The Yan'an Forum on Literature and Art () was a May 1942 forum held at the city of
Yan'an in
Communist-controlled China and significant event in the
Yan'an Rectification Movement. It is most notable for the speeches given by
Mao Zedong, later edited and published as ''Talks at the Yan'an Forum on Literature and Art'' () which dealt with the role of literature and art in the country. The two main points were that (1) all art should reflect the life of the
working class and consider them as an audience, and (2) that art should serve politics, and specifically the advancement of
socialism. The excesses of the latter point during the
Cultural Revolution led to current
Party policy rejecting that point, but retaining Mao's encouragement of peasant-focused art and literature.
Background
During the
Long March (1934-1935), the
Communist Party and
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...
used song, drama, and dance to appeal to the civilian population, but did not have a unified cultural policy. For three years after the outbreak of the
Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, the main message of the Communist art organizations, such as the Chinese People's Anti-Japanese Drama Society, was to "oppose Japan" (, ''fǎnrì'') or "resist Japan" (, ''kàngrì''). In 1938, the Party established the
Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts
Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts or LAFA is an art school in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, China.
Introduction
Established in 1938, Luxun Academy of Fine Art (LAFA) is founded and primarily focusing on education of talents in painting, sculpture and ...
in
Yan'an (Yenan), which was to train people in literature, music, fine arts, and drama.
In 1940, Mao issued a policy statement in his tract, "On New Democracy": "The content of China's new culture at the present stage is... the anti-imperialist anti-feudal new democracy of the popular masses led by the culture and thought of the proletariat". During the
Yan'an Rectification Movement (1942-1944), the Party used various methods to consolidate ideological unity among cadres around
Maoism (as opposed to Soviet-style Marxism–Leninism). The immediate spur to the Yan'an talks was a request by a concerned writer for
Mao Zedong to clarify the ambiguous role of intellectuals in the Communist movement.
Thus began a three-week conference at the Lu Xun Academy about the objectives of and methods of creating Communist art.
Content
The "Yan'an Talks" outlined the party's policy on "mass culture" () in China, which was to be "revolutionary culture" (). This revolutionary style of art would portray the lives of
peasants and be directed towards them as an audience.
Mao scolded artists for neglecting "The cadres, party workers of all types, fighters in the army, workers in the factories and peasants in the villages" as audiences, just because they were illiterate. He was particularly critical of
Chinese opera
Traditional Chinese opera (), or ''Xiqu'', is a form of musical theatre in China with roots going back to the early periods in China. It is an amalgamation of various art forms that existed in ancient China, and evolved gradually over more tha ...
as a courtly art form, rather than one directed towards the masses. However, he encouraged artists to draw from China's artistic legacy as well as international art forms in order to further socialism.
Mao also encouraged literary people to transform themselves by living in the countryside,
and to study the
popular music and
folk culture of the areas, incorporating both into their works.
Legacy
An immediate change in
Chinese music
Music of China refers to the music of the Chinese people, which may be the music of the Han Chinese
The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, ma ...
that resulted from the Yan'an Talks was the growth in respectability of folk styles.
Key quotations from "Yan'an Talks" form the basis of the section on "Culture and Art" in the Maoist text
Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong.
The
Gang of Four
The Gang of Four () was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes. The gang ...
's dramatic interpretation of the Yan'an Talks during the
Cultural Revolution led to a new Party-sanctioned form of political art,
revolutionary opera. Conversely, certain forms of art, such as the works of
Beethoven,
Respighi
Ottorino Respighi ( , , ; 9 July 187918 April 1936) was an Italian composer, violinist, teacher, and musicologist and one of the leading Italian composers of the early 20th century. His compositions range over operas, ballets, orchestral suit ...
,
Dvorak, and
Chopin, were condemned in Party papers as "
bourgeois
The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...
decadence".
After the death of Mao and the rise of
reformist leaders like
Deng Xiaoping, who condemned the Cultural Revolution, the Yan'an talks were officially reevaluated. In 1982, the Party declared that Mao's doctrine that "literature and art are subordinate to politics" was an "incorrect formulation", but it reaffirmed his main points about art needing to reflect the reality of the workers and peasantry.
See also
*
Socialist realism
*
Red Detachment of Women
Notes
Further reading
* McDougall, Bonnie. (1980). ''Mao Zedong's "Talks at the Yan'an Conference on Literature and Art": A Translation of the 1943 Text with Commentary''. University of Michigan Press.
External links
Talks at the Yenan Forum on Literature and Art(May 2, 1942) at the
Marxist Internet Archive
{{Authority control
Works by Mao Zedong
1942 essays