Madame Mao's Hollywood Fantasies

By Anastasia Tsioulcas

Published April 26, 2013 at 2:25 PM EDT

1 of 5 — Photographer Zhang Yaxin created incredible and indelible images as stills from the array of "model" operas and ballets planned and sanctioned by the Chinese government during the Cultural Revolution.A Chinese and North Korean solider embrace in Raid on the White Tiger Regiment, 1971.

Photographer Zhang Yaxin created incredible and indelible images as stills from the array of "model" operas and ballets planned and sanctioned by the Chinese government during the Cultural Revolution.A Chinese and North Korean solider embrace in Raid on the White Tiger Regiment, 1971.

<em></em>The "model works" engineered by Jiang Qing combine elements of 1930s Hollywood fantasy, Peking opera and classical ballet with heaping doses of political dogma.The <em>Red Detachment of</em> Women, 1973.<em> </em>

2 of 5 — The "model works" engineered by Jiang Qing combine elements of 1930s Hollywood fantasy, Peking opera and classical ballet with heaping doses of political dogma.The Red Detachment of Women, 1973.

The "model works" engineered by Jiang Qing combine elements of 1930s Hollywood fantasy, Peking opera and classical ballet with heaping doses of political dogma.The Red Detachment of Women, 1973.

3 of 5 — The aesthetics of classical Peking opera, with its stylized performing techniques and facial gestures, was an important element of the "model works" that Jiang Qing and her collaborators created. Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy, 1969.

The aesthetics of classical Peking opera, with its stylized performing techniques and facial gestures, was an important element of the "model works" that Jiang Qing and her collaborators created. Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy, 1969.

Some of the model works<em> </em>were expanded into a range of theatrical, politically acceptable iterations. First composed as an opera in 1964, <em>The White-Haired Girl </em><em></em>was also adapted into an opera-ballet and a film. <em>The White Haired Girl</em>, 1974.

4 of 5 — Some of the model works were expanded into a range of theatrical, politically acceptable iterations. First composed as an opera in 1964, The White-Haired Girl was also adapted into an opera-ballet and a film. The White Haired Girl, 1974.

Some of the model works were expanded into a range of theatrical, politically acceptable iterations. First composed as an opera in 1964, The White-Haired Girl was also adapted into an opera-ballet and a film. The White Haired Girl, 1974.

Another Zhang still from <em>Raid on the White Tiger Regiment</em>, 1971.

5 of 5 — Another Zhang still from Raid on the White Tiger Regiment, 1971.

Another Zhang still from Raid on the White Tiger Regiment, 1971.

During the chaos and oppression of China's Cultural Revolution, one curious new theatrical genre was born — and it was the child of the Communist Party. Jiang Qing (a.ka. Madame Mao), a former stage and screen actress and the notorious wife of Mao Zedong, led the creation of yang ban xi: "model works" that were meant, in words attributed to Chairman Mao, to "serve the interests of the workers, peasants, and soldiers and [conforming] to proletarian ideology."

Through these operas and ballets, Jiang Qing aimed to wean artists and audiences alike from what she and the Party saw as the bourgeois themes and trappings of older Chinese art and replace them with a handful of revolutionary narratives, often set on battlefields. But the savvy Jiang Qing realized that the dogma would go far further if it were married to visual dazzle and sonic overload.

Under Jiang Qing's direction, eight initial works were produced — six operas and two ballets that married elements of Busby Berkeley-era Hollywood fantasy, classical Peking opera, Western ballet and Wagner's idea of gesamtkunstwerk with arias like "We Will Wipe Out the Reactionaries" and dance scenes titled "Hatred Blazes When Enemies Meet." And her big idea provided the repertoire for three thousand performing troupes across the country, as well as inspiration for a surreal scene in the John Adams opera Nixon in China.

Some of the most amazing artifacts of the yang ban xi are both kitschy and totally arresting stills produced by photographer Zhang Yaxin. Born in 1933, Zhang shot for the Xinhua News Agency before he was handpicked for the all-important task of disseminating Party philosophy through images. For eight years, he was closely supervised by Jiang Qing in his task of photographing the Communist Party's forays into revolution-worthy art.

The Chinese authorities readily understood the power of Zhang's images on their own terms. He was allowed to use one of only three Hasselblad cameras available, and while most Xinhua photographers were rationed three rolls of color film per year, Zhang was allowed to use as much as he liked. In turn, his stills from these productions were turned into posters, stamps, postcard books and craft pieces for further dissemination. And earlier this spring, a selection of Zhang's work was on exhibition at Toronto's Stephen Bulger Gallery, an exhibition we learned of via the Slate blog Behold.

As amazing as these hypersaturated images are on their own terms, many Chinese audiences in the 1960s and '70s experienced them in the context of their original stage extravaganzas and, later, in filmed versions as well. After seeing Zhang's work on Slate, we thought it would be fun to pair Zhang's pictures back up with some of the operas and ballets they originally accompanied.

Surprisingly, these operas are not Technicolor (if now dusty) relics of a bygone era, swept aside in the new China. As the BBC noted last year, the Central Ballet of China and other troupes take these works on international tours to this day.

See And Hear Amazing, Odd Operas From Revolutionary China

The Red Detachment of Women: Excerpt from Act III

A six-act ballet originally staged in 1964, The Red Detachment of Women was the first "revolutionary ballet" to emerge from Communist China. Set in the civil war of 1927-1937, the brave hero and heroine of Coconut Grove Village defy an evil, oppressive landowner with the help of the Red Army. Sample act title: "The Civil Corps' Broadsword Dance."

The White-Haired Girl: Excerpt From Act IV

Written by the female composer Van Jinxuan (b. 1924), The White-Haired Girl was created as an opera in 1964 and was then expanded into an opera-ballet the following year. As in Red Detachment, the Girl plot, set in 1937, revolves around a tyrannical landlord (who this time is also a collaborator of the invading Japanese army) and a resolutely brave heroine, who also winds up fighting a tiger in Act 4. Sample aria title: "Hatred Blazes When Enemies Meet."

Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy: 'Destroying The Root Of Evil'

Yes, the name of this "model work" is also the name of a Brian Eno album. Eno was inspired by images (perhaps shot by Zhang?) of this Chinese revolutionary opera, based on a real-life 1946 battle between the Chinese Liberation Army and the American-backed Kuomintang forces. There's less romantic narrative here than in some of the other yangbanxi, but in this tale, the hero, scout platoon leader Yang Zi-rong, still outwits his foes. On this instrumental recording, the vocal parts are replaced by four traditional Chinese instruments: the erhu, suona, jinghu and zhudi. Sample aria title: "Destroying The Root Of Evil."

Raid On The White Tiger Regiment: 'Defeat The Imperialists, The Vicious Wolves'

Set in Korea in 1953, the model opera Raid on the White Tiger Regiment depicts the armies of China and North Korea uniting to defeat their common enemy, South Korea. While it's hard to ignore the homoerotic undercurrents in Zhang's stills, it's safe to say that wasn't the original intention. Sample aria title: "Defeat The Imperialists, The Vicious Wolves."