「文革」時期江青秉承毛澤東的意志所推動的「京劇革命」過程中，出現了一批佔據整個中國大陸戲劇舞臺的樣板戲。樣板戲是一批帶有高度毛澤東意識形態色彩，並兼具政治目的革命現代戲作品。樣板戲不但是中共自延安時期以來，一連串戲劇改革過程的終極呈現，在官方計畫性的操作下，透過輿論媒體的大肆宣傳，人民的生活無不與之產生連結。而其「三突出」的創作理論與原則強加於地方劇種的結果，導致中國大陸出現「八億人民八個戲」的荒蕪景象。 「文革」時期的樣板戲，最具代表性的作品有八個，它們創作的時代背景，包含了第一次國共內戰、抗日戰爭、第二次國共內戰、朝鮮戰爭（抗美援朝）、社會主義建設時期，將中共70年代以前的黨史發展涵蓋其中。而這些戲劇作品中的主角以無產階級－工農兵為主體，內容上充分的展現了毛澤東思想對於武裝鬥爭、階級鬥爭的重要性。 毛澤東的病歿、「四人幫」的垮臺，宣告了樣板戲輝煌時代的結束。「文革」結束後，中共文藝政策雖經調整，但仍延續了毛澤東〈在延安文藝座談會上的講話〉的精神。之後，鄧小平在1979年〈在中國文學藝術工作者第四次代表大會上的祝詞〉所闡述的內容，影響了之後中共文藝政策發展的方向。但是，「文藝從屬於政治」的特性仍然沒有改變。During Culture Revolution, Jiang Qing, influenced by Mao Zedong's ultimate will, developed and promoted the "Beijing Opera Revolution.' This process resulted in the production of a number of 'Model Operas.' These operas were performed on theatrical stages all over China. Model Opera were a series of modern productions that contained Mao Zedong's ideology and were performed mainly for political purposes. These productions were the ultimate results of a series of theatrical reform that took over a number of years starting from the Communist's occupation of Yan'an . Under government influence and propaganda through public media, ordinary people's daily life were deeply affected by these Model Operas. The imposition of 'three outstanding' production theories and principles on local operas, limited creativity and resulted in a phenomenon of culture barren known as the 'eight hundred million people, eight operas.' There were only eight more significant, representative model operas produced during the Cultural Revolution.The historical background of these productions included the Sino-Japanese war, Nationalist-Communist Civil War, Korean War, and socialist construction period, covering the Chinese Communist's party pre-1970 history. The main characters of these productions were proletariat workers, peasants and soldiers. The themes portrayed in these operas displayed Mao's thought and ideology on the importance of armed and class struggles.The death of Mao and collapse of 'Gang of Four" ended glorious era of model opera. After Cultural Revolution, although China adjusted its art and literature policy, it still adhered to the overarching idea that cultural productions should convey Mao's ideology, which he delivered in a speech at the Yan'an Forum on Literature. Further changes of Chinese art and literature policy came after Deng Xiaoping's speech in 1979 to the Fourth Congress of Chinese literature and art workers. However, the characteristic policy that art and literature should serve politics remains unchanged.
