| Original caption: “Eighty million Chinese Communists who inhabit thousands of square miles of Northern China and are ruled, despite the Kuomintang, Government of Free China, by Mao Zedong and his Communist Armies.” In this still from the March of Time newsreel short “Inside China Today,” Volume 11, Number 4, released in December 1944, Chinese civilians, possibly members of the Min Ping militia, display pennants with anti-Japanese slogans at a Communist Party rally. Some appear to be dressed to participate in Huobaoju (“living newspaper”) street theater. Common anti-Japanese slogans included Dǎdǎo rìběn dìguó zhǔyì (“Down with Japanese imperialism”); Chèdǐ dǎdǎo rìběn qīnlüè zhě, zhēngqǔ kàngzhàn de zuìhòu shènglì! (“Eradicate the Japanese invaders and strive for the final victory in the War of Resistance!”); Jìniàn qīqī, jiāqiáng kàngrì zhànzhēng, quánguó jūnduì bìxū jījí zuòzhàn, jiāqiáng tuánjié, fěnsuì dírén de xīn jìngōng! (“Commemorate July 7; strengthen the War of Resistance against Japan. The armed forces nationwide must fight actively, strengthen unity, and smash the enemy’s new offensive!”); Zǔzhǐ dírén de jìngōng, qūzhú dírén chū zhōngguó! (“Stop the enemy’s offensive and drive the enemy out of China!”); Quántǐ jūnmín tuánjié yīzhì, dǎdǎo rìběn fàxīsī! (“Unite the entire army and people—down with Japanese fascism!”); Wèi qūzhú rì kòu ér fèndòu! (“Strive to drive out the Japanese invaders!”); Fǎnkàng rì kòu zhànlǐng zhě (“Resist the Japanese occupying forces”); and Jījí zhǔnbèi fǎngōng, qūzhú rì kòu chū zhōngguó! (“Actively prepare for a counteroffensive and drive the Japanese invaders out of China!”). Communist propaganda units would instruct party members in slogans and supervise them as they wrote them on banners and pennants. Later in the same film segment, Chairman of the Communist Party Mao Zedong (December 26, 1893 – September 9, 1976) appears with a banner encouraging the Communists to fight the Japanese. Chinese Red Army General Zhu De (December 1, 1886 – July 6, 1976) also spoke to the mass meeting. While only 8,000 Chinese Red Army soldiers survived the Chángzhēng (“Long March”) from Ruijin, Jiangxi, to Yun’an, Shaanxi, by 1940, the number of soldiers had increased to half a 1,000,000, and Communist Party membership had risen to 1.2 1,000,000. Mao asserted his party leadership during the Chángzhēng; at Yan’an, he organized the Communist Party along ideological lines, increasing the number of indoctrination and literacy classes for the masses. Huobaoju was a means of communicating news and events to illiterate peasant fighters. Performers played the role of Allied fighter pilots at Normandy, linking the struggle against the Japanese to the broader global fight against fascism. Cameraman Victor Jurgens (November 18, 1913 – November 30, 1983) joined March of Time in 1935. In 1938, the Japanese granted permission to shoot film in their war zone in China. He shot “Inside China Today” during the Dixie Mission, when American advisors visited Yan’an in late 1944. Time Magazine correspondent Theodore H. White (May 6, 1915 – May 15, 1986) also was there, among other correspondents. Jurgens arrived in Cairo, Egypt, on October 18, 1944, and in Washington, District of Columbia, on October 25, 1944, by aircraft from Air Transport Command. His footage for “Inside China Today” was edited and distributed 2 months after it was shot. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1550.jpg |
| Image Size | 905.03 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2916 x 2288 |
| Photographer | Victor Jurgens |
| Photographer Title | Franklin D. Roosevelt Library |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | October 1, 1944 |
| Location | |
| City | Yan’an |
| State or Province | Shaanbei |
| Country | China |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NLR-PHOCO-A-65386(52) |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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