Propaganda in the People's Republic of China refers to the use of propaganda by the Communist Party of China to sway public and international opinion in favor of its policies. Domestically, this includes censorship of proscribed views and an active cultivation of views that favor the government. Propaganda is considered central to the operation of the Chinese government. The term in general use in China, xuānchuán (宣传), itself originally translated from "propaganda" in western languages, has retained the original neutrality of the word and could be seen as synonymous with the word 'publicity' today.
Aspects of propaganda can be traced back to the earliest periods of Chinese history, but propaganda has been most effective in the twentieth century owing to mass media and an authoritarian government. Mao-era China is known for its constant use of mass campaigns to legitimize the state and the policies of leaders. It was the first Chinese government to successfully make use of modern mass propaganda techniques, adapting them to the needs of a country which had a largely rural and illiterate population.
Read more about Propaganda In The People's Republic Of China: Structure and Mechanics, Propaganda On The Internet, Domestic Propaganda, External Propaganda, Propaganda in The Arts, Influence Operations in The United States, See Also, References
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“All propaganda or popularization involves a putting of the complex into the simple, but such a move is instantly deconstructive. For if the complex can be put into the simple, then it cannot be as complex as it seemed in the first place; and if the simple can be an adequate medium of such complexity, then it cannot after all be as simple as all that.”
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