12.31.08
Cultural Revolution Propaganda
This past summer, my former fellow Fuzhouite Ron Sims (aka “Black Man in China”), asked me to find some of those old Cultural Revolution style posters and bring them back to the US. In addition to being a prolific podcaster, Ron is also a talented artist and web designer and had wanted to master the style of Chinese propaganda posters.
After a bit of a search, I was able to pick up a fairly comprehensive pack of 50 poster prints in one of those touristy shops near Qianmen. Unfortunately for Ron, I have a soft spot for 60’s and 70’s propaganda, and it’s almost January and I still haven’t sent them to him in Cleveland. I thought it would be interesting to translate some of them so that those of you who don’t 看中文 could read them (and have your thoughts properly molded) as well. I have about 40 more, so if there’s interest, I’ll throw the rest up too. Enjoy.
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| Unite, World Proletariat! Down with American Imperialism! |
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| Let the Vast Heavens and Earth be Smelted into a Red Heart |
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| Long Live and Victory to Chairman Mao’s Proletariat Revolutionary Road |
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| Long live the Great People’s Republic of China! |
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| Sing L’internationale |
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| You should be concerned about the National Grand Dispute. Carry out the Proletariat’s Cultural Revolution to the end.-Mao Zedong |
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| Hold high the party’s 9th General Assembly. The banner of unity and victory comes from victory to victory |
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| Study the Revolutionary Spirit of Lu Xun. Suppress the Road of Confucianism. |
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| Rise up! Cold, Hungry, Suffering Slaves |
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| Have a Very Happy New Year |
孔建华
said,
December 31, 2008 at 6:41 pm
“Let the vast heaven and earth be smelted into a red heart” could also be tranaslated as “Refine the world through loyalty to the cause of the proletarian.”
Red_Flag
said,
December 31, 2008 at 7:23 pm
I’d like to encourage you to put up the others, or at least some of them. I love old propaganda, and it’s hard to find good collections of translated PRC ones.
CW
said,
December 31, 2008 at 10:08 pm
新年快乐！
I love these posters so yes please
John Biesnecker
said,
January 1, 2009 at 3:10 am
I would also encourage you to put more up. I love these posters.
I believe the 大唱国际歌 should be “Loudly sing L’Internationale,” though, rather than the national anthem.
Sue
said,
January 1, 2009 at 7:33 am
广阔天地炼红心 was the propaganda poster to trick the “send-down youth”.
I would translate it to “Smelting the red heart in the Vast Heavens and Earth”.
广阔天地 here means the countryside. When I was young (in Primary school), my parents were really worried that I’ll be sent to this 广阔天地 when I leave school. Thank god all those stopped before I finished school.
道 in 孔孟之道 dose not mean road, I’ll probably say “the way (or spirit) of Confucianism and Mencius”. It is similar as 道 in 中庸之道.
Kate
said,
January 1, 2009 at 7:01 pm
Thanks for putting these up! They are very interesting to read (but only with the help of your translations).
More, please!
PS: Ron Sims seems like a great guy. I saw one of his videos on YouTube a couple months ago and he is absolutely hilarious!
Matt Schiavenza
said,
January 1, 2009 at 10:48 pm
These are great, Ben…love ‘em. I had one in my old apartment that said “全世界无产者联合起来”, with the obligatory photo of a muscular, fierce looking young dude standing among other members of the proletariat.
It’s amazing how easy these are to buy, too, along with the Little Red Book.
Tex
said,
January 2, 2009 at 6:38 am
Ron’s wait is our gain….bring em on.
Anqi Dai
said,
January 3, 2009 at 5:40 am
Ben,
Are these posters reprints or original ones?
Jiang
said,
January 3, 2009 at 8:44 am
Those are really darkest days in China. I hate them!
Benjamin Ross
said,
January 3, 2009 at 12:05 pm
@ Anqi Dai
They are reprints. Bought a pack of 50 for 50 RMB, probably still paid a little too much. The funny thing is that even with a lot of the original Cultural Revolution stuff (posters, buttons, books, etc.), you’d think it would be really somewhat expensive, but since so much of it was produced, it is hardly scarce, and thus quite cheap as far as historical memorabilia goes. I would hazard to guess that after the King James Bible, the “Little Red Book” of Mao Quotations is probably the most produced book in the history of the world. Now anything pre-1950’s (KMT or Qing Dynasty stuff), that would be quite rare, since most of it was probably destroyed during the ensuing decades.
Most major Chinese cities have antique markets with truckloads of old Communist memorabilia for sale. And for the reasons mentioned above, I think most it is actually real. I was under request from Ron to bring back a big collection so he could copy the painting technique, hence the pack of reprints. However, I still came home with a couple little Red Books and a bag of Mao buttons.
chriswaugh_bj
said,
January 3, 2009 at 8:13 pm
I second John Biesnecker’s comment that “大唱国际歌” should be “loudly sing the Internationale”.
Benjamin Ross
said,
January 3, 2009 at 9:13 pm
@ Jon Biesnecker & chriswaugh_bj
Yup, I stand corrected. 国际歌 would be L’internationale while the “National Anthem,” would be the 国歌. I shall make note.
However, if I had my own choice, I’d rather sing my own personal favorite Communist anthem 没有共产党就没有新中国.
Henry
said,
January 4, 2009 at 9:11 pm
Ben, 我是Henry, 福建师范大学福清分校的那个，你现在好吗？在哪里呢？
我的手机号码是13705964975.
一定记得给我一个电话，这几年我一直在找你！
新年快乐