Designer: Zhang Yuqing (章育青)
1965, October
The east is red
Dongfang hong (东方红)
Publisher: Zhejiang renmin chubanshe (浙江人民出版社)
Size: 76.5x53.5 cm.
Call number: BG E12/606 (IISH collection)

The East is Red (东方红, Dongfang Hong) originally was a folk song. In the 1930s it was popular among the communists in Yan’an, with lyrics about the anti-Japanese struggle. In the early 1940s the text was rewritten again, to become a hymn to Mao Zedong:
"The east is red, the sun is rising
China has brought forth a Mao Zedong.
He works for the people’s welfare.
Hurrah, He is the people’s great savior."
During the Cultural Revolution the song was played everywhere, all the time, and in fact replaced the official anthem of the People’s Republic.
This image is based on the 'song-and-dance epic' The East is Red, performed in the Great Hall of the People on October 1, 1964, the 15th anniversary of the People's Republic, with some 3,000 dancers, singers and musicians. In 1965 a film version was released.