Set of five papercuts
Designer unknown (佚名)
Mid 1970s?
I am a little commune member
Xo shi gong she xiao she yuan (我是公社小社员)
Publisher unknown
Call number: PC-PC002 (Private collection)
Colored paper, scanned against a white background.
These papercuts show children doing agricultural work in a communal farm. The title of the set is derived from a popular children's song: 'I am a Little Member of the Commune' (我是公社小社员, wo shi gongshe xiao sheyuan), with text by Jiang Sheng and music by Bo Gu:
I am a little member of the commune,
with a little sickle in my hand,
and a bamboo basket on my shoulder.
I go to work after class, cutting weeds, collecting manure, and picking up the lost wheat ears.
The more I work, the more I love it.
Ayh-hey-hey, Aye-hey-hey,
Always keeping in mind the good character of the poor-and-lower-middle peasants,
Loving the collective and loving labor,
I am a little member of the commune!
The set was produced by a workshop in Nanjing (Jiangsu), using the knife-cut technique.
Sources:
Iris Wachs, Magical Shapes. Twentieth Century Chinese Papercuts (Tel Aviv: Eretz Israel Museum, 2004)
Links:
http://www.wellesley.edu/Polisci/wj/China/CRSongs/Commune/littlecommune.htm 
(The translation of the song, by George Z. Chen, is derived from this website)
