Illustration:
ill. 5.54 a (set: 5.54)
Date:
1959
Genre:
photograph
Material:
scan, grayscale; original source: photograph
Source:
Yang 1995: Yang Kelin 杨克林. Wenhua da geming bowuguan 文化大革命博物馆 (Museum of the Cultural Revolution). Hong Kong: Sanlian, 1995:57.
Inscription:
庆祝社会主义建设总路线的伟大胜利; 大跃进万岁; 人民公社万岁
Keywords:
Tian’anmen square, red flag, public, Mao Cult, parade, masses

Tian'anmen 1959 (Tian'anmen 1959 天安门 1959)

But how representative are these repetitious images to the experience of the Cultural Revolution alone? They are not: For before and after the Cultural Revolution, too, Mao would not be missed in public at Tian’anmen, so for example during parades celebrating the Great Leap Forward in the late 1950s or during the Tian’anmen protests in 1989 (ill. 5.54 a&b). Indeed, his presence at Tian’anmen, which played a role in paintings of Tian’anmen immediately since 1949 (e.g. Wu 2005:74), and was reflected in a set of stamps issued in celebration of the establishment of the People’s Republic (Wu 2005:72).