Abstract: The term “paper tiger” has a long history and has been used in different periods with different meanings,but its original meaning has been continued.In the changing situation of modern times,a large number of “paper tigers” appeared in the discourse expression practice of political commentators,referring to different objects of revolution:the Qing government,imperialism,domestic and foreign reactionaries,and so on.In the early days of the founding of the Party,the early Communists initially constructed it as the constituent element of the anti-imperialist revolutionary discourse system.During the Anti-Japanese War,the Japanese invaders became the core of the “paper tiger”.“Paper tiger” expressed the publics derogation and hatred of the aggressors;at the same time,it was also a discourse struggle weapon for mobilizing the people to resist the war to the end and enhancing national cohesion.During the Yanan period,Mao Zedong proposed a series of assertions that “All reactionaries are paper tigers”,which systematically and profoundly answered the question of how to understand revolution and counter revolutionary forces.This not only constitutes an important component of Mao Zedongs political discourse,but also profoundly affects the reconstruction of anti imperialist discourse worldwide.

Key words: “paper tiger”, Mao Zedong, Cai Hesen, reactionary, imperialism