Freelancers Struggle

[Randy W]

. . . from the Global Times

 

Freelancers struggle to get images on sensitive topics shot, published

 

 

http://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0/attachment/2011/0cec1a1e-d3c9-4d08-a877-0305321f8826.jpeg

 

But in a country like China, where some visions of the past and the realities of the present are still sensitive and discouraged, photographers try any means to show what they believe to be the hidden reality in this country.

Li Zhensheng, a Chinese photojournalist who captured some of the most telling images of the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), told the Global Times that even today, he still has trouble exhibiting all his pictures in China.

After living in the US for 15 years, he was invited to attend the Dali International Photography Festival earlier this month. But his photos had to undergo strict screening to be exhibited.

 

. . .

 

Years after the Cultural Revolution and although China has faced up to the horrors of that time, graphic representations of it remain difficult.

 

. . .

 

"As a photographer, you have to always do the exact opposite of what you are told. Be rebellious if you want to show this world in a unique perspective," Li Zhensheng told the Global Times.

While his peers were competing to take positive photos that consisted mostly of high-spirited revolutionaries waving Little Red Books and praising Chairman Mao, Li aimed his camera at the negative side of the campaign.

 

. . .

 

"Chinese authorities have gradually included religions into the category of culture and have slightly relaxed restrictions concerning publicity of such topics. As long as there is no strong, symbolic content, these photos can be on exhibit publicly," Gao told the Global Times.

But books remain a different proposition, Gao said, adding that screening in book publishing is much stricter.

 

 

[Randy W]

Some pictures from the National Geographic

 

See Long-Hidden Photos of China’s Cultural Revolution

 

On the 50th anniversary of the upheaval, we look at images that one brave photographer hid from the government.

 

 

 

 

Photographer Li Zhensheng had a unique view of China’s Cultural Revolution—a chaotic period of purging and punishment that began on May 16, 1966, and lasted in different phases until Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong’s death 10 years later.

 

 

Li was working for a newspaper in Heilongjiang Province at the time, and the job allowed him to take state-approved pictures of Mao’s campaign without fear of harassment. He later hid the negatives under his floorboards in case government officials ever came looking for him.

 

 

And they did. In 1968, the government accused him of “counterrevolutionary” activities and raided his apartment.

 

 

 

 

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/content/dam/news/2016/05/16/china-revolution/05-china-cultural-revolution.adapt.1900.1.jpg

 

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/content/dam/news/2016/05/16/china-revolution/09-china-cultural-revolution.adapt.1900.1.jpg

[Randy W]

from the BBC link

 

http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/media/images/62866000/jpg/_62866100_lizhenshenglizhensheng.jpg

 

 

Li Zhensheng, Several hundred thousand Red Guards attend a "Learning and Applying Mao Zedong Thought" rally in Red Guard Square (formerly People's Stadium), Harbin, Heilongjiang province, 13 September 1966 (© Li Zhensheng. Courtesy Contact Press Images)

[danb]

I didn't realize that the SCMP was a Hong Kong based newspaper. From the articles that I recall reading on this forum I thought that they wrote their articles with Chinese's approval, I don't recall articles that were unfavorable of China. I will have to pay more attention in the future of their stance/ point of view. Interesting.

 

I just reread In the article that I posted above, it said:

 

"The official party mouthpiece People's Daily published an opinion piece on its website precisely at midnight on Tuesday praising the 1981 party resolution that condemned the bloody political movement launched by Mao Zedong to revive his revolutionary agenda.

The party has long suppressed open discussion of the tumultuous period, fearing that could undermine its legitimacy to rule and lead to direct criticism of Mao, the founder of the communist state who remains among its most revered figures.

No official commemorations have been held, although some Mao loyalists have staged private events."

I think that Mao is popular with many of the older Chinese. It could be interested to see how he is judged 50 years from now. I looked on wiki what a Maoist thinks. It says that a Maoist see : The essential difference between Maoism and other forms of Marxism is that Mao claimed that peasants should be the essential revolutionary class in China, because, contrary to their industrial working "comrades," they were more suited to establishing a successful revolution and socialist society in China. Ahh, there is so much that I don't know about China. Danb

[Greg.D.]

"Mistakes were made"

[Randy W]

I didn't realize that the SCMP was a Hong Kong based newspaper. From the articles that I recall reading on this forum I thought that they wrote their articles with Chinese's approval, I don't recall articles that were unfavorable of China. I will have to pay more attention in the future of their stance/ point of view. Interesting.

 

I just reread In the article that I posted above, it said:

 

 

 

The "ministry of truth" of the Chinese Communist Party issues directives that the Chinese papers are to follow - Hong Kong is exempt

 

http://chinadigitaltimes.net/china/directives-from-the-ministry-of-truth/

 

Any enforcement of Chinese law in Hong Kong is forbidden, but the case of the missing booksellers may have stretched that provision of the Basic Law more than just a little. That is just one example of a story that no one else was able to cover. See http://candleforlove.com/forums/topic/46920-developing-democracy-in-hong-kong/?p=627339

 

Under the Basic Law, Chinese and Hong Kong customs are on opposite sides of the river between Shenzhen and Hong Kong. That is, after exiting one, you walk across the river before being processed for entry at the other customs check-point.

 

But the SCMP is widely seen in Hong Kong as being pro-Beijing.

[Randy W]

The SCMP is a refreshing source of information outside the reach of the Communist censors, although it was recently purchased by Jack Ma, owner of AliBaba.

 

I believe he intends to maintain their independence.

[Randy W]

from the People's Daily Facebook

 

Commentary: ‪#China‬ will never allow the repetition of Cultural Revolution

 

As the document concluded, the Cultural Revolution, initiated by the national leader and exploited by the reactionaries, is an internal chaos bringing disasters to the party, the country and the people. The history has proved that the Cultural Revolution was totally wrong in its theory and practice.

The CPC has admitted, analyzed and corrected the mistakes made by itself and the leaders of the country, drawing lessons from both failures and successful experiences.

By differentiating the ten-year period of the Cultural Revolution with the incorrect theory and practice of it, the above document also strongly refutes the viewpoint that denies the history and leadership of the CPC, even the socialist system with the excuse of internal chaos.

It is such positive attitude that alerted the CPC and helped it return to a correct track for the primary stage of socialism. After 30 years' of reform and opening up, China has become a strong power with improved livelihood and amplified legal system. For a brighter future, the replay of the Cultural Revolution will never be allowed.

Drawing lessons from the past is for further improvement. We should never forget the lesson of the Cultural Revolution and steadfastly build the socialism with distinctive Chinese characteristics.

 

This is apparently a duplicate of what was published in the People's Daily - http://en.people.cn/n3/2016/0517/c98649-9059031.html

[Randy W]

from the SCMP

 

Still taboo in mainland China: the Cultural Revolution as seen through the lens of Li Zhensheng

• Award-winning photographer still hopes that his countrymen will one day be able to see the images taken at the height of the turmoil
• Pictures that had to be hidden away for decades are still deemed too sensitive to be shown to the Chinese people

Red-Colour News Soldier: Li Zhensheng

 

 

 

It was only in July this year that the first Chinese-language edition of the award-winning collection, which has already been printed in six languages was published in Hong Kong.

The 78-year-old still hopes his work will reach more Chinese people, but for now it has to be smuggled onto the mainland.

. . .

 

“Many people who have seen the photos would say could this be possible? How could there be such photos?

“Only when people feel the resonance can there be contemplation, and only deep contemplation can lead to reflection. Only with that reflection can there be changes in people’s ethics.”

He warned that the “soil of the Cultural Revolution still exists” although it would take a different form if it manifested itself.

He highlighted the so-called red song campaign launched by the now disgraced Chongqing party boss Bo Xilai and the Maoist website Utopia, recently closed by the authorities, as examples.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A young Red Guard performs the “loyalty dance” while awaiting Mao Zedong’s appearance in Tiananmen Square.

[Allon]

The Cultural Revolution really makes me sad when I think of what the wife went through. She was born in 1966 and throughout her early childhood, she had to see her father wear a dunce cap whenever he went out of the house. He was a Kuomintang officer, which is said by many to be the real reason for Mao's "Cultural" Revolution -- purging the KMT. He was beaten regularly. Her uncle, a general in the KMT, went to Russia and disappeared. She ate corn until she was 15. A lot of people around her died of pellagra (niacin deficiency) as a result. If they had not had a nearby farm to work and get vegetables, she might have died. She is the smallest of a family of giants.

 

I was recently put in the doghouse for letting a package of sugar snap peas spoil. It's been about two weeks. She went to Vegas with her friends. I am still chomping on a bone and howling at the moon.

[Randy W]

from the NY Times, dated June 25, 2020

 

Li Zhensheng, Photographer of China’s Cultural Revolution, Dies at 79

With his camera and red arm band, Mr. Li captured the dark side of Mao’s revolution at great personal risk.

 

Li Zhensheng in a risky self portrait taken during China’s Cultural Revolution on July 17, 1967, when people were expected to put party before self. His photographs offer a rare visual testament to that tumultuous period in Chinese history.

Credit...Li Zhensheng/Contact Press Images

 

Mr. Li was a young photographer at a local newspaper in northeastern China when Mao started the Revolution in May 1966. Wearing a red arm band that said, “Red-Color News Soldier,” Mr. Li was given extraordinary access to official events.

 

“I was excited like everyone else,” he recalled in a 2003 interview with The New York Times. “The happiness was real. We felt lucky to be living the moment.”

 

But his excitement quickly gave way to anxiety. What began as a political campaign aimed at consolidating power soon engulfed the entire country, unleashing decade-long turmoil that upended Chinese society. Factions of radical youths known as “Red Guards” roamed the country battling one another and perceived “class enemies.”

Countless historical sites and relics were destroyed in the name of stamping out China’s “feudal” and “bourgeois” culture. Mr. Li began to have doubts after witnessing Red Guards in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang ransacking churches and temples, burning scriptures and criticizing monks.

 

Eight criminals and counterrevolutionaries were forced to kneel on the outskirts of Harbin on April 5, 1968. In the moment before their execution, a guard tried to separate two condemned lovers, far left. Credit...Li Zhensheng/Contact Press Images

 

Three men are paraded through the streets of Harbin on Sept. 12, 1966, with their names and the crimes they are charged with (from left, black gang element, local despot, counterrevolutionary) displayed on placards. Credit...Li Zhensheng/Contact Press Images

Edited June 26, 2020 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

More from Li Zhensheng in the Sixth Tone

 

Remembering China’s ‘Red-Color News Soldier’

Li Zhensheng, a photographer known for his images of Cultural Revolution-era China, has died.

 

 

“The aim of looking back is to look forward,” Li wrote in the introduction of his book. “To record suffering is to try and prevent suffering from recurring; to record history is to prevent historical tragedies from replaying.”

 

 

http://image5.sixthtone.com/image/5/28/489.jpg

Ballet dancers perform “The White Haired Girl” to 50,000 rural residents in A’cheng County (now a district of Harbin City), Heilongjiang province, July 23, 1975. Li Zhensheng/The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press

 

http://image5.sixthtone.com/image/5/28/491.jpg

People swim to commemorate the anniversary of Chairman Mao’s journey across the Yangtze River in the Songhua River, Harbin, Heilongjiang province, July 16, 1967. Li Zhensheng/The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press

 

http://image5.sixthtone.com/image/5/28/493.jpg

Patients holds “The Little Red Book” in front of Chairman Mao’s portrait at a hospital in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, 1968. Li Zhensheng/The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press

 

http://image5.sixthtone.com/image/5/28/502.jpg

A view of people holding Chairman Mao’s portraits in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, June 21, 1968. Li Zhensheng/The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press