Political Cartoons in Commercial Advertising in Early Twentieth Century China

Abstract

Though advertising has long existed in China, the extensive use of advertisements, especially visual images, to excite the consumers’ imagination only started in the early twentieth century in the treaty ports, Shanghai in particular. Many of the commercial advertisements of the period have clear political connotations, such as the 1911 Republican Revolution. This article studies commercial advertisements in early twentieth century China in their political and social context, in particular how advertisements tried to capture consumers’ aspirations for progress and prosperity.