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Heroic workers, busy factories, and eager schoolchildren, this fascinating book brings together key artworks of Chinese propaganda posters. Made between 1949 and the early 1980s, these posters document the utopian dreams of the Chinese Communist Party and its campaign for people’s hearts and minds.
Chairman Mao, portrayed as a stoic superhero (aka the Great Teacher, the Great Leader, the Great Helmsman, the Supreme Commander), appeared in all kinds of situations (inspecting factories, smoking a cigarette with peasant workers, standing by the Yangzi River in a bathrobe, presiding over the bow of a ship, or floating over a sea of red flags), flanked by strong, healthy, ageless men and “masculinized” women and children wearing baggy, sexless, drab clothing. The goal of each poster was to show the Chinese people what sort of behavior was considered morally correct and how great the future of Communist China would be if everyone followed the same path toward utopia by uniting together.
Written by Anchee Min, Duo Duo, and Stefan R. Landsberger. New edition published by Taschen in 2026. Hardcover, measures 8.5 x 6.1 inches, 512 pages. ISBN 9783754405536
