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The red culture movement, officially known as Singing revolutionary songs, Reading classic books, Telling stories and Spreading mottos^[1] (Chinese: 唱红歌、读经典、讲故事、传箴言) or Singing, Reading, Telling and Spreading (Chinese: 唱读讲传) is a political movement launched by Bo Xilai in Chongqing, People's Republic of China, as part of the Chongqing model. It is one of Bo's two main political movements, along with Chongqing gang trials. Started in 2008, the movement caused impact around China.^[2]^[3]

Meanings

Singing revolutionary songs, commonly known as singing red songs, is singing songs that praise the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the People's Republic of China and socialism.^[4]^[5] Bo aimed to instill patriotic feelings through the promotion of "red songs."^[6]
Reading classic books simply means reading classic quotations, poetry masterpieces, and excellent prose.^[7]
Telling stories specifically means telling stories about the history of the CCP, the PLA, and the PRC.^{[citation needed]}
Spreading mottos means spreading famous sayings, maxims, aphorisms or new creation of text fragments via text messages, microblogs and so on.^[8]

Reactions

Reactions to the red culture movement were divided. Bo's revival of Mao-era culture and accompanying social welfare programs were popular within certain segments of society, and made Bo popular with both Marxists and neo-leftists. One student quoted in The Washington Post embraced the ethos of the campaign, saying, "When I sing red songs, I find a kind of spirit I never felt when singing modern songs …To surround yourself with material stuff is just a waste of time."^[9] A group of retired participants in a red song routine told the Los Angeles Times "We know these songs from our youth. We grew up with revolutionary spirit and we want to pass that on to our children.” Another noted that he felt compelled to participate in order to express appreciation of the CCP for the country's strong economy.^[5]

However, the campaign was unsettling to others—particularly the intelligentsia. A 57-year-old lawyer told The Washington Post, "I saw the beatings of the teachers by the Red Guards. It was horrible …Young people may not recognize it. But for us who lived through it, how can we possibly sing?"^[9] An academic quoted in The Daily Telegraph described the mandatory campaign as akin to being "drowned in a Red sea."^[10] Another critic wrote, "[S]ince China’s 'spectacular economic rise,' an aspiring hegemonic power consisting of late capitalism and new authoritarianism emerges onto the global scene to conduct a grand finale to the finale of the very concept of historical progression. ... The new Mao of the twenty-first century has at moments ceased to be as much a pop-consumerist icon as anything else and as it was in the 1990s."^[11] In September 2009, a mid-level official in the city committed suicide after being pressured to organize his work unit to participate in the red songs campaign. The official, Xie Dajun, reportedly disagreed with the campaign, which evoked painful memories of the Cultural Revolution.^[10] Bo's critics and opponents derisively referred to him as "little Mao," with some expressing concern about the resemblance of the red culture campaign to the Cultural Revolution.^[12]

References

^ 高歆 (9 November 2010). ""五个重庆""唱读讲传" 英文怎么说？有了标准版". 重庆晚报 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 12 November 2010. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
^ 何事忠 (2010-12-06). ""唱读讲传"：提高文化软实力的有效途径" (in Chinese). 人民网. Archived from the original on 2016-08-21. Retrieved 2012-02-14. 唱红歌，就是唱人民解放的歌、社会主义建设的歌、改革开放的歌、劳动人民的歌。读经典，就是读古今中外几十年、几百年以至几千年大浪淘沙留下的精彩诗文。讲故事，就是讲革命、建设和改革开放时期打动人心、催人奋进的人和事。传箴言，就是传古今中外的名人名言、格言、警句和人民群众创作的"好段子"。
^ 杜术林 (2011-01-30). "薄熙来力挺唱读讲传背后的文化自觉" (in Chinese). 腾讯网. Retrieved 2012-02-14.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ Branigan, Tania (22 April 2011). "Red songs ring out in Chinese city's new cultural revolution". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
^ ^a ^b Demick, Barbara (3 June 2011). "'Red song' campaign in China strikes some false notes". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
^ Lam, Willy (2012). "The Maoist Revival and the Conservative Turn in Chinese Politics". China Perspectives. 2012 (2): 7.
^ 余继军 (2009-03-30). "薄熙来力倡读经典西南大学帮忙" (in Chinese). 凤凰网. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
^ "红色短信大赛薄熙来发送第一条" (in Chinese). 重庆晚报. 2009-04-29. pp. 第3版. Archived from the original on 2016-01-26. Retrieved 2012-02-16.
^ ^a ^b Keith B. Richburg, China’s ‘red culture’ revival unwelcome reminder to some, Washington Post, 29 June 2011.
^ ^a ^b Malcolm Moore, Neil Heywood death in China: Bo Xilai ‘drowned Chongqing in a sea of Red terror’, The Daily Telegraph, 17 April 2012.
^ Hung, Ruth Y.Y. (August 2015). "Red Nostalgia: Commemorating Mao in Our Time." Twenty-first Century ‘Chinoiserie’: China and the Global Imaginary, a special issue of Literature Compass, 12.8. pp. 371-384
^ Rosemary Righter, Bo Xilai’s Sacking Signals Showdown In China’s Communist Party, Newsweek, 15 March 2012.