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Zong fenqi (Uprising)
This woodcut, by an artist called Tie Ying (lit. “iron eagle”), was reproduced in Zhonghua huabao (Chinese Pictorial) 2.2 (March 1944). The importance of the muke (woodcut) form to artistic practice in occupied China has been almost entirely overlooked in the literature. The muke form has hitherto been associated with the art of resistance in China, despite being an important part of “occupation” visual cultures as well. In this case, the image of Chinese men, dressed in their “New Citizens Uniforms” (Xin guomin zhifu) and waving the ROC flag as they run into battle against enemies unseen, looks almost identical to early wartime resistance muke.
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Yonghu canzhan, baowei Dong Ya (Support the declaration of war; defend East Asia)
Poster of Chinese soldier celebrating the declaration of war on the Allies by RNG China. The poster reads “Yonghu canzhan, baowei Dong Ya” (Support the declaration of war; defend East Asia), and includes the text of Wang Jingwei’s declaration of war on the Allies on 9 January 1943. Note that some postwar owner of this poster has written “wei guomin zhengfu” (bogus National Government) to the right of the text by Wang Jingwei so as to clarify which Chinese administration was declaring war on this occasion.
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Shang gong (Off to work)
This woodcut, by an artist called Gu Yihua, was reproduced in Zhonghua huabao (Chinese Pictorial) 1.4 (November 1943). The importance of the muke (woodcut) form to artistic practice in occupied China has been almost entirely overlooked in the literature. The muke form has hitherto been almost exclusively associated with the art of resistance in China, despite being an important part of “occupation” visual cultures throughout the war.
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Changjiang huakan (Yangtze Pictorial) cover, January 1945
This cover image is taken from Changjiang huakan (Yangtse Pictorial) 16 (January 1945), a Wuhan-based pictorial. The image was by Noa Miura, a prolific Japanese illustrator attached to the Japanese military’s Press Corps (Hōdōbu), and a founding member of the official China Cartoon Association (Zhongguo Manhua Xiehui) in occupied China.