三民主义

“过去当牛马, 今天做主人” An archive for 20th century Chinese History

[sanminzhuyi]

About this blog:

The main focus of this blog is the history of China in the 20th century, from the last years of the Qing dynasty to the era of market socialism. Nonetheless, sometimes content may go beyond that, stretching from the golden age of the Great Qing all the way to today. My aim is to collect documents that, no matter how irrelevant they might look, are to me worthy of being preserved and shared.

Posts are chronologically partitioned in 5 periods:

Imperial era (x - 1911) Nationalist era (1912 - 1949) Maoist era (1949 - 1976) Reforms and opening era (1976 - 2012) Today's era (2013 - today)

Note that neither english nor chinese (which I'm currently learning) are my first language, and that I am not chinese: I therefore apologize for any error or misunderstanding that might occur.

I always do proper researches on what I post to know the context, the date and, when possible, the author. Still, mistakes happen. In case you see anything inaccurate or wrong, please let me know!

This is a sideblog, I don't follow or interact from here.

[sanminzhuyi]

Clothing stores somewhere in China during Cultural Revolution, 1972.

Photos by William A. Joseph.

[sanminzhuyi]

In the first photo we can read "Proletarians of the world, unite!" (全世界无产者,联合起来!) in the shop window on the left, and on the right, next to the entrance door, a motto usually translated as "Don't fear hardships, don't fear death" (一不怕苦，二不怕死).

In the second picture there's a quote by Mao Zedong (1970) behind the clothes, saying: "People of the world, unite against the american aggressors and all their lapdogs!" (全世界人民团结起来打败美国侵略者及其一切走狗).

[sanminzhuyi]

Clothing stores somewhere in China during Cultural Revolution, 1972.

Photos by William A. Joseph.

[sanminzhuyi]

"Laughing and talking gratifies people - happy to hear that the Divine Land [China] is youthful again" (笑谈大快人心事 喜闻神州重芳华).

Poster commemorating the death of Guo Moruo (1892-1978), playwright, poet and government official of 20th century China. A widely celebrated author during the New Culture Movement and the Second Sino-Japanese War, Guo was well renowned in the People's Republic of China until the turmoil of the first years of Cultural Revolution, when he was harshly criticized, but after which he gained his relevance again, starting from the early 1970s.

Here Guo Moruo is depicted in heaven, meeting with characters from his historical dramas (Cai Wenji, Qu Yuan, Xinling Jun and Wei Wuhou). He's wearing the hearing aid he used in his late years. In the bottom left corner, a poem by Guo celebrating the elimination of the "Four Demons" (the Gang of Four), his "Four Dramas" (whose characters he's meeting in the poster), and the Four Modernizations (source).

Poster by Wen Dugeng (温读耕), 1979.

Detail of Guo's face and his hearing aid.

[sanminzhuyi]

A hand-made satirical poster depicting Deng Xiaoping as Cixi, labeled "Empress Dowager Deng" (邓太后), in Beijing, 1989.

The poster associates Deng Xiaoping with the late Qing ruler through the control they both had on the state apparatus from behind the scenes, perceived as pervasive, without holding any formal title that would justify it. The poster was made and hung up by students participating in the agitations that were taking place in Beijing during the spring of 1989. On the right, another poster pleads people to urgently reach the encamped students as they were fearing a government crackdown.

[sanminzhuyi]

A study session in the Great Hall of the People of Beijing amidst a conference commemorating the first centenary of Karl Marx's death, in March 1983.

Photo by Liu Heung-shing.

[sanminzhuyi]

"Hello, Little Friends", a photo collection of the lives of children in China in 1981-82, by japanese photographer Ryoji Akiyama.

1: Father and son in the Forbidden City, Beijing. 2: Students playing in Beijing. 3: A boy playing as a traffic police officer in Chengdu, Sichuan. 4: Boys on the streets of Kunming, Yunnan. 5: A young girl in a canteen in Kunming, Yunnan. 6: A boy practicing taiji in Shanghai. 7: Young students in Shanghai. 8: A girl reading in the Children's Palace's library, Shanghai. 9: A friend group in Kunming, Yunnan. 10: Playing in Suzhou, Jiangsu.

[cosmonautroger]

"Love Science, Learn Science, Use Science" China (1980)

[sanminzhuyi]

Kids gather to read comics outside the "Wangfujing Street Cooperative Book Rental Store" in Beijing, September 1966.

[sanminzhuyi]

Chengdu through the lens of Alain Le Garsmeur, 1985.

[sanminzhuyi]

"Learn from comrade Chen Jingrun and strive to make the Four Modernizations come true as early as possible" (学习陈景润同志刻苦钻研为早日实现四个现代化而奋斗)

Sketch for a poster honouring the chinese mathematician Chen Jingrun (1933-1996), 1980s.

[sanminzhuyi]

Zhou Enlai, the 14th Dalai Lama and the 10th Panchen Lama meet with Jawaharlal Nehru during their visit to India on behalf of the People's Republic of China, 1956.

Photos by Marc Riboud.

[thesovietbroadcast]

1969 ★☭ – China Pictorial (April).

[thesovietbroadcast]

1969 ★☭ – China Pictorial (April).

[sanminzhuyi]

A mural painting of Mao Zedong and Hua Guofeng in a street of Shanghai, 1977.

This image - usually accompanied by the quote "With you in charge, I am at ease", a sentence supposedly handwritten by Mao on a note to Hua - was originally painted by Li Yansheng and is typical of the period immediately following the Chairman's death (1976-77), when Hua Guofeng was trying to confer legitimacy to his leadership and to portray himself as the successor personally chosen by Mao and loyal to his heritage.

Photo by Liu Heung-shing.

[sanminzhuyi]

Hua Guofeng in Rome, Italy, during the first diplomatic trip of the PRC in Western Europe, 4 November 1979.

1) Hua meets Italian Communist Party secretary Enrico Berlinguer. 2) Hua pays homage to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Vittoriano. 3) Hua meets with the socialist President of the Italian Republic and former partisan Sandro Pertini.

[sanminzhuyi]

The U.S. photographer Harrison Forman shows Zhu De his work equipment, 1944.