Red Documentary Image Communication in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region and Its Implications

Influenced by the historical environment of the time, the illiteracy rate among the peasant masses in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region was high, and the dissemination of purely written information was obstructed. How to transform the Party’s policies and propositions into the conscious actions of the masses became a practical issue facing propaganda workers in the border region. Documentary images, as a form of audiovisual communication content, serve both as a medium for storing national culture and as a carrier for disseminating and transmitting collective memory. They can effectively bridge the differences brought about by cultural education and awaken the collective consciousness of the people. Therefore, the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region utilized documentary images as a special communication medium, not only achieving precise dissemination of land policy practices but also effectively carrying out profound political mobilization. Through visual communication means represented by photography and news documentary film, they demonstrated astonishing communication effectiveness under specific historical conditions.

受当时历史环境影响，陕甘宁边区农民群众文盲率居高，单纯的文字信息传播受阻，如何使党的政策主张转化为群众自觉行动，成为摆在边区宣传工作者面前的现实课题。纪实影像作为一种视听传播内容，既是存储民族文化的介质，也是传播和传承集体记忆的载体，可以有效弥合文化教育带来的差异，唤醒人民群众的集体意识。因此，陕甘宁边区利用纪实影像这一特殊传播媒介，不仅实现了土地政策实践的精准传播，还有效进行了深刻的政治动员，通过以摄影和新闻纪录电影为代表的视觉传播手段，在特定历史条件下展现出惊人的传播成效。

The Organization and Professionalization of Communication Subjects

传播主体的组织化与专业化

At the beginning of the establishment of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region Government, in order to increase the reach of land policy propaganda, it relied heavily on image communication for information expression, so as to bridge the people’s insufficient understanding of land policy. Under specific historical circumstances, the form of documentary image communication required a high degree of organization among communication subjects, ensuring that image production was highly consistent with the Party’s policies and guidelines.

陕甘宁边区政府成立之初，为提升土地政策宣传的触达率，高度依赖影像传播进行信息的表达，以弥合人民群众对土地政策认识的不足。在特定历史背景下，纪实影像的传播形式要求传播主体的高度组织化，确保影像生产与党的政策方针高度一致。

The Yan’an Film Troupe, established in 1938, served as a core institution directly under the General Political Department of the Eighth Route Army. Its members held the dual identity of both revolutionary workers and photojournalists, and in essence, they also undertook the important function of visual political expression. For example, when filming the work *Border Region Labor Heroes* in 1942, the photography team’s content selection first required joint research with grassroots cadres to determine typical figures, then discussions with the masses to verify their deeds, and only then could they proceed to the filming stage. This organized production enabled the image works to accurately grasp the sentiments of the broad grassroots masses, achieving precise dissemination of land policy reform information. At the same time, the image works involving the Yan’an Film Troupe established a strict content review mechanism during the creative process. The selection of themes, scenes, and compositions all required layer-by-layer argumentation, effectively ensuring a high degree of consistency between the image products and policy requirements, forming a unique characteristic of “collective creation.”

1938年成立的延安电影团作为核心机构，直属于八路军总政治部，不仅兼具革命工作者与摄影记者的双重身份，实质上还承担了视觉政治表达的重要职能。例如，1942年拍摄《边区劳动英雄》这一作品时，摄影组的内容取材需要先与基层干部共同调研，确定典型人物后，再与群众座谈核实事迹，最后才能进入拍摄环节。这种组织化生产让影像作品能够准确把握广大基层群众的情绪，实现土地政策改革信息的精准传播。同时，由延安电影团参与的影像作品在创作过程中建立了严格的内容审查机制，影像的选题、场景、构图都需要层层论证，有效保证了影像产品与政策要求的高度一致性，形成独特的“集体创作”特征。

Segmentation of Communication Targets and Discourse Adaptation

传播对象细分与话语适配

During the War of Resistance Against Japan, in the propaganda of land reform policies, the border region government formulated targeted communication strategies based on different audiences.

抗战时期，在土地改革政策宣传中，边区政府根据不同的受众制定了具有针对性的传播策略。

The poor peasant and farm laborer groups were more concerned about whether they could gain benefits for themselves through “struggle.” Therefore, in image propaganda, the visual method of “comparing accounts” was adopted, directly presenting image photographs related to their immediate interests, allowing them to intuitively feel the benefits of land reform for themselves. For example, in a traveling exhibition themed “Peasants’ Emancipation,” the curatorial team displayed the “landlord’s rent-collecting measure” and the “peasant’s new granary” side by side. Using visual direct comparison to replace obscure text enabled peasants with lower literacy levels to quickly understand the essence of the policy.

贫雇农群体更关心经过“斗争”是否能为自己争取到利益，所以在影像宣传中采用“算账对比”的视觉方式，直观呈现与其切身利益相关的影像照片，让其直观感受到土地改革对自身的利益。例如，在以“农民翻身”为主题的流动展览中，策展小组将“地主收租的斗”和“农民新粮仓”并列展出，以视觉的直观对比代替晦涩难懂的文字，使得文化水平较低的农民迅速理解了政策本质。

For the middle peasant group, a communication strategy of “soothing emotions” was adopted. Through images, it was shown that land reform not only protected the interests of the middle peasant group but could also help improve their existing quality of life, thereby changing the attitude of the middle peasant group towards participating in land reform. For example, in a series of propaganda posters depicting middle peasants acquiring oxen and expanding production after land reform, the policy point that “middle peasant property is protected” was emphasized as a legally protected policy, alleviating the middle peasant group’s distrust of the land reform policy.

针对中农群体，采用“安抚情绪”的传播策略。通过影像展示土地改革不仅保护了中农群体利益，还可以帮助其改善现有的生活质量，以此改变中农群体参与土地改革的态度。例如，在一系列展现中农土地改革后添置耕牛、扩大生产的系列宣传画中强调“中农财产受保护”是受到法律保护的政策要点，缓解中农群体对土地改革政策的不信任情绪。

For military officers and soldiers, the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region Government mainly emphasized the narrative logic of “defending the fruits of land reform,” vigorously publicizing the changes that land reform achievements brought to the soldiers’ hometowns. Using a communication method linking personal interests effectively stimulated the army’s fighting will.

针对部队官兵，陕甘宁边区政府主要强调“保卫土改成果”的叙事逻辑，大力宣传土改成果给士兵家乡带来的变化，用关联个人利益的传播方式有效激发军队战斗意志。

For the landlord family group, on the one hand, the border region government used the method of setting up models, enabling some proactive landlords to play an exemplary and leading role in the “rent reduction and interest reduction” movement. On the other hand, it also carried out critical reports to expose negative landlord models, presenting their living conditions after accepting reform through comparison and contrast, conveying the possibility of education and transformation.

针对地主家庭群体，边区政府一方面通过树典型的方式，使得一些积极的地主在“减租减息”运动中发挥模范带头作用，另一方面也开展批评性报道去揭发反面地主典型，在对照对比中呈现其接受改造后的生活状态，传递教育转化的可能性。

The dissemination of these image languages successfully transformed abstract policy texts into visualizable image languages, presenting policy concepts through specific figures and events. This allowed the advancement of land reform in the border region to maintain both political correctness and emotional warmth.

这些影像语言的传播，成功将抽象的政策条文转化为可视化的影像语言，通过具体人物、事件来呈现政策概念，让边区土地改革的推进既保持政治正确，又具有情感温度。

The Narrative and Symbolization of Communication Content

传播内容的叙事与符号化

In the image propaganda of the land reform strategy, the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region Government constructed a complete visual narrative system, establishing a distinct narrative logic and a clearly signified symbol system within the communication content. In the construction of narrative logic, the image works of this period formed a three-stage narrative framework of “suffering—struggle—rebirth,” using carefully selected visual elements to complete the expression of revolutionary discourse.

陕甘宁边区政府在对土地改革策略的影响宣传中构建了一套完整的视觉叙事体系，在传播内容中构建了鲜明的叙事逻辑和明确意指的符号体系。在叙事逻辑的搭建上，这一时期的影像作品形成了“苦难—斗争—新生”三段式叙事框架，通过精心筛选的视觉元素来完成革命话语的表达。

The propaganda photographs of this period were also mostly composed around “oppression—liberation—rebirth.” Visual symbols such as dilapidated farmhouses and broken production tools were used to represent “oppression,” scenes like “settlement meetings” and “burning of land deeds” to represent “liberation,” and happy images of peasants’ joy after obtaining land and their active production and life to represent “rebirth.” The propaganda photographs, with their sharp visual contrasts, stimulated the class sentiments of the broad masses.

这一时期的宣传照片，也大多围绕“压迫—解放—新生”展开构图。通过破败的农居、残缺的生产工具等视觉符号表现“压迫”，以“清算大会”“焚烧地契”等场景表现“解放”，以农民获得土地后的喜悦、积极生产生活的幸福画面表现“新生”。宣传照片以鲜明的视觉对比，激发了广大群众的阶级情感。

For example, in Gu Yuan’s *Burning the Old Land Deeds*, a multi-layered composition is used: the foreground focuses on the burning account books, the middle ground shows cheering peasants, and the background faintly reveals the landlord’s courtyard. This multi-layered spatial layout not only focuses on the symbolic scene of “burning land deeds” but also expresses the political implications of destroying the old system, liberating the broad laboring masses, and transforming class relations.

例如，古元的《焚烧旧地契》中采用多层次构图，前景聚焦燃烧的账本，中景是欢呼的农民，远景隐约可见地主宅院，这种多层次空间布局不仅聚焦于“地契焚烧”这种有象征意义的场景，还表达着摧毁旧制度、解放广大劳苦群众、变革阶级关系的政治意涵。

During this period, a large number of red documentary images made the land reform policy tangible and perceptible. The impact and influence generated by visual contrast far exceeded that of purely textual propaganda.

这一时期，大量红色纪实影像让土地改革政策变得可触可感，视觉对比产生的冲击力和影响力远超单纯的文字宣传。

The Three-Dimensional and Contextualized Communication Channels

传播渠道的立体化、场景化

In propagating the land reform policy, the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region relied mainly on forms such as traveling exhibitions and mass meetings. At the same time, it utilized official media like newspapers and pictorial supplements to extend the influence of image communication to literate groups and even broader masses.

陕甘宁边区在宣传土地改革政策中，多依靠流动展览、群众大会的形式展开，同时利用报刊、图片副刊等官方媒介，将影像传播的影响扩大到识字群体甚至更广泛的群众。

Traveling exhibitions, as the core communication method at the time, were primarily operated by a team composed of photography cadres, literary and artistic backbone elements, and local cadres. They carried simple display boards for traveling exhibitions in the countryside, using the visual presentation of images to evoke psychological identification among the masses and awaken their enthusiasm for participating in land reform.

流动展览作为当时的核心传播方式，其运作主体主要由摄影干事、文艺骨干、当地干部共同构成，由他们携带简易的展板在乡村进行流动展览，以影像画面的视觉呈现引发群众的心理认同，唤醒群众共同参与土地改革的热情。

During this period, the communication channels for the border region’s land reform policy exhibited the characteristic of contextualized layout. Image displays were organically embedded into the procedures of mass meetings. For example, in the “grievance-telling session,” image photographs showing exploitation and oppression by landlords were displayed; in the “distribution plan announcement session,” real-life photographs of land distribution were shown. This form of dialogue across space allowed the content of image communication to resonate with the emotions of the meeting masses, greatly enhancing the communication effect.

在这期间，边区土地改革政策的传播渠道呈现出场景化布局的特点，影像展示被有机嵌入群众大会流程。如以“诉苦环节”展示被地主剥削压迫的影像照片，以“分配方案宣读环节”展示分配土地的实景照片等形式，以隔空对话的形式让影像传播的内容与大会群众情感形成共振，极大增强了传播效果。

Additionally, during the period of land reform policy propaganda in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, the *Liberation Daily* published a large number of photographic special issues, creating a new form of mutual interpretation between text and images. Each published photograph was accompanied by an oral account from the person involved, providing richer channels for interpretation of the images and achieving multiple extensions of communication functions.

另外，在陕甘宁边区土地改革政策宣传时期，《解放日报》刊登了大量摄影专刊，开创了图文互释的新形式。在刊登的每张照片中都配有当事人的口述实录，为影像赋予了更丰富的解释渠道，实现了传播功能的多重延伸。

Historical perspective is the foundation for constructing cultural identity. Through the recollection and reconstruction of history via documentary images, shared cultural roots can be traced, and national collective memory can be awakened. Today, amid profound changes in media forms, a comprehensive review of the image communication practices in the land reform of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region reveals that the audience-oriented consciousness, content innovation spirit, systematic operational thinking, and channel construction demonstrated therein provide valuable historical references for the effective dissemination of mainstream values today.

历史观是构建文化认同的基点，通过纪实影像对历史的回忆和重构，可以追溯共有的文化根脉，唤醒民族集体记忆。在媒介形态发生深刻变革的今天，纵览陕甘宁边区土地改革中的影像传播实践，其中展现的受众本位意识、内容创新精神、系统运作思维、渠道传播构建都为当前主流价值观的有效传播提供了宝贵的历史参照。

The precise dissemination of red documentary images in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region teaches us that effective political communication must not only follow media laws but also take root in the soil of reality, “go deep among the masses, and not engage in empty talk,” [1]1 A phrase attributed to Mao Zedong, emphasizing practical work and close ties with the people, often cited as a principle of the mass line. and adhere to the mass line, only then can it generate lasting and profound communication power and appeal.

陕甘宁边区红色纪实影像的精准传播启示我们，有效的政治传播既要遵循媒介规律，更要扎根现实土壤，“深入群众，不尚空谈”，坚持走群众路线，方能产生持久深远的传播力和号召力。

(The authors are, respectively, a doctoral student at the School of Marxism, Dalian University of Technology, and a professor at the School of Marxism, Dalian University of Technology.)

（作者系大连理工大学马克思主义学院博士研究生；大连理工大学马克思主义学院教授）