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| Paul Robeson, with Chinese chorus conducted by Liu Liang-Mo, Chee Lai, Songs of New China (record cover), Keynote, 1941. |
Please respond to my short piece on the making of the PRC's national anthem (required reading for 10/15). What have you learned from this piece? What strikes you as most interesting or surprising?
Mao Zedong's "Talks at the Yan'an Forum on Literature and Art," given in 1942 in Yan'an to writers and artists during the Second Sino-Japanese War, has been regarded as a foundational text for literary and artist production in China since then. The 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate Mo Yan, together with many other writers, hand copied portions of the text in commemoration of its 70th anniversary earlier in 2012.
Please respond to Mao Zedong's Yan'an Talks from a literary perspective (required reading for 10/17). How did Mao convey his ideas on literature and art? Who did he quote? Was he persuasive to you? Why do you think writers and artists at the time followed his call? And why do you think some disagreed with him? How would you argue against him if you disagree?
Cite textual evidences with page numbers to support your argument. Due Wednesday October 16 by 8 pm, comments to two other responses due on Oct 16 by 10 pm.
In his famous lecture to the Yenan Forum on Literature and Art, Mao Tse-tung gave a captivating speech about the necessity of supporting the revolution by producing literatured aimed at the masses. He was very pursuasive for several reasons. First, Mao quoted Lu Hsun: “A common aim is the prerequisite for a united front” (Tse-tung 8). This implies that the entire population of all classes must work together in order to make the revolution succeed. Instead of some people only working towards their own interests, people must work unselfishly in order to arrive at a common goal. Furthermore, literature and art must “serve the millions and tens of millions of the working people” (Tse-tung, 6). In other words, writing must have the majority (e.g. the proletariat class) in mind, rather than an elite class.
ReplyDeleteA major reason that a vast amount of people answered Mao’s call was because he emphasized this idea of unity and supporting the majority, rather than the elite classes, of the population. This is a sensible approach for convincing a large amount of the population to devote themselves to an idea. Social stratification and elitism results in an exclusive message only salient to a small group of select individuals. Mao was extremely convicing and motivating because of his use of persuasion techniques as well, such as repetition. His writing contained emotionally-heavy words like “revolution” and the concept of an "enemy”, which fostered nationalism.
I disagree with one of his arguments, however. It seems like the emphasis of his lecture was on unity of the classes. He argued that literature should be aimed towards the proletariat class as much as for anyone else; however, he criticized the bourgeoisie. This is actually ironic because it excludes a group of people!
"Instead of some people only working towards their own interests, people must work unselfishly in order to arrive at a common goal." I think that right, art and literary workers should integrate into the masses, and help improving the quality of the masses at that time. Using both fronts of the pen and of the gun.
DeleteFor your disagreement about class, I guess there is also a history background. In ancient China, the literature did only use by the upper class, cause the poor class do not have a chance to get education. In this case, his argument might be true.
DeleteMao was indeed a very persuasive speaker in gaining the support of the common people, but sustainable economic development is difficult without the correct management of resources and education of the elite. I like that you pointed out that Mao is calling for unity while alienating this group of people. Education and opportunity for the lower classes is important, but those who can afford education also cannot be overlooked and have valuable contributions.
Delete"He argued that literature should be aimed towards the proletariat class as much as for anyone else; however, he criticized the bourgeoisie. This is actually ironic because it excludes a group of people! "
Deletei agree with your disagreement. If he is going to blame groups of people for China not being a nation of unity than he should mention all groups of people who have helped create class separation.
I liked how you pointed out Mao's flaw in his speech about uniting the classes yet criticizing the bourgeoisie. Other than that, he was a very persuasive speaker that had some good ideologies.
DeleteI agree that there needed to be writing directed toward the majority of the people, and I also agree with the response and the above comments that the upper class also needed to be included.
DeleteI agree with what you said about Mao alienating certain groups while he says he is trying to reach the mass of people and bring about unity.
DeleteThe formation of an international avant-garde growing alongside nationalism in China played a crucial role in the formation of culture in the mid 20th century. China’s development into the People’s Republic of China was heavily influenced by the ideology of ‘March of the Volunteers’, the song later becoming its national anthem. Gaining international renown, specifically propitiated by Paul Robeson, even the title itself incites images of men and women rising up in voluntary action, resonating with those demoralized worldwide.
ReplyDeleteFilmmaker Joris Iven’s skillful use of media and music to rally and unite the common people around a solitary message was a masterful art of propaganda, “In the true Eisenstein tradition, he emphasized the crucial importance of montage in
producing spectators and achieving emotional persuasion” (Luo 12). The emotion displayed in the faces of the revolutionaries in his documentary, ‘The 400 Million,’ as they sing the anthem, visually captures the pathos of their vision. Additionally adding emotion to the vision through music, Robeson being an African American spokesperson for the harmony China was seeking fueled a utopian vision. He served as an allegory of commonality and equality for the international community to believe in. His translation of ‘March of Volunteers’ with words such as democracy and freedom sought to connect Western audiences with socialistic movements, while still not sacrificing a rallying tone for the Chinese people. The cohesive creation of ‘March of the Volunteers’ truly does encompass a “collective international imagination of modern Chinese nationalism” (Luo 13).
You wrote a very good summary of the readings. When you hear the Chinese national anthem. How do you think?
DeleteI like your point that the anthem creates a “collective international imagination of modern Chinese nationalism”. This demonstrated a unifying of the people in a similar way that the Yenan forum speech promotes class cooperation.
DeleteWhen I was a child, I read many poems of Mao Zedong. I like “Yong Wa” best, and it is his first poem. “Sitting by the pond alone like a tiger that squats, I response myself under green poplars. If I don’t open my mouth at the awakening of spring, which insect dare not be silent?” When Mao Zedong wrote this poem, he is only 16, I think he had big dream when he was young. After I read this poem, he became my idol and up to now. In this “TALKS AT THE YENAN FORUM ON LITERATURE AND ART”, he emphasized that literary and art workers must integrate into the masses. I think this is the military fronts in the people’s liberation struggle.
ReplyDelete“In our struggle for the liberation of the Chinese people there are various fronts, among which there are the fronts of the pen and of the gun, the cultural and the military fronts. To defeat the enemy we must rely primarily on the army with guns. But this army alone is not enough; we must also have a cultural army, which is absolutely indispensable for uniting our ranks and defeating the enemy.” (Mao Zedong, 1942, pp.1) I think this is the reason why gave this speech. The cultural army not only could uniting the ranks, but also could improve the quality of the masses. There’s an interesting fact that many politicians are good speakers, they are good at stirring up the people. Like Mao Zedong, Stalin, even Hitler. “Talks at the Yenan Forum on Literature and Arts” contributed to find the correct path of development and provide better help to other revolutionary work.
Yes, it is true that most of the politicians are good public speakers. And it is undeniable that Mao is a pretty good writer and his talking about literature is useful in Chinese literature history.
Delete"To defeat the enemy we must rely primarily on the army with guns. But this army alone is not enough; we must also have a cultural army, which is absolutely indispensable for uniting our ranks and defeating the enemy.”
DeleteI thought this was an excellent quote choice. It really captures the idea that China needs to come together as a nation. If they are a divided nation, it serves as another enemy to the nation as a whole because they will be easily defeat by other nations.
Mao Zedong was really great, he led the rise of a nation, and his idea is advanced than people the same age, it can be said that China is lucky, because of him. He had to say in today's perspective is very correct.
DeleteMao Zedong is a good leader. I think there are a lot of good points in the speech. What he did very well is that he always put people in the first place. What I disagree him is that he let every one in the same level. Actually, I think this is unequal.
DeleteThe film song “ March Of The Volunteers” that became the National Anthem if the People’s Republic Of China after 1949. (Ivens, 6) This song stimulates a lot of people to struggle with enemies, and encourage them to change their life. Cultural army had significant influence to Chinese revolution; so, we have to ensure that literature ought to follow the correct path of development. We can find evidences during Mao Tse-tung’s talk. (pp.1)
ReplyDeleteDuring the Mao Tse-tung’s talk, he described five important problems about literature and art which including class stand, attitude, audience, understanding, and study. ( Mao,pp.2,3,4) When he talked about the last problem of study, he thought that in a class society there can be only class love, some comrades are seeking a transcending classes, and that shows they have been very deeply influenced by the bourgeoisie. (Mao, pp. 4) I disagree this point. If we still think class love is only love in class society, there will be no difference between old Chinese Traditional ideas and new advanced opinions at all. (Old Chinese Traditional ideas thought couples should have same society status.) Therefore, I think some of his opinions are parochial, extreme and incorrect.
I agree with your point of view, love at that time was too narrow, feudal thinking too deep impression in people's minds.
DeleteI think Mao would have been more successful if he had opened up to more foreign aid.
DeleteAt that time, although MAO Zedong still retains some feudal ideas about love. But we should know he still has a crucial guidance about politics.
DeleteI agree with your ideas about "class society there can be only class love, some comrades are seeking a transcending classes, and that shows they have been very deeply influenced by the bourgeoisie." I think at that time it might be right, but today if Mao still alive, he will change his mind about that.
DeleteI agree with what you said about the national anthem, "March of the Volunteers" and how it was encouraging people to stand up for themselves and fight the enemies. Good response!
DeleteIn the first reading, we knew the people who are working on the job to reflect the Chinese national situation by video or documentary. First one is Joris Ivens, who has worked for almost 50 years to record China society.Paul Robeson, a singer who has performed the Marching Song, which is the national song of PRC. Tian Han, the composer of the marching song, met Ivens when translating "Volunteer March." And the linkages between Tian Han, Ivens, and Paul Robeson are also interesting.
ReplyDeleteIn the "talks at the Yanan Forum on literature and art," Mao put out a series of the theory about the literature and art, which contained the problems of attitude, class stand, audience, study. And gave the new attitude toward literature and art, which is, literature and arts should represent most of the working class. As he said, "Literature and art for the landlord class are feudal literature and art."(Mao, p. 6) This item has influenced Chinese literature a lot. And I also read a lot of articles about the countryside area. Even after the cultural revolution, the forth generation of Chinese directors, would like to pay more attention to the rural area, like" Yellow Earth."I was impressed by his "Politics cannot be equated with art, nor can a general world outlook be equated with a method of artistic creation and criticism."(Mao, p.14) The ironic point is, during the cultural revolution, the whole country's literature is in charge by the party, deeply influenced the literature and art at that time. However, just as Mao said, the literature and art cannot be influenced by politic.
I think it's interesting that Mao believes that literature and art cannot be influenced by politics, considering the impacts of the Cultural Revolution by Mao's political ideologies. You make a great point of the irony of Mao's influence on literature and art.
DeleteI also found it very interesting how there were several connections between Tian, Ivens, and Robeson, especially since some of the connections had no relation to the national anthem.
DeleteIn this famous lecture, Mao Zedong presents his arguments about the literature and art during this cultural movement in China. For the past few weeks we have been studying the arts and literature during this time period from positive aspects. When I started reading this lecture, I could tell that he was not in the same class of people that worked on the new China arts and literature. He says that these artists and writers are not familiar with the language of the people. They incorrectly identify with the workers, peasants and soldiers and are not familiar with the rich. I enjoyed when he said he would be the only one carrying this luggage; while the other students were probably not capable of carrying anything on their shoulders on in their hands. He identifies more with the workers than people of his own class. A quote that I felt summed up his opinion of his fellow workers was “I came to feel that compared with the workers and peasants the unremoulded intellectuals were not clean and that, in the last analysis, the workers and peasants were the cleanest people and, even their hands were soiled and their feet smeared with cow-dung (Talks at the Yenan pg. 4).”
ReplyDeleteHe was a very persuasive writer and I believe people followed him at the time because he spoke from a perspective of all China. He spoke for the working class and the soldiers. He was the first to emphasis the importance of unity of the different classes of people. The enemy of China should not be a cultural enemy and having only a strong army will not prevail. They need to come together as one nation; to unify the ranks and defeat the enemy of the nation.
Although there is a lot of Mao Zedong's merits and demerits, there is no doubt that Mao Zedong is a great man. He made great contribution to China and his idealism has perpetual glamour. Such as you mentioned that he emphasized the importance of unity of the different classes of people, landlords and farmers.
DeleteI agree with this post, Mao is a great man who had a belief in an ideal and did all he could to get an entire nation to believe him. It is rare to find someone who has this ability and their are few men in history that had the ability and did something good with it.
DeleteI really like your point about Mao identifying more with the working class than with his own class. This shows a leading by example because not only does he promote the idea of people including and addressing the proletariat class but he actually takes the first step in showing this inclusion himself! This is partly what makes him so persuasive--he walks his talk.
DeleteYour idea is very interesting. During MAO's period，he was a wise leader. His idea is advance with the times.Because of his guidance, China began to enter a new era
DeleteI agree with you and those that have commented before me in that he is a phenomenal writer, speaker and overall leader. I like how your opinion on his views and the enormous impact that he did. I also enjoyed your quote and how powerful it was to support his about the classes.
DeleteUsing how writers and artists "incorrectly" identified with the workers is probably an almost perfect way of saying it. How can writers and artists at the time comment on low class / peasant society when they do not have personal accounts. By putting it on a more personal level and letting Mao speak to these people shows why he was so influential. Good work Stephanie!
DeleteThis is a valid point and I agree with your argument. This point of view in regards to speaking to the majority of China, which is the working class, is very appropriate and especially appealing. I like that this is what your response is based around how persuasive Mao ZeDong was by affiliating with commoners and not just the higher social class.
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ReplyDeleteAt the very beginning of the Talks, Mao claimed, “in our struggle for the liberation of the Chinese people there are various fronts, among which there are the fronts of the pen and of the gun, the cultural and the military fronts,” “since the May 4th Movement such a cultural army has taken shape in China, and it has helped the Chinese revolution, gradually reduced the domain of China's feudal culture and of the comprador culture which serves imperialist aggression, and weakened their influence”(page 1 Talks). In this, Mao highly praised the achievements of the literature movements and acknowledged that literature and arts workers could play significant roles in the anti-Japanese war. However, in fact, those two fronts had not well united as expected. He tried to use this logic to attract and absorb the Petty-bourgeois intellectual elites to service for the peasants and soldiers. He also raised his logic and idea to the moral level—democracy and equality, “to achieve this fusion, they should conscientiously learn the language of the masses. How can you talk of literary and artistic creation if you find the very language of the masses largely incomprehensible? By “a hero with no place to display his prowess", we mean that your collection of great truths is not appreciated by the masses”(page 3, Talks). Well, I have to say Mao was really good at eloquence. The strong logic and clever moral questions eliminated the inner resistance of those writers and artists. But why some disagree? I think probably, literature and art works during that age had deeply been influenced by western culture and ideas and had relatively higher ideological level and artistry, which were little too difficult to be understood and accepted. There was also a gap between arts and reality. Would literature and arts workers like to reduce the value of artistry to work in concert with the peasants, soldiers, or the others? Some might be negative responses. Yan’an, as the most important anti-Japanese base area, had a relatively peaceful circumstance for intellectuals, especially when some big cities like ShangHai was attacking down by Japanese armies. It was good to call upon and encourage literature and arts workers to join in the group to against the invaders, but at the same time, it was not necessary to “sacrifice” those artists.
ReplyDeleteWell, when I first time listening to the original piece of March of The Volunteers, it shocked me even if it had been most familiar melody in my mind. Combining with those cruel scenes of the war, it boiled my blood once again. The meaning of the lyrics vividly reflected the indignation of Chinese people to the invaders. The creation of this piece truly expressed those artists’ patriotism and recorded this the aggression war as well.
Mao Zedong, “in Yan'an Forum on Literature and speech," the cores of the key words are “the people." Appealed to writers to go deep roots among the people, the bar in the lives of people on earth, adhere to the people-centered creative guidance, written for the people, for the people sing. In 1942, I carried out a famous party Yan'an Rectification Movement. Under the new situation in order to solve the revolution in literary work and literary thought problems and tendencies, prompting artists to overcome the non-proletarian ideology, establish proletarian ideology; study Marxism-Leninism, as an integral part of the rectification movement. May 2 held a forum to May 23 ended. May 23 held its last meeting, at which he made a concluding speech, he proposed: "literature and art for whom?" And then cited as 1950 Lenin pointed our literature and art should "serve ... the millions and tens of millions of working people.” (P6)
ReplyDeleteThe people are the variables of an era of a country; the People’s rise means that the rise in this country, the people's power is infinite. On literary terms, this speech pointed out the Chinese revolutionary literature and art direction of development. Only people who can really understand the people know the art direction of development, so as to better to pass the idea of revolutionary literature and art.
I agree with your opinion. The key words of Mao's speech are "the people". Actually, the people represent proletariat and the peasantry, and do not include bourgeoisie and enemies.
Delete"The people are the variables of an era of a country"- I agree with this because if Mao was not able to rally together the people through his powerful speech, then the change would have been subtle. Only the people can make the change towards a better China
DeleteI agree with your opinion. I also think that people is the most important part of the country.
DeleteI agree with you. Mao always stayed and worked with "The people" when he was a student. He has a particularly good understanding people's needs, especially middle and low classes. So his speech can persuade most people.
DeleteAfter reading both pieces, a constant word that keeps running through my mind is avant-garde. "In the sense that they were charging ahead as 'vanguards'" (Liang Luo Pg.7) is how avant-garde was portrayed and I completely agree. Someone has to be able to "charge" forward in order for other people to follow in their footsteps. Mao lead a group of individuals all because he spoke up and was able to pave the way for others that had the same idea. Mao spoke about the unification of the general rather than specifically unifying a group of higher class individuals. "Literature and art for the landlord class are feudal literature and art" (Mao Pg.6) just solidifies the fact that art was circling around a specific group which went against what he had believed in. I am quite impress with "It is not a question of stand; my class stand is correct, my intentions are good and I understand all right..." (Mao Pg. 23) because, again, it just solidifies his thoughts about how China should come together as a unified country instead of quarreling among one another due to class.
ReplyDeleteIf I was to answer the question "Was he persuasive?", then yes I found him to be quite inspirational. He spoke to everyone as an equal individual regardless of where they came from, class wise, and for the mass this was a refreshing thought because everyone solely based one another off their specific role or class. I do believe the main reason why people followed Mao, again, was because he was able to relate to everyone. If Mao was to take a different approach and only direct his speech to the upper class, certain event's could have drastically changed. "You will surely be able to bring about a transformation in yourselves and in your works...and to advance the literature and art movement in the revolutionary base areas and throughout China to a glorious new stage." (Mao Pg. 22) is a good way to end the piece because it shows Mao just wants to improve China, his motherland, and make it the best the country can become. By sharing such a powerful goal with the masses it is no wonder many people followed him and was inspired by Mao. Mao, you could say, was an icon that represented avant-garde because he paved the way for others to come.
I agree with both of your points, the avant-garde (literally "fore-guard",) and the fact that Mao was inspirational and persuasive. The "avant-garde-ism" of Mao allowed him to gather the people under a unified cause.
DeleteYour point about avant-garde is very good. China was in dire need of unification at this time due to the effects of foreign influence. I believe Mao Zedong was so successful mainly because of his attitude towards helping the masses more than just the elite few.
DeleteFrom Luo’s reading, I learned about the Chinese National Anthem “ Match of the Volunteers”. The song was from the film “ Fengyun ErNv”. There are three important people for the song. The first person is Tian Han. He wrote the film story and lyrics of the song. Another two people Joris Ivens and Paul Robeson. Paul sang the song in Chinese and English. As Luo wrote: “They represent the diversity and interconnectedness of the interwar international avant-grade, from China, Europe and the United States”(Luo, 16). I am supervised that Paul used China as a model for Africa. I also surprised that the spirit of Chinese fight the Japanese influenced other countries.
ReplyDeleteIn the “Talks at the Yenan Forum on Literature and Art”, Mao conveyed his ideas through four problems which are class stand, attitude, audience and study. Mao mentioned three kinds of people are dealing with in the attitude people. They are enemy, our allies and own people. Mao quoted students, officer workers and shop assistants in the audience problem. The last one is study problem. He means “ the study of Marxism-Leninism and of society”(Mao 4). Mao was not persuasive to me. There are many uncertainties in this meeting. For example, the problem happened between popularization and the raising of standards. It never happens that popularization stay in the same level. This is against what Mao’s idea.
Well, i thought people in that age would be easily touched and boiled up while listening to this piece. Even now people, i believe, will still get the same reaction when you heard it with the imagination of the cruel scenes. it was one of the greatest art works for human beings, and music without borders.
DeleteMao heavily emphasized the idea of unity and supporting the majority, over the elite classes of the entire population, society agreed with his decisions because it focused o he average people rather than the higher classes. Mao convinced the people through his persuasion techniques to agree with the concept of nationalism. He used motivational words and events like the revolution to help with convincing the people.
ReplyDeleteMao calls for unity like you spoke about in class, he is a very persuasive speaker, and really caught the attention of the common people. Yes, Mao was successful in being persuasive to his people. The tactics that he used really made the people think about what could be changed in society.
I agree with this Mao was a man who did call for the unity of a separated nation, and he was the only one at the time who could accomplish the impossible.
DeleteI agree with you. Mao used tactics to make people think about what could be changed in society. Mao is a successful speaker.
DeleteI think the reason for Mao's success of uniting China is his support from the masses. He gained their support by supporting the poor peasants and farmers.
DeleteI agree with your ideas. He is a great speaker and success to call for unity. Because he has some specially ideas and he knows how to suit one 's measures to local conditions.
DeleteI agree with your opinion. Mao had great pubic-speaking skills. He knew how to convince people and how to let people follow his path. Especially Mao knew the needs of the middle and low classes people.
DeleteMao Zedong focused so the lower classes people and know that people is the greatest power to fight.
DeleteMao focus on renewing China's policy and convinced Chinese to hold together. I agree with you that Mao's has successful decision about changing society.
DeleteThere was probably a reason Mao focused so much on the people of the lower classes and not the richer ones. My guess is that he did so because in the end the people with deep pockets don't control the country....the people do.
DeleteMao Zendong has one particular lecture that is shown in the reading. He argues about literature and art in china. This is yet another cultural movement in China that is leading towards the always changing Chinese culture. This reading follows along with the art and literature aspects that we have been talking about during the last few classes. Most speakers try to speak on the same level of intelligence as the people they are speaking to, in this aspect Mao is different, he speaks as a rich person so that the people listening have something to work for and look forward to. If he were to speak to the people as one of them he would have most likely got his point across but I doubt he would have gone down as a large part of Chinese history. Mao talks about how he is a leader that will take the entire weight of reform on his shoulders. He did not want anyone to have to rely on each other, I felt that he knew as long as he had followers he would have the strength to do what he promised. Mao is so powerful in his speaking because he is a rich man that has the ability to relate to those of a lower pay grade, some said that he related to the people of middle and lower classes than he did with those of his own class which is a rare thing in the culture.
ReplyDeleteMao is an amazing public speaker, and is on of the few in history that had the ability to bring a nation together for a greater good. Other people with his skill set in history had led their countries into war, however Mao knew he had a specific skill set and ran with it. I really believe that he is one of the biggest parts of Chinese history we have discussed yet because he is a man, not a group that was able to sway a nation with a powerful voice and a set of beliefs that was second to none during the time.
I completely agree with you and especially how amazing of a speaker Mao was and how he used his words to bring together a nation. I think you did a great job in describing how Mao's personality was, with identifying his strengths and using those in the reading and getting his own opinions and points across to such a large number of people.
DeleteAfter reading short piece on making of PRC’s national anthem, I learn that the song inspire many Chinese to hold together and constantly strive to become stronger. Especially the lyrics say “Arises, Arises, Arises”, these three repeat words show that Chinese start to be active. Chinese strongly push themselves and brave to fight with Japanese. From page 10, the article say “Facing clear external threats…new type of Chinese citizen into being”. The song arouse Chinese to defend China’s dignity and becomes a part of life because it support Chinese to keep on being strong.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of Mao, who gave a speech in Yan’an and expressed his goal to help revolutionary work. First, base on Mao’s research, he applied historical materialism to point out the literature and art of proletariat is part of revolution work. Then, Mao quoted the radical problem of the class stand of writer and artists (page 2) and analyzed their attitude, audience and study aspects. Mao matched literature and art to Chinese’ living, education and politics, because it gave the direction to a new movement of China. One point Mao’s speech convinced me is the study of Marxism-Leninism policy( page4), because Mao recognized himself as a side of majority and leaded Chinese to study the reality of revolution work. Thus, I agree the main idea of Mao’s speech: service of people(page 7), because people refers to population, people has right to judge what’s the leader’s decision and give feedback to the leader. After people believe the leader, leader has confidence to fight for people and protect national dignity.
I agree that the anthem definitely focuses strongly on China's unification. Politicians usually try to do relate to their audience when they make speeches, however from the speech Mao Zedong really seemed to care about the people and serving their interests.
DeleteMao’s “ Talk at the Yenan Forum on Literature and Art” fairly represented the growing nationalism in China. Mao’s speech encouraged other writers and actisits in the era to write more literature. He believed that the only way to unit the country was to educate the masses. Too many farmers and peasants are illiterate and does not adapt well to the changes that are about to come. Mao’s quotes, “Since the audience for our literature and art consists of workers, peasants and soldiers and of their cadres, the problem arises of understanding them and knowing them well (pg.3).” Mao represented the poor lower level population of China. His support came mainly from the farmers and peasants. His tactic was to understand the people and thus gaining support from them. However, I personally disagree with him. He was not open to outside influences and China cannot gain from the outside influences.
ReplyDeleteThe song, “March of the Volunteers” became the national anthem of the People’s Republic of China. The lyrics in this song created an imagery that China had fought hard for its independence. I believe this song was a great fit for the society at that time. China in deed had fought hard and lost countless lives for its independence.
Agree, "The greatest power was always stored in masses”, Mao knew it. I thought the reason Mao was trying to persuade those elites to work to the peasants, soldiers, and other lower classes people was drawing more supporters from them because those huge crowds had three things in common, lower education background, oppressed classes, got fire up easily. But, from the "talks" we have to admit that Mao was really a great politician, tactician, and speaker.
DeleteFrom Dr.Luo’s article, I learned Joris Ivens who is a famous film director. He made several movies in China, and he knew a lot about Chinese culture and Chinese society because he spent 50 years understanding and recording China society. In addition, I also learned something about Chinese National Anthem. The lyrics of this song was written by Tian Han, and it was composed by Nie Er. At first, This song was used as theme song in movie “FengYun ErNv”. In 1949, this song became National Anthem in PRC.
ReplyDeleteThe main purpose of Mao’s speech is talk about “the relationship between work in the literary and artistic fields and revolutionary work in general”. And also “ensure that revolutionary literature and art follow the correct path of development”("Talks at the Yan'an Forum on Literature and Art”, Mao Zedong p1). In this speech, Mao Zedong believes “the audience for our literature and art consists of workers, peasants and soldiers and of their cadres”("Talks at the Yan'an Forum on Literature and Art”, Mao Zedong p3). In other word, he thought literature and art need to be coupled with the masses. Mao is a man who has great public-speaking abilities, he understand what the people need, what the country need, and his opinion could persuade a large percentage of people. In literature and art perspective, I think Mao did a great job in promoted the development of literature and art. As we all know, the development of literature and art depends on human, or we can say The source of art creation is people's imagination, perception and social practice. Mao letted art be combine with people’s life, promoted the development of Chinese literature and art.
ReplyDeleteIn the last class, we talked about Chinese National Anthem—“Match of the Volunteers”. This song was born in 1935, when the Chinese nation is in the midst of the existential crisis. In 1931, “September 18th incident” was began, Japan began to invade China. The Chinese people through this war, began to a patriotic campaign. Successively in 1932 and in 1933 joined the communist party of China‘s Tian Han, Nie Er, they fully into the leadership of the communist party of China's anti-Japanese national movement. Tian Han decided to write a theme of screenplay about anti-japan war. Then he was wrote the film story and lyrics of the song. Nie Er was composing music for Tian Han’s lyric. The first sang this song’s foreigner who named Paul. He sang this song in Chinese and English. The “Yiyongjun Xinxingqu (Match of the Volunteers)” started in “Chi-Lai”, this sentence on behalf of the Chinese people's patriotism and has inspired the Chinese people bravely against the Japanese invaders. I am surprised that this song gave our more positive influence and spirit of our country against Japan.
In the “Talks at the Yenan Forum on Literature and Art” this reporting, mainly discussed about Mao’s the importance of literature and art. As the report mentioned, “To defeat the Enemy we must rely primarily on the army with guns. But this army alone is not enough; we must also have a cultural army, which is absolutely indispensable for uniting our own ranks and defeating the enemy. (On page 1)”. He was quote literature and art have been an important and successful part of the cultural front since the May 4th Movement to prove his idea. After, Mao from the development of literature and art analysis the problem. For example, Mao gave us some problem which are class stand, attitude, audience and study. I am very interested in he mentioned about study this problem. This study means study of Marxism-Leninism and of society. Marxism-Leninism At the time of the period is a very important learning new ideas and the formation of China's development path of reference materials. He said, “Writers and artists should study society, that is to say, should study the various classes in society, their mutual relations and respective conditions, their physiognomy and their psychology.(On page 4)”. I think his report persuasive me and let me have a good understand about why he at that time called people began to art and literature.
The first reading about the Chinese national anthem, "March of the Volunteers" talks about China's process of unification. It's particularly interesting that the man who wrote the lyrics, Tian Han, also wrote "The Night a Tiger was Captured" which contained several radical topics such as free love and women's rights. It was a very appropriate anthem at the time as it called for China to rise up together against the enemy (Japan at the time of the second Sino-Japanese war).
ReplyDeleteMao Zedong's speech clearly lays out two problems "literature and art for whom?" (Zedong, 6) and "should we devote ourselves to raising standards, or should we devote ourselves to popularization?" (Zedong, 9) that were currently facing the country as well as the actions that needed to be taken in order to correct these issues. His speech at Yenan is very well written and quite persuasive because he appeals to the masses, not just the elite. He quotes Lenin when he says that literature should be written to "serve the millions and tens of millions of the working people" (Zedong, 6) However he also talks about helping out the educated as well so that they can further bring prosperity to the country and its people. A good quote to sum his speech up is: "Fierce-browed, I coolly defy a thousand pointing fingers, Head-bowed, like a willing ox I serve the children." (Zedong, 22).
The story behind “March of the Volunteers” is very interesting. Instead of choosing a song about the best aspects of their country or the goals of their ruling party, the people who supported the song, and those who officially chose it as the national anthem, decided on a song about the Chinese people’s refusal to back down in the face of adversity. I learned that the Chinese people, at least at the time of the anthem’s popularity, placed a lot of value on their ability to band together and fight back against the aggression of other countries to preserve their national identity.
ReplyDeleteIn his speech, Mao Zedong focused his ideas about literature and art on how the creation of such needed to be directed exclusively toward the working class. “We must popularize only what is needed and can be readily accepted by the workers, peasants, and soldiers themselves.” (Mao, 9) His ideas were most likely appealing to many writers and artists at the time because he placed emphasis on the importance of the majority. Also, he had good ideas about making literature more accessible to the common people. “…naturally they are unfamiliar with the language of the people….they should conscientiously learn the language of the masses.” (Mao, 3) Even so, he was not persuasive to me because I place a great deal of value on free speech in literature and art. I disliked how Mao intoned that art had to be written in a certain way, for a certain purpose, with a certain content. The writers and artists of the higher classes probably did not agree with him because if he succeeded in rallying the common people to his cause, he would take away their power. While his ideas were certainly conducive to giving the common people a voice in art and literature, the way he encouraged them to convey their ideas seemed restrictive to their expression.
From the short article from Tuesday, I definitely learned a lot about the power of music through propaganda and persuasion. For example, Tian Han – the poet behind “Chee Lai” – admitted: “Yes! We are propagandists! Artists must take sides!” (11-12). Along with this, New York Times music editor Howard Taubman stated “the songs (Chee Lai) tell us more about China’a valor than about her music, and at the moment her fight is more momentous than her art” (12). It is obvious that the progression of China as a world power was more important to Ivens, Han, and Robeson than the actual song that was played. Instead, this song became a means by which empowerment, not only for the Chinese nation, was achieved; the people were subliminally enlightened to stand up for what was right.
ReplyDeleteAs for Mao Tse-tung’s (Zedong) “Talks at the Yenan Forum on Literature and Art,” the following quote stands out to me: “In our struggle for the liberation of the Chinese people there are various fronts, among which are the fronts of the pen and of the gun… we must also have a cultural army, which is absolutely indispensable for uniting our own ranks and defeating the enemy” (1). Mao saw literature and art as possibly the second most important contributor to victory in the war, and he was exemplifying this through this speech that was also meant to fire up the thinkers and the masses. Another important section is when Mao compares the Chinese artists and writers to “a hero with no place to display his prowess” (3). What he meant by this was that the writers and artists could not connect with the masses because they did not understand the masses; therefore, no one cared. Then, Mao used probably his best literary tactic in the entire piece, and testified about how he had at once thought he was better than the commoner, but realized that the commoners were the “cleanest people” after he became a revolutionary, and that they were the tools of change (3-4). Mao has not only made a strong connection with the masses through this analysis, but he was probably heavily persuasive towards the artists and writers because they saw that this change in heart had allowed him to be heard by the masses.
I also saw similar points with Tyler. Talking about the importance of literature but also directing it to the majority of the population of peasants/low class working citizens was why Mao was so influential.
DeleteFrom the reading "National Anthem", in my mind there are three people are very important in International Avant-garde and the Chinese National Anthem. They are Tian Han,Joris Ivens and Paul Robeson. We can learn from "The first, and the original version of the song, came from the 1935 Chinese feature film Lovers in Troubled Times (Fengyun ernü). Written by Tian Han (1898-1968), who had intimate contact with German expressionism and Russian avantgarde while sojourning in Tokyo and became a leading cultural figure in Shanghai at the time, the opening lyrics of the song urged the Chinese to rise up in face of Japanese invasion."(page 6). Who wrote the song and why wrote the song. This song called" March of the Volunteers" and it is a symbol of at any time and in any place, to defend the country and national dignity, strong will and unyielding spirit of the Chinese nation will never be destroyed.
ReplyDeleteThe introduction of "Talk at the Yenan Forum on Literature and Art" points five problems, they are class stand,works of literature and art are produced, audiencethe,understanding and study. If these problems can be sloved then Mao's purposecan success, such as the reading said :"The purpose of our meeting today is precisely to ensure that literature and art fit well into the whole revolutionary machine as a component part, that they operate as powerful weapons for uniting and educating the people and for attacking and destroying the enemy, and that they help the people fight the enemy with one heart and one mind."(page 1)
Mao’s “ Talk at the Yenan Forum on Literature and Art” mainly talk about the party's policy on "mass culture" in China, which was "revolutionary culture".This revolutionary style of art would portray the lives of peasants and be directed towards them as an audience. Mao scolded artists for neglecting "The cadres, party workers of all types, fighters in the army, workers in the factories and peasants in the villages" as audiences, just because they were illiterate. He was particularly critical of Chinese opera as a courtly art form, rather than one directed towards the masses. However, he encouraged artists to draw from China's artistic legacy as well as international art forms in order to further socialism. Mao also encouraged literary people to transform themselves by living in the countryside,and to study the popular music and folk culture of the areas, incorporating both into their works.
Mao talking to the literate and "scolding" them to come down to the illiterate's level so that they can connect was a critical literary tactic on his part. The masses united with Mao because he showed that he was on their side by publically humbling the bourgeois.
DeleteIn this week's reading, Mao Zedong discusses Chinese art and literature during this time period. Mao Zedong took a different point of view in his writing as opposed to other readings we've encountered thus far. He said that previous Chinese cultural artist didn't understand the language of the people in China, that they incorrectly with the workers, peasants, and the soldiers and they don't have much knowledge of the rich at this time. Mao Zedong is member of high class, but he seems to be more connected to works and the soldiers. He seemed to think down on his own class.
ReplyDeleteWith this understanding of the lower class, this set up Mao Zedong's future for his leadership in China. He stood up for the working class and the soldiers, not just for the rich. He believed in unity and in nationalism. He believed it was important for the Chinese to come together and form one unified nation. Only with this would they become a strong nation in the world.
I like the fact that you also felt as if Mao ZeDong was more "connected" to the working class, or the Blue Collared majority of the nation. This is also a key aspect that stuck out to me throughout the reading.
DeleteYou did a good job. I also agree with Mao believing that the Chinese needed to come together as a unified nation to become stronger.
DeleteI agree with Chris. I think that this connection is what made Mao so popular. It's interesting to see how important this connection to the working people is to politics in both the United States and China.
DeleteI agree with what you said about "it was important for the Chinese to come together and form one unified nation." because Chinese should stand up and its necessary for Chinese to hold together to face enemy.
DeleteI also agree with this comment. What it all came down is that Mao won their loyalty through his talks of national unity and to have an identity as a Chinese person.
DeleteMao ZeDong seemed to definitely relate more with the working class in China. Ben also brings up an interesting point about the politics because I was thinking the same thing as well.
DeleteWhen first reading the first article, I was a bit confused on how exactly it would tie into the class of Chinese history as a whole. I thought the anthem and the songs introduced through Paul Robeson were just songs voicing the Chinese and their pride. However, from Tuesday’s lecture and reexamining the article where it speaks directly with the Chinese National Anthem and Paul Robeson, I quickly learned how important these simple songs contributed to a much larger purpose other than Chinese pride. On page 7 it states “From the 1935 Shanghai film song to the 1938 soundtrack of a documentary film made by a Dutch filmmaker from Hollywood, from the singing of the same song in both Chinese and English by an African American actor and activist in the United States in 1941 to the spread of the song in Europe in early 1949, this cluster of voices and images suggest that the production, circulation, and consumption of ‘March of the Volunteers’ and the making of the film song into the Chinese National Anthem had as much to do with the joint effort of an international avant-garde as with the rise of nationalism I Chinese politics” (7). The quote is powerful, depicting an international picture rather than just the Chinese. When thinking of a country’s anthem, one would assume only about national pride concerning that country. However, with the Chinese anthem, we quickly understand how an international “avant-garde” (which usually deal with culture and politics) contributed to both the anthem and Chinese nationalistic pride.
ReplyDeleteMao Zedong’s speech had a more immediate impact on me however when comparing it to the Chinese National Anthem article. I believe because this is a direct translation and real account that happened in history it puts a much more impactful statement. When looking at the quote on page 7 it states “Who, then, are the masses of the people? The broadest sections of the people, constituting more than 90 per cent of our total population, are the workers, peasants, soldiers, and urban petty bourgeoisie. Therefore, our literature and art are first for the workers, the class that leads the revolution. Secondly, they are for the peasants, the most numerous and most steadfast of our allies in the revolution” (7). Looking from the quote, it is evident that Mao was a great public speaker. Calling to arms of the majority population and masses of those he knew could help him in revolution. He knew an important attribute to this revolution was directly dealing with literature and the arts which were usually classified around the riches. By making it more attractable to the lower class citizens Mao was able to draw the attention of many.
I really enjoyed reading your post. You also showed really good support for your opinions.
DeleteI find it interesting that an international effort became involved with China's politics and government as a whole, and through a mutual relationship, the internationals like Robeson and Ivens helped raise awareness and propaganda for the cause, while Han gave Robeson the courage to fight his own fight in America. Its unique - yet, amazing - that one little song could have such an impact worldwide.
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ReplyDelete"The Yan'an Talks on Literature and Art (延安文艺座谈会上的讲话) was a speech given by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1942 in Yan'an, Shaanxi. During the speech Mao claimed that all art and literature in China should advance the interests of socialism and take the proletariat as its central theme. The emphasis laid out in the speech contributed to the excesses of the Cultural Revolution, where independent creative thought was labelled as heterodox and material that did not relate directly to socialism was classed as contraband. The current Communist administration has since rejected this form of practical ideology, but has retained the emphasis on the depiction of the working class in art. " (http://www.thepekingglass.com/2012/12/mao-zedong-talks-at-yanan-forum-on.html)
Mao Zedong's speech focused on the problem: what is our literature and art for? In a summary, people is the basic and most important factor for the country. Art and literature is for people. "Our writers and artists have their literary and art work to do, but their primary task is to understand people and know them well." (page 3) In my opinion, the art and literature and art serve for the people at that time, this is another way to get together the people to support our revolution. Art and literature can awake people.
In my opinion, this week's readings, can be summed up by, a crucial statement found in the closing remarks of "International Avant-garde and the Chinese National Anthem," "Music and Poetry served as enduring themes in all three artistic worlds...," "...The structure of the film is musical. Poetry provided a closely related model, and the sound track (or in silent films, the intertitles) was poetic in structure. ‘March of the Volunteers,’ aided by the power of mechanically reproduced records and films, had indeed become the embodiment of an internationalist political solidarity in face of rising fascism. "(Lou, 13) This exert can be compared to China during this period, as what Mao ZeDong stated as "...in a struggle for the liberation of Chinese people." (ZeDong, 1) It is clear that this revolution is compelling in many aspects for many individuals. The act of China coming together as a single unit was essential. To "Rise!" would be a good way to put that China was working together toward a common goal of defending their honor against their adversary.
ReplyDeleteMao ZeDong can be considered an activist for the common people. A man to stand up for people who got their hands dirty. Politics aside, he was there to serve for people who needed him. This quote offers extremely persuasive aspects by explaining how his own opinion changed; at one time he felt this way, but now this is how he feels after his eyes were opened to the painful truth. "It was then, and only then, that I fundamentally changed the bourgeois and petty-bourgeois feelings implanted in me in the bourgeois schools. I came to feel that compared with the workers and peasants the unremoulded intellectuals were not clean and that, in the last analysis, the workers and peasants were the cleanest people."(ZeDong, 4)
You're correct; that statement does an excellent job of summarizing the two readings of this week. I hadn't thought that when I initially read it however now that you point it out I agree.
DeleteIt's interesting how after this reading we see Mao as more of someone who would stand up for the people of his country as opposed to the typical view Americans have of him.
From the first reading, I learned a lot about China's nation anthem. I learned about Tian Han and his unfinished epic poem that was used to create the anthem and I also learned that "The March of Volunteers" was the central idea around the film. I thought it was interesting that the Denton movie company also wanted to make the song popular before the release of the film so that the film would be successful.
ReplyDeleteThe second reading was by Mao and his address to the people. Throughout the reading, you can see his charisma and why people love and follow him. He encourages a lot of Marxist studying, even by writers and artist who study literature. However he does say how the writers and artists need to learn how to reach real people through their work, and that they are lacking in knowledge. I found the address really interesting, considering it is the first piece I have read that was written by Mao.
I think Mao conveyed his thoughts and ideas through his relation to the common people of China. He always made a solid (and obvious) effort to establish a connection with the more common people of China, rather than those of the rich classes. "In our struggle for the liberation of the Chinese people there are various fronts, among which there are the fronts of the pen and of the gun, the cultural and the military fronts." (Pg 1). From this quote, we get the immediate sense of how Mao relates more to the common people class. This is seen in how he discusses topics of "In our struggle for the liberation of the Chinese people" and "fronts of the pen and of the gun". Mao was really popular and people followed him during that time for this very reason. He always supported the progress among the workers, farmers, and soldiers. Another quote that shows this is "Comrades! You have been invited to this forum today to exchange ideas and examine the relationship between work in the literary and artistic fields and revolutionary work in general". The only important parts of these sentences are "Comrades" and "You have been invited". These establish a connection with the audience. Therefore, he immediately has the audience's attention and they're hanging on his every word.
ReplyDeleteI found the reading about the Chinese national anthem to be incredibly interesting. It's a topic that I haven't put a whole lot of thought in to, even the American national anthem. Having the opportunity to compare and contrast the history of the two anthems was actually a pretty interesting experience.
ReplyDeleteI was also incredibly surprised to learn of Paul Robeson's role in the singing of the Chinese national anthem. I would not expect an African American man to be singing in Chinese, let alone their national anthem. It's actually pretty cool how popular this was.
I agree that these were both very interesting readings. Reading this about the Chinese national anthem made me curious about the history of the American national anthem.
DeleteI really enjoyed reading this short, yet to the point comment. It promoted a lot of thought about the Chinese national anthem.
DeleteMao Zedong's "Talks at the Yan'an Forum on Literature and Art" is his declaration to eradicate the Avant-Garde in Chinese culture. Similar to Mao's declaration in "On New Democracy" that China's new culture will be a "...anti-imperialist, anti-fuedal new democracy of the popular masses led by the culture and thought of the proletariat," the talks at the Yan'an Forum outlined his desire for artists to "serve the millions and tens of millions of the working people" (Zedong, 6). Collectivism and Socialist Realism, like the kind outlined by Mao, kills Avant-gardism, which at its core is an elitist methodology. He berates the artists for being Avant-garde elitists that neglected to include the proletariat simply because of their illiteracy.
ReplyDeleteAltering the focus of artists and writers in this way is an act of propaganda to romanticize the proletariat and the actions of socialism and communism. If the artists and writers failed to comply to these policies they would be drowned out under the flood of mass production of proletariat based literature. Take for example the Nobel prize winning author, Gao Xingjian, who grew up after Mao's talks at the forum. His work was unknown in China until his book "Soul Mountain" came out in 1990. But even though Gao is a Nobel prize winning writer his work was considered too Avant-garde and he remains unpopular in China still to this day.
Mao's declaration limited the artistic spirit of China, but that is his intent because it illustrates his view that that art should be subordinate to politics, and serve to advance socialism in China.
International Avant-garde and Chinese National Anthem is a very moving piece about the history of the Chinese Anthem. Paul Robeson’s ‘Chi-Lai’, or “March of the Volunteers’ is such a powerful message, when the song was played in class and hearing, “Rise, Rise, Rise!” it was easily understandable on why this song was such a big influence during war time. The song brought such hope to the people during a bad time and kept moral up.
ReplyDeleteThe second story ‘Talks at the Yan’an Forum on Literature and Art’ was very moving and convincing. Mao related the issues of the country and found solutions for them through art and literature. After the May Fourth Movement, there was a boom in western influence in literature and art. But the most surprising part I thought about what he had spoken about was his stand against the new China arts and literature. He had stated how the new artwork didn’t connect with the workers, peasants, and basically the lower class of China. He chose to speak as an elite to those of lower class in order for them to work up from there. I found this tactic very smart, in doing so he became relatable but as someone in a higher class so they respect his stance. He is a very powerful and persuasive writer and it is easily seen why he was very successful in getting his perspectives across.