{"id":94,"date":"2020-12-18T01:05:06","date_gmt":"2020-12-18T06:05:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/history-2203-fall-2020-scooper3\/?page_id=94"},"modified":"2020-12-20T23:14:11","modified_gmt":"2020-12-21T04:14:11","slug":"document-analysis","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/history-2203-fall-2020-scooper3\/course-description\/document-analysis\/","title":{"rendered":"Propaganda Poster Analysis"},"content":{"rendered":"

A massive propaganda effort paralleled the Chinese Communist Party\u2019s institutional reconstruction. Most of this propaganda took the form of posters that served to inspire Chinese citizens about the success of communism and the East. They included artwork of bountiful fields, fat livestock, smiling workers eating in communal mess halls, and even epics of Chinese people crossing oceans. Each of these posters work to reinforce ideals of communalism and to build national pride.<\/span><\/p>\n

Food1<\/a><\/sup>The captions are translations of the Chinese characters on each poster.<\/span><\/h4>\n
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Poster<\/em> 1<\/em>: “The melons are sweet, grain and rice are fragrant, everybody tries the flavor,” November 1958<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Poster 2<\/em>:\u00a0\u201cDevelop industrial and agricultural production, realize the simultaneous development of industry and agriculture,\u201d 1960<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Poster 3<\/em>:\u00a0\u201cThe communes are big, the people numerous, the natural resources abundant, it is easy to develop a diversified economy,\u201d 1960<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Poster 4<\/em>:\u00a0\u201cStart the movement to increase production and practise [sic] thrift, with foodstuffs and steel at the center, with great force!\u201d September 1960<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Each of the food-centered posters above clearly displays healthy produce, strong workers, and an abundance of grain. They also often show a strong link between steel production and grain production, an attempt to pair Chinese steel efforts with food despite the fact that these were often deleterious to agriculture. Finally, the text in these posters often markets the People\u2019s Communes as places in which there were an abundance of food and resources for <\/span>everyone<\/span><\/i>. This is highlighted in the third poster, which reads, \u201cThe communes are big, the people numerous, the natural resources abundant, it is easy to develop a diversified economy.\u201d2<\/a><\/sup>\u201cThe communes are big, the people numerous, the natural resources abundant, it is easy to develop a diversified economy,\u201d Shanghai renmin meishu chubanshe, accessed December 20, 2020, https:\/\/chineseposters.net\/posters\/d25-138. <\/span><\/span>\u00a0By portraying the excess of food with a smiling farmer, the CCP promotes the image that the abundance of resources were invested back into rural communities.<\/span><\/p>\n

This was a centerpiece of the communist dream and represents the ideological commitment of the Chinese Communist Party: representation and support for those who have been historically marginalized. Even simple features of these posters, such as the Chinese workers conducting varying jobs shown in the fourth image, uphold the image of Communist China as a place where all citizens were valued and significant.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Community3<\/a><\/sup>The captions are translations of the Chinese characters on each poster.<\/span><\/h4>\n
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Poster 5<\/em>:\u00a0\u201cGetting organised is boundlessly good. Collective life brings a lot of happiness,\u201d May 1960<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Poster 6<\/em>:\u00a0\u201cWhen the dining hall is well-run, the production spirit will increase,\u201d February 1959<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Poster 7<\/em>:\u00a0\u201cThe future of the rural village,\u201d October 1958<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Poster 8<\/em>:\u00a0\u201cBrave the wind and the waves, everything has remarkable abilities,\u201d 1958<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The propaganda posters that depict flourishing People\u2019s Communes do so, once again, by highlighting an abundance of food, especially in mess halls. The sixth poster, with the text, \u201cWhen the dining hall is well-run, the production spirit will increase,\u201d argues for the strength of the communist system in which dedicated cooks make food for the entire community, therefore freeing up more time for farmers to spend out in the fields. This highlights the importance of specialized workers and how a successful communist society functions when every person has their specific task at which they excel.<\/span><\/p>\n

The poster of Chinese citizens on the ocean is an allegory to the Daoist mythology of the Eight Immortals who \u201ccrossed the sea using their \u2018power tools.\u2019\u201d4<\/a><\/sup>Wang Liuying et al., \u201cBrave the wind and the waves, everything has remarkable abilities,\u201d Shanghai renmin meishu chubanshe, accessed December 20, 2020, https:\/\/chineseposters.net\/posters\/pc-1958-024.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0Drawing connections between religious mythology and national ideals both legitimized the Great Leap Forward and built implicit support for it within Chinese citizens. There is no better way to inspire an entire generation for communalism than to tap into their roots by painting modern society in the image of\u2019 mythology in which eight deities \u201c[show] off their skills and expertise to achieve a common goal.\u201d5<\/a><\/sup>Wang Liuying et al., \u201cBrave the wind.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Miscellaneous6<\/a><\/sup>The captions are translations of the Chinese characters on each poster.<\/span><\/h4>\n
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Poster 9<\/em>:\u00a0\u201cEverybody comes to beat sparrows,\u201d September 1956<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Poster 10<\/em>:\u00a0\u201cProsperity brought by the dragon and the phoenix,\u201d February 1959<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

These final two posters tap into the most salient aspects of Chinese propaganda during the Great Leap Forward. The first depicts one young child with a drawn slingshot and another with a dead sparrow in their hand. Sparrows were one of the pests that the Chinese Communist Party encouraged citizens to kill in an attempt to save grain stores; promoting the image of children killing them both played into the narratives of communalism from the earliest of ages and that the cause of low grain production stemmed from natural origins rather than governmental negligence. The second poster utilizes the traditional Chinese symbols of the dragon and phoenix, which represent China and good governance, respectively.7<\/a><\/sup>Jiang Mi, \u201cProsperity brought by the dragon and the phoenix,\u201d Chongqing renmin chubanshe, accessed December 20, 2020, https:\/\/chineseposters.net\/posters\/e16-340.<\/span><\/span> By tying modern-day China to its historical and mythological roots, the CCP gained validity in the eyes of its citizens.<\/span><\/p>\n

The most intriguing element of these propaganda posters is their genuineness. Often, the images of successful People\u2019s Communes or smiling workers seem like idealistic portrayals by artists rather than intentional propaganda efforts. And in many ways, that sincerity reflects the emotional environment in China; most citizens were strong believers in the CCP and the instatement of communism. Thus, to some degree, it is fair to observe these posters as both a concerted propaganda effort and<\/span> a window into the mindset of many Chinese communist advocates.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Poster 1,8<\/a><\/sup>Zeng Chaohua, \u201cThe melons are sweet, grain and rice are fragrant, everybody tries the flavor,\u201d Sichuan renmin chubanshe, accessed December 20, 2020, https:\/\/chineseposters.net\/posters\/d25-144.<\/span> Poster 2,9<\/a><\/sup>\u201cDevelop industrial and agricultural production, realize the simultaneous development of industry and agriculture,\u201d Shanghai renmin meishu chubanshe, accessed December 20, 2020, https:\/\/chineseposters.net\/posters\/d25-136. <\/span> Poster 3,10<\/a><\/sup>\u201cThe communes are big, the people numerous, the natural resources abundant, it is easy to develop a diversified economy,\u201d Shanghai renmin meishu chubanshe, accessed December 20, 2020, https:\/\/chineseposters.net\/posters\/d25-138. <\/span> Poster 4,11<\/a><\/sup>Du Qi, \u201cStart the movement to increase production and practise thrift, with foodstuffs and steel at the center, with great force!\u201d Chongqing renmin chubanshe, accessed December 20, 2020, https:\/\/chineseposters.net\/posters\/e15-614.<\/span> Poster 5,12<\/a><\/sup>Shen Lin, Zhang Hanyi, and Lu Xingchen, \u201cGetting organised is boundlessly good. Collective life brings a lot of happiness,\u201d Shanghai renmin meishu chubanshe, accessed December 20, 2020, https:\/\/chineseposters.net\/gallery\/e16-41.<\/span> Poster 6,13<\/a><\/sup>Hu Yuelong, \u201cWhen the dining hall is well-run, the production spirit will increase,\u201d Shanghai renmin meishu chubanshe, accessed December 20, 2020, https:\/\/chineseposters.net\/gallery\/e15-829.<\/span> Poster 7,14<\/a><\/sup>Zhang Yuqing, \u201cThe future of the rural village,\u201d Shanghai renmin meishu chubanshe, accessed December 20, 2020, https:\/\/chineseposters.net\/posters\/pc-1958-014.<\/span> Poster 8,15<\/a><\/sup>Wang Liuying et al., \u201cBrave the wind and the waves, everything has remarkable abilities,\u201d Shanghai renmin meishu chubanshe, accessed December 20, 2020, https:\/\/chineseposters.net\/posters\/pc-1958-024.<\/span> Poster 9,16<\/a><\/sup>Bi Cheng, \u201cEverybody comes to beat sparrows,\u201d accessed December 20, 2020, https:\/\/chineseposters.net\/gallery\/e12-901. <\/span> Poster 10.17<\/a><\/sup>Jiang Mi, \u201cProsperity brought by the dragon and the phoenix,\u201d Chongqing renmin chubanshe, accessed December 20, 2020, https:\/\/chineseposters.net\/posters\/e16-340.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A massive propaganda effort paralleled the Chinese Communist Party\u2019s institutional reconstruction. Most of this propaganda took the form of posters that served to inspire Chinese citizens about the success of communism and the East. They included artwork of bountiful fields, fat livestock, smiling workers eating in communal mess halls, and even epics of Chinese people […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1189,"featured_media":0,"parent":7,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-94","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/history-2203-fall-2020-scooper3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/94","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/history-2203-fall-2020-scooper3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/history-2203-fall-2020-scooper3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/history-2203-fall-2020-scooper3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1189"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/history-2203-fall-2020-scooper3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/history-2203-fall-2020-scooper3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/94\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/history-2203-fall-2020-scooper3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/history-2203-fall-2020-scooper3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}