The Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) was a mass
campaign of enormous dimensions. Aside from the general revolutionary
high-tide that swept China, the period was marked by a large number of
sub-campaigns. Indeed, whenever the situation called for a shift in
orientation within the larger framework of the Cultural Revolution,
this was engineered by setting in motion a new campaign. Factional
struggles within the leadership also functioned as catalysts for
campaigns.
Often, these sub-campaigns came so hard and fast that
propaganda posters had to serve as the main source of information for
the people. With the country in complete chaos, these images which
contained clear and unambiguous indications of what behavior and
slogans were acceptable at that particular moment, were seen as more
dependable than the media. This was in particular the case in those
localities where the "excellent revolutionary" situation that
prevailed – according to the media, that is – had become
completely unintelligible to the innocent bystander.
Locally produced posters are extremely interesting.
Not only because they shed light on the local situation, but also from
an artistic point of view. They are often striking in their simplicity
of design and coloring, usually done in simple red, white and black, and are somewhat reminiscent of the block prints made
in the war years. As such, they bear witness to the urgency of the
times.
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The Cultural Revolution (with some images)
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, by Brain R. Train
Morning Sun, a film and website about Cultural Revolution, by Carma Hinton, Geremie Barmé and Richard Gordon (2002)
The Red Guards
Zuoyi wenku (Left Wing Library), contains many Cultural Revolution documents (in Chinese)
s.r.landsberger@let.leidenuniv.nl
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International Institute of Social History