Yan'an Talks on Literature and Art

Yan'an Talks on Literature and Art is a seminal 1942 speech given by Mao Zedong on the role of literature and art in communist China.

The "Yan'an Talks" effectively dictated the approved style in art and literature in China from the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 until after the death of Mao in 1976. It manifested most clearly in the cultural dictates of the Gang of Four during the Cultural Revolution, particularly as exemplified in "revolutionary operas."

Key quotations from "Yan'an Talks" form the basis of the section on "Culture and Art" in the seminal Maoist text Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong.[1]

One prominent Chinese social critic, Liu Binyan, summarized the essence of the "Yan'an Talks": Writers should 'extol the bright side of life' and 'not expose' the darkness.[2]

See also

China portal
Arts portal
Literature portal
Communism portal

Notes

  1. ^ Mao, Tse-tung (1967). Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung. New York: Bantam. p. 172–4. 
  2. ^ Liu, Binyan (1990). A Higher Kind of Loyalty: A Memoir by China's Foremost Journalist. New York: Pantheon. p. 66. ISBN 0-394-57471-0. 

External links