The Girl in the Poster
By Anchee Min. Excerpt from the book 'Chinese Propaganda Posters'.
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I wanted to be the girl in the poster when I was growing up. Everyday I dressed up like that girl in a white cotton shirt with a red scarf around my neck, and I braided my hair the same way. I liked the fact that she was surrounded by the revolutionary martyrs, whom I was taught to worship since kindergarten. The one on the far right was Liu Hu-Ian, the teenage girl whose head was chopped off by the Nationalists because she wouldn't betray her faith in Communism. The soldier above her was Huang Ji-guang who used his chest to block Americans machinegun fire in the Korean War. The one next to him was Dong Chun-rui, who used his own body as a post supporting explosives when blowing up an enemy bridge. The soldier on the far left was Cai Yong-xiang, who was run over by a train while rescuing others. The book, which the girl in the poster carries in her hands, is The Story of Lei Feng, a soldier/hero/martyr, who was a truck-driver who died protecting others.
To be able to feel closer to Mao, I filled my house with posters. I looked at Mao before I closed my eyes at night and again when I woke.
My passion for the posters began when I was eight years old. One day I brought home from school a poster of Chairman Mao. Although I did not know that the Cultural Revolution had started, my action made me a participant - I removed from the wall my mother's "Peace and Happiness" painting with children playing in a lotus pond, and replaced it with the Mao poster. My mother was not pleased but she tried not to show her disappointment. I remember my thoughts: why wasn't she happy with Mao looking down at us during every meal while others couldn't have enough of Mao? The posters had great impact on my life. They taught me to be selfless and to be loyal to Mao and Communism. To be able to feel closer to Mao, I filled my house with posters. I looked at Mao before I closed my eyes at night and again when I woke. When I saved a few pennies, I would go to the bookstores to buy new Mao posters.
The place where I lived in Shanghai became a war zone during the heat of the Cultural Revolution in the late 1960s, and early 70s. Violence between factions often led to death. Everyone fought in the name of Mao. To be a Maoist was the goal of the time. For ten years I was in charge of the Blackboard Newspaper in my school. For the head art, I copied every image from "The Head Art for Propaganda Publishing". Week after week, month after month, and year after year, I tirelessly drew pictures. I put out special editions of the blackboard newspaper during the summers and winters when the schools were out. I didn't mind that only a few people would see my work. My hands were swollen from frostbite and I could barely hold the chalk. But I was inspired by the heroes and heroines in the posters, and I believed that hardship would only toughen me and make me strong.
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Page 1 2 3
I wanted to be the girl in the poster when I was growing up. Everyday I dressed up like that girl in a white cotton shirt with a red scarf around my neck, and I braided my hair the same way. I liked the fact that she was surrounded by the revolutionary martyrs, whom I was taught to worship since kindergarten. The one on the far right was Liu Hu-Ian, the teenage girl whose head was chopped off by the Nationalists because she wouldn't betray her faith in Communism. The soldier above her was Huang Ji-guang who used his chest to block Americans machinegun fire in the Korean War. The one next to him was Dong Chun-rui, who used his own body as a post supporting explosives when blowing up an enemy bridge. The soldier on the far left was Cai Yong-xiang, who was run over by a train while rescuing others. The book, which the girl in the poster carries in her hands, is The Story of Lei Feng, a soldier/hero/martyr, who was a truck-driver who died protecting others.
To be able to feel closer to Mao, I filled my house with posters. I looked at Mao before I closed my eyes at night and again when I woke.
My passion for the posters began when I was eight years old. One day I brought home from school a poster of Chairman Mao. Although I did not know that the Cultural Revolution had started, my action made me a participant - I removed from the wall my mother's "Peace and Happiness" painting with children playing in a lotus pond, and replaced it with the Mao poster. My mother was not pleased but she tried not to show her disappointment. I remember my thoughts: why wasn't she happy with Mao looking down at us during every meal while others couldn't have enough of Mao? The posters had great impact on my life. They taught me to be selfless and to be loyal to Mao and Communism. To be able to feel closer to Mao, I filled my house with posters. I looked at Mao before I closed my eyes at night and again when I woke. When I saved a few pennies, I would go to the bookstores to buy new Mao posters.
The place where I lived in Shanghai became a war zone during the heat of the Cultural Revolution in the late 1960s, and early 70s. Violence between factions often led to death. Everyone fought in the name of Mao. To be a Maoist was the goal of the time. For ten years I was in charge of the Blackboard Newspaper in my school. For the head art, I copied every image from "The Head Art for Propaganda Publishing". Week after week, month after month, and year after year, I tirelessly drew pictures. I put out special editions of the blackboard newspaper during the summers and winters when the schools were out. I didn't mind that only a few people would see my work. My hands were swollen from frostbite and I could barely hold the chalk. But I was inspired by the heroes and heroines in the posters, and I believed that hardship would only toughen me and make me strong.
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Read revolutionary books, learn from revolutionaries and become an heir of the revolution. Book title: Stories of Lei Feng
