Content
The "Yan'an Talks" outlined the party's policy on "mass culture" (Chinese: 群众文化; pinyin: qúnzhòng wénhuà) in China, which was to be "revolutionary culture" (Chinese: 革命文化; pinyin: gémìng wénhuà). 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 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.
Read more about this topic: Yan'an Talks On Literature And Art
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