Thoroughly Criticize Lin Biao and Confucius!

China’s Cultural Revolution (1966–76) was a turbulent era in which Máo Zédōng, or Chairman Mao, leader of the revolution and founder of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, encouraged young people to reinvigorate the revolution by overthrowing traditional Chinese ideas and capitalist reform efforts. It was also part of Máo’s strategy to regain political power after being eased out by “revisionists” and other political enemies like Lín Biāo 林彪, his designated successor. Propaganda posters were a major part of this campaign.

This poster engages the past on a number of levels. The rough style of the lines and simple color scheme recall early Communist posters of the 1930s made by the Modern Woodcut Movement. The imagery, typical of the era, shows a heroic soldier, worker, and student against a backdrop of a public rally. The trio symbolically attack Lín Biāo and Confucius, associating Lín with discredited traditional thought and culture as represented by the ancient philosopher. A clever dig at Confucius is also seen in the Chinese text that refers to Confucius as Kǒng lǎo èr 孔老二. This means “the second-eldest son of the Kong family,” which was true of Confucius, but, typical of the populist, earthy rhetoric of the Cultural Revolution, lao’er was also a Beijing slang term for penis.