chinese culture art

Mao Zedong was in charge of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, which took place between 1966 and 1976. (Cornell University). The introduction, propagation, and installation of socialism as the dominant political ideology in the nation were the main goals of the revolution. To do this, Mao urged the nation's youth to enlist in the Red Guards, his main allies in the struggle against democracy. One of Mao's strategies was to eradicate and reduce the population's access to intellectual understanding through education. As such, graduates were forced into farm labor and Chinese society collapsed economically since most of the citizens became peasants, food prices increased, industrial dormancy occurred and the populace lost most of their possessions. Mao's idea of a socialist community was based on the eradication of old ideas, old customs, old culture and old habits and led to the destruction of art that did not comply to Mao's propaganda. This led to closure and or destruction of educational institutions, cultural buildings, temples, and shrines which have impacted on contemporary art (Stanzel). It is the purpose of this paper to discuss how Mao's ideologies and practices have affected contemporary art
To begin with, Chinese culture is anchored on Ying yang as evidenced by isolation of occurrences in its history and is based on guanxi, suggestiveness as an expression of emotion, and individual restraint as part of the expected characters of the Chinese society (Faurea and Fang). This were the primary injustices that the cultural revolution sought to correct under the leadership of Mao who forced his ideologies and expected art to be "red, bright, and shining" (Cornell University). This was different from the Taoist cosmology that traditionally shaped traditions in Chinese art. This led to the formulation of new art in the form of literature, theater, opera as well as reading materials that enveloped the new propaganda of Mao. An example of this is the Little Red Book that was introduced and the citizenry was expected to ritually read it on a daily basis as well as the new self-exulting music of Mao that was introduced by the Red Guards and blared from stereos on the streets. Further, propaganda films and theater took new adoptions and embarrassed Mao's socialism even to young children (Zhou).
In considering the above in light of yin yang and guanxi, it is evident that the distortions on Chinese art led to the betrayal of traditional ideas and culture since Maoism discarded the truths that the old Chinese ideas, customs, culture and habits encompassed. This in effect led to the citizenry adopting to new art forms even though this was due to fear of what the red guard might do if one went against the ideologies that mao propagated as true. Further, an impact that is felt in contemporary art is the adaptability of the Chinese populace to new art forms that first occurred after Mao's death and under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping. This is because the Chinese had learned that they could question all except Mao who was their leader and this changed during Deng's leadership and they could even question him. This created a form of open-mindedness among the populace towards adopting ideologies (Zhou)
Secondly, (King, Croizier, and Zheng) argue that modern art has greatly been influenced by the art in the cultural revolution and this is echoed by (Li) who indicates that the revolution can be considered as the foundation of developments that have occurred in Chinese culture and economic developments. This is evidenced by the impact that the Mao ideologies had on the perspective of the populace given that it created an avenue where people could consider ideas and policies that affected their lives both economically and socially. (Li) indicates that the Chinese society adopted to both the socialistic and capitalistic ideas of Mao and Deng and thus can be considered the very foundation that the developments of the society can be weighed against each other. This is especially true in considering the three generations that the revolution has impacted upon namely the generation that grew up under the republic of china, the generation that consisted of adults who became victims of the revolution and the post-war baby boom generations (King, Croizier, and Zheng). By altering the visual and audio art that these generations witnessed, is currently being brought back as a lesson embedded in the history of the community. This offers an avenue to compare and contrasts the artistic visions of those concerned with art in different circumstances and hence impacts greatly on the freedoms and independence that artists exhibit in all the three generations. As such, contemporary art has adopted itself to capitalism and differs greatly from the Maoist era when the artist's brush was guided and forced into drawing and even creating that which the politicians envisioned to be representative of the will of the society.
Finally, the impact that historical art has on relations between countries does, in fact, affect contemporary art given the importance of history and how it affects imagination and ideas that revolve around the destroyed art (Bowlby). In considering the palaces that were destroyed by the British, there is resentment that exists as concerns this relationship in that reconstruction of what the Yuanmingyuan palace is being done 155 years later. As discussed earlier, the existence of the Chinese traditions as part of yin yang and guanxi, the Chinese are more emphatic on their traditions and lessons thereof. (Barmé) shows the same by indicating the effect that art has on creating, developing and enhancing political ideologies of those in power and its effects are felt whether such impositions of war or political ideologies arise from forces within or external to the society that is being influenced. Despite the expectation that the actions and resulting impact of a certain era being limited to that era that they occur, this is not necessarily the case. (Bowlby) and (Unger) indicate this in their premises that the resultant effects are not only felt by a certain generation but form part and parcel of the life of generations that will come. This is true in considerations that the Chinese have adopted in the reconstruction of what they deem to be part of their tradition that was destroyed in the revolution.
In addition, the economic and social stagnation that the revolution introduced to the Chinese is an element that the country is battling to rectify year later. (Stanzel) indicates that from the 1980's, not only were the countryside youth allowed to return to their home cities, but the reopening and renovation of institutions were started by the new communist party. This has also brought about the economic boost to the economy due to the government enshrining its destroyed art as part of its tourism sector. Given this, it is expected that the society and all its contemporary ways have and will continue to be affected by the revolution. This is because the revolution does indeed form part of the society's identity and is currently being employed as a gimmick by the government to rebuild the patriotism that existed prior to the revolution. To this end, different forms of art are not only being rehabilitated but are considered to greatly influence the artists to work.
It is imperative to understand that the rehabilitation of art and the im[pact of the cultural revolution on contemporary art described above could not have occurred without the creation of the People's Republic of China (PRC) by Mao Zedong. The PRC was on the backdrop of rising acrimony and lack of trust amongst leaders and the failure of the great leap forward and Mao established. The impact of the revolution are best described by (Barmé, History of the Masses)) who indicates that years after the revolution, the aspects of Chinese society that were impacted upon can be considered to be under rehabilitation. This rehabilitation when considered hand in hand with the importance of Ying Yang and guanxi as part and parcel of Chinese traditional way of life offers the greatest impact on contemporary art. This is because the rehabilitation considers new technologies towards re-establishing the true Chinese art in its original form as well as the new ideologies that new publications profess (Barmé, History of the Masses). It is from the freedom and independence that artists are empowered with that greatly affect the different media of art forms and the revolution offers an insight into the manner that contemporary art forms itself. As such, it is within this art forms that the shifts in Chinese cultural traditions are being depicted today albeit through media that existed prior to, during and even after the social call from Mao. Further, it is expected that from learning from history, the art of the new generation will not only take a new form but may call to question the same history that it studies. As such, contemporary art has to be affected by not only the actions of the mao and his red guards but the very art that artists of the time embodied and presented to the masses.







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