Союз пропаганди, у назві якого нічого не сказано про пропаганду: базове дослідження пропагандистської ролі на початку 1950-х рр. Комуністичного союзу молоді Китаю, орієнтованого на молодих китайців

Abstract

Based on a large number of primary and old sources collected from China’s local areas, most of which have never been exposed or researched before, this article conducts a basic-level case study dealing with the role that the Communist Youth League (CYL) played in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s propaganda toward young people in the early 1950s. It revisits the CYL’s institutionalized foundation among Chinese youth for promoting the work of propaganda, its unparalleled emphasis on and diversified strategies in propagating the CCP’s establishment of a socialist regime, and its methods to maximize the extension of generating influences on the young people and beyond. The aim of the research is to reassess the CYL’s indispensable contributions in the early 1950s in keeping young people’s thoughts accord with the Party’s guidelines, which should not have been ignored by researchers when examining the history of Communist China. In addition, revisiting the CYL’s effective role of promoting the CCP’s propaganda seven decades ago helps understand the propagandistic strategies that the CCP is using toward today’s Chinese youngsters. Despite remaining inactive in youth-targeted work for several decades, since the last few years, the CYL has regained its active role as a major force in propagating the Party’s latest guidelines to today’s youth in China. Despite the considerable gaps over 70 years, like that between the technologies applied as propaganda tools, the essence of how the CYL contributes crucially to the CCP’s propaganda remains still and is further facilitated by the most advanced Internet-based techniques. Therefore, this article provides not only valuable evidence-based references for historical studies on Communist China but also a mirror for a better understanding of China today.