The International Dissemination Strategy of Yan’an Woodcuts during the War of Resistance

During the War of Resistance, faced with the news blockade imposed by the Guomindang authorities on the border region government, the Chinese Communist Party increasingly recognized the importance of external propaganda. In this historical context of restricted discourse, Yan’an woodcuts, by virtue of their intuitive imagery, ease of reproduction, and portability, were endowed by the CPC with the function of cross-cultural communication. Thus, as a visual medium transcending language barriers, they successfully constructed and exported to the world a positive picture of the united resistance and democratic construction of the military and people in the border region, achieving significant international dissemination effectiveness.

抗战时期，面对国民党当局对边区政府的新闻封锁，中国共产党日益认识到对外宣传的重要性。在这一话语受限的历史语境中，延安木刻以图像直观、易于复刻和便于携带的特征被中国共产党赋予跨文化传播的功能，从而作为超越语言障碍的视觉媒介，成功建构并向世界输出了边区军民团结抗战与民主建设的积极图景，发挥出显著的国际传播效能。

The International Dissemination Network of Yan’an Woodcuts

延安木刻的国际传播网络

First, the Party’s leaders fully played a leading role, transforming Yan’an woodcuts into a unique medium in the practice of foreign engagement, personally promoting the international dissemination process of Yan’an woodcuts on multiple occasions. For example, while leading the work of the Eighth Route Army Chongqing Office, Zhou Enlai made great efforts to build a bridge for Yan’an woodcuts to reach the outside world. In 1942, when the Chinese Woodcut Research Society held the first “Double Tenth National Woodcut Exhibition,” Zhou Enlai personally brought Yan’an woodcut works to Chongqing for display, enabling foreign diplomats, journalists, and international friends to gain a more intuitive understanding of the CPC and the border region society it led. Furthermore, Party leaders directly used woodcut works as important gifts in foreign exchanges. For instance, Zhou Enlai presented the woodcut picture-story book *Five Heroes on Langya Mountain* created by Yan Han to American journalists, aiming to convey to the international community the heroic spirit of the Chinese military and civilians; Zhu De also presented woodcut propaganda posters on the theme of the Eighth Route Army to Maurice Votaw, a special correspondent for Reuters and the Baltimore *Sun* who visited Yan’an, further expanding the international influence of Yan’an woodcuts. These practices, characterized by the direct involvement, on-site dissemination, and proactive gifting of high-ranking Party leaders, facilitated the circulation and acceptance of Yan’an woodcuts in the international community.

首先，党的领导人充分发挥主导作用，将延安木刻转化为对外交往实践中的独特媒介，在多个场合身体力行推动延安木刻的国际化传播进程。如周恩来在领导八路军重庆办事处工作期间，便着力搭建延安木刻走向外部世界的桥梁。1942年，中国木刻研究会举办第一届“双十全国木刻展览会”，周恩来亲自将延安的木刻作品携至重庆参展，使得在华外交官、记者和国际友人更为直观地了解到中国共产党及其领导的边区社会。此外，党的领导人还直接将木刻作品作为对外交往中的重要礼物。如周恩来曾将彦涵创作的木刻连环画《狼牙山五壮士》赠予美国记者，旨在向国际社会传达中国军民的英勇精神；朱德也向到访延安的英国路透社、巴尔的摩《太阳报》特派记者莫里斯·沃陶赠送八路军主题木刻宣传画，进一步拓展了延安木刻的国际影响力。这些以党的高层领导人亲自介入、现场传播和主动馈赠为特征的实践，促进了延安木刻在国际社会中的流通与接受。

Second, under the strategic guidance and influence of the Party, multiple progressive literary and artistic organizations and art groups actively participated, forming a coordinated pattern of external dissemination. Constrained by objective conditions, it was difficult for Yan’an woodcuts to enter international circulation channels directly and smoothly. To this end, national progressive art organizations such as the All-China Woodcut Artists’ Anti-Enemy Association, the Chinese Woodcut Research Society, and the Sino-Soviet Cultural Association played a key intermediary role. For example, the Sino-Soviet Cultural Association and the All-China Woodcut Artists’ Anti-Enemy Association collaborated multiple times, sending Yan’an woodcut works to the Soviet Union between 1939 and 1942 for exhibition in Moscow and other locations. Through this organized, transnational collaborative dissemination channel, Yan’an woodcuts were effectively placed within the international public opinion arena, expanding the scope of propaganda coverage.

其次，在党的战略引领和影响下，多个进步文艺组织和艺术团体积极参与，形成协同联动的对外传播格局。受客观条件限制，延安木刻难以直接、顺畅地进入国际流通渠道。为此，中华全国木刻界抗敌协会、中国木刻研究会和中苏文化协会等全国性进步艺术组织发挥关键的中介作用，如中苏文化协会和中华全国木刻界抗敌协会多次协作，1939—1942年间，将延安木刻作品送往苏联，在莫斯科等地展出。通过这一组织化、跨国界的协同传播渠道，延安木刻被有效地置入国际舆论场，拓展了宣传覆盖范围。

Finally, foreign journalists, international friends, and overseas progressive individuals constituted important diffusion nodes for Yan’an woodcuts to reach the world. Almost all international friends who visited Yan’an, especially journalists, carried woodcut works as souvenirs or news material. After being brought back to their respective countries, these works were successively published and toured in exhibitions in multiple cities, providing an important visual window for Western publics to understand the CPC’s features and the spirit of the War of Resistance.

最后，国外记者、国际友人和海外进步人士构成了延安木刻走向世界的重要扩散节点。凡是到访延安的国际友人，尤其是新闻记者，几乎都会携带木刻作品作为纪念或新闻报道素材。这些作品被他们带回各自国家后陆续刊载，并在多座城市巡回展览，为西方公众了解中国共产党面貌与抗战精神提供了重要视觉窗口。

The International Dissemination Fields of Yan’an Woodcuts

延安木刻的国际传播场域

Dissemination was promoted through print media such as selected work collections and overseas newspapers and magazines. In 1943, the Chinese Woodcut Research Society and the International Propaganda Department jointly compiled *Selected Woodcuts of the New Chinese Woodcut Movement* and sent it to the United States for publication. This collection included 82 prints by over 40 Chinese woodcut artists, including works by Yan’an artists Li Qun, Gu Yuan, Wo Zha, Chen Shuliang, and Wang Shikuo. In Yan’an itself, *Selected Woodcuts of Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts*, compiled and edited under the leadership of Hua Junwu, Cai Ruohong, and others, had the works personally printed by the woodcut artists, uniformly mounted on standardized backing paper, with each piece meticulously annotated in both Chinese and English with the title and artist’s name, becoming a direct vehicle for the external dissemination of Yan’an woodcuts. At the same time, overseas newspapers and magazines were also important media for the widespread dissemination of Yan’an woodcut prints.

通过作品选集与海外报刊等印刷媒介推动传播。1943年，中国木刻研究会和国际宣传处合编了《中国新兴木刻画集》，并将其送往美国筹划出版。该画集收录40多位中国木刻家的82幅版画作品，其中就包含了延安艺术家力群、古元、沃渣、陈叔亮和王式廓的木刻创作。在延安本地，由华君武、蔡若虹等人主导编印的《鲁艺木刻选》，将作品由木刻艺术家亲自印制后，统一装裱在规整的衬纸上，每幅下方均细致标注中英文作品及作者信息，成为延安木刻对外传播中的直接载体。同时，海外报刊也是延安木刻版画被广泛传播的重要媒介。

Dissemination was promoted through international art exhibitions and cultural exchange activities. In 1942, at the “Exhibition of Chinese Woodcut Works Sent to the Soviet Union,” multiple woodcut works from Yan’an were selected and sent to the Soviet Union for successive exhibitions. These works, with their distinct realistic themes and strong emotional expression, attracted widespread attention from the Soviet art world and the general public. This fully affirmed the artistic value and realistic power of Chinese woodcuts. Almost simultaneously, Yan’an woodcuts also began their journey to the United States. In the autumn of 1942, with the assistance of U.S. Presidential Envoy Wendell Willkie, over 50 woodcut works were selected and sent to the United States. In November of the same year, these works were formally exhibited at the “Fighting China Art Exhibition” organized by China Aid Council.

通过国际艺术展览与文化交流活动促进传播。1942年，在“中国送苏木刻作品展览会”中，来自延安的多幅木刻作品被遴选送往苏联并陆续展出。这批作品以鲜明的现实题材和强烈的情感表达，引起苏联艺术界与社会公众的广泛关注。这充分肯定了中国木刻的艺术价值与现实力量。几乎与此同时，延安木刻也开启了赴美之旅。1942年秋，经由美国总统特使威尔基协助，50余幅木刻作品被选送美国。同年11月，这批作品在由美国援华会举办的“战斗中国艺术展”中正式展出。

Deep dissemination was achieved through the publication of documentary works. In 1945, British journalist Guenther Stein, based on his on-the-spot interviews and long-term observations in Yan’an, wrote and published the book *The Challenge of Red China*. This book extensively used woodcut works created by teachers and students of Yan’an Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts as illustrations. This method of embedding woodcut works as visual testimony within the text enhanced the persuasiveness and credibility of Yan’an woodcuts among Western readers, thereby bringing Yan’an woodcuts into the international field of vision in a more systematic way.

通过纪实著作的出版实现深度传播。1945年，英国记者冈瑟·斯坦因根据其在延安的实地采访与长期观察，撰写并出版了《红色中国的挑战》一书。该书大量选用了延安鲁艺师生创作的木刻作品作为插图。这种将木刻作品作为视觉证言嵌入文本的方式，增强了延安木刻在西方读者中的说服力和可信度，从而使得延安木刻以更加系统的方式进入国际视野。

Content Adaptation Enhances the Quality and Effectiveness of International Dissemination

内容适配提升国际传播质效

Yan’an woodcuts focused on the two core narratives of “War of Resistance” and “democracy,” embedding the experience of the border region into the contemporary context of the world anti-aggression war and democratic progress. For example, works by Gu Yuan such as *Marriage Registration* and *Village Elections*, with their simple scenes of daily life, vividly depicted the equality, freedom, and democratic practices of border region society, responding to the international community’s universal aspiration for a post-war democratic order. This focus in content made Yan’an woodcuts a visual resonance body for international anti-fascist discourse and progressive thought, thereby easily evoking emotional resonance and value recognition from international audiences.

延安木刻聚焦于“抗战”与“民主”两大核心叙事，将边区经验嵌入世界反侵略战争与民主进步的时代语境中。如古元的《结婚登记》《乡村选举》等作品以朴素的日常生活场景，生动展现了边区社会的平等、自由与民主实践，回应了国际社会对战后民主秩序的普遍向往。这种内容上的聚焦，使延安木刻成为国际反法西斯话语和进步思潮的视觉共鸣体，进而易于引发国际观众的情感共鸣与价值认可。

The artistic expression combined national characteristics with international commensurability, strengthening visual persuasiveness. Yan’an woodcut artists creatively integrated Western printmaking techniques with Chinese folk art traditions, forming an artistic style characterized by vigorous lines, simple composition, and strong contrast between black and white. This style not only carried a distinct “Chinese manner” and local flavor, embodying the subjectivity of Chinese national culture, but also, based on the intuitiveness of visual narrative, effectively transcended linguistic and cultural barriers. This allowed audiences from different cultural backgrounds to quickly perceive the spirit of struggle, enthusiasm for production, and ideals of life contained in the works, greatly enhancing the intuitiveness and appeal of woodcut dissemination.

艺术表达兼具民族特色与国际通约性，强化了视觉说服力。延安木刻艺术家创造性地将西方版画技法与中国民间艺术传统相结合，形成线条刚健、构图简洁、黑白对比强烈的艺术风格。这种风格既承载着鲜明的“中国气派”与乡土气息，体现了中国民族文化的主体性，又基于图像叙事的直观性有效跨越了语言与文化隔阂，使得不同文化背景的观众都能迅速感知作品所蕴含的斗争精神、生产热情与生活理想，极大地提升了木刻传播的直观性与感染力。

The content was drawn from real life and typical events, constructing a credible system of visual evidence. Yan’an woodcuts were not propaganda products fabricated subjectively in isolation from reality; their creation was deeply rooted in the combat, production, and life practices of the military and people in the border region. Whether depicting the heroic deeds of the Five Heroes on Langya Mountain in picture-story book form, or reflecting daily scenes of the Great Production Movement, literacy education, and democratic elections, they faithfully recorded and artistically refined the social landscape of the border region using realist methods. They became visual material evidence verifying the CPC’s adherence to the War of Resistance and its implementation of democratic construction proposals, thereby effectively breaking through stigmatization and blockade on the battlefield of public opinion, shaping an objective, positive, and vibrant image of the Party and the border region.

内容取材源于真实生活与典型事件，构建了可信的视觉证据体系。延安木刻并非脱离现实主观臆造的宣传品，其创作深深植根于边区军民的战斗、生产与生活实践之中。无论是刻画狼牙山五壮士壮烈事迹的连环画，还是反映大生产运动、扫盲教育、民主选举的日常场景，均以现实主义手法对边区社会图景进行了忠实记录与艺术提炼，成为验证中国共产党坚持抗战、实施民主建设主张的视觉物证，从而在舆论战场上有效打破了污名与封锁，塑造出一个客观、正面且富有生机的政党与边区形象。

The international dissemination of Yan’an woodcuts during the War of Resistance was a successful strategic practice by the CPC in actively constructing visual political discourse and effectively competing for discursive power in the international public opinion arena under conditions of information blockade. This historical experience not only won valuable international understanding and support for the CPC during the war, but also, with its distinct media consciousness and cultural creativity, provides profound historical reference and experiential inspiration for exploring the path of international dissemination of the Chinese story.

抗战时期延安木刻的国际传播，是中国共产党在信息封锁环境下主动构建视觉政治话语、在国际舆论场中有效争夺话语权的一次成功战略实践。这一历史经验不仅在战时为中国共产党赢得了宝贵的国际理解与支持，更以其鲜明的媒介自觉与文化创造力，为中国故事的国际传播路径探索提供了深刻的历史参照与经验启示。

(The author is a researcher at the Yan’an Spirit and the CPC’s Spiritual Genealogy Research Center, Shaanxi Normal University)

（作者系陕西师范大学延安精神与中国共产党精神体系研究中心研究员）