The Cultivating Dragon: the metamorphosis of norms and behaviour through slogans in Shanghai, China

Abstract

Although the slogans incorporated various legitimization strategies to appeal to the audience, an underlying strategy that the majority of the posters shared was to reach an objective that lay in the future, the 中国梦, the Chinese Dream. The norms and behavioural traits advocated by the slogans appeared to strongly relate to various Confucian ideals, which form the foundation of this school of thought. They include harmony, rules, rites, order. When this is accomplished within governance and within society, the nation will flourish and succeed.