Current Affairs Pictorial

时事画报 focusing on promoting politics and revolution， was widel

y different from the pictorials which aimed at recording news， enlightening people for science in the Late Qing Dynasty. Its illustrators used their paintbrushes as “swords and spears” to shout revolutionary slogans， and Tan Yunbo 谭云波 was the primary artist among them. His pictures themed “Sword and Head” are the most eye-catching. These illustrations， integrating the popular motifs such as “Hundred Beauties” and “Swordsman” during the Ming and Qing dynasties， presented the images of female heroes in order to express the revolutionary mobilization， calling women to participate in the revolution and assassination during the Revolution of 1911. It is noteworthy that there was a significant semantic shift in Tan Yunbo’s depictions of “head” and “skull” before and after the 1911 Revolution. Prior to the success of revolution， “head” was a symbol to call upon the warriors to kill the enemy. However， in the chaotic years after the revolution when the revolutionaries were marginalized， “skull” symbolized the sad， sentimental emotion in commemorating the martyrs. These illustrations using women and death as metaphors were all created by male intellectuals， implying their desire to neutralize women as equal citizens. Therefore， going with the intergenerational sympathy deeply connected with the spiritual traditions such as loyalty and chivalry， women and men both moved towards the cognition and identification of the national identity that is equal and modern.