Li Zhensheng: Red Color News Soldier Exhibition
(160 photos)

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  • Calligraphy by General Zhang Aiping former Vice Premier and Defense Minister: "Let History tell the future through Li Zhensheng's photographs of the Cultural Revolution"
  • Self-portrait, Li in his office at the Heilongjiang Daily dons a Red Guard armband that he borrowed from the newspaper's printing shop (photographed with a self-timer). 6 July 1966
  • Early dawn in the countryside of Heilongjiang province. 21 December 1964
  • A peasant criticized as a class enemy is forced to bow in the traditional acknowledgment of guilt. Liaodian commune, Acheng county, 27 February 1965.
  • Encouraged to make personal accusations against the denounced, a young woman attacks fellow peasant Zhang Diange for "unreasonably" pressuring her father to repay a debt on time. Ashihe communes, Acheng county, 25 March 1965.
  • Denounced as a rich peasant, Deng Guoxing bows before a sea of accusers during a three-hour long "struggle session." Ashihe commune, Acheng county, 12 May 1965
  • A local peasant activist leads the crowd in chanting slogans during a "fight against the enemies" rally before rich peasants and other anti-Party elements are brought forth to be criticized. Ashihe commune, Acheng county, 12 May 1965
  • Li holding his Russian-made Kiev 35 mm camera and a German 6 x 6 Rolleiflex in Ashihe commune, Acheng county (photograph by Liu Guoqi). 12 May 1965
  • Organized in production brigades, peasants are assigned backbreaking farmwork such as constructing pigsties and tilling fields. Liaodian commune, Acheng county, 16 May 1965
  • In a middle-school meeting room, new members of the Communist Party take the oath in front of a bust of Mao and the hammer and sickle of the communist flag. Acheng, Acheng county, 1 July 1965
  • In a middle-school meeting room, new members of the Communist Party take the oath in front of a bust of Mao and the hammer and sickle of the communist flag. Acheng, Acheng county, 1 July 1965
  • In the auditorium of the provincial capital's North Plaza Hotel, dancers from the Heilongjiang Song and Dance Company perform Militia Women, a piece about women training to join the fight against reactionaries and imperialists. Harbin, Heilongjiang province, 25 April 1966
  • A joyous crowd takes to the streets at night after an official broadcast publicizes the contents of a big character poster hung on 25 May at Bejing University denouncing Party leaders at the school for failing to carry out the Cultural Revolution. Harbin, Heilongjiang province, 1 June 1966
  • Li in his office at the Heilongjiang Daily in Harbin impersonates a mythical movie hero confronting his enemy and ready to fight (photographed with a self-timer). 15 June 1966
  • Several thousand faculty Members and students from Harbin's University of Industry take to the streets to celebrate Mao's first Meeting with citizens supporting the Cultural Revolution, holding aloft a panel that reads, "Care about the affairs of state and carry out the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution until the end"
  • Li cropped and retouched this photograph of a rally in Harbin at the request of his editors at the Heilongjiang Daily. In the original, marchers' fists seem to strike Mao's portrait; Mao's picture is in a black frame - which implies that his is dead; and the sign bearing Mao's quotation is partially obstructed by a waving flag. Li removed the fists and black frame, and redesigned the hidden characters of the quotation.
  • Red Guards rename the famed "Madier" eatery on Central Avenue - with its European Art Deco - inspired architecture "Anti-revisionist Restaurant"; Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, August 16, 1966
  • A rally at Red Guard Square (the renamed People's Stadium) calls for the "burning of the Northeastern Bureau" (large characters in center); banners read: (top) "We swear to carry out the great Proletarian Cultural Revolution to the end"; (left) "We will die to protect the Communist Party Central Committee" and (right) "We will die to protect Chairman Mao"; Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, August 17, 1966
  • Page One of the Heilongjiang Daily, August 19, 1966: Reporting Mao Zedong's first review of the Red Guards from Tiananmen Gate in Beijing the previous day. Beneath the photographs of Mao and Marshal Lin Biao, the main headline reads: "Chairman Mao celebrates the Great Cultural Revolution with millions of people".
  • Red Guards from the Harbin Military Engineering Institute perform the "It is right to rebel" song and dance to promote Mao's "supreme instruction"; Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, August 22, 1966
  • Provincial Party Secretary Wang Yilun, one of Heilongjiang's most powerful leaders, is criticized by Red Guards from the University of Industry and forced to bear a placard around his neck with the accusation "counterrevolutionary revisionist element." Harbin, 23 August 1966
  • Red Guards ransack the Buddhist Jile Temple, burning sculptures and holy scriptures. Harbin, 24 August 1966
  • As part of the monk's self-criticism, they are forced to hold a banner that reads, "To hell with the Buddhist scriptures. They are full of dog farts." Harbin, 24 August 1966
  • Masses gathered in front of the Jile Temple cheer as Red Guards from the Harbin Military Institute force self-criticism on the monks after vandalizing their sanctuary. Harbin, 24 August 1966
  • Masses gathered in front of the Jile Temple cheer as Red Guards from the Harbin Military Institute force self-criticism on the monks after vandalizing their sanctuary. Harbin, 24 August 1966
  • Masses gathered in front of the Jile Temple cheer as Red Guards from the Harbin Military Institute force self-criticism on the monks after vandalizing their sanctuary. Harbin, 24 August 1966
  • Masses gathered in front of the Jile Temple cheer as Red Guards from the Harbin Military Institute force self-criticism on the monks after vandalizing their sanctuary. Harbin, 24 August 1966 (Vintage Montage)
  • Destruction inside the Jile Temple; Red Guards placed paper dunce caps on sculptures of the Buddha; Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, August 24, 1966
  • The staff of the Heilongjiang Daily accuses Luo Zicheng, head of the work group designated by the provincial Party committee, of following the capitalist line and opposing mass movement. His dunce cap announces his crimes. Harbin, 25 August 1966.
  • The staff of the Heilongjiang Daily accuses Luo Zicheng, head of the work group designated by the provincial Party committee, of following the capitalist line and opposing mass movement. His dunce cap announces his crimes, and on the wall behind him are portraits of Mao, Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, Chen Yun, Lin Biao, and Deng Xiaoping (from left to right). Harbin, 25 August 1966
  • At a rally in Red Guard Square, provincial Party secretary and first Party secretary of Harbin Ren Zhongyi, after having his face smeared with black ink, is forced to wear a dunce cap and a placard around his neck with the accusatory label "black gang element" while standing on an unstable chair with his hands behind his back holding a string attached to the ill-fitting hat. Harbin, 26 August 1966
  • Front page of the Heilongjiang Daily, 29 August 1966. The vertical headline lists the "three greats": "Long life to Chairman Mao, Great Leader, Great Commander in Chief, Great Helmsman." The photo caption from the Xinhua news agency reads, "Our great revolutionary teacher Chairman Mao concerns himself with national and international affairs day and night."
  • At a mass rally organized by rebels in Provincial People?s Stadium, Party Secretary Wang Yilun and Li Xia, wife of Governor Li Fanwu are denounced, their faces and clothes splattered with ink, and their crimes spelled out on placards around their necks. Harbin, 29 August 1966
  • Top Party officials are denounced during an afternoon-long rally in Red Guard Square: provincial Party secretary, Chen Lei, is denounced at Provincial People's Stadium. Harbin, 29, August 1966.
  • Top Party officials are denounced during an afternoon-long rally in Red Guard Square: Wang Yilun (left) is accused of being a "black gang element." Harbin, 29 August 1966
  • Accused of bearing a resemblance to Mao, Heilongjiang province Governor Li Fanwu?s hair is brutally shaved and torn by zealous young Red Guards in Red Guard Square. Harbin, 12 September 1966
  • Evidence of Heilongjiang province Governor Li Fanwu?s crime of "hoarding riches" is displayed: three watches, two brooches, and three artificial-leather handbags. Li Fanwu?s niece, who had promised to hold on to the belongings, turned them over to the Red Guards. Harbin, 12 September 1966
  • Accused of bearing a resemblance to Mao, Heilongjiang province Governor Li Fanwu?s hair is brutally shaved and torn by zealous young Red Guards in Red Guard Square. Harbin, 12 September 1966
  • Accused of bearing a resemblance to Mao, Heilongjiang province Governor Li Fanwu?s hair is brutally shaved, torn by zealous young Red Guards and made to bow for hours, clippings of his hair stuffed down his neck and shirt by an infuriated Red Guard. The banner behind him reads, "Bombard the Headquarters! Expose and denounce the provincial Party committee." Harbin, 12 September 1966
  • After a month of criticism sessions, Lu Qi'en, the mayor of Harbin (far left), Chen Lei, Li Fanwu, and Wang Yilun (right to left) are paraded through the streets of Harbin in trucks, their names and accusations - counterrevolutionary, local despot, and black gang element - prominently displayed on placards around their necks. Harbin, 12 September 1966
  • After a month of criticism sessions, Chen Lei, Li Fanwu, and Wang Yilun (right to left) are paraded through the streets of Harbin in trucks, their names and accusations - counterrevolutionary, local despot, and black gang element - prominently displayed on placards around their necks. Harbin, 12 September 1966
  • During a propaganda-movie screening, the audience of students applauds, shouting "Long Live Chairman Mao" each time his image appears on-screen (here followed by Defense Minister Lin Biao). Harbin, 13 September 1966
  • During a propaganda-movie screening, the audience of students applauds, shouting "Long Live Chairman Mao" each time his image appears on-screen (here followed by Defense Minister Lin Biao). Harbin, 13 September 1966
  • Yu Ziwen, accused of being a "big property owner", is forced to carry a chair onto the stage at Red Guard Square and to stand on it for public criticism. The placard around her neck bears her mane and her crime. Harbin, 19 September 1966
  • Stocks, securities certificates, and savings-deposit books confiscated in home searches are burned at a rally led by Red Guards. Harbin, 19 September 1966
  • On National Day, schoolchildren carrying red-tasseled spears and wearing Red Guard armbands parade through the streets past a Russian-style department store. Harbin, 1 October 1966
  • Amid a crowd of over one million Red Guards assembled in Tiananmen Square awaiting Mao's appearance, one group dances the "Loyalty Dance." Beijing, 5 October 1966 .
  • A young Red Guard performs the "Loyalty Dance" while awaiting Mao's appearance in Tiananmen Square. Beijing, 18 October 1966
  • After waiting for days in and around Tiananmen Square for a glimpse of the Great Helmsman, crowds cheer and wave Little Red Books as he passes in his jeep. Mao is standing behind the driver; behind him is his personal physician, Li Zhisui; to Mao's left is General Yang Chengwu; and beside the driver is Mao's chief of staff, Wang Dongxing. Beijing, 18 October 1966
  • Shi Shouyun, an elated teenage Red Guard, records in the Little Red Book the exact time she "met with" Chairman Mao as he rode by in his motorcade near Tiananmen Square. Beijing, 18 October 1966
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