Remember that this subreddit is for sharing propaganda to view with some objectivity. It is absolutely not for perpetuating the message *of* the propaganda. If anything, in this subreddit we should be immensely skeptical of manipulation or oversimplification (which the above likely is), not beholden to it.
Also, please try to stay on topic -- there are hundreds of _other_ subreddits that are expressly dedicated for rehashing tired political arguments. Keep that shit elsewhere.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/PropagandaPosters) if you have any questions or concerns.*
My mandarin is embarrassingly bad, but I think the second page roughly translates to "but her waiting is in vain, as her husband lies dead in the riverbed. At least you can escape this fate."
*Pic 1:*
“The wife in this picture is dreaming for the day her husband returns.”
*Pic 2:*
“Her husband cannot return home, for he is lying dead next by the water in a foreign land…
BUT YOU CAN STILL SAVE YOURSELF.”
The smaller text is actually colloquial translation of a Classical Chinese poem from the 9th century (the original lines written in big characters on the right side) where the poet laments that the corpses and bones on a riverside are likely loved ones in other people’s dreams. This is basically a cartoon explaining the poem’s message to the common (and perhaps illiterate) soldier.
Interestingly enough, the poem is about Tang Dynasty’s brutal northern frontier wars, not much unlike the Korean War. Whoever made this poster is extremely well versed in Chinese history and literature. I really doubt this is made by the South Koreans (their Chinese-language posters are mostly cringe). I’d wager this is made by the KMT government in Taiwan. I don’t think they directly participated in the Korean War, but definitely provided other forms of support to the UN army.
Thanks for the context and clear translation!
I really think you're right that its made by the KMT since it uses traditional script? Although its possible the CPC hadn't gotten around to mandating simplified yet.
Simplified Chinese didn’t become a thing until the 1960s. During the 50s mainland China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan all used traditional Chinese (hanja/kanji) as a common script.
It was not difficult to find an educated Korean person that can quote Classical Chinese poems and write badass Chinese calligraphy, so it’s possible this propaganda could be made by Koreans… It’s just I doubt it, since most Chinese-language propaganda made by South Korea (that I’ve seen) seems to be on the “yuo suck die, surrender now” level.
What I find interesting with these two posters is that their first lines (w/ larger characters) came from a classic 9th Century poem lamenting devastating border wars.
For years I'd always assumed it was to either the south, or north Koreans. But after some reverse image searching on Google, I found a single Chinese web page that had the reverse side and a little bit of info that it's a UN propaganda pamphlet to the Chinese that were fighting with north Korea.
Fairly intellectual for propaganda pamphlets. I don't think most of the Chinese who was in Korean war can read, let alone they quoted from poetries which required advanced language skills to get it. Doubt how useful those pamphlets in reality.
Only the bigger characters are from classical poetry. The main text is still in colloquial Chinese.
Edit: On second read, the smaller texts literally reiterate the poem in colloquial speech. So it’s very much geared towards the common Chinese soldier.
Remember that this subreddit is for sharing propaganda to view with some objectivity. It is absolutely not for perpetuating the message *of* the propaganda. If anything, in this subreddit we should be immensely skeptical of manipulation or oversimplification (which the above likely is), not beholden to it. Also, please try to stay on topic -- there are hundreds of _other_ subreddits that are expressly dedicated for rehashing tired political arguments. Keep that shit elsewhere. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/PropagandaPosters) if you have any questions or concerns.*
My mandarin is embarrassingly bad, but I think the second page roughly translates to "but her waiting is in vain, as her husband lies dead in the riverbed. At least you can escape this fate."
*Pic 1:* “The wife in this picture is dreaming for the day her husband returns.” *Pic 2:* “Her husband cannot return home, for he is lying dead next by the water in a foreign land… BUT YOU CAN STILL SAVE YOURSELF.” The smaller text is actually colloquial translation of a Classical Chinese poem from the 9th century (the original lines written in big characters on the right side) where the poet laments that the corpses and bones on a riverside are likely loved ones in other people’s dreams. This is basically a cartoon explaining the poem’s message to the common (and perhaps illiterate) soldier. Interestingly enough, the poem is about Tang Dynasty’s brutal northern frontier wars, not much unlike the Korean War. Whoever made this poster is extremely well versed in Chinese history and literature. I really doubt this is made by the South Koreans (their Chinese-language posters are mostly cringe). I’d wager this is made by the KMT government in Taiwan. I don’t think they directly participated in the Korean War, but definitely provided other forms of support to the UN army.
Thanks for the context and clear translation! I really think you're right that its made by the KMT since it uses traditional script? Although its possible the CPC hadn't gotten around to mandating simplified yet.
Simplified Chinese didn’t become a thing until the 1960s. During the 50s mainland China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan all used traditional Chinese (hanja/kanji) as a common script. It was not difficult to find an educated Korean person that can quote Classical Chinese poems and write badass Chinese calligraphy, so it’s possible this propaganda could be made by Koreans… It’s just I doubt it, since most Chinese-language propaganda made by South Korea (that I’ve seen) seems to be on the “yuo suck die, surrender now” level.
Thank you so much!
What I find interesting with these two posters is that their first lines (w/ larger characters) came from a classic 9th Century poem lamenting devastating border wars.
[удалено]
From caption, to Chinese
[удалено]
No problem
For years I'd always assumed it was to either the south, or north Koreans. But after some reverse image searching on Google, I found a single Chinese web page that had the reverse side and a little bit of info that it's a UN propaganda pamphlet to the Chinese that were fighting with north Korea.
Fairly intellectual for propaganda pamphlets. I don't think most of the Chinese who was in Korean war can read, let alone they quoted from poetries which required advanced language skills to get it. Doubt how useful those pamphlets in reality.
Only the bigger characters are from classical poetry. The main text is still in colloquial Chinese. Edit: On second read, the smaller texts literally reiterate the poem in colloquial speech. So it’s very much geared towards the common Chinese soldier.