Editing One-child policy (section)

=== Propaganda ===
The National Family Planning committee developed the slogan {{Lang|zh-latn|Wan Xi Shao}} ('later, longer, and fewer'), which was first enacted in 1973 and was in effect until 1979.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Nie |first1=Yilin |last2=Wyman |first2=Robert J. |date=2005 |title=The One-Child Policy in Shanghai: Acceptance and Internalization |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3401363 |journal=Population and Development Review |volume=31 |issue=2 |page=315 |doi=10.1111/j.1728-4457.2005.00067.x |issn=0098-7921 |jstor=3401363}}</ref> This national idea encouraged later marriages and having fewer children. However, this policy was not effective at enforcing the developing ideal of having fewer children since it was such a new concept that had never been seen in other regions of the world.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Nie |first1=Yilin |last2=Wyman |first2=Robert J. |date=2005 |title=The One-Child Policy in Shanghai: Acceptance and Internalization |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3401363 |journal=Population and Development Review |volume=31 |issue=2 |page=319 |doi=10.1111/j.1728-4457.2005.00067.x |issn=0098-7921 |jstor=3401363}}</ref> The various problems that arose during its introduction were slowly addressed and it became progressively more targeted to corner women into limited control over their own bodies.

The {{Lang|zh-latn|Wan Xi Shao}} slogan emerged during the 1970s as a response to China's rapid population growth, which was viewed as a major obstacle to the country's economic and social development.<ref name="Fong2016">{{Cite book |last=Fong |first=Mei |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/898052629 |title=One child: the story of China's most radical experiment |date=2016 |publisher=Mariner Books |isbn=978-0-544-27539-3 |location=Boston |oclc=898052629}}</ref> This slogan encapsulated three key principles: marrying later ({{Lang|zh-latn|wan}}, {{Lang|zh|晚}}), spacing pregnancies farther apart ({{Lang|zh-latn|xi}}, {{Lang|zh|稀}}), and having fewer children ({{Lang|zh-latn|shao}}, {{Lang|zh|少}})<ref name="auto4">{{Cite journal |last1=Whyte |first1=Martin King |last2=Feng |first2=Wang |last3=Cai |first3=Yong |date=2015 |title=Challenging Myths About China's One-Child Policy |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/681664 |journal=The China Journal |volume=74 |pages=144–159 |doi=10.1086/681664 |issn=1324-9347 |pmc=6701844 |pmid=31431804}}</ref> and was emblematic of China's national campaign of mandatory birth planning. The Chinese government aimed to reduce population growth by promoting guidelines for birth control and family planning. The government believed that having fewer children and spacing births more adequately would allow families to allocate more resources per child, resulting in better health and education outcomes for children. The policy aimed to achieve this by allowing parents more time and resources to invest in each child's health and education, as they would have fewer children to care for.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Peng |first=Xizhe |date=2011-07-29 |title=China's Demographic History and Future Challenges |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1209396 |journal=Science |volume=333 |issue=6042 |pages=581–587 |bibcode=2011Sci...333..581P |doi=10.1126/science.1209396 |issn=0036-8075 |pmid=21798939 |s2cid=206535738}}</ref>

The "later, longer, fewer" campaign was later replaced by the one-child policy.<ref name="Fong2016" /> According to Whyte and colleagues, many of the coercive techniques that became notorious after the one-child policy was launched actually date from this campaign in the 1970s.<ref name="auto4" />

During the campaign, the state bureaucracy was in charge of enforcing birth control and oversaw birth-planning workers in every village, urban work unit, and neighborhood. These workers kept detailed records on women of child-bearing age, including past births, contraceptive usage, and menstrual cycles, often becoming "menstrual monitors" to detect out-of-quota pregnancies. In some factories, there were quotas for reproduction, and women who did not receive a birth allotment were not supposed to get pregnant.<ref name="auto4" />

Women who became pregnant without permission were harassed to get an abortion, with pressure also put on their husbands and other family members. Families were threatened that, if they persisted in having an over-quota birth, the baby would be denied household registration, which would mean denial of ration coupons, schooling, and other essential benefits that depended upon registration. In rural areas, women who gave birth to a third child were pressured to get sterilized or have IUDs inserted, while urban women were trusted to continue using effective contraception until they were no longer fertile.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Whyte |first1=Martin King |last2=Feng |first2=Wang |last3=Cai |first3=Yong |date=2015 |title=Challenging Myths About China's One-Child Policy |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/681664 |journal=China Journal |volume=74 |pages=144–159 |doi=10.1086/681664 |issn=1324-9347 |pmc=6701844 |pmid=31431804}}</ref>

Official statistics show that birth control operations, including abortions, IUD insertions, and sterilizations, increased sharply during the 1970s in association with the campaign to enforce birth limits. These drastic increases in birth-control operations suggest that highly coercive birth planning enforcement was already prevalent in both rural and urban areas, preceding the launch of the one-child policy.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tien |first=H. Yuan |date=1980 |title=Wan, Xi, Shao: How China Meets Its Population Problem |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2947873 |journal=International Family Planning Perspectives |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=65–70 |doi=10.2307/2947873 |issn=0190-3187 |jstor=2947873}}</ref> However, during the 1970s, the Chinese government was still concerned that the {{Lang|zh-latn|Wan Xi Shao}} policy would not reduce the growing population sufficiently. They felt the population would grow too fast to be supported, and a one-child policy for all families was introduced in 1979.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Welcome Demise of China's One-Child Policy |url=https://thediplomat.com/2015/11/the-welcome-demise-of-chinas-one-child-policy/ |access-date=2023-05-07 |website=thediplomat.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

Many of the tactics used by the government were reflected in the day-to-day life of the average Chinese citizen. Since the Chinese government could not outright force its inhabitants to follow strict policy orders, the government developed strategies to encourage and promote individuals to take on this responsibility themselves. A common technique was placing an emphasis on family bonds and how having one child per family would increase emotional ties in parent-offspring relationships as well as extended family giving all their attention to fewer children.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lewis |first=Norah L. |date=1987 |title=Implementing Social Change: China and the One Child Policy |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41420898 |journal=International Review of Modern Sociology |volume=17 |issue=2 |page=251 |issn=0973-2047 |jstor=41420898}}</ref> While the message of population reduction was urgent and required immediate attention, it was more important for the government to stop conception and new pregnancies. The Family Planning Commission spread propaganda by placing pictures and images on everyday items.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lewis |first=Norah L. |date=1987 |title=Implementing Social Change: China and the One Child Policy |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41420898 |journal=International Review of Modern Sociology |volume=17 |issue=2 |page=242 |issn=0973-2047 |jstor=41420898}}</ref> Aside from signs and posters on billboards, advertisements were placed on postage stamps, milk cartons, food products and many other household items to promote the benefits of having one child.

Propaganda took many forms throughout the one-child policy era and was able to target a wide range of age demographics. Children born in this time period spent most of their lives being exposed to the new expectations placed on them by society. Educational programs were also encouraged to promote one-child policy expectations. Many young teenagers were required to read {{Lang|zh-latn|Renkou Jiayu}} (1981), which emphasized the importance of family planning and birth control measures that would ensure the stability of the nation.<ref name="Lewis1987">{{Cite journal |last=Lewis |first=Norah L. |date=1987 |title=Implementing Social Change: China and the One Child Policy |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41420898 |journal=International Review of Modern Sociology |volume=17 |issue=2 |page=243 |issn=0973-2047 |jstor=41420898}}</ref> Younger generations became the main target audience for much of the propaganda as the one-child policy continued, since they made up a large portion of the population that would contribute to continued growth if no policy was put in place.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lewis |first=Norah L. |date=1987 |title=Implementing Social Change: China and the One Child Policy |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41420898 |journal=International Review of Modern Sociology |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=237–255 |issn=0973-2047 |jstor=41420898}}</ref>

The one-child campaign extensively used propaganda posters. The aim of the posters was to promote the policy, encourage compliance, and emphasize the benefits of having fewer children. Many of the posters were educational in nature, paying attention to reproduction, sexuality, and conception. They were produced by various government departments, ranging from ministries of health to local population policy centers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Population Policy |url=https://chineseposters.net/themes/population-policy |access-date=2023-05-07 |website=Chineseposters.net |language=en}}</ref>

To convey the idea that couples should only have one child, the one-child campaign utilized traditional visual elements from {{Lang|zh-latn|nianhua}} ([[New Year picture|New Year prints]]) that were popular among the people. Traditionally, these prints employ visual symbols to convey good wishes for the coming new year. In the prints, young children often have been portrayed with pink, chubby cheeks to symbolize the success of family reproduction and a hopeful future.<ref>{{Cite web |first=Andrea |last=Immel |date=24 January 2020 |title=Ride an Elephant and a Happy Lunar New Year |url=https://blogs.princeton.edu/cotsen/2020/01/ride-an-elephant-and-a-happy-lunar-new-year/ |access-date=2023-05-07 |website=Cotsen Children's Library |language=en-US}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=August 2023}} Even without slogans, these pictures were effective in establishing a link between luck and prosperity associated with the New Year and the one-child policy. Traditional elements like chubby, healthy-looking babies resonated with people – making them believe that compliance with the policy would yield luck, good fortune, and healthy offspring. As the one-child campaign progressed, the policy was linked to national development and wealth. It was considered directly linked to the success of the policy of modernization and reform.<ref name="auto3">{{Cite journal |last1=Bu |first1=Liping |last2=Fee |first2=Elizabeth |date=2012 |title=Family Planning and Economic Development in CHINA |journal=American Journal of Public Health |language=en |volume=102 |issue=10 |pages=1858–1859 |doi=10.2105/AJPH.2012.300731 |issn=0090-0036 |pmc=3490652 |pmid=22897553}}</ref>

By promoting the one-child policy on a daily basis, the government was able to convince the people that it was their duty to fulfill this nationalistic pride. Once the idea and initial steps of this policy were introduced into society, it was regulated by local policy enforcers until finally becoming an internal obligation the community accepted for the greater good of maintaining a nation. In many cases, health centers encouraged the idea of reducing the risks of pregnancy by distributing various forms of contraceptives at no cost, which made protected sex more common than unprotected sex.<ref name="Lewis1987" />