao forever. 1971 0078-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

186 Propaganda poster: "The Three Defenses" - Against atomic, chemical and biological warfare.

1975 0079-001M Unknown Unknown55x75 cm

187 For revolution's sake, marry late and practice family planning. 1975 0080-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

188 For revolution's sake, marry late and practice family planning. (2) 1975 0081-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

189 For the sake of the revolution, implement family planning. 1975 0082-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

190 There are many benefits to family planning. 1975 0083-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

191 For the sake of the revolution, implement

family planning. （2） 1975 0084-001M Unknown Unknown55x75 cm

192 A communist should be an advanced member of the proletariat. 1971 0085-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

193 Advance socialist consciousness, practice combat training. 1973 0087-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

194 When the military and the people are as one, who under the sky the world can defeat us? 1975 0095-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

195 Carry out revolutionary literary and artistic activities, consolidate socialist ideology and 1974 0097-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

43

culture.

196 Pass the Iron Man spirit on to future generations. 1974 0098-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

197 Dong Cunrui sacrificing himself to bomb enemy pillbox. 1975 0102-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

198 Making harvesting grounds into a battleground. 1975 0103-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

199 Cheers for the grand victory of Chairman Mao's revolutionary line. 1975 0105-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

200 Chairman Mao is the red sun in our hearts. 1975 0105-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

201Hero Huang Jiguang. 1973 0107-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

202 Party satisfied, Army satisfied, People satisfied. 1975 0108-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

203Back from long voyage. 1975 0111-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

204 The world is chock-full of new growth in the spring, and women are shouldering their half of the heavens. 1976 0119-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

205 Newcomer in a mountain village. 1975 0120-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm

206 Critique capitalism, act as a socialist. 1976 0094-001M Unknown Unknown

55x75 cm