Painting History: China’s Revolution in a Global Context By Jiawe ...

her close confidant Wang Mantian¹³ National Art Director, and she led a “rectification team” to rework any exhibits that failed to meet the required criteria.

I made a detour to Shanghai to call in on Chen Yifei and other painters at the Shanghai Oil Painting and Sculpture Studio, and while there discovered that my painting had been reviewed by the art critic Han Shangyi¹⁴ in the Wenhuibao newspaper. Back at my regiment in November, I was told that Jiang Qing had visited the Second National Art Exhibition and stood in front of a dozen or so works to critique them, while an art cadre noted her comments. On coming to my work, she heard how our Corps had mobilized rusticated youths to create artworks and had responded: “They have determination, and are not afraid of poor living conditions and hardships. That they can create a painting such as this is no small achievement.” I was also told that He Kongde,¹⁵ a painter of an older generation and from the Military Museum of the Chinese People’s Revolution, had publicly praised my painting. Knowing this put me in high spirits.

My painting Standing Guard for Our Great Motherland was published in newspapers and periodicals nationwide. It was also printed as a propaganda poster on sheets ranging from approximately A1 to A2 in size, and more than 200,000 copies were made. In 1976, when passing through Jiayin County in Heilongjiang, I saw a large copy of my painting attached to a ten-meter wall that faced the Soviet Union.

My original painting had been collected by NAMOC in 1974. I received no royalties for the posters or any remuneration for the acquisition of the painting, but at the time everything we did was revolutionary work, and not for the individual. My work unit awarded me a third-class merit as encouragement, but there was no other form of recognition. The following year, when universities began enrolling students, I was not recommended for advanced studies. In 1976 when my work unit in the Shenyang Military Region was disbanded, I joined the PLA and