The Girl in the Poster
By Anchee Min. Excerpt from the book 'Chinese Propaganda Posters'.
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I continued to dream that one day I would be honored to have an opportunity to sacrifice myself for Mao, and become the girl in the poster. I graduated from middle school and was assigned by the government to work in a collective labor farm near the East China Sea. Life there was unbearable and many youths purposely injured themselves, for example, cut off their foot or hand in order to claim disability and be sent home. My strength and courage came from the posters that I grew up with. I believed in heroism and if I had to, I preferred to die like a martyr. 1 slaved in the rice and cotton fields for three years until Madame Mao, Jiang Ching, changed my fate. In early 1976, no one knew that Mao was dying and Madame Mao was preparing herself to take over China after him. She was making a propaganda film to show the masses, and she had sent out talent scouts all over the country to look for a "Proletarian face" to star in her film. I was chosen when hoeing in the cotton field. I was brought to the Shanghai Film Studio to be trained to act in Madame Mao's film. It was there I encountered the famous poster-painter Mr. Ha Qiongwan from the Shanghai Art Institute Hun-Yuan. I was brushing my teeth one morning in a public
sink when Mr. Ha approached me. He showed me a piece of paper authorizing him to look for models for his posters. He said that he liked my looks and asked if I would model for him. I was flattered but asked if my puffy eyes would be a bother because I had just woken up. He said no.
One day, when I was walking near Shanghai's busiest street, I saw myself in a poster on the front window of the largest bookstore.
Mr. Ha followed me back to my dorm to choose costumes from my clothes. I was surprised that he picked my green colored worn-out army jacket, which I had brought back with me from the labor camp. I told him that it would take only a moment for me to wash off the muddy dirt on the shoulder. He stopped me and said that the dirt was the effect that he had been looking for. I began posing after Mr. Ha set up the camera. I didn't know how to pose and was just doing what he asked of me, which was to look into the far distance with confidence. I apologized for my sun-beaten skin and hair, and I tried to hide my fungicidestained fingernails. He said that he liked the fact that I looked like a real peasant.
He asked me what I would wear when working in the rice patty. I replied that I would wear a straw-hat, I wouldn't wear shoes, and I would have my sleeves rolled up to the elbows and the pants up to the knees. He told me to do that. I obeyed. I kicked off my shoes and he saw the fungicide-stained toenails. I was embarrassed, but he told me that I shouldn't be. Instead, I should be proud. "I have been painting posters featuring peasants for years," he said, "and I have never realized my mistake. From now on I will paint peasants' toenails in a brown color."
Page [1] [2] [3]
Page [1] [2] [3]
I continued to dream that one day I would be honored to have an opportunity to sacrifice myself for Mao, and become the girl in the poster. I graduated from middle school and was assigned by the government to work in a collective labor farm near the East China Sea. Life there was unbearable and many youths purposely injured themselves, for example, cut off their foot or hand in order to claim disability and be sent home. My strength and courage came from the posters that I grew up with. I believed in heroism and if I had to, I preferred to die like a martyr. 1 slaved in the rice and cotton fields for three years until Madame Mao, Jiang Ching, changed my fate. In early 1976, no one knew that Mao was dying and Madame Mao was preparing herself to take over China after him. She was making a propaganda film to show the masses, and she had sent out talent scouts all over the country to look for a "Proletarian face" to star in her film. I was chosen when hoeing in the cotton field. I was brought to the Shanghai Film Studio to be trained to act in Madame Mao's film. It was there I encountered the famous poster-painter Mr. Ha Qiongwan from the Shanghai Art Institute Hun-Yuan. I was brushing my teeth one morning in a public
sink when Mr. Ha approached me. He showed me a piece of paper authorizing him to look for models for his posters. He said that he liked my looks and asked if I would model for him. I was flattered but asked if my puffy eyes would be a bother because I had just woken up. He said no.
One day, when I was walking near Shanghai's busiest street, I saw myself in a poster on the front window of the largest bookstore.
Mr. Ha followed me back to my dorm to choose costumes from my clothes. I was surprised that he picked my green colored worn-out army jacket, which I had brought back with me from the labor camp. I told him that it would take only a moment for me to wash off the muddy dirt on the shoulder. He stopped me and said that the dirt was the effect that he had been looking for. I began posing after Mr. Ha set up the camera. I didn't know how to pose and was just doing what he asked of me, which was to look into the far distance with confidence. I apologized for my sun-beaten skin and hair, and I tried to hide my fungicidestained fingernails. He said that he liked the fact that I looked like a real peasant.
He asked me what I would wear when working in the rice patty. I replied that I would wear a straw-hat, I wouldn't wear shoes, and I would have my sleeves rolled up to the elbows and the pants up to the knees. He told me to do that. I obeyed. I kicked off my shoes and he saw the fungicide-stained toenails. I was embarrassed, but he told me that I shouldn't be. Instead, I should be proud. "I have been painting posters featuring peasants for years," he said, "and I have never realized my mistake. From now on I will paint peasants' toenails in a brown color."
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Chinese Propaganda Posters
Softcover, 24.5 x 37 cm (9.6 x 14.6 in.), 320 pages
$ 39.99
$ 39.99
Mao`s starring role in Chinese propaganda art
We cheer the successful opening of the 4th National People’s Congress. On the sheet of paper held by the child: Good news