FENG SHANYUN
(b. 1949) Yanchuan, China

"Battle Companions" 1983
woodcut, 14 1/8" x 16 1/4"

Feng portrays the intimate relationship between the people of Yan’an and the military during the Anti-Japanese War (1937-1945). The Communist Red Army was largely a peasant army and depended upon the support of the masses. Mao likened this relationship to fish and water—without the support of the people the army could not survive. The location is clear from the rounded window, typical of the northern Shaanxi yaodong (cave home) used by local peasants.