1960s
The early 1960s was a relatively quiet period in the wake of appalling famine brought about by widespread agricultural failure due to the policies of the Great Leap. In 1966, in order to sustain his position, ...more
The early 1960s was a relatively quiet period in the wake of appalling famine brought about by widespread agricultural failure due to the policies of the Great Leap. In 1966, in order to sustain his position, Mao decided to launch a further revolution in the form of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. He purged several key members of the Party, Deng Xiaoping and Liu Shaoqi, and called on China's youth to 'Smash the Four Olds', calling them his Red Guards.
This movement unleashed millions of young people who were encouraged to destroy anything associated with feudalism, the West, classicism and religion (mainly Confucianism, Buddhism and Christianity). In 1968 the campaign to send educated youth to the countryside to be reeducated by the peasants. Posters from the early Cultural Revolution in red, black and white recalled the woodcut prints of the 1930s in their quick execution, reductive style and strident message. These posters came to be iconic images of Maoism, crystallising Chinese revolutionary imagery into a classic form. less
