Film Propaganda and the Anti-schistosomiasis Campaign in Communist China

Schistosomiasis (also known as bilharzia or snail fever) is a fatal disease common to the southern provinces of China. Many people have already contracted this illness or are currently at risk. In 1955, Chairman Mao Zedong proposed a national anti-schistosomiasis campaign to fight the disease that was also aimed at increasing agricultural production and mobilizing mass participation in the campaign. The Chinese Communist Party produced a feature film, Kumu fengchun, in 1961, which was used as a propaganda tool to disseminate what the party wanted the masses to know. This film served both to mobilize the masses to participate in the campaign and to give them hope and lead them to believe that the disease could be cured. In 1964, the film was presented in rural areas of the southern provinces of China, playing an important role in the 1960s campaign to eliminate the disease. © 2012 Academy of East Asian Studies.