Red-Color News Soldier [Paperback]

Li Zhensheng (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2003

Following World War II, China found itself struggling with a conversion to communism that had wreaked havoc on the nation's economy, causing a devastating famine and extreme economic depression. In 1966 China's leader, Mao Zedong, gave his support to radicals within the communist party who envisioned a revolutionary social upheaval that would destroy all traces of the reactionary past. This was the beginning of a ten-year period of violence and chaos known as the Cultural Revolution. Many top officials lost their positions and numerous provincial governments came under the control of the radicals. The radical movement was primarily led by students who formed organizations known as "Red Guards," which used violent methods to punish people they saw as "anti-Maoists" or counter-revolutionaries. At the height of the Cultural Revolution (1966-70) China's universities were closed and much of its populace was sent to rural "re-education centres" where they were indoctrinated with Maoist policies. It is during this period that Li Zhensheng worked as a photojournalist for the "Heilongjiang Daily", shooting film both for the paper and, as we know now, for himself. While Li worked for a newspaper supporting the Maoist movement and admits he did not think Mao's policies to be incorrect at the beginning of his tenure at the newspaper, his hiding of film was a highly subversive action. As a photographer, Li wanted to document the Cultural Revolution for himself and for others in the future. He put himself at risk by hiding film stills that the government would have destroyed, capturing events of which little or no other visual record exists. Looking at the photos in this book, one sees the difference between the photos published in the "Daily" and those Li hid for himself, allowing for a rare understanding of how the Chinese government controlled media during the Cultural Revolution. The Heilongjiang province where Li worked was crucial because of its proximity to the then Soviet Union. Its main city, Harbin, had been occupied by the Soviets following World War II and was later set up as a communication hub between the Soviet Union and China. It was the communist centre which bred the revolutionary movement, leading to China's unification under communist control in 1949. This Russian influence can be seen in the details of Li's photographs, right down to the city's typically Russian-style architecture. Many of Li's techniques as a photographer borrow from his training as a filmmaker, including his creation of "handheld panoramic" photos by shooting overlapping frames of large panoramas and pasting the stills together to create the illusion of one continuous shot. His inventive techniques and powerful images make Li one of the premier Chinese photographers alive today. This book, which takes its name from the literal translation of Li's accreditation as a photographer approved by the Communist Party headquarters in Beijing, is part of the key to understanding one of the most turbulent and still notorious eras of modern history. The book includes a preface, introduction, text by the photographer, chronology, maps, and extensive photo captions for over 400 photos (almost all of which have never been seen before).

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Li Zhensheng was born in Dalian, China in 1940. After studying film, he joined The Heilongjiang Daily as a photojournalist in 1963 and documented the Chinese Cultural Revolution. In 1987, a collection of twenty of his photos from the Cultural Revolution titled "Let History Tell the Future" was released and won the grand prize at China's National Press Association Photo Competition. Since October 1996 he has been a visiting scholar, lecturing on the Cultural Revolution at Harvard and Princeton universities. His work has appeared in Time, The New York Times Magazine, Der Spiegel (Germany), and Le Nouvel Observateur (France). Li, a Chinese citizen, is currently engaged in academic research, writing, and lecturing. Jonathan D. Spence is Sterling Professor of History at Yale University. He is the author of a distinguished body of work on the history of modern China, including the seminal book, The Search for Modern China (1990). The Gate of Heavenly Peace: The Chinese and Their Revolution 1895-1980 (1981) was awarded the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for History. Spence was named a MacArthur Fellow in 1988 and is established as a one of the foremost experts on modern China.

Product Details

• Paperback: 316 pages
• Publisher: Phaidon Press (October 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0714843083
• ISBN-13: 978-0714843087
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #509,743 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Cultural Revolution"? What sort of revolution?, October 24, 2003

By 

B. Fang "Audio Mercenary" (Brisbane, QLD Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Red-Color News Soldier (Paperback)

I remember reading a review of this in the Far Eastern Economic Review (Oct 16, 2003 issue) and I said to myself after reading that review that I had to somehow find a copy of this book. One week later, I found it. If this truly is part of the only (known) complete collection of photographs of China within 1966-1976, then Li Zhensheng must be commended for his bravery in capturing some of the most poignant & stark imagery that I have ever seen in my life.

Starting from the beginnings of the "revolution" in 1964-1966, we are taken through from the initial scenes of relative calmness to the all-out assault on those "bourgeois" elements within Heilongjiang province by the time of 1972-1976. I took a look at the images and could not believe how humanity could do these things to its own. Thank goodness that Li Zhensheng (with Robert Pledge and Jacques Menasche) make mention that only in 1981 did China suddenly realise that the Cultural Revolution did not really achieve anything but set China backwards.

There are between 300-400 prints in this book that were culled from over 30,000 negatives taken by Li to New York. If the images in this pictorial story are anything to go by, God only knows what those other 29,600-29,700+ negatives contain. Definitely one to buy for your collection. Recommended without any hesitation.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A shocking look at a remarkable period, December 22, 2003

By 

Paul Donovan (London, UK) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Red-Color News Soldier (Paperback)

Although the photographs are the main focus of this book, the accompanying text is also illuminating as an individual's account of his experiences of the Cultural Revolution. The text has, of course, been written with the benefit of hindsight - and one gets a sense of retrospective self-justification coming in. The passion that the period inspired amongst the younger generation is also evident, however.

The photographs are, of course, contemporary accounts of the living through that period, and consequently have the power to shock significantly. The "struggle session" photographs of senior party leaders undergoing "self-criticism" are particularly horrific. The concluding photographs of a "victor" of the Cultural Revolution on her way to her execution after the restoration of a more normal society also have a big impact - though curiously there is a sense of the pathetic about the woman that Li captures.

The photography merits a 5 star rating, the text probably a three. The images are a valuable insight into the strength of emotion in that remarkable period.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Many Faces of the Cultural Revolution, March 22, 2004

By 

T. E Sheller "jedimasterbooboo" (Santa Maria, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Red-Color News Soldier (Paperback)

For those of us fascinated and puzzled over the cultural revolution in China, here are photos to bring to life what we've been reading.There are many faces to study. This document seems curiously objective even though the author has his own story to tell of being treated unfairly. I would not describe the photos as shocking to those who have studied these events in China's history. This is a great companion to any other narrative one might be studying on the subject. Also, the author is a remarkable person. This is another work on the cultural revolution where I come away feeling gratitude toward the author. Li Zhensheng has a more benign story in comparison with some other personal accounts that were part of my introduction to this subject. I enjoy this additional perspective. There is much to see here.