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China 1950–1981: The People and the State

The nature of Communist propaganda and its impact

  • 3 things to know
  • Paper 1

Overview

The Little Red Book and Lin Biao, the model soldier Lei Feng, Mao Zedong's swim in the Yangtze, posters, badges and broadcasts, the personality cult's grip on everyday speech, and Dazhai's treatment of doubters, its publicity, its hidden help and its exposure after Mao.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Who and when

How was the cult of Mao Zedong built up in 1966, and what did it do to ordinary people?

Key term

What was the Little Red Book?

Key term

Who compiled Mao Zedong’s book of quotations and used the army to spread his personality cult?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What was the Little Red Book?

    Model answer

    A pocket-sized collection of quotations from Mao Zedong, carried, recited and waved by soldiers, students and workers.

  2. 2

    Who compiled Mao Zedong’s book of quotations and used the army to spread his personality cult?

    Model answer

    Lin Biao, the defence minister.

  3. 3

    What was the model soldier Lei Feng held up to teach children?

    Model answer

    That a good citizen gives up everything selflessly for Mao Zedong and the Party and expects nothing back.

  4. 4

    How did the swim in the Yangtze in 1966 serve Mao Zedong?

    Model answer

    Photographs of the seventy-two-year-old chairman swimming told the country he was fit enough to lead a second revolution.

  5. 5

    Name two ways the image of Mao Zedong reached ordinary people every day.

    Model answer

    Posters and badges in every home and workplace, and readings, songs and slogans broadcast through loudspeakers in factories, schools and communes.

  6. 6

    What did the personality cult do to the way people spoke to one another?

    Model answer

    Any criticism of the chairman became unthinkable, so neighbours, colleagues and even children denounced each other to prove their own loyalty.

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