The Founding Ceremony of the Nation is a 1953 oil painting by Chinese artist Dong Xiwen. It depicts Mao Zedong and other Communist officials inaugurating the People's Republic of China at Tiananmen Square in Beijing on October 1, 1949. A prominent example of socialist realism, it is one of the most celebrated works of official Chinese art. After the Communists took control of China, they sought to memorialize their success with art. Dong was chosen to reproduce the October 1 ceremony in a painting, and completed it in a folk art style, drawing on historical Chinese art. When Mao viewed it and liked it, it was assured of success, and was widely reproduced. After government purges, Dong was ordered to remove Gao Gang in 1954 and Liu Shaoqi in 1967. In 1972 a copy was made by other artists to accommodate another deletion. After the purged officials were rehabilitated, the replica was modified in 1979 to include them. Both canvases are in the National Museum of China in Beijing.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Founding_Ceremony_of_the_Nation

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1386:

The Wonderful Parliament met at Westminster Abbey to address King Richard II's need for money, but soon changed focus to the reform of his administration. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonderful_Parliament

1890:

At the encouragement of preservationist John Muir and writer Robert Underwood Johnson, the U.S. Congress established Yosemite National Park in California. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite_National_Park

1918:

First World War: British and Arab troops captured Damascus from the Ottoman Empire. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_of_Damascus

2003:

A levy was imposed on the hiring of foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong, who numbered in the hundreds of thousands at the time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_domestic_helpers_in_Hong_Kong

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

healthspan: The length of time in one's life where one is generally in good health. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/healthspan

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

When combined, the small individual contributors of caring, friendship, forgiveness, and love, each of us different from our next- door neighbors, can form a phalanx, an army, with great capability.   --Jimmy Carter https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jimmy_Carter