Cultural Revolution
When Mao Zedong was the president of China, he launched a revolution which is called Cultural Revolution. Cultural Revolution is to 'purge the “impure” elements of Chinese society and revive the revolutionary spirit that had led to victory in the civil war 20 decades earlier and the formation of the People’s Republic of China' (History, 2009). This ideolody was mostly propagated by the posters. This revolution has caused one million death toll and it also 'encouraged the eradication of the “Four Olds”—old “things, ideas, customs, and habits,” through which classical literature, art, and architecture were damaged or destroyed' (Burgess. A, 2018).
The poster above is in black, white and red colours and the sentence on that poster means 'Chairman Mao leads us to advance'. The people below are looking forward and some of them are holding a book which is 'Little Red Book' by Mao Zedong. It 'contains 267 aphorisms from the Communist Chinese leader, covering subjects such as class struggle, "correcting mistaken ideas" and the "mass line", a key tenet of Mao Zedong Thought' (BBC, 2015). And on the upper side of the poster, there's the Mao Zedong's face.
The red colour gives people the passionate feeling and also able to leave strong impression in citizens' mind because it's too saturated. The lines and the man who held out his hand give people a dynamic feeling which tells people their country is progressing and improving instead of staying at same place. On the upper side of the poster is Mao Zedong's face which looks like a sun shows that he is the leader who guide people to advance together.
Even though the poster is simple and graphic, but a Chinese painter, Shaomin Li said that 'for my generation, our education was pretty much Mao’s revolutionary class struggle ideology, which was propagated by the posters,' and 'this ideology 'has left such a strong indelible imprint on us that many of us may still subconsciously follow Mao’s tactic in our lives. For example, many contemporary business leaders in China attribute their business success to Mao’s thought' (Burgess. A, 2018).
References:
BBC. (2015) Who, What, Why: What Is The Little Red Book? Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34932800 [Accessed on 2nd July 2018]
Burgess, Anika. (2018) The Art Of Chinese Propaganda Posters. Available at: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/chinese-propaganda-posters-cultural-revolution-shaomin-li [Accessed on 2nd July 2018]
Chu, R, Lau, D, Moriah, S , and Schallich, A. (2007-2008) Communism And Computer Ethics : History And Background Of Communism. Available at: https://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/cs181/projects/2007-08/communism-computing-china/index.html [Accessed on 2nd July 2018]
History. (2009) Cultural Revolution. Available at: https://www.history.com/topics/cultural-revolution [Accessed on 2nd July 2018]
Winkle, K. (2013) Critical Analysis And Appropriation Of Compositional Strategies Utilized In Chinese Cultural Revolution Propaganda Posters From 1966 To 1976. Available at: https://www.ncuscr.org/sites/default/files/Critical%20Analysis%20of%20Chinese%20Cultural%20Revolution%20Propoganda%20Posters%20(College)%20by%20Kimberly%20Winkle.pdf [Accessed 2nd July 1028]
Figure:
https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/52116/image.jpg
The poster above is in black, white and red colours and the sentence on that poster means 'Chairman Mao leads us to advance'. The people below are looking forward and some of them are holding a book which is 'Little Red Book' by Mao Zedong. It 'contains 267 aphorisms from the Communist Chinese leader, covering subjects such as class struggle, "correcting mistaken ideas" and the "mass line", a key tenet of Mao Zedong Thought' (BBC, 2015). And on the upper side of the poster, there's the Mao Zedong's face.
The red colour gives people the passionate feeling and also able to leave strong impression in citizens' mind because it's too saturated. The lines and the man who held out his hand give people a dynamic feeling which tells people their country is progressing and improving instead of staying at same place. On the upper side of the poster is Mao Zedong's face which looks like a sun shows that he is the leader who guide people to advance together.
Even though the poster is simple and graphic, but a Chinese painter, Shaomin Li said that 'for my generation, our education was pretty much Mao’s revolutionary class struggle ideology, which was propagated by the posters,' and 'this ideology 'has left such a strong indelible imprint on us that many of us may still subconsciously follow Mao’s tactic in our lives. For example, many contemporary business leaders in China attribute their business success to Mao’s thought' (Burgess. A, 2018).
References:
BBC. (2015) Who, What, Why: What Is The Little Red Book? Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34932800 [Accessed on 2nd July 2018]
Burgess, Anika. (2018) The Art Of Chinese Propaganda Posters. Available at: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/chinese-propaganda-posters-cultural-revolution-shaomin-li [Accessed on 2nd July 2018]
Chu, R, Lau, D, Moriah, S , and Schallich, A. (2007-2008) Communism And Computer Ethics : History And Background Of Communism. Available at: https://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/cs181/projects/2007-08/communism-computing-china/index.html [Accessed on 2nd July 2018]
History. (2009) Cultural Revolution. Available at: https://www.history.com/topics/cultural-revolution [Accessed on 2nd July 2018]
Winkle, K. (2013) Critical Analysis And Appropriation Of Compositional Strategies Utilized In Chinese Cultural Revolution Propaganda Posters From 1966 To 1976. Available at: https://www.ncuscr.org/sites/default/files/Critical%20Analysis%20of%20Chinese%20Cultural%20Revolution%20Propoganda%20Posters%20(College)%20by%20Kimberly%20Winkle.pdf [Accessed 2nd July 1028]
Figure:
https://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/52116/image.jpg
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