19 Jul 2008

A new book reveals China as seen by Chinese photographers, from 1949 to the present day.

A Scene from Shajiabang.When Mao launched the Cultural Revolution, his wife Jiang Qing, a former actress, assumed the role of cultural czar. She banned all but five Beijing operas, and had those reworked as "model operas" (yangban xi ). Two revolutioary modern ballets and one symphony were also chosen join this selected group of revolutionary performances pieces. All eight were later made into films, which allowed them to be widely distributed, and provided the entire Chinese population with its only officially sanctioned entertainment.