The movement used populist orientation and affirmed representational realism as the preferred form of painting the woodcut prints (Tang 2008, p. 179). Looking at one of the most famous art prints from the woodcut movement, Hua's Roar, China! Published in 1935, the message it sent across was clear (Flath 2014 fig 1). The iconic image of the naked and blindfolded man struggling against his bonds, does not metaphorically represent China, but calls or, in fact, screams it into being by awakening and empowering its citizens through an expressiveness that goes beyond the visual and compels the viewer to respond with action (Tang 2008 pg. 180). As Tang claims, this print demonstrates that, "to visually render a voice, to project it, and then to elicit an expressive response from the viewer is a complex operation of evoking and calling forth subjectivity" (219). The art piece represents the powerful transformation of "national awakening" as a cultural metaphor into a "political imperative" (222). As Tang's reading asserts, the woodcut movement responded to China's historical condition and, in turn, contributed to the revolutionary course upon which the country would embark on, based on a shared sense of struggle. The main driving force of the woodcut revolution was a shared struggle. According to Anderson, a shared struggle is the basis of uniting people and hence its part of nationalism (50).
Woodcut art in China had a universal message that was sent across to all people regardless of their literacy or location and led to the spread of same ideologies. A number of shared struggles propelled the movement's rapid development into a national movement. For instance, the increasingly grim social malaise and Japanese military threats at the time motivated young artists to expand the subject matter of their art to human suffering and contemporary events. As a result, many adopted representational realism as their primary visual language.
