2. YAN’AN TALKS/ YAN’AN FORUM
延安文艺座谈会 (Yán'ān Wén Yì Zuòtánhuì).
HELD IN MAY 1942 AT THE CITY OF YAN'AN.
HENAN
SHAANXIQINGHAI
JIANGXI
SICHUAN
INDIA
SHANGHAI
YANAN
NINGXIA
NEI MONGOL BEIJING
3. BACKGROUND
DURING THE LONG MARCH (1934-1935), THE COMMUNIST PARTY & PLA USED SONG,
DRAMA, & DANCE TO APPEAL TO THE CIV POPULATION, BUT DID NOT HAVE A UNIFIED
CULTURAL POLICY.
FOR THREE YEARS AFTER THE OUTBREAK OF THE 2ND SINO-JAPANESE WAR IN 1937, THE
MAIN MSG OF THE COMMUNIST ART ORG, SUCH AS THE CHINESE PEOPLE'S ANTI-
JAPANESE DRAMA SOCIETY, WAS TO "OPPOSE JAPAN" (反日, FǍNRÌ) OR "RESIST JAPAN" (
抗日, KÀNGRÌ).
IN 1938, THE PARTY EST THE LU XUN ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS IN YAN'AN, WHICH WAS TO
TRAIN PEOPLE IN LITERATURE, MUSIC, FINE ARTS, & DRAMA.
IN 1940, MAO ISSUED A POLICY STATEMENT IN HIS TRACT, "ON NEW DEMOCRACY“
"THE CONTENT OF CHINA'S NEW CULTURE AT THE PRESENT STG IS... THE ANTI-
IMPERIALIST ANTI-FEUDAL NEW DEMOCRACY OF THE POPULAR MASSES LED BY THE
CULTURE & THOUGHT OF THE PROLETARIAT".
SIGNIFICANT EVENT IN THE YAN'AN RECTIFICATION MOV.
4. YAN'AN RECTIFICATION MOV
DURING THE YAN'AN RECTIFICATION MOV (1942-1944), THE PARTY USED VARIOUS
METHODS TO CONSOLIDATE IDEOLOGICAL UNITY AMONG CADRES AROUND MAOISM (AS
OPPOSED TO SOVIET-STYLE MARXISM-LENINISM).
THE YAN'AN RECTIFICATION MOV WAS THE FIRST IDEOLOGICAL MASS MOV INITIATED BY
THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY (CCP), WEF 1942 TO 1944.
THE MOV TOOK PLACE AT THE COMMUNIST BASE AT YAN'AN, A REMOTE AND ISOLATED
MTNS AREA IN NORTHERN SHAANXI, AFTER THE COMMUNISTS' LONG MARCH.
THOUGH IT WAS DURING THE 2ND SINO-JAPANESE WAR, THE CCP WAS EXPERIENCING A
TIME OF RELATIVE PEACE WHEN THEY COULD FOCUS ON INTERNAL AFFAIRS.
MORE THAN 10,000 WERE KILLED IN THE "RECTIFICATION" PROCESS, AS THE PARTY MADE
EFFORTS TO ATTACK INTELLECTUALS AND REPLACE THE CULTURE OF THE MAY FOURTH
MOV WITH THAT OF COMMUNIST CULTURE.
5. YAN’AN TALKS/ YAN’AN FORUM
THUS BEGAN A THREE-WEEK CONF AT THE LU’ XUN ACADEMY.
IT IS MOST NOTABLE FOR THE SPEECHES GIVEN BY MAO ZEDONG.
LATER EDITED & PUB AS TALKS AT THE YAN'AN FORUM ON LITERATURE AND
ART .
DEALT WITH THE ROLE OF LITERATURE & ART IN THE COUNTRY.
THE TWO MAIN PTS WERE :-
• ALL ART SHOULD REFLECT THE LIFE OF THE WORKING CL & CONSIDER THEM AS AN
AUDIENCE, &
• ART SHOULD SERVE POLITICS, & SPECIFICALLY THE ADVANCEMENT OF SOCIALISM.
6. YAN’AN TALKS/ YAN’AN FORUM
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 & BE DIR
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 & PEASANTS IN THE VILL" AS
AUDIENCES, JUST BECAUSE THEY WERE ILLITERATE.
HE WAS PARTICULARLY CRITICAL OF CHINESE OPERA AS A COURTLY ART FORM, RATHER
THAN ONE DIR TOWARDS THE MASSES.
HE ENCOURAGED ARTISTS TO DRAW FROM CHINA'S ARTISTIC LEGACY AS WELL AS INTL
ART FORMS IN ORDER TO FURTHER SOCIALISM.
MAO ALSO ENCOURAGED LITERARY PEOPLE TO TRANSFORM THEMSELVES BY LIVING IN
THE COUNTRYSIDE, & TO STUDY THE POPULAR MUSIC & FOLK CULTURE OF THE As,
INCORPORATING BOTH INTO THEIR WKS.
7. OUTCOME OF YAN’AN TALKS
AN IMDT CHANGE IN CHINESE MUSIC 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 SEC ON "CULTURE &
ART" IN THE MAOIST TEXT QUOTATIONS FROM CHAIRMAN MAO ZEDONG .
THE GANG OF FOUR'S DRAMATIC INTERPRETATION OF THE YAN'AN TALKS DURING THE
CULTURAL REVOLUTION LED TO A NEW PARTY-SANCTIONED FORM OF POLITICAL ART,
REVOLUTIONARY OPERA.
PROVED FUNDAMENTAL TO THE SUBSEQUENT HISTORY OF THE CCP.
THESE INCL
CONSOLIDATION OF MAO'S PARAMOUNT ROLE WITHIN THE CCP, ESPECIALLY FROM
1942 TO 1944, &
ADOPTION OF A PARTY CONSTITUTION THAT ENDORSED MARXIST-LENINISM & MAO
ZEDONG THOUGHT AS GUIDING IDEOLOGIES.
8. OUTCOME OF YAN’AN TALKS
MOV FORMALIZED MAO'S DEVIATION FROM THE MOSCOW PARTY LINE & THE
IMP OF MAO'S MAJ ADAPTATIONS OF COMMUNISM TO THE CONDITIONS OF
CHINA.
RECTIFICATION CAMPAIGN WAS SUCCESSFUL IN EITHER CONVINCING OR
COERCING THE OTHER LEADERS OF THE CCP TO SUPPORT MAO.
BECAUSE THE CCP HAD OVERCOME GREAT ODDS TO GROW & DEVP DURING THIS
PD, THE METHODS EMP IN YAN'AN WERE LOOKED UPON IN REVERENCE DURING
MAO'S LATER YRS.
AFTER THE FOUNDING OF THE PRC IN 1949, MAO REPEATEDLY USED SOME OF
THE TAC THAT HAD BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN YAN'AN WHENEVER HE FELT THE NEED
TO MONOPOLIZE POL POWER.
AS A RESULT, THE YAN'AN RECTIFICATION CAMPAIGN BEGAN WITH THE
"SYSTEMATIC REMOLDING OF HUMAN MINDS."
