Category: Design Drawing

Dimensions: 33 × 38.5 cm

Designers: Lin Huiyin and collaborators

In 1950, architect Liang Sicheng led the faculty and students of Tsinghua University's Department of Architecture in creating the design for the national emblem of the People's Republic of China. Liang and Lin Huiyin personally produced the drawings, determined to create an emblem that would embody both the revolutionary spirit of the Chinese people and a distinctly national character. The emblem features five stars symbolizing the new people's government, with Tiananmen Gate—the birthplace of the May Fourth Movement and the site where the founding of the Republic was proclaimed—at its center. Ears of wheat and a cogwheel encircle the design, tied together with a ribbon to represent the alliance of workers and peasants. The entire composition employs only traditional Chinese red and gold, achieving a look that is at once solemn and resplendent. This emblem, rich in Chinese tradition and national artistic style, was unanimously approved at the Second Session of the First Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin attended as special representatives, deeply moved to tears when delegates rose in applause to celebrate the adoption of their design.