The new Communist drama is not a mirror of society but an intriguing picture of society-a picture of red banners waving everywhere, of heroic deeds by workers, peasants, and soldiers (especially women), all of whom are armed with Mao's tho ughts on art and literature....an extremely powerful force in the creation of the new Communist society.
Jiang Qing and her associates caused devastating damage to the theater not with their model plays nor with their drama theories; they did it by banning all other dramas deemed ideologically counter-revolutionary and by ruthless persecution of writers, playwrights and theater professionals.ARTISTIC STANDARDS
It is unfair to claim that the Party leadership had no interest in and made no effort to improve artistic standards in theater. Its efforts toward artistic improvement in theater, however, were frequently frustrated and interrupted by cea seless political and ideological campaigns.There was much concern expressed by Communist Party leaders for the artistic standards of the new proletariat art and literature. While artistic quality was discussed a great deal, it still took a back seat to political goals, as discussed by Mao Zedong in his "Talks" at Yenan:BEIJING OPERA FESTIVALS AND POLICY
I suggest that the Ministry of Culture compile and publish a collection of those articles in which the imperialists and modern revisionists lay their curses upon modern theme Beijing operas, and distribute it to everyone taking part in thi s festival. Let everyone have a chance to see them.At the onset of the Cultural Revolution, Party policy emphasized reform of contemporary themes in Beijing opera. This emphasis lead to the East China Drama Learning Festival held in Shanghai from December 25, 1963 to January 22, 1964. The Festival of B eijing Opera on Contemporary Themes, held in Beijing also took place in 1964.MODEL OPERAS
The reforms discussed by Jiang Qing eventually evolved into the complete banning of all but five Beijing operas by the Communist Party. The highly heterogeneous form of model operas was hand-picked by Jiang Qing as the most operative vehicle for the pro pagation of Communist ideology. These five productions were known as "model operas" (yangbanxi) or "revolutionary model operas" (geming yangbanxi): Taking the Bandit's Stronghold, On the Docks, Raid on the White Tiger Regiment [See Figure 31], Sparks Amid the Reeds, and The Red Lantern. Two revolutionary modern ballets and one symphony were also chosen to join Jiang Qing's group of "model" performance pieces.
In 1973 a move was made to reject the model opera The Red Lantern in favor of earlier versions.For five years there were only five model operas. In 1972 groups high in the Party leadership were campaigning for the revival of traditional operas. By late 1972, opera companies were again writing and producing their own new operas on contemporary st ruggles. Despite all the changes forced by Jiang Qing and the Gang of Four, the model operas slowly disappeared or returned to their traditional story lines, and new productions of the pre-Cultural Revolution classics emerged.
...if the goddess of these mountains is not deadAs violence and terror increased during the Cultural Revolution, Mao Zedong and Jiang Qing publicly condemned the "ultra-leftist tendencies" of the People's Liberation Army, but to no avail; by 1967, Mao Zedong and the Gang of Four began to lose control of the Cultural Revolution to the People's Liberation Army and Zhou Enai, the Mao-appointed Premier of China. As Mao's health deteriorated and more political power fell into the hands of Zhou, Jiang Qing and the other Gang of Four members waged an ideolo gical attack on Zhou, as well as his successor, Hua Guofeng. CONTINUE-->she will marvel at the changed world.
"Swimming" June 1956
Mao Zedong