1967 Chinese Newspaper Propaganda Broadside of Vietnam

This is a September 1967 Chinese Map Battle Report propaganda broadside map of Vietnam published at the height of the Cultural Revolution. The map depicts the country of Vietnam from Laos and Cambodia to the Hainan and the South China Sea and from China to the Gulf of Thailand, with the map of Vietnam occupying nearly three-quarters of the broadside. Myriad villages are labeled throughout Vietnam and Laos, along with roads, rivers, and territorial borders.

The Cultural Revolution

The Cultural Revolution was a sociopolitical movement launched by Chinese leader Mao Zedong in 1966. The movement's stated goal was to preserve Chinese Communism and purge all remnants of capitalism and traditionalism from Chinese society. Begun in 1966, Mao claimed that bourgeois elements had infiltrated the Communist Party and Chinese society at large and needed to be cleansed. Millions of people were persecuted and suffered in the ensuing waves of violence. Although Mao declared that the Cultural Revolution had ended in 1969, the movement continued in force until Mao's death in 1971, and even then, it was not until reformers led by Deng Xiaoping came to power in 1976 that policies associated with the Cultural Revolution began to be dismantled. The Party declared in 1891 that the Cultural. Revolution was 'responsible for the most severe setback and the heaviest losses suffered by the Party, the country, and the people since the founding of the People's Republic'.

A Closer Look at the Map

A quote from Mao Zedong occupies the top right corner, proclaiming to the reader that only 'strengthening unity' and by 'persisting' in the struggle can victory be achieved. Pictorial 'infographics' are situated along the left border and provide the reader with statistics about the 'brilliant achievements' in North and South Vietnam. In North Vietnam, the broadside claims, 2,100 American warplanes had been shot down, and includes by a drawing of soldier loading an anti-aircraft gun and an airplane going down in flames. In South Vietnam, embodied by an illustration of a guerrilla, the broadside states that, in the past four years, nearly 200,000 American soldiers had been 'wiped out', with a total of nearly 1,300,000 casualties among the U.S. forces and their allies, and 6,000 planes shot down. Two inset maps are also situated along the left border. The larger of the two illustrates the 'liberated area' of South Vietnam in red and 'guerrilla and enemy territory' in white. The same color scheme is used in the smaller map in the bottom left corner to compare the amount of 'liberated' territory and the territory held by the 'enemy'.

Census and Publication History

This map was part of issue number 5 of the Map Battle Report and published in September 1967. This publication resembled tabloids during the Cultural Revolution. Only thirteen issues were printed from June 1967 until January 1968. They are incredible pieces of Chinese cultural history and are sought after by collectors.