Deng Xiaoping's policy on literature and the arts

Deng Xiaoping's literature and art policy was based on Mao Zedong's Talks at the Yan'an Forum on Literature and Art. Its main point is that literature and art must first serve the workers, peasants, and soldiers; and then the people and socialism. However, in present-day mainland China, the term ''people'' refers to those strata of society that support the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Although Deng was a victim of the Cultural Revolution and has never wanted to repeat that decade-long catastrophe, he does not permit freedom of creation and insists that literature and art must serve the Parry's ends.