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Bay of Tonkin: Earliest Vietnam War Poster

the earliest poster announcing the start of the Vietnam War designed by Yang Xianrang, 530 x 765mm., slight wear on old folds, a few minor japan-tissue repairs on verso, a few short splits at sheet edges and minor handling creases, Beijing, People's Art Publishing House, 1964.

***Rare and historic poster depicting a Soldier, a Worker and a Peasant (Militia), all protesting America's aggression towards Vietnam. The worker is grasping a copy of The People's Daily for August 6, 1964 with headline: "The PRC Government issues a statement that America's Aggression towards Vietnam is an act of aggression towards China". The Gulf of Tonkin is an inlet in the South China Sea with waters reaching to both North Vietnam and China. On August 4, 1964, North Vietnamese torpedo boats were on manoeuvres while American destroyers were conveying military intelligence to forces stationed in South Vietnam. The US sailors misunderstood, believing they were being attacked, and sent an alert to Washington. President Johnson ordered air attacks in retaliation and asked the US Congress to pass the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, a mandate to allow continual military action in Southeast Asia until the end of the Vietnam War. It is now confirmed by actual war records that the American ships were never in danger of attack nor even targeted, but the incident is the acknowledged catalyst for having started the Vietnam War. The colophon identifies that only 15,000 posters were printed, a relatively small number for anyone familiar with the usual print-runs of Chinese propaganda posters. Only four other copies of this poster are known to survive in public or private collections both in China and the western hemisphere..

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