I was struck by this illustration simply because it seemed just … well … odd. Women in pointy ballet shoes looking ever so elegant despite their army uniforms and the ominous rifles.

In a way it captured what was so seemingly out of sync with China’s Mao-inspired Cultural Revolution – at least in the eyes of the Western World.

Mao believed that art and literature should serve politics. As such, eight model performances like this collectively known as yangbanxi were organised between 1966 and 1976 as models to guide the “artistic activity” throughout the country.

This one entitled The White Haired Girl was performed in Heilongjiang Province in 1975 to massive crowds – people who didn’t have much of a choice but to watch and applaud.

It was a bold experiment in rallying the people towards a single cause of nationhood as China sought to find its feet beyond the confines of the Bamboo Curtain.

These pictures and many other artefacts of China’s Great Leap Forward are on display at the Asian Civilisations Museum in their current exhibition Seeing Red: Propaganda and Material Culture in China.

There are many nuggets of information to be had if only one takes the time to visit the exhibition and soak in a truly remarkable period of Asian history.