Culture of the People's Republic of China

Red Detachment of Women, one of the Eight model plays with Communist themes

"The Red Sun" Album featuring young Mao Zedong on the cover. A Guoyue theme album.

A performance at the 2007 Midi Modern Music Festival in Beijing.

This article discusses the culture of the People's Republic of China.

- Culture of the People's Republic of China

8 related topics

Four Olds

A 1968 map of Beijing showing streets and landmarks renamed during the Cultural Revolution. "Āndìngménnèidàjiē" (Stability Gate Inner Street) became "Dàyuèjìnlù" (Great Leap Forward Road), "Táijīchǎngdàjiē" (Táijī Factory Street) became "Yǒnggélù" (Perpetually Ousting Road), "Dōngjiāomínxiàng" (East Cross People Lane) was renamed "Fǎndìlù" (Anti-Imperialist Road), "Běihǎigōngyuán" (North Sea Park) was renamed "Gōngnóngbīnggōngyuán" (Worker-Peasant-Soldier Park) and "Jǐngshāngōngyuán" (View Mountain Park) became "Hóngwèibīnggōngyuán" (Red Guard Park). Most of the Cultural Revolution-era name changes were later reversed.

The remains of Ming Dynasty Wanli Emperor at the Ming tombs. Red Guards dragged the remains of the Wanli Emperor and Empresses to the front of the tomb, where they were posthumously "denounced" and burned.

This statue of the Yongle Emperor was originally carved in stone, and was destroyed in the Cultural Revolution. A metal replica is in its place.

The remains of the 8th century Buddhist monk Huineng were attacked during the Cultural Revolution.

The Cemetery of Confucius was attacked by Red Guards in November 1966.

A frieze damaged during the Cultural Revolution, originally from a garden house of a rich imperial official in Suzhou.

The Four Olds or the Four Old Things was a term used during the Cultural Revolution by the student-led Red Guards in the People's Republic of China in reference to the pre-communist elements of Chinese culture they attempted to destroy.

Cultural Revolution

Sociopolitical movement in China from 1966 until Mao Zedong's death in 1976, launched by Mao, the Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party and founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC).

Cultural Revolution propaganda poster. It depicts Mao Zedong, above a group of soldiers from the People's Liberation Army. The caption reads, "The Chinese People's Liberation Army is the great school of Mao Zedong Thought."

People in the countryside working at night to produce steel during the Great Leap Forward

The purge of General Luo Ruiqing solidified the Army's loyalty to Mao.

Mao waved to the "revolutionary masses" on the riverside before his "swim across the Yangtze"

A struggle session of Wang Guangmei, the wife of Liu Shaoqi.

Mao Zedong and Lin Biao surrounded by rallying Red Guards in Beijing. Source: China Pictorial

Tiananmen Square on September 15, 1966, the occasion of Chairman Mao's third of eight mass rallies with Red Guards in 1966. Source: China Pictorial

The remains of Ming Dynasty Wanli Emperor at the Ming tombs. Red Guards dragged the remains of the Wanli Emperor and Empresses to the front of the tomb, where they were posthumously "denounced" and burned.

The Cemetery of Confucius was attacked by Red Guards in November 1966.

Anti-Liu Shaoqi rally

Propaganda oil painting of Mao during the Cultural Revolution (1967)

Marshal Lin Biao was constitutionally confirmed as Mao's successor in 1969.

Graffiti with Lin Biao's foreword to Mao's Little Red Book, Lin's name (lower right) was later scratched out, presumably after his death.

Jiang Qing (left), who was the wife of Mao Zedong and a member of the Gang of Four, received the Red Guards in Beijing with Premier Zhou Enlai (center) and Kang Sheng. They were all holding the Little Red Book (Quotations from Mao) in their hands.

Deng Xiaoping became the paramount leader of China in 1978. He started "Boluan Fanzheng" that brought the country back to order, and initiated China's historic Reforms and Opening up.

A struggle session of Xi Zhongxun, the father of Xi Jinping (September 1967). Xi Zhongxun was labelled as an "anti-Party element". However, since late 2012, Xi Jinping and his allies have attempted to play down the disaster of the Cultural Revolution and reversed many reforms since the Boluan Fanzheng period, sparking concerns of a new Cultural Revolution.

Quotations of Mao Zedong on a street wall of Wuxuan County, one of the centers of Guangxi massacre and cannibalism during the Cultural Revolution.

The Cultural Revolution Cemetery in Chongqing, China. At least 1,700 people were killed during the violent faction clash, with 400 to 500 of them buried in this cemetery.

The Tibetan Panchen Lama during a struggle session.

Struggle session of Sampho Tsewang Rigzin and his wife during the Cultural Revolution.

A 1968 map of Beijing showing streets and landmarks renamed during the Cultural Revolution. Andingmen Inner Street became "Great Leap Forward Road", Taijichang Street became the "Road for Eternal Revolution", Dongjiaominxiang was renamed "Anti-Imperialist Road", Beihai Park was renamed "Worker-Peasant-Soldier Park" and Jingshan Park became "Red Guard Park." Most of the Cultural Revolution-era name changes were later reversed.

Yao Tongbin, one of China's foremost missile scientists, was beaten to death by a mob in Beijing during the Cultural Revolution (1968). This caused Zhou Enlai to order special protection for key technical experts.

Remnants of a banner containing slogans from the Cultural Revolution in Anhui.

The ballet The Red Detachment of Women, one of the Model Dramas promoted during the Cultural Revolution.

Posters from the Cultural Revolution period

Buddhist statues defaced during the Cultural Revolution.

The central section of this wall shows the faint remnant marks of a propaganda slogan that was added during the Cultural Revolution, but has since been removed. The slogan read "Boundless faith that in Chairman Mao."

Its stated goal was to preserve Chinese communism by purging remnants of capitalist and traditional elements from Chinese society, and to re-impose Mao Zedong Thought (known outside China as Maoism) as the dominant ideology in the PRC.

Television in China

The television industry in China includes high-tech program production, transmission and coverage.

Chinese viewers were particularly interested in watching international news, sports, and drama (see Culture of the People's Republic of China).

Couple costume

Couple costume and Couple look are Chinglish and Konglish terms, respectively, for the practice of a couple wearing the same hat, T-shirt, or other clothing in public to signal their relationship.

It is mainly found in South Korea and Taiwan, Vietnam and is becoming more common in mainland China during its reform and opening.

Pornography in China

Pornography laws.svg laws of World.

Xinhuanet states that "Chinese cultural traditions and moral values do not allow obscene and pornographic information to spread unchecked on the Internet".

Telecommunications in China

The People's Republic of China possesses a diversified communications system that links all parts of the country by Internet, telephone, telegraph, radio, and television.

Phone booth, Luohu District, Shenzhen

Telephone area codes

Chinese viewers were particularly interested in watching international news, sports, and drama (see Culture of the People's Republic of China).

List of cults of personality

List of regimes of countries or individual leaders around the world which have been discussed in the media or academia as having created a cult of personality.

"Long live our teacher, our father, our leader, Comrade Stalin!" (1946 poster, Soviet Union). Stalin was the leader about whom the expression "cult of personality" was devised in 1956 by Nikita Khrushchev.

Propaganda poster depicting Getúlio Vargas made during the New State dictatorship

Personality cult of Wang Jingwei

Portrait of Chiang Kai-shek on Tiananmen before the Communist takeover

Statue of Mao Zedong in modern China

A portrait by Albert Reich (1881–1942)

Sukarno statue inside the Gelora Bung Karno Sports Complex

Suharto's depiction in the 1993-issued 50,000 rupiah banknote

The bazaar under the portrait of Ruhollah Khomeini in Isfahan, Iran

Benito Mussolini in a poster promoted by fascist propaganda with the motto: "Win and we shall win"

The statues of Kim Il Sung (d.1994) and Kim Jong Il (d.2011) at the Mansudae Grand Monument in Pyongyang. (Photo of April 2012.)

A girl reciting a poem in front of Piłsudski's bust

A propaganda poster depicting the dictator António de Oliveira Salazar as Afonso I of Portugal. The motto says "Everything for the nation, nothing against the nation"

Chinese communists celebrate Joseph Stalin's 70th birthday, 1949

Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić petting a dog with Vladimir Putin, president of Russia. Pro-government media in Serbia most often presents Vučić as a powerful person under constant attack, who receives messages of support from Putin.

Equestrian statue of generalissimo Francisco Franco in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento (City Hall Plaza) of Santander, taken down in late 2008

An image of the TMB Bank office building in Bangkok in 2006, adorned with a portrait of King Bhumibol Adulyadej

Monument to Atatürk in Kadıköy, Istanbul

A wall rug of Erdoğan at a rally of his party

Golden statue of Saparmurat Niyazov atop the Monument of Neutrality in Ashgabat

A billboard of Hugo Chávez's eyes and signature in Guarenas, Venezuela

Ho Chi Minh statue in front of the City Hall of Ho Chi Minh City

Josip Broz Tito statue in Skopje, North Macedonia

The culture of the People's Republic of China before 1978 was highly influenced by the personality cult of Mao Zedong which reached its peak during the Cultural Revolution.

Outline of sinology

Provided as an overview of and topical guide to sinology:

Maslow's hierarchy of human needs. This is an example of a hierarchy visualized with a triangle diagram. The hierarchical aspect represented here is that needs at lower levels of the pyramid are considered more basic and must be fulfilled before higher ones are met.

Culture of the People's Republic of China – blend of traditional Chinese culture, communism and international modern and post-modern influences, particularly other countries in East Asia and Southeast Asia.