Guai are bound up with Chinese traditional culture, and have been presented via various cultural forms, such as literature, drama, New Year print and costume. Indeed, guai imagery has played a significant role in the definition and development of traditional Chinese visual culture. Throughout history, guai visual products reflected national values, aesthetic appreciation and philosophical aspirations.
Nevertheless, in twentieth-century China, political, social and religious transitions have changed the traditional role of guai imagery. Particularly, from the year 1949 when the People’s Republic of China was founded to 1978 when economic reform and the Open Door Policy were introduced, guai visual production was under Mao’s artistic control nationwide, and its political functions became dominant. Traditional guai imagery was politically filtered and modified to satisfy both Mao and the Communist Party’s political aspirations and the public aesthetic.
This research examines the transformation of guai imagery formally and symbolically in the Chinese aesthetic and cultural context from 1949 to 1978, and builds knowledge to evaluate and understand the production, dissemination and perception of guai visual products in this period. It provides a contribution to the understanding of the inherent values of guai and how the reinterpretation of guai imagery that reflects political, social and cultural values in Chinese visual art
