Chinese Propaganda Posters: From Revolution to Modernization (review)

474 China Review International: Vol. 4, No. 2, Fall 1997 Tan's writings, Kwong shows that while Tan knew of and admired the West's democratic history he was also an elitist who often spoke of shenquan WW. (gentry power) as well (p. 180). There are a few minor flaws, particularly a number of errors in Wade-Giles transliteration. For example, tzu-liao 'M^ (research materials) is consistently written as tsu-liao; ju-chiang\Wrñ (Confucian general) asju-chang (p. 53); and tsung-feng^Mt (essential principles of our school) as tzung-feng (p. 147). In addition , the same clause is reduplicated on pp. 203-204, while R. Kent Guy is identified as "Guy Kent" (pp. 57 [n. 101], 242). Kwong also treats merchants as being part of the gentry (p. 176), despite the fact that he is aware of recent scholarship on local elites (p. 18) that disproves such an argument. Finally, the book's overall structure seems a bit unfocused at times, with the discussion of Tan's Western contacts (pp. 111-115) following the initial exploration ofhis cultural relativism instead ofpreceding it. However, these in no way detract from the overall value of Kwong's book as a work that combines the best aspects ofboth intellectual history and biographical writing in describing one of the most interesting individuals of late Qing China. Paul Katz National Central University, Chung-li, Taiwan Paul Katz is an assistantprofessor ofhistory specializing in late imperial social history. Wm Stefan Landsberger. Chinese Propaganda Posters: From Revolution to Modernization . Armonk, New York: M. E. Sharpe, 1995. 240 pp. Hardcover $85.00, isbn 1-56324-688-0. The 276 posters introduced in this handsomely produced volume are the largesize , brighdy colored printed pictures, usually with text, known in Chinese as xuanchuanhua. They are printed under government auspices at approved presses, and sold through the national network of New China Bookstores at minimal prices. Their purpose is to support government campaigns and to disseminate government policies. Long scorned as worthless, the Chinese propaganda poster y mve ? y ^a3 w¡messeci a sudden popularity in the West, with recent exhibitions in Stockholm and in Madison, Wisconsin. Landsberger tracks shifting government policies and how they are reflected in posters, explains changing sets of symbols seen in these posters, and addresses ofHawai'i Press Reviews 475 such questions as why posters disappeared from shops in the second halfofthe 1980s. Following the Introduction, Landsberger's book is divided into three parts, each ofwhich is broken into many subheadings. In the first large part, "Traditional and Modern Propagation ofBehavior in China," the author discusses "the propaganda ofbehavior" in traditional and early twentieth-century China, stressing role models in Confucianism and later in Chinese Marxism. Other topics are the use ofmodels by the Chinese Communist Party; a briefhistory ofthe Chinese Propaganda system and the Propaganda Department; and propaganda during the Civil War and the Consolidation (1945-1950S) and the Cultural Revolution (19661976 ). Interspersed are essays on visual propaganda, but this is a mixed bag. Some early prints offered here have questionable propaganda or role-model value. Presentations ofvisual propaganda for later periods suffer from a lack of examples. Strangely, no mention is made of the dynamic, bombastic posters of the first half of the Cultural Revolution years from 1966 to about 1970, those that often included long quotes from Mao Zedong's writings. But there is a heavy representation ofposters from the last half of the Cultural Revolution in the early seventies. Here Landsberger notes common themes: pictures ofMao Zedong; heroic images ofworkers, peasants, and soldiers; success in industry and agriculture on the basis ofhard work; and contributions to agriculture by rusticated students. Most settings are the countryside, and usually large groups ofpeople are preferred. Women are often represented in nontraditional roles (barefoot doctor, telephone line-person). This section concludes with two paragraphs on "Propaganda Art During Hua Guofeng's Interregnum," when a new subject, criticism ofJiang Qing and the Gang of Four, came into being. Landsberger gives one example, "Monkey thrice smashes the White Bone Demon " (p. 63)—"White Bone Demon" being code for Jiang Qing—but "Comrades -in-arms" by Xu Baozhong and Li Zeho, both graduates ofthe Lu Xun...