The Indomitable Spirit: The Cultural Revolution Years (1966-1976)

“Throughout my life, I’ve travelled across the vast sea and over many plateaus,
Though my whip is broken, and my shoes are worn out, I carry on with my journey,
Time flies mercilessly – my hair is now white and my face is now weary -
yet I have no cause to hurry,
May the seedlings of creativity in my heart remain forever green,
So that I can wield my knives, spread my ink,
And dare to gallop over the Great Wall.
Leaping through clouds and over waves,
I will relive the prime years of my life.”

── Huang Xinbo, 1973

In 1966, Huang Xinbo was 50 at the outbreak of the Cultural Revolution which caused political and social mayhem in China. To educate the masses about Socialism, the authorities expanded the class struggle, instigated a series of rectification movements. The creation, exhibition, education and publishing of art were all brought to a halt as the authorities for culture and art organisations were thoroughly investigated. Large numbers of artists and writers were tortured and persecuted for their views.

Huang Xinbo was interrogated at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution. He was alleged to be a “cultural imperialist spy”, having worked earlier for the British Psychological Operations Unit in South East Asia in the Allied Forces. For that, he was confined to a ‘cattle depot’ and underwent struggle sessions. Later, he was deported to the Yingde May 7 Cadre School in Guangdong, where he worked first at the Sanshui farm, later receiving ideological re-education through labour at the Yingde labour camp. During this period, he was forced, every night and under terrible conditions, to write confessions explaining and justifying his past actions. The prolonged mental and physical torture became a severe detriment to his health, preventing him from producing work for five years. In 1971, he was finally allowed to return to Guangzhou from the cadre school, due to his deteriorating health.

In these difficult times, Huang Xinbo found refuge by immersing himself in the prose and poetry of the Southern Song poets, Lu You and Xin Qiji. Able to identify with the hard turns their lives took, Huang greatly sympathised with their concerns for the fate of their country and people. He wrote a series of poems lamenting the loss of the prime years of his life and the opportunity to realise his aspirations during that turbulent period. Despite his remorse, his poetic output energised his own unfaltering perseverance, keeping Huang optimistic in his continuous fight for idealism. His inner poet revived his undying passion for art and society. He picked up his carving knife again, transforming his inner poetry into woodblock prints, including Galloping over the Great Wall (1972), A Spark that Starts a Prairie Fire (1972), Through the Clouds and over the Waves (1972) and Exploring the Universe (1972). A Spark that Starts a Prairie Fire realises the maturation of the revolutionary forces of Chinese proletarians, peasants, the Red Army, and his aspirations for the creation of a bright future. Through the Clouds and over the Waves depicts a flock of birds spiralling through the clouds and crashing waves at a rocky shore, symbolising the patriotic fervour of the artist, set against the manipulations of the Gang of Four.

After the Lin Biao Incident, the ruling party, in continuing to implement its policies, appointed Huang Xinbo as Deputy Director of the Revolutionary Committee of the Guangdong People Art Academy in 1973. However, to show his disagreement with the Gang of Four, still in power at the time, he refused to take office. On another occasion, staff in charge of policy implementation drafted a “work report” criticising all art before the Cultural Revolution as worthless. When they sought feedback from the art community, Huang voiced his strong disagreement. His arguments were so forceful that the report had to, in the end, be amended. These incidences show Huang’s forthright and unfaltering strength of character; regardless of circumstances, his integrity would never allow him to compromise on his principles.

Huang Xinbo was determined not to abide by the "Three Prominences” in his art. The “Three Prominences”—principles for the creation of art advocated by the Gang of Four—mandated that all art make prominent the positive characters, make prominent the heroes among the positive characters, and finally, make prominent the greatest among the heroes. Embracing the fighting spirit of Lu Xun, Huang resisted these values that were forced on him by employing a symbolist approach to his work. From 1972 to 1975, he created a series of nine woodblock prints titled On Poems by Lu Xun. Among this body of work, “It’s Darkest just before Dawn” (1974) urges the people to uphold the good traditions and revolutionary spirit that had been destroyed; “Solemn Songs Echo over the Waters” (1975) depicts a broken halberd raised by the giant hand of the people, a prediction that the leaders in power would soon step down; “Head Bowed, Like a Willing Ox I Serve the Children” (1975) implicitly calls on the people to bravely reject the words of the Gang of Four. The revolutionary spirit of Lu had inspired Huang to face the hardships of the world with fortitude and determination.

In the ten years spanning the Cultural Revolution, Huang Xinbo created work while fighting illness and struggling against political repression. Although he left behind fewer than 20 works from this period, they represent the enduring conviction and integrity of this extraordinary artist.