Vintage poster in Yao photo provides history lesson

China's past raged threateningly from the framed poster, rifles at the ready, angry anti-American slogans almost screaming their call to arms.

China's future, wearing a Nike basketball T-shirt, perhaps appropriately waved goodbye.

Yao Ming might not have even noticed the poster above a doorway in the CNN-Beijing offices Wednesday night, the night the Rockets made him the first pick of the NBA draft. But there he was, pictured across the top of the sports page of Thursday's Chronicle facing the Cultural Revolution emotions that had become a kitschy collectors' item while he served as the 7-5 embodiment of what China has since become.

Houston's Chinese community and the Chinese consulate noticed the irony quickly. The poster was a vivid 1968 example of Maoist propaganda. But to many, the photograph, provided by Agence France Presse, also showed just how remarkable an event the selection of Yao with the first pick of the NBA draft really is.

Beneath a portrait of a peasant women, a soldier and a factory worker -- considered the proletariat top rung of the class structure of the time -- the message was unmistakable:

"Unite people of the whole world! Down with the American imperialists! Down with the Soviet revisionists!

On the left and right borders, the characters read, "Resolutely support the peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America struggle for justice against America!"

In the portrait itself, the message was, "Get out ... American imperialism! Down with the Soviet revisionists! Down with the American imperialism. Unite peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America."

"These are ... old propaganda posters that are memorabilia from a bygone era," CNN spokeswoman Megan Mahoney said. "These posters are purchased in China as collectors' items, the way people in the United States purchase old movie posters."

Similar posters have become common decorations in Beijing and Shanghai, said Sinologist Yali Zou, a University of Houston associate professor and the director of the UH Asian-American Studies Center.

"It reflects history," Zou said. "It does not represent today's Chinese people's feelings.

"This is obviously a propaganda poster. It has become a fashion. Scholars, collectors, many people collect newspapers and posters and decorate their office or restaurant with them. This slogan doesn't mean anything related to Yao Ming. There aren't any anti-United States feelings in China. China has great feelings about the U.S. I had a big group just come back. The relationship was very friendly to the American people."

But the confluence of Yao and the anachronistic sentiments expressed in the poster stirred deep emotions.

"What happened back then are miserable memories for everybody," Jun Yang, an architect with J. Ray McDermott Engineering and a manager of the Houston Chinese Civic Center said. "I don't think anyone in China would cherish the political fervor and propaganda of the government of the Cultural Revolution. But many Chinese people who experienced that period still keep items from that period to remember the most difficult time in their life, just as American veterans are keeping items from the Vietnam War to remember their unhappy past."

As common as the practice might be, for many, it was still not easy to see, particularly at a time of triumph. Zou said Chinese-language Internet forums and chat rooms were crowded with discussions of the photo and its place in a U.S. newspaper.

"I felt so ashamed by the picture," Dr. May Lu said. "I wanted to cover it with my hands so people around me wouldn't see it."

The photo ran in the first two editions of the paper, but was replaced for a late edition.

"We looked at all of the photos that were available to us from the various wire services, and we decided this was the best photo to illustrate one of the biggest news events of the year," Chronicle assistant managing editor Dan Cunningham said. "Late (Wednesday) night, one of our staff members who is Chinese raised concerns about the content of the photo, so we elected to pull the photo until we could fully evaluate it.

"We thought it raised many questions that we could not answer at the time. For example, where was the photo taken? What exactly does it mean? How would people react to it?"

By the next day, when the reactions were as varied as they were strong, Rockets officials believed Yao typified how far the U.S. relationship with China has come since the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution.

"Yao was where he was requested to be so we could cover the draft properly," Rockets chief operating officer George Postolos said. "He was sitting in the offices of an American company. The employees decorated the office with a collection of historical artwork, which includes images of the Cultural Revolution. This has nothing to do with his views. This happens to be where he was.

"We take it as a reminder of how we're getting to know another culture. We take it as a reminder of the international aspects of Yao Ming coming to play basketball in Houston. Part of what is going on is the relationships between our countries are developing. The Chinese have decided it's appropriate to send Yao Ming and other players to play in the United States because of more openness in China and a warming of our relationships.

"Sports have traditionally been a way to bridge differences between people. This is part of the process of bridging differences between our countries."

Staff writer Chunhua Zen Zheng provided translation and contributed to this report.

I don't think Yao Ming had anything to do with this poster. I just thought it was interesting that it was hanging in a newsroom as decoration. IMO as a journalist, "kitschy, ironic" decorations don't belong in a newsroom.

any pictures of the "offending" material?

A couple that come close, but I've not seen one of him actually with the poster yet. If it's the one I think it is, My Chinese History prof has a copy on his wall.

And here's that pic of the three Chinese Communists.

-archy-

...""It reflects history," Zou said. "It does not represent today's Chinese people's feelings..."

What an enlightened country! Too bad we can't look at American History in the same light so I can fly the Confederate Flag and not fear that some politically correct arsonist will burn my house down!

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