traditionally, chinese political culture has used the arts to propagate ideals of correct behavior and thought. this practice did not stop with the establishment of the people`s republic of china in 1949. on the contrary, propaganda art continued to be seen as one of the major means to explain and illustrate the `correct` policies of the moment and the communist party`s visions of the future. thus, it reinforced the messages passed on by other media such as newspapers, film and radio broadcasting.

　　through its complete control of both the artists and the publishing sector, the ccp was able to force its interpretation of reality and aesthetics on the population. as opposed to other images that were used traditionally to decorate the home with, propaganda came to dominate society and penetrated the lowest levels of social organization and cohabitation: the multi-colored posters could be seen hanging on walls in people`s houses and dormitories. in a society where not much else was available, their composition and visual content appealed to the spectators, while their political message was passed on in an almost subconscious manner.chinese propaganda art made extensive use of socialist realism, not only to show `life as it really is,` but also `life as it ought to be,` to instruct the viewers in the revolutionary development taking place `in the spirit of socialism.` this made chinese propaganda art a type of artistic faction, a mixture of fact and fiction, stressing the positive and papering over anything negative.

　　particularly in the 1950s and 1960s, in the era of mass movements such as the great leap forward and the cultural revolution, the posters were dominated by hyper-realistic, larger-than-life peasants, soldiers and workers in dynamic and often