Ebook: The Use of Traditional Media for Modernization in Communist China

A very general description is given of how the Chinese Communist Government reforms four traditional entertainment media for the purpose of Communist propaganda. However, also discussed is the general pattern of grass-root communication in traditional China in order to provide a historical perspective of the paper. The Communists made several serious efforts to reform the traditional theater but ended up in unsatisfactory results. Then the regime turned to the traditional art of storytelling and poems. To complement that, the regime also organized people for collective singing. The ironic result is that the regime meant to exploit the effectiveness of these media as traditionally being 'people's art' but the regime's exploitation destroys this unique quality of 'people's art'. (Author).