A new series of gifs featuring a Chinese Red Army Soldier of the Long March (1934-1935) has been released in commemoration of the “victory of the Long March.” The ‘icon set’ (表情包) was posted by Chinese state media outlet Global Times (@环球时报) through Weibo.
An icon set (表情包) is a series of mostly animated humorous cartoons that are commonly used on social media platforms such as WeChat or QQ as emoji’s.
The Long March (长征) was the 6000-mile trek from Jiangxi to Yan’an of the Communists from October 1934 to October 1935 after the collapse of the Jiangxi Soviet, the Chinese Soviet Republic established by Mao Zedong in November of 1931.
When the Communists were attacked by the Guomindang in 1934, around 100.000 people, mostly soldiers, broke out of the camp and started a march that would last for 370 days. Of the whole group, only 8000 to 9000 people survived the trek, that went through snow-covered mountains and dangerous swamps. When they finally arrived in Yan’an, Mao Zedong established his wartime power base there and revived the Chinese Communist Party and its army (Schoppa 2000: 86-88, 158; Latham 2007: 8-9).
The Long March became one of the most important legends of modern China – it is officially treated as a victory.
In commemoration of the Long March, cute images and gifs of a little Red Soldier were not only posted by the Global Times, but also by the People’s Daily and other official media accounts.
“I’m so hungry I’ll eat my belt.”
There are nine different animated icons, all depicting the same figure with a big wobbly head and a small body. He is wearing the red star cap.
Although many netizens think the Red army figure is “very kawaii [ke’ai 可爱]”, there are also many who cannot appreciate it, especially since thousands of people died during the Long March.
“I think the last icon is inappropriate,” one Weibo netizen says about the gif where a Red Soldier cooks his own belt out of hunger: “We shouldn’t make jokes about this.”
Other netizens also agree that the kawaii gifs and images do suit the commemoration of the Long March; “This better be deleted, the Long March should not be ridiculed,” one person comments.
Others write: “These icons are not solemn, yet the Long March was very difficult.”
“Who would actually use these emoticons?”, another person wonders.
Another popular comment says: “We shouldn’t use history for spoofs. I feel disappointed. This [Long March] history was a moving and tragic period.”
– By Manya Koetse
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Latham, Kevin. 2007. Pop Culture China! Media, Arts, and Lifestyle. Oxford: ABC Clio.
Schoppa, Keith. 2000. The Columbia Guide to Modern Chinese History. New York: Columbia UP.
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