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Arts & Communication

ARTICLE
Chinese children’s literature and political

enlightenment during Mao’s era: A case study of
lianhuanhua (serial illustrated books)

Chenran Hu 1 and Sunny Han Han *
2
1 Department of Journalism, School of Journalism and Communication, Wuhan University, Wuhan,
Hubei, China
2 Department of Cultural Soft Power Research, National Institute for Cultural Development, Wuhan
University, Wuhan, Hubei, China

Abstract
This article explores lianhuanhua (serial illustrated books), the predominant form
of children’s illustrated literature in China during Mao Zedong’s era, with over 20
billion copies sold. While lianhuanhua encompassed diverse themes, its content
consistently reflected the communist ideology of the time. Despite its historical
popularity, lianhuanhua has largely faded from public memory. Through an analysis
of 400 lianhuanhua books published between 1949 and 1976, this article examines
their imagery, text, and communicative strategies, highlighting their role in bridging
Chinese children’s literature with political indoctrination. In addition, interviews with
*Corresponding author: 500 Chinese individuals who grew up during Mao’s era provide insights into the
Sunny Han Han influence of lianhuanhua on political perceptions. The findings suggest that young
(hanhan41@whu.edu.cn) readers internalized the ideological expectations of the Communist Party of China
Citation: Hu C, Han SH. Chinese through these books, demonstrating how lianhuanhua marked the emergence of
children’s literature and political a strong connection between Chinese children’s literature and political education.
enlightenment during Mao’s era:
A case study of lianhuanhua
(serial illustrated books). Arts &
Communication. 2025;3(3):5738. Keywords: Lianhuanhua; Mao’s era; China; Children’s literature; Political enlightenment
doi: 10.36922/ac.5738
Received: October 31, 2024
1st revised: November 14, 2024 1. Introduction
2nd revised: December 11, 2024 Lianhuanhua refers to a series of illustrated books, with the Chinese term “lianhuan”
Accepted: December 17, 2024 meaning “series.” This genre originated in 1927 when Chinese artist Chen Danxu
published a comic adaptation of the novel San Guo Zhi (Three Kingdoms), prominently
Published online: December 30,
2024 featuring the four characters “Lian Huan Tu Hua” (连环图画) on the cover. 1
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s). During Mao Zedong’s era in China (1949 – 1976), lianhuanhua emerged as
This is an Open-Access article the dominant form of children’s illustrated books, achieving an astonishing print
distributed under the terms volume of over 20 billion copies despite considerable distribution challenges. This
2
of the Creative Commons
AttributionNoncommercial License, phenomenon underscored the genre’s cultural significance, even within the restrictive
permitting all non-commercial use, publishing environment of the time. The themes of lianhuanhua ranged from the
distribution, and reproduction in any history of the Communist Party of China (CPC)’s rise to power to folklore, historical
medium, provided the original work
is properly cited. events, and heroic tales from socialist nations. However, regardless of thematic
diversity, the books consistently conveyed communist ideology, positioning them as
Publisher’s Note: AccScience
Publishing remains neutral with tools of propaganda.
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional Today, lianhuanhua has largely faded into obscurity due to the rise of short-form
affiliations. digital media, and academic interest remains limited. Existing research has typically

Volume 3 Issue 3 (2025) 1 doi: 10.36922/ac.5738