{"id":543,"date":"2014-03-10T14:45:32","date_gmt":"2014-03-10T19:45:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mixedmessages\/?page_id=543"},"modified":"2014-08-13T20:54:43","modified_gmt":"2014-08-14T01:54:43","slug":"images-of-mao-and-the-cultural-revolution","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mixedmessages\/images-of-mao-and-the-cultural-revolution\/","title":{"rendered":"Images of Mao and the Cultural Revolution"},"content":{"rendered":"

[SlideDeck2 id=606]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The 1960s: Mixed Messages Abound<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The 1960s were calamitous years for China. Mao Zedong\u2019s experiments with mass industrialization during the Great Leap Forward (1958-1961) led to famine and widespread starvation and death. The zealotry of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1969) led to the formation of the Red Guard. This paramilitary social movement tasked millions of young people with ridding China of the \u201cFour Olds\u201d \u2013 old customs, old habits, old ideas, and old culture.<\/p>\n

Within the visual realm, mixed messages were abundant. While chaos and famine were the reality, printing presses churned out images such titled, \u201cWe are Mao Zedong\u2019s Little Red Soldiers\u201d and \u201cSocialism is fine!\u201d Millions of images of Mao Zedong were circulated, showing him as poet, calligrapher, statesman, and soldier. At the same time, the public voiced criticism of authority figures with \u201cbig character posters,\u201d diatribes handwritten on newsprint and hung in public spaces.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\"MaoEngraving\"<\/a>Young Mao Zedong Doing Calligraphy
\n<\/strong>Engraving, 1950s<\/td>\n		\"P1030207\"<\/a>National Day Celebration at Tian’anmen Square<\/strong>
\nOffset print<\/td>\n		\"ConserveGrain_1stonleftBackWall.jpg\"<\/a>“A Letter to the Party”<\/strong>
\nOffset Print, April 1959
\nMao Zedong<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"P1030204\"<\/a>“Wishing Chairman Mao Long Life without End”<\/strong>
\nLiu Wenxi, 1959<\/td>\n		\"P1030203\"<\/a>“Taking the Market to the People”<\/strong>
\nOffset print, republished 1986<\/td>\n		\"WoodblockPrintChairmanMaoZedong\"<\/a>Chairman Mao in military attire<\/strong>
\nWoodblock print, 1966-69<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Circular_Announcing_Cultural_Revolution\"<\/a>\u201cCentral Committee Document,
\n<\/strong>May 16th<\/sup> Directive\u201d
\n<\/strong>1966<\/td>\n		\"MaoWritingHisBigCharacterPoster\"<\/a>“Bombard the Headquarters!
\nMy Big Character Poster”<\/strong>
\nOffset print, 1966<\/td>\n		\"Big_Character_Poster\"<\/a>Big Character Poster
\n<\/strong>“Liu Shaoqi Deserves Ten Thousand Deaths for Desecration of Traditional Chinese Medicine”<\/strong>
\nHandwritten text on newsprint\u00a0<\/strong>
\n2012 reproduction of 1966 text<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"1966_Red_Guard_Newspaper\"<\/a>“Celebrate the 18th<\/sup> Anniversary of the
\nPeople\u2019s Republic of China”
\n<\/strong>Lu Xun Pictorial<\/em>, October 1st<\/sup>, 1967<\/td>\n		\"Let's_Mobilize\"<\/a>“Let\u2019s Mobilize!\u201d
\n<\/strong>Offset print, 1968<\/td>\n		\"People_of_the_World_Unite_under_Red_Sun_Mao\"<\/a>“Long Live Chairman Mao, the red sun in the hearts of revolutionary people worldwide”<\/strong>
\nOffset print, 1969<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"P1030189\"<\/a>“There\u2019s a Sea-Change in the World”<\/strong>
\nOffset print, 1967<\/td>\n		\"P1030188\"<\/a>\u201cOur production brigade
\nhas added another granary\u201d
\n<\/strong>Offset print, 1971\u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\n		\"P1030187\"<\/a>Chairman Mao with his close comrades-in-arms Zhou Enlai and Lin Biao<\/strong>
\nOffset print, 1968<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Chaing\"<\/a>Rubber ink stamps in
\nthe shape of China\u2019s Leaders
\n<\/strong>Molded plastic, 2010<\/td>\n		\"Deng\"<\/a>Rubber ink stamps in
\nthe shape of China\u2019s Leaders
\n<\/strong>Molded plastic, 2010<\/td>\n		\"Mao\"<\/a>Rubber ink stamps in
\nthe shape of China\u2019s Leaders
\n<\/strong>Molded plastic, 2010<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[SlideDeck2 id=606]   The 1960s: Mixed Messages Abound The 1960s were calamitous years for China. Mao Zedong\u2019s experiments with mass industrialization during the Great Leap…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":261,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"page-template-fullwidth.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-543","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mixedmessages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mixedmessages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mixedmessages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mixedmessages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/261"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mixedmessages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=543"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mixedmessages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/543\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1384,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mixedmessages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/543\/revisions\/1384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mixedmessages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}