Youth and Education

 

 

 

One of the central goals of the new administration was to reform the educational system and bring it in line with socialist thought. Schools and colleges were put under Party supervision, with a Soviet-style Ministry of Education issuing directives. Even outside official institutions, however, people were encouraged to better themselves through study.

What two groups are being targeted in the images below?

What do the paraphernalia in the room tell about the woman? Is she a teacher preparing the next day’s lesson? Or a working mom studying in her spare time?

SOURCE:  Meishu xuanchuanyuan shouce (Tianjin: Tianjin enmin meishu chuban she, 1976), p. 41.
SOME THOUGHTS:  In the 1940s, one out of every six people in the world was a Chinese peasant.  Improved literacy for the peasantry was a major concern of the Communist Party, as they were believed to form the foundation of the revolution.  The Party also endorsed women’s equality and maintained that women were capable of doing the same tasks as men.  The hat in the picture on the right suggests that the woman might work during the day.  

"Awake Late into the Night"

SOURCE:  Courtesy of the University of Westminster collection of Chinese posters.

 

The building blocks of society are naturally its children.  Traditionally, it was believed that children must be socialized in Confucian values and morals before they could become productive members of society.  Under Communist rule, however, children were inculcated with socialist rather than Confucian beliefs.  Children unburdened by feudal or capitalist notions could acquire the socialist vision from the beginning.

 

Can you infer what content of the lesson in this poster? 

What ideals are being promoted, and how?

 

 

SOME THOUGHTS:  The poster on the wall appears to depict a traditional Confucian classroom.  The young scholar in long robes seems to have realized the error of his ways and has set about destroying the old order, represented by what appears to be an old ceramic pot. 

"The Main Lesson"

SOURCE:  Courtesy of the University of Westminster collection of Chinese posters.

Perhaps because of the importance of children for the future of the socialist state, they are featured in many political posters.

The poster on the right is titled “Every Generation Is Red.”

How are ideals of continuity and history expressed in this poster?

Does it effectively convey Mao’s concept of “continuous revolution?”

"Every Generation Is Red"

SOURCE:  Courtesy of the University of Westminster collection of Chinese posters.

The new China proclaimed itself to be a multi-ethnic state.  Officially, at least, China was supposed to be composed of a number of distinct but equal ethnic groups joined in a collaborative state.  The model provided justification for dominion over Tibet and Xinjiang, which had been attached to the Qing but had broken away after the collapse of the dynasty in 1911.  Artwork featuring national minority themes were encouraged.  Images of children and women were particularly popular in this regard.

How would you describe her the way this Tibetan girl is portrayed? 

In what ways would she appear “exotic” or “foreign" by Chinese standards?” 

Tibetan girl

SOURCE:  Zhongguo xin xing ban hua wushi nian xuan ji (Shanghai: Shanghai renmin meishu chubanshe, 1981),  no.245.

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