Chinese Propaganda Posters: From the Collection of Michael Wolf

by Michael Wolf, Anchee Min (Primary Contributor), Stefan Landsberger (Primary Contributor)

With his smooth, warm, red face which radiated light in all directions, Chairman Mao Zedong was a fixture in Chinese propaganda posters produced between the birth of the People's Republic in 1949 and the early 1980s. These infamous posters were, in turn, central fixtures in Chinese homes, railway stations, schools, journals, magazines, and just about anywhere else where people were likely to see them. Chairman Mao, portrayed as a stoic superhero (a.k.a. the Great Teacher, the Great Leader, the Great Helmsman, the Supreme Commander), appeared in all kinds of situations (inspecting factories, smoking a cigarette with peasant workers, standing by the Yangzi River in a bathrobe, presiding over the bow of a ship, or floating over a sea of red flags), flanked by strong, healthy, ageless men and "masculinized" women and children wearing baggy, sexless, drab clothing. The goal of each poster was to show the Chinese people what sort of behavior was considered morally correct and how great the future of Communist China would be if everyone followed the same path toward utopia by uniting together. Combining fact and fiction in a way typical of propaganda art, these posters exuded positive vibes and seemed to suggest that Mao was an omnipresent force that would accompany China to happiness and greatness. This book brings together a selection of colorful propaganda artworks and cultural artifacts from photographer Michael Wolf's vast collection of Chinese propaganda posters, many of which are now extremely rare.

Genres: Art, China, History, Politics, Nonfiction, Design, Asia

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Michael Wolf has lived in Hong Kong for eight years and works as a photographer for Stern. He collects posters and photographs from the period of the Cultural Revolution till today.

Reviews

[Paul Bryant · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love these! And I think they don't just apply to revolutionary Communists.

MAKE A SPECIAL EFFORT TO COLLECT KITCHEN WASTE AND SUPPORT PIG FARMING

ENJOY PHYSICAL WORK

THERE IS NO DIFFICULTY IN THE WORLD THAT CANNOT BE OVERCOME

MAKE GOOD QUALITY PRODUCTS AND BRIGHTEN UP LIFE

WE LOVE CLEANLINESS

THE SOLDIERS PASS BY THE APPLE ORCHARD. THE PEASANTS KINDLY OFFER THE SOLDIERS SOME APPLES. THE SOLDIERS STRICTLY ADHERE TO THE “THREE MAIN RULES OF DISCIPLINE” AND THE “EIGHT POINTS FOR ATTENTION” AND WILL NOT ACCEPT A SINGLE APPLE.

THROUGH CO-OPERATION THE ELECTRIC LIGHT WAS FIXED


Can't say that anyone in their right mind would seriously quarrel with any of these. Okay, maybe the next to last one. If Disney was a Communist he would have produced movies which look like these posters.

[Caro the Helmet Lady · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one was my fav.

[Yu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice book. Some of the posters I even grew up with. Education is significant, if these are starting from an early age, the impact is tremendous.

[Sige Cleve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not sure how to rate this but cool collection of propaganda posters.

[José Antonio Gutiérrez Guevara · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is amazing how a person can use the media to generate a lie and to create devotion to himself. This is what this book shows, the images say more than a thousand words. I was disturbed.

[beatriz · Rating 5 out of 5]

lindo perfeito e maravilhoso

[Dave Sippel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting if frustrating book. The artwork is beautiful and fascinating to look at but very little detail about it is given. Most of the text is left in the captions, which are divided into English, French and German. An introductory essay is at the beginning of the book, giving a brief history of how propaganda was used in China prior to the 1980s.

[Sérgio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Provenientes da colecção privada de Michael Wolf, fotógrafo residente na China há mais de dez anos, os cartazes de propaganda chinesa que constituem esta obra pretendem ilustrar a evolução dos dogmas do Partido Comunista Chinês (PCC) desde a instauração da República Popular, a 1 de Outubro de 1949, passando pelos planos quinquenais catastróficos do Grande Salto em Frente e a Revolução Cultural de Mao Zedong, até ao período de abertura política e expansão económica de Deng Xiaoping nos anos 1980.

Dado que, durante grande parte do governo de Mao, a população chinesa se manteve largamente analfabeta estes cartazes são uma fonte preciosa de informação para o estudo das mensagens subliminares, das directrizes e da ortodoxia prescritas pelo aparelho partidário comunista. Veja-se o exemplo de Lin Biao, herói consagrado da guerra civil chinesa que levou o PCC ao poder e acabou, mais tarde, por cair em desgraça, fatalidade que lhe provocou uma morte trágica numa fuga improvisada. A sua presença nos cartazes começa com rasgadas elegias à sua bravura e tática militar apenas para acabar representado como traidor e criminoso, graficamente humilhado.

A obra abre com ensaios de figuras reputadas da sinologia, nomeadamente Anchee Min, autora do bestseller Imperatriz Orquídea, do poeta Duo Duo e do especialista e coleccionador Stefan R. Landsberger. Cada capítulo do Chinese Propaganda Posters segue de perto a estrutura da bíblia maoísta, Citações do Presidente Mao Zedong, onde vai buscar a sua designação, bem como diversas citações elucidativas dos propósitos de cada cartaz.

[Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very good collection of Chinese propaganda posters ranging from 1949 to the 1980s, when the propaganda poster art began to decline as China opened itself more to the West. The book is arranged by themes: discipline, children, women, etc. The art itself is excellent. Granted, this was art for propaganda of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), but it is clear they put a lot of effort and brought in very good artists to create the art. Within that, you can see the clear patterns and expectations of the art: certain looks, women depicted in somewhat manly fashions, so on. But there was also a lot of attention to detail.

This particular edition is an oversized book. So, I suggest reading it flat on a table or laying in bed. The reproduction quality seems very good, and the annotations are informative, including telling you what banners and book titles in the paintings mean. The book also features some good introductory material to put the posters in context. Nowadays, these posters have mostly become collector items in and out of China. But they do depict a specific time period in China, and I think they do reflect a lot of the aspirations of the people, or at least of the CCP and what they wanted for their nation. This is definitely an interesting book to look through, but one also has to look at it as a piece to learn about history. Academic libraries with art collections or any history of Asia collections probably should have this.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought a shrink-wrapped copy of this to help with a paper I'm currently writing for an Art History course. When I opened it up I was pretty excited when I saw all of the essays at the front of the book. Unfortunately, as I examined it a bit closer, I started to realize that there was only a third of the amount of essay material as I first thought- because the essays are all printed in English, French, and German. That being said, I REALLY enjoyed the essays at the front of the book but I was under the impression that there were going to be more essays than there actually were I ended up being a bit disappointed with the book.


Overall it's a pretty interesting and well rounded look at Chinese propaganda posters, and I really appreciated how the content was laid out- breaking it into sections based on topic/theme. If the book had more essays I would have certainly given it a higher rating, but if you're mostly just interested in flipping through and looking at the posters, I'm sure you'll enjoy the book.

[Judith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a joy to look at...glossy and so big you have to lay on
your bed and slowly turn the pages.

The world inside it is awesome too: Everyone works hard and honestly,
the men are all handsome and wise, and the women are so girlishly
red it's sickening. Good for fantasy land but I prefer the warts....and
honesty.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

What would we do without Taschen? Great collection and the book itself is wonderful, lovely heavy stock and the right binding for a small book of great sources images. I don't know why: I could look at this stuff all day long...

[Seth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, totally amazing collection of propaganda posters from 40+ years of communism. Simply amazing.

[Tim Pendry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Over 300 posters from the Michael Wolf collection get the Taschen treatment. They give us a picture of Chinese Communist propaganda (which is just the Communist version of mass consumer advertising in the West) from the 1950s to the 1980s.

There is not much to say about it other than that the propaganda has its own integrity and sincerity even while it is manipulating popular opinion and that it helped China move from recovery from revolutionary war through to conditions that since permitted China's surge into superpower status.

The design of the posters is remorselessly 'volkisch' and the volume contains not only posters but educative illustration. Little of it is remarkable but, based on the testimony of Anchee Min in an informative essay from a contemporary, it seems to have worked for a very long while.

It all looks rather transitional now - a long phase of ensuring momentum or stability through troubled times until China could observe the failure of mere exhortation in the neighbouring Soviet experiment and start delivering the material needs and desires of its population.

[Pete · Rating 4 out of 5]

A "generation's fantasy" of optimism and bounty saturated with violence and paranoia.

The children's teachings are the most chilling. The eyes of a child see what is laid out for them. I know I would've been dazzled by the colors, beauty, and opportunities for martyrdom as a little girl. Be a good virtuous student. Breathe and live these teachings and do not question..there's a good little peach. Genius marketing for the young and the illiterate.
A lost time that is sinisterly nostalgic. Not so different from my own country's capitalist dream..you LOVE to work, do it forever and you will get all your heart's desires (we have decided those for you). Struggle will make you strong. You are an important piece. Your domination for our domination. A just and fair trade. Fight for the father/motherland because God bless us, everyone.

Mass starvation? With all this pastoral peace?
Poverty? NO! We are rich...We will be rich...Riches do not exist...

The messages of hygiene, community, politeness, and sustainability are undeniably attrative. Fuck the bourgeoise and fuck the rich. Be careful, power always corrupts in the end?

I love my chubby glamorous babies.

[Rex Wei · Rating 5 out of 5]

The essays are a little lacking in terms of explaining the historical context or how the posters are grouped into thematic subjects. However, the presentation is stunning! A beginner in Modern Chinese material culture should definitely flip through this book at some point.

Chinese Propaganda is not a monolith, but contains the handiwork of artists and amateurs who utilized their knowledge and concerns in creating these artworks. This book has done a fine job to explain those complex layers of culture that goes into a poster. It is a shame that there would be no "complete" dictionary of these posters, because there are just so many varieties, and fewer and fewer posters survive by the day.

[Sharon Seow · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book provides a wide range of propaganda posters (with captions) that have been grouped under different topics/key messages. I think adding a brief introduction or short write-up to these topics could not only complement each quote that currently exists as a signpost/hook/prompt, but also help the lay reader better understand the context in which these posters were created and the historical concepts they allude to, and thus appreciate the posters more. All said, this book is a very useful resource for teaching and learning.

[DW]

It is too easy to roll our eyes at myth making. There are myths made to appear perfect every day.

This is a book of lullabies that say 'shh, don't think, hate them, agree with this and be on the winning side.'

The human spirit can be co-opted to do nearly anything.

[Yiwen Zhang · Rating 4 out of 5]

萌爆了。缺点是没有中文，如何能体现我中华革命美学。

[Dalan Mendonca · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Be resolute, fear no sacrifice and surmount every difficulty to victory"
Gorgeous collection of posters. Would've loved some more background or historical notes.  

[Isa Alvarez · Rating 5 out of 5]

HERMOSO! Y no tiene que ver con una ideología y ya…

[Zane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cool collections. An insight into what the CCP wanted to portray itself and to its people prior to the 1980s.

[Galatea · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've got mixed feelings reviewing this. The propaganda posters of any government, especially one responsible for atrocities that have killed into the tens of millions, are things that I wouldn't normally expect from the publisher I get most of my art reference books from.

As a reference book into the uniform, painfully optimistic style of the CCP's propaganda posters, this book does the job well. It's a Sinicization of the Socialist Realism one would expect from the Stalinist USSR, with joy and utopia being absolutely mandatory, even if only a facade. Behind these posters lie a public that desperately needed relief and instead was given oppression.



As a historical reference book however, I think this book falls apart completely. The book's endpage states that the chapters were organized based on Mao's Little Red Book. That being said, the 19 chapters of this book correspond to only 1 of many foreign-language editions which were abridged for their respective foreign markets, while the original, uncut version has 30 chapters (and two prefaces, one of which was by Lin Biao, which was torn out once he fell out of favor and was disgraced.)

The Bilbiotheca Universalis edition of this seems to rectify the issue, but it seems to be out of stock on Taschen's website while the incomplete version gets a rerelease.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-kQO...

That being said, I honestly don't know if I want to see the longer version. Just spending half an hour a day analyzing these posters has been soul-crushing, especially in light of the historical events going on at the time.

That being said though, I really wish that Taschen organized the posters chronologically. Ideally, they'd have a detailed timeline underneath so that as people look at a poster of grain harvests, they can learn about how recent the death of millions due to famine in the Great Leap Forward was. As they read about the Red Guards that pop up more and more in the posters from 1966-1978, they know the damage and irrevocable cultural and human losses they incurred. Even if the editors wanted to make a pastiche of the Little Red Book, they still could've done that for each chapter.

As it stands, each poster is presented removed from its historical context. More words on the page were spent describing the sociocultural milieu of short-lived art movements such as Futurism and Symbolism in their Modern Art book than was described here. We had 3 introductions, a timeline at the end had more than a couple of historical oversimplifications (the Boxer rebellion is described as being suppressed by "Japan and others"), and little footnotes on the posters themselves discussing key figures behind the scenes such as Zhou Enlai and Lin Biao, or folk heroes such as Lei Feng or Liu Hulan. An glossary of names, events, places, or anything would've been nice. As it stands, there's not even that. Some of the more wordy posters aren't even translated in their entirety.

Nice to look at, not much else. The lack of care towards the historical material brings this down from a 3 to a 2-star book to me.

[Mili · Rating 5 out of 5]

En este libro el autor propone ver folletos propagandísticos del Partido Comunista Chino como obras de arte. Cada sección está acompañada con una breve descripción de la época para situarnos en el contexto histórico y cada obra con una reseña de su origen y su objetivo.

La guerra, la paz, la educación de los niños, el ejército, los campesinos, Mao, las mujeres, los jóvenes, la cultura, el trabajo son sólo algunos de los aspectos que están retratados en esta excelente colección que muestra la China del siglo pasado en imágenes de excelente calidad, con afiches realizados con un cuidado y un talento tan extraordinario que trasciende el objetivo final de las obras.

Es un libro de arte y un libro de historia, todo a la vez. Es una forma muy agradable de conocer más sobre nuestro mundo y sobre una cultura tan lejana a la que estamos acostumbrados en occidente. Es un libro imprescindible en una buena biblioteca, un ejemplar que hay que tener a mano siempre.

[Marissa Barbieri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty much everything Taschen does is gold, and they've been amazing in recent years (since their 25th birthday) at putting out big beautiful books on the cheap, like this gem for a mere $14.99 retail. I suppose I shouldn't add it to the "read" shelf since I've only looked at the pictures, but I'm sure I'll pick it up for perusal again soon, if only to try to understand the communist obsession with giant peaches.

[Rebekah Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

The pictures are amazing and of good variety. The little essays that accompany the posters give great insight into Mao's China. A great gem for those interested in this era, communist art or just want something mind blowing to look at

Grab this book if...
* You're interested in Mao's China
* You're into propaganda art
* You like Chinese history

[Benjamin Britton · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Protect the interest of the youth, woman and children (…), help the youth and women to organize in order to participate on an equal footing in all work useful to the war effort…"


"We Can learn what we did not know. We are not only good at destroying the old works, we are also good at building the new."

Mao


"Gorgeous and sinister in equal measure."
- the Independent, London.

[Tom Schulte · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is an important and impressive single collection presented by Taschen. there is little text crowding out the large reproductions in this coffee table book. among the introductory essays is one by a woman that grew up with this propaganda emphasizing the impact of growing up with these illustrations. i am impressed individual artists, print runs and original price are all known.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can't beat a good propaganda poster. The Russians did it best, but the sheer audacity of the Chinese is magical. While on the whole they are formulaic (rosy cheeked Chinese babies, abundant harvests, kind soldiers) the rare poster that celebrates China's unique history makes it worth a look.

[Cassandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fascinating collection of posters, reproduced beautifully, with very interesting introductory essays. I only wish there had been more analysis of the contents -- but it did not set out to be an analysis, so.