--- title: 'Cultural Revolution posters: 13 Mao-era sheets, 1958 to 1977, by technique' url: https://propagandaarchive.org/cultural-revolution-posters/ description: 'Cultural Revolution posters and Mao-era sheets, 1958 to 1977: Mao portraits, model heroes and slogans, with issuer, date and technique.' section: FRAME --- ![Illustration: a dossier collage of an evidence wall of pinned propaganda posters, leaflets and printed matter from many eras, with contact sheets and catalog labels.](https://propagandaarchive.org/static/generated/hero-collection.jpg) Collection # Cultural Revolution posters: 13 Mao-era sheets, 1958 to 1977, by technique Cultural Revolution posters and Mao-era sheets, 1958 to 1977: Mao portraits, model heroes and slogans, with issuer, date and technique. 1. [Home](https://propagandaarchive.org/) 2. [Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/) 3. Cultural Revolution posters [!["乘风破浪 各显神通" (Brave the wind and waves, each shows their powers), Great Leap Forward poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/brave-the-wind-and-waves-great-leap-forward-poster-china-1958.jpg)"乘风破浪 各显神通" (Brave the wind and waves, each shows their powers), Great Leap Forward poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/brave-the-wind-and-waves-great-leap-forward-poster-china-1958/) [!["毛主席第七次检阅文化革命大军" (Chairman Mao reviews the great army of the Cultural Revolution for the seventh time), woven silk picture](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/mao-zhou-lin-silk-picture-seventh-review-1966-640.jpg)"毛主席第七次检阅文化革命大军" (Chairman Mao reviews the great army of the Cultural Revolution for the seventh time), woven silk picture](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/mao-zhou-lin-silk-picture-seventh-review-1966/) [!["英雄黄继光" (Hero Huang Jiguang), Shanghai poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/hero-huang-jiguang-poster-china-1973.jpg)"英雄黄继光" (Hero Huang Jiguang), Shanghai poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/hero-huang-jiguang-poster-china-1973/) [!["连队理论小组" (Company theory study group), Shanghai poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/company-theory-study-group-poster-china-1975-640.jpg)"连队理论小组" (Company theory study group), Shanghai poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/company-theory-study-group-poster-china-1975/) [!["各族人民心向党" (The peoples of all nationalities turn their hearts to the Party), Shanghai poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/all-peoples-hearts-turn-to-the-party-poster-china-1976.jpg)"各族人民心向党" (The peoples of all nationalities turn their hearts to the Party), Shanghai poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/all-peoples-hearts-turn-to-the-party-poster-china-1976/) [!["打倒王张江姚…" (Down with Wang, Zhang, Jiang, Yao...), wall slogan at Dazhai, Shanxi](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/down-with-wang-zhang-jiang-yao-wall-slogan-dazhai-1977-640.jpg)"打倒王张江姚…" (Down with Wang, Zhang, Jiang, Yao...), wall slogan at Dazhai, Shanxi](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/down-with-wang-zhang-jiang-yao-wall-slogan-dazhai-1977/) [What were Cultural Revolution posters?](https://propagandaarchive.org/cultural-revolution-posters/#what-were-cultural-revolution-posters) [Before 1966](https://propagandaarchive.org/cultural-revolution-posters/#before-1966-campaign-posters) [1966](https://propagandaarchive.org/cultural-revolution-posters/#1966-the-chairman-at-the-centre) [Heroes, study and unity, 1973 to 1976](https://propagandaarchive.org/cultural-revolution-posters/#heroes-study-and-unity-1973-to-1976) [1977](https://propagandaarchive.org/cultural-revolution-posters/#1977-the-labels-reverse) [What is and is not here](https://propagandaarchive.org/cultural-revolution-posters/#what-is-and-is-not-here) ## What were Cultural Revolution posters? Cultural Revolution posters were the printed and woven sheets that the People's Republic of China displayed during the campaign launched in 1966 and ended after Mao Zedong's death in 1976. They carried Party slogans, portraits of Mao, model workers and soldiers, and denunciations of named enemies. The collection holds thirteen Mao-era examples, 1958 to 1977, and none is a Red Guard handbill. ## Before 1966: campaign posters The Cultural Revolution is dated from 1966, when the Party leadership issued its first notices calling for a campaign against "bourgeois" influence in culture and in the Party. Posters from the years just before show the visual habits it inherited: bold flat colour, workers and soldiers as heroes, and a slogan in large characters. The collection's examples are catalogued by museums and Wikimedia Commons, and the issuing body is often not named on the sheet itself. ![Great Leap Forward poster of 1958, Shanghai artists: workers and machinery under the slogan Brave the wind and waves](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/brave-the-wind-and-waves-great-leap-forward-poster-china-1958.jpg) ![Chinese campaign poster of 1958: Eliminate the four pests, with the animals shown as targets](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/chu-si-hai-eliminate-four-pests-poster-china-1958.jpg) Explain moreShow less Mao-era posters did not begin with the Cultural Revolution. The Great Leap Forward poster of 1958 shows workers in a rush of steel and construction under a slogan about each showing their powers, and the tags are [Bandwagon](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/bandwagon/) and [Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/). The collection records Shanghai poster artists; no issuing body is named. The same year's campaign against the four pests (rats, sparrows, flies and mosquitoes) used a label for the animals and a warning about disease, tagged [Name-calling](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/name-calling/) and [Fear appeal](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/fear-appeal/). Commons credits "China Government"; the poster names no issuer. ## 1966: the Chairman at the centre At the height of the campaign, images of Mao were shown as the source of the movement's authority. The two sheets below are the clearest examples in the collection, and both are tagged for the same technique. ![Woven silk picture of 1966 by the Hangzhou Dongfanghong factory: Chairman Mao reviews the great army of the Cultural Revolution](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/mao-zhou-lin-silk-picture-seventh-review-1966.jpg) ![Xinjiang poster of 1973 by Zhu Huakun: people of several nationalities praise the thoughts of Chairman Mao](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/we-never-stop-praising-mao-thought-poster-xinjiang-1973.jpg) ![Photograph of 21 February 1972 by the White House Photo Office: a Mao portrait and Party slogan on the Beijing airport terminal](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/beijing-airport-mao-portrait-party-slogan-nixon-arrival-1972.jpg) Explain moreShow less A woven silk picture from the Hangzhou Dongfanghong (The East Is Red) Silk Weaving Factory, 1966, is titled for Mao's seventh review of the "great army of the Cultural Revolution". It joins his image to the campaign ([Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/)) and shows the leader as the object of devotion ([Cult of personality](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/cult-of-personality/)). A Xinjiang poster of 1973 by Zhu Huakun carries the same device years later: the museum title is "We never stop praising the thoughts of our Chairman Mao", tagged [Cult of personality](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/cult-of-personality/), [Bandwagon](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/bandwagon/) and [Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/). On 21 February 1972 the White House Photo Office photographed a Mao portrait and a Party slogan on the Beijing airport terminal as President Nixon arrived. The display is a state building used as a billboard ([Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/)). ## Heroes, study and unity, 1973 to 1976 By the early 1970s the most violent phase of the campaign was over, yet the poster output continued in a standard style. Shanghai artists signed many sheets, and the same few devices recur: a model figure, a crowd, a slogan, and a link to the Party. The captions below give the artist where the museum record does. ![Shanghai poster of 1973 by Zhou Ruizhuang: Hero Huang Jiguang](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/hero-huang-jiguang-poster-china-1973.jpg) ![Shanghai poster of 1974 by Jiangnan Chun: Unite, strive for even greater victories](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/unite-for-greater-victories-poster-china-1974.jpg) ![Shanghai poster of 1976: The peoples of all nationalities turn their hearts to the Party](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/all-peoples-hearts-turn-to-the-party-poster-china-1976.jpg) ![Shanghai poster of 1975 by Wang Zunyi: Company theory study group](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/company-theory-study-group-poster-china-1975.jpg) ![Shanghai poster of 1975, artist not named: Practise family planning for the revolution](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/family-planning-for-the-revolution-china-1975.jpg) ![Shanghai poster of 1976 catalogued under Li Yifei, Zhang Guiming and Xu Zhiwen: Criticize bourgeois-right thinking, serve the people wholeheartedly](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/criticize-bourgeois-right-serve-the-people-poster-china-1976.jpg) ![Shanghai poster of 1976 by Yao Erchang: Unite and fight, learn from Dazhai](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/unite-and-fight-learn-from-dazhai-poster-china-1976.jpg) Explain moreShow less Shanghai poster artists produced much of the 1970s output. Zhou Ruizhuang's 1973 sheet honours Huang Jiguang, a Korean War soldier, borrowing a martyr's prestige for the Party ([Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/)). Jiangnan Chun's 1974 poster urges unity for greater victories, and the 1976 "peoples of all nationalities" poster shows many groups turned toward the Party. Both use the crowd as proof ([Bandwagon](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/bandwagon/)). Wang Zunyi's 1975 company theory study group and the 1975 family-planning sheet attach everyday tasks to the revolution ([Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/), [Glittering generalities](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/glittering-generalities/)). The 1976 poster against "bourgeois-right thinking" is built on virtue words alone ([Glittering generalities](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/glittering-generalities/)). The 1976 poster by Yao Erchang sets the Dazhai model village as the pattern for national effort ([Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/), [Glittering generalities](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/glittering-generalities/)). ## 1977: the labels reverse After Mao died in September 1976, the leaders later called the Gang of Four were arrested. In August 1977 local Party and commune authorities painted a wall slogan at Dazhai, Shanxi, reading "Down with Wang, Zhang, Jiang, Yao". It is the same technique of naming enemies that the earlier campaign used, now aimed at the former leaders ([Name-calling](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/name-calling/)). ![Wall slogan of August 1977 at Dazhai, Shanxi, by local Party and commune authorities: Down with Wang, Zhang, Jiang, Yao](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/down-with-wang-zhang-jiang-yao-wall-slogan-dazhai-1977.jpg) ## What is and is not here The collection holds no hand-written wall posters (big-character posters, *dazibao*) and no Red Guard publications, so none is shown. Scale and intent differ from the Western items in the archive: these were issued by a single-party state controlling nearly all publication, and the 1981 Party resolution later called the Cultural Revolution responsible for severe losses. The same technique definitions apply to every country. Explain moreShow less For the wider range, see [Chinese propaganda posters](https://propagandaarchive.org/chinese-propaganda-posters/); for the campaign labels and the struggle meeting, [Cultural Revolution struggle sessions](https://propagandaarchive.org/cultural-revolution-struggle-sessions/); for Mao's own sourced words, [Mao quotes](https://propagandaarchive.org/mao-quotes/). ## Cultural Revolution and Mao-era posters in the collection Showing 13 of 13 objects. [Filter the whole collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/). - ["乘风破浪 各显神通" (Brave the wind and waves, each shows their powers), Great Leap Forward poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/brave-the-wind-and-waves-great-leap-forward-poster-china-1958/) (China · 1958 · Transfer, Bandwagon) - ["除四害！" (Eliminate the four pests!), Chinese campaign poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/chu-si-hai-eliminate-four-pests-poster-china-1958/) (China · 1958 · Name-calling, Fear appeal) - ["毛主席第七次检阅文化革命大军" (Chairman Mao reviews the great army of the Cultural Revolution for the seventh time), woven silk picture](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/mao-zhou-lin-silk-picture-seventh-review-1966/) (China · 1966 · Transfer, Cult of personality) - [Mao portrait and Party slogan on the Beijing airport terminal, Nixon arrival, 21 February 1972](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/beijing-airport-mao-portrait-party-slogan-nixon-arrival-1972/) (China · Feb 21, 1972 · Transfer) - ["英雄黄继光" (Hero Huang Jiguang), Shanghai poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/hero-huang-jiguang-poster-china-1973/) (China · 1973 · Transfer) - ["We never stop praising the thoughts of our Chairman Mao" (museum title), Xinjiang poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/we-never-stop-praising-mao-thought-poster-xinjiang-1973/) (China · 1973 · Transfer, Bandwagon, Cult of personality) - ["团结起来 争取更大的胜利" (Unite, strive for even greater victories), Shanghai poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/unite-for-greater-victories-poster-china-1974/) (China · 1974 · Bandwagon, Transfer) - ["连队理论小组" (Company theory study group), Shanghai poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/company-theory-study-group-poster-china-1975/) (China · 1975 · Transfer, Glittering generalities) - ["为革命实行计划生育" (Practise family planning for the revolution), Shanghai poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/family-planning-for-the-revolution-china-1975/) (China · 1975 · Transfer, Glittering generalities) - ["各族人民心向党" (The peoples of all nationalities turn their hearts to the Party), Shanghai poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/all-peoples-hearts-turn-to-the-party-poster-china-1976/) (China · 1976 · Transfer, Bandwagon) - ["批判资产阶级法权思想，全心全意为人民服务！" (Criticize bourgeois-right thinking, serve the people wholeheartedly), Shanghai poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/criticize-bourgeois-right-serve-the-people-poster-china-1976/) (China · 1976 · Glittering generalities) - ["团结战斗学大寨 誓把山河面貌改" (Unite and fight, learn from Dazhai, vow to change the face of the land), poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/unite-and-fight-learn-from-dazhai-poster-china-1976/) (China · 1976 · Transfer, Glittering generalities) - ["打倒王张江姚…" (Down with Wang, Zhang, Jiang, Yao...), wall slogan at Dazhai, Shanxi](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/down-with-wang-zhang-jiang-yao-wall-slogan-dazhai-1977/) (China · Aug 1977 · Name-calling)