Hidden in the realistic, overly bright, supposedly joyous picture so typical of Communist representations of peasant life are slogans and symbols reflecting the true sentiments of the mainland people.
"A remarkable hoax has angered and bewildered (Red) Chinese officials," wrote Charles Taylor of the Toronto Globe and Mail in a Peiping dispatch calling worldwide attention to a painting which spread "violent anti-Communist propaganda" to all parts of Red China.
Young peasants are seen surging through a cotton field, hauling bursting bales on bamboo poles.
"At first glance, it looks like a typical painting in the approved style of socialist realism," wrote Taylor in the Globe and Mail of March 3. But in the tangled stalks of the cotton plants, two slogans are spelled out in Chinese characters: "Kill Communists ... Long Live Chiang Kai-shek." (Place attached overlay on illustration to locate the characters.)
Taylor continued: "In the distant background, more peasants can be seen as tiny figures marching along under three red banners. This seems a clear allusion to the favorite (Red) Chinese slogan: Hold Aloft the Three Red Banners' of the Party's General Line, the Great Leap Forward and the People's Communes.
"Just as clearly, the second red banner has fallen to the ground (see left-hand circle, overlay), just as the Great Leap Forward floundered amid serious setbacks from which the (Red) Chinese economy is still recovering.
"There is no doubt about the fallen banner. Given the sensitivity of the Chinese to symbols and slogans, the allusion could hardly be coincidental or unconscious.
"There are also reports—so far unsubstantiated—that more anti-Communist slogans are concealed in the painting. Just as human figures can be discerned in clouds, so amid the cotton plants can be seen a recumbent figure that bears a striking resemblance to Lenin—his body being trampled in the dust by the cheerful peasants" (see right-hand circle, overlay).
According to Taylor, the hoax was discovered by a senior official who saw the painting at the Peiping exhibition. "Many are under suspicion," Taylor said, "and the editors of China Youth are being subjected to strenuous investigation. The artist, Li Tse-hao, is protesting his ignorance and innocence. Real or imagined, the hoax must claim its scapegoats, and reprisals will certainly be stern."
President Chiang Kai-shek has expressed concern for the artist's safety. The chief executive said in his Youth Day message March 31: "Today being Youth Day, I am deeply concerned about the life or death of Li Tse-hao, that young artist on the mainland. I sincerely hope that we may meet one day. If he had been tragically persecuted by Mao Tse-tung and died for the sake of the country, his death would not be in vain; it would be as the saying goes—something weightier than the Taishan Mountains. I believe there are tens of thousands of youths on the mainland who will emulate Li Tse-hao and fight against the Communists to the end."