Political Signs Creating an Image: Use of Social Semiotics by the Chinese Government

This paper explores a general use of social semiotics by the Chinese government. The author puts forward the idea of three phases of politically-oriented social semiotic education in a Chinese citizen's life: compulsory education as a controlled platform laying the basic foundation of understanding political signs, the media as a continuing education platform in an ever changing society, and life milestones as a reinforcement of political signs, social values and participation in the system. Compulsory education, particularly when it is government-funded, is the foundation that builds a basic understanding and gives meaning to politically-oriented signs, with exam results showing a students' level of comprehension. After graduation, different media channels act as a more informal platform to continue this education process, allowing for more flexibility of content while at the same time building off of learned political social semiotic knowledge. Life milestones involve a citizen's interaction with government departments and representatives, further reinforcing the experience of government and allowing a deeper understanding of signs through repeated use and participation in the system. This stage is particularly important due to the fact that personal interaction leads to a deeper feeling towards the government. Throughout these three phases, the author touches on the idea of sign producer, sign promoter and sign user. Although these politically-oriented signs can potentially be viewed on an individual basis, the author believes that the motivation of the Chinese government in producing and promoting these individual signs is not the impact of each sign per se. Rather, it is a long-term, integrated education effort that aims to create and solidify an image of Chinese identity as well as reinforce the ideology and values of the Chinese government.