Illustration:
ill. 1.4
Author:
Artist: Wu Hanyi, Ye Yuzhong 绘画: 武漫宜，叶毓中
Date:
1975
Genre:
comic, comic strip
Material:
scan, paper, colour; original source: print on paper, colour
Source:
LHHB 1975.10:23.
Inscription:
'虹灯' 闪耀 热瓦甫的琴声刚停， 果园里洋溢着革命豪情， 李玉和的歌声在空中回荡， '红灯' 的光辉把观众的心 儿映红。 坚持文艺革命的方向， 对腐朽的意识形态发起猛攻， 占领反修前哨的文化阵地， 为捍卫毛主席革命文艺路线 勇敢冲锋 武漫宜 叶毓中 绘
Keywords:
model works, yangbanxi, propaganda art, countryside, The Red Lantern, peasants, minorities, model hero, Cultural Revolution, omnipresence, children, Mao Zedong, Mao Zedong´s revolutionary line, model heroes Tiemei, Li Yongqi

The Red Lantern (Hongdengji 红灯记)

For an entire decade, then, the model works preoccupied—but only officially monopolized—China’s theatrical and musical stages. Performances were much rarer in the countryside than in the city and tickets were hard to get, although the propaganda media suggested that they were available everywhere, even in the countryside. This depiction from Lianhuanhuabao of 1975, shows peasants in intimate dialogue with the performers of The Red Lantern and suggests that in the countryside and among the minorities the model works were also intended to be well known. One China historian (1957-) also remembers: "We all went together with our teacher to watch the yangbanxi films. I saw Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy 3 times. The others, yes, I have seen them all. In the city, it was easy to see them. In the countryside, it was perhaps a bit more difficult. But they were shown on the market place, for example."