Livre Rare Book
CHINESE PROPAGANDABiblio.com
Si ren bang" yan xing lu "The Words and Deeds of the 'Gang of Four'".
1977ref. 151285Hong Kong: Wenhua ziliao gongying she 1977. Chairman Mao's widow under attack First edition first printing of this collection of propaganda cartoons seldom seen in commerce and presenting here in exceptional condition. This visually striking work was issued by a Beijing-backed publisher in Hong Kong to bring to the colony the tumultuous politics of the post-Mao mainland in particular the denunciations of a fallen political faction led by Chairman Mao's widow. The roots of the present publication lie in the dramatic political changes that gripped the People's Republic of China in autumn 1976. After Mao's death in early September a new leadership grouping quickly coalesced around the up-and-coming politician Hua Guofeng and less than a month after Mao's passing Hua arranged the arrest and imprisonment of a rival wing of the communist party leadership led by Mao's widow Jiang Qing. Hua's faction argued that Jiang and her allies posed an existential threat to Mao's revolutionary legacy. Jiang along with Zhang Chunqiao Yao Wenyuan and Wang Hongwen were quickly christened the "Gang of Four" by state media and they became the go-to scapegoats for the chaos of the Cultural Revolution years 1966-1976. Ultimately their fate was decided in a sensational televised trial in 1981 at which they were sentenced to lengthy prison sentences. After the "Gang's" arrest to make the official narrative stick and to prepare the way for the trial state propaganda organs pumped out huge quantities of anti-"Gang" agitprop. This material was often visual with professional and amateur caricaturists and cartoonists drafted in to draw memorable condemnations of the "Gang's" political crimes. The present work anthologises some of the best of these drawings from the Chinese mainland for readers in Hong Kong. The publisher's Beijing links can be seen in the way the text accompanying the cartoons mirrors the party lines emanating from communist newspapers such as the People's Daily while the blurb on the rear wrapper talks of the Chinese people's "hatred" of the "Gang." The caricatures present all the standard political refrains of state media: the work begins with images of Jiang Qing showing her pseudo-imperial political aspirations while her allies toady at her feet; Zhang Chunqiao and Yao Wenyuan become grotesque pen-wielding ideologues; and Wang Hongwen is depicted primping and preening ready to take on the position of premier. The "Gang" are often depicted together as a choir singing counter-revolutionary anthems as a group indulging in an hedonistic decidedly un-socialist lifestyle and as a four-headed monster with tentacles extending across the political world. Quite apart from their entertainment value these materials were extremely successful. The anti-"Gang" narrative remains in vogue today and still exerts a strong influence on academic research into modern Chinese politics. Octavo. Cartoons and drawings throughout title page and copyright page printed in blue. Original green paper wrappers title and caricatures printed in red white and black. Spine lightly sunned with touch of wear to foot. A fine copy. unknown
Peter Harrington · Reino Unido£ 275,00≈ € 327,27
