Power, Propoganda in Communist China
Power, Propoganda in Communist ChinaPropaganda in China during the Cultural Revolution took on many
forms; there were mass Red Guard demonstrations in Tianamen Square in
support of Mao Zedong, pictures of Mao were put up in every
conceivable location from restaurants to the wallpaper in nurseries,
and pamphlets and books of Mao's teachings were distributed to every
Chinese citizen. One of these propaganda publications Quotations from
Chairman Mao which later became known as the Little Red Book contained
quotes from Mao Zedong and was distributed to every Chinese citizen.
The history of the Red Book provides one of the best ways in which to
analyze Chinese propaganda during the Cultural Revolution and see the
ways in which the Chinese government was able to produce and
effectively indoctrinate the Chinese people with Mao Zedong Thought.
Official Chinese magazines from the period of 1967 to 1970 are filled
with many pictures of citizens holding, reading, and memorizing the
Red Book. This proposal will trace the rise and fall of images of the
Red Book in the official Chinese publication China Reconstructs. This
proposal will use a graphical analysis of pictures in this publication
from 1966 to 1973 to show that propaganda was not just a tool of the
Communist party but also a reflection of internal power struggles
within the party during the Cultural Revolution.
The Red Book was written several years before it became the
object of national adoration and a tool for the Cultivation of Mao's
personality Cult. The history of the Red Book and its meteoric rise
from a hand book for military recruits to compulsory reading for all
Chinese citizens, is closely tied to its developer Lin Biao's rise to
power. Lin Biao was born in 1907 and was fourteen years younger then
Mao; he joined the communist party in 1925 and until the communists
captured control of China was at various times in charge of resistance
forces, and armies of communist soldiers. When the communists took
control in 1949 Lin Biao was behind Mao Zedong, Liu Shaoqi, Zhou
Enlai, Chen Yun, and Deng Xiaoping in rank (Yan and Gao, 1996: 179).
But eighteen years later during the height of the Cultural Revolution
Lin Biao by winning favor with Mao by publishing and championing the
Red Book and the Cult of Mao became second only to the Chairman in
power and position (Ming-Le, 1983: 80).
In 1959 Peng Dehua was dismissed as minister of defense and Lin
Biao was appointed in his place. At an armed forces meeting for high
cadres during September of that year Lin Biao, energetically started
promoting the Cult of Mao saying, "Learning the writings of comrade
Mao Zedong is the shortcut to learning Marxism-Leninism. Chairman
Mao's writings are easy to learn and can be put to use immediately.
Diligent work will pay dividends many fold." (Yan and Gao, 1996: 182)
His references to "shortcut" and "quick...
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