Big-character posters or (dazibao) were posters, limited-circulation newspapers, excerpted press articles, and pamphlets using large-sized ideographs. They were mounted on walls as a popular form of communication. Used in China since imperial times but more commonly since literacy rates increased after the 1911 revolution. Their use was even more frequent after 1949 to publicize party programs and as a means of protest. These signs became ubiquitous during the Cultural Revolution and were later guaranteed as one of the "four big rights" in the 1975 state constitution.

One of the famouse locations for this was Democracy Wall (see Democracy Wall was a wall in the Xidan District in Beijing. Beginning in December 1978, in line with the Chinese Communist Partys policy of seeking truth from facts, activists in the democracy movement recorded news and ideas, often in the form of big-character posters, during a period known... Democracy Wall Movement ) which was the location for the famous poster The Fifth Modernization by Wei Jingsheng Wei Jingsheng (魏京生) (May 20, 1950 - ) is an activist in the Chinese democracy movement most prominent for authoring the document the Fifth Modernization for which he was sent to prison. After nearly 18 years of incarceration, the Peoples Republic of China released Jingsheng for medical... Wei Jingsheng