Hygiene and the New China: The Rhetoric and Mobilization of the Patriotic Health Movement (1952–1960)

The Chinese Patriotic Health Movement (PHM), launched in the early years of the People's Republic of China, was a large-scale campaign aimed at promoting public health. Drawing on Innocenti's (2011) framework of rhetorical threat appeals, this study analyzed the People's Daily and related sources to examine the PHM's mobilization strategies within an authoritarian political context. The PHM successfully mobilized public participation by consistently framing public health as essential for national security, thereby mitigating threats caused by the Korean War. This mobilization employed three rhetorical strategies: 1) Collectivist discourse, presenting public health as a collective endeavor to counter the "U.S. bacterial warfare"; 2) revolutionary and war metaphors, utilizing the Chinese people's war memories and nationalistic sentiment to energize behavioral change; and 3) life ethics, through appealing to emotions of patriotism and honor, framing hygiene as an ethical imperative for national progress and socialist construction. The analysis reveals that the PHM's use of threat appeals emphasized positive emotions and national unity rather than individual fear, aligning with the new regime's narrative of national development.