ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the cultural productions of the Great Leap Forward, focusing particularly on the works produced in 1958 celebrating the construction of the Shisanling Reservoir. The celebration of labor is so central to the actual operation and abstract ideology of the Great Leap Forward. How could harsh manual labor be glorified aesthetically? What kinds of senses were manipulated in such propaganda? How could the cultural workers reconcile physical labor and creative labor? Through a close analysis of the related paintings by Dong Xiwen, Jin Zhilin, and Li Qi, this chapter aspires to present the complex landscape of politics and the senses at that time.
