Yan'an Talks on Literature and Art

The Yan'an Forum on Literature and Art (simplified Chinese: 延安文艺座谈会; traditional Chinese: 延安文藝座談會; pinyin: Yán'ān Wén Yì Zuòtánhuì) was a May 1942 forum held at the city of Yan'an in Communist-controlled China and significant event in the Yan'an Rectification Movement. It is most notable for the speeches given by Mao Zedong, later edited and published as Talks at the Yan'an Forum on Literature and Art (Chinese: 在延安文艺座谈会上的讲话; pinyin: Zài Yán'ān Wén Yì Zuòtánhuì shàng de Jiǎnghuà) which dealt with the role of literature and art in the country. The two main points were that (1) all art should reflect the life of the working class and consider them as an audience, and (2) that art should serve politics, and specifically the advancement of socialism. The excesses of the latter point during the Cultural Revolution led to current Party policy rejecting that point, but retaining Mao's encouragement of peasant-focused art and literature.

During the Long March (1934-1935), the Communist Party and People's Liberation Army used song, drama, and dance to appeal to the civilian population, but did not have a unified cultural policy. For three years after the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, the main message of the Communist art organizations, such as the Chinese People's Anti-Japanese Drama Society, was to "oppose Japan" (反日, fǎnrì) or "resist Japan" (抗日, kàngrì). In 1938, the Party established the Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts in Yan'an (Yenan), which was to train people in literature, music, fine arts, and drama.

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