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Man Hua! Man Hua!
The kanji for manga “漫画” is known as “man hua” in Chinese. Traditionally, “man hua” was more akin to caricatures – single panelled drawings that are humorous or satirical, very much like political cartoons in the Op-Ed sections of the newspaper. This was the traditional form of “man hua”. The contemporary meaning of this term refers to the sequential art that most of us are familiar with.
漫画! 漫画!
“Man hua” has a relatively short history in China. Scholars placed the origins of such a genre of illustration back during the end of the Qing dynasty. The use of the term “man hua” became common during the tumultuous era of modern China in 1925. The term “man hua” was first used as a title in Feng Zikai’s (丰子恺) social-realist cartoons, “Zikai Manhua” 《子恺漫画》 in the “Literature Weekly” 《文学周报》. The Chinese had another term for the sequential art narratives – “lianhuan hua” (连环画) or “lianhuan tu” (连环图). The term literally means “continuous pictures”. This form of art work is not new in Chinese culture. Artisans had employed “lianhuan hua” since the Han dynasty on stone paintings. Buddhist pilgrims also used this medium on the walls of the Dunhuang (敦煌) grottoes during the Northern Wei era. The earliest form of ‘comic books’ could be found in the Wei-Jin period, in form of scrolls illustrated with “continuous pictures”.
While China’s “lianhuan hua” had its own independent origins, the influx of Japanese manga into Hong Kong and Taiwan since the 70s had influenced the development of this art form. In the 90s, Japanese manga took mainland China by storm. Nowadays, “man hua” has become the adopted common term used to describe comics, and “lianhuan tu” is used as a descriptive term for “man hua”. Contemporary Chinese comics artists have also adopted manga-style art in their works. Not wanting Japanese manga to monopolise children literature, the Chinese government’s Propaganda Department initiated “Project 5155″ (5155工程 aka the Chinese Juveniles Animation Project/中国少儿动画工程) in 1995. The project was to groom and nurture China’s comics artists, and to regain the market (as well as the hearts and minds of Chinese youth) with indigenous comics publications. Although Chinese comics works are not well-known on the international comic scene, It will not be long before the People’s Republic of China (PRC or mainland China) joins Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan in the East Asian league of manga culturalists.
Two years ago, I picked up some of China’s homegrown comics when I was in Shanghai. Many of Shanghai’s bigger bookshops have a section dedicated to comics. There were some interesting discoveries, and I was impressed by what I saw:
七剑·漫画序章
This graphic novel is the prelude to Tsui Hark’s adaptation of Liang Yusheng’s (梁羽生) sword fighting novel “Seven Swords Descend From Tian Shan” 《七劍下天山》. The movie is none other than “Seven Swords“. According to those who are familiar with the original story, the movie is not a faithful adaptation.
七剑·漫画序章
This graphic novel, is based on Tsui Hark’s interpretation of the sword-fighting novel.
What caught my eye was the painted art work.
由龙剑 by 健一
天瀑剑 by 光祖
日月剑 by 陆明
青干剑 by 颜开
舍神剑 by 宋洋
克星剑 by 牛同学
莫问剑 by 三谷裕希
The last contributor 三谷裕希 is the Japanese manga-ka Yuki Mitani.
Contents
The contributing artists covered a wide variety of styles – from Euro-fantasy paintings to manga-like inks. Other than the prelude stories, this graphic novel also included Tsui Hark’s thumbnail storyboards, as well as concept art by Jiu Ge (九歌) and movie poster illustrations by Weng Ziyang (翁子杨). I haven’t seen this book in the local bookstores. The graphic novel is published by Guangxi Normal University Press (广西师范大学出版社), with the IBSN 7-5633-5529-4.
For those who prefer their man hua in black & white tones, Hunan Fine Arts Publishing house (湖南美术出版社) had adapted the “Four Great Classical (Chinese) Novels” (四大名著) into comics but with the contemporary touch. I managed to find the adaptations of “Journey to the West” 《西游记》 and “The Water Margin” 《水浒传》
四大名著漫画全集 – 西游记
“Journey to the West” needs no introduction – this is a popular classic that’s been re-interpreted several times in comic history, across cultures. (There are some who argue that this story could have been Wu Cheng-en’s adaptation of the Ramayana…though its highly unlikely. For those who would like to know how Ramayana would look like if it received the comic treatment, check out the sci-fi re-take Ramayan 3392 A.D.)
西遊記
This chapter tells the story of the pilgrims encounter with Sandy (沙悟浄 aka 沙僧).
Origins of 沙悟浄
The art style bears the influence of shonen manga.
陈维东 & 彭超
The story is adapted by Chen Weidong (陈维东) while Peng Chao (彭超) did the art. The cover art was done by Weng Ziyang (翁子杨).
From what I’ve seen, this comic adaptation follows the original narrative. So you wouldn’t expect the Sun Wukong to power up and become a Super Saiyan.
四大名著漫画全集 – 水浒传
“The Water Margin” is one of my favourite Chinese classic. Unlike “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” that romanticised the drama of the warlords, “The Water Margin” romanticised the lives of lowly bandits who became insurgents during the Song dynasty. If you read the original story, you would have less admiration of the characters as they had their real flaws. Their moral groundings would still be questionable by today’s standards. And the acts of vigilantism (or heroism) are questionable in many instances.
水滸伝/水滸傳
The early chapters talk about the bandits’ undoings – how they fell from grace in their previously civil lives and had to head to Liangshan to hide from the authorities.
The first chapter told the story of ‘Nine-Dragon Tattooed’ Shi Jin (九纹龙史进).
九纹龙史进
He’s an exponent of the cudgel. Shi Jin’s a spoilt brat from a rich family, who did nothing all day but to practice his cudgel skills. He got into trouble by keeping with the wrong company – he harboured bandits whom he thought were honourable (讲义气). Because of his misguided principles, he became an outlaw on the run.
Lu Zhishen (鲁智深) is another colourful character.
花和尚鲁智深
He’s an irascible idiot. Before he became a monk, he was a minor official with a huge appetite for alcohol. During a drinking binge, he heard the sob story of this old man whose daughter was bullied by the town’s butcher. Spoiling for a fight, he confronted the butcher in a bid to avenge the girl’s honour. However, things got carried away and he killed the butcher with his bare hands. And the rest of the story followed his misadventures when he had to hide in a monastery while avoiding arrest.
Compared to “Journey to the West”, the art of “Water Margin” appears to be an improvement of the indigenous Chinese-style illustration overlaid with manga-like breakdowns for the panels.
陈维东 & 梁小龙
The story is also adapted by Chen Weidong (陈维东) and cover art by Weng Ziyang (翁子杨). Liang Xiaolong (梁小龙) did the interior art.
Chinese comics, however, is not limited to the tried and tested formula of re-interpreting classics in the familiar manga-style. Just like its contemporary arts scene, the influence in Chinese comics art is just as cosmopolitan. Lu Ming (陆明) is one such man hua artist that blended influences from American comics and pop culture. You’ve seen an example of his work above – he contributed to the Sun Moon Sword (日月剑) chapter of the “Seven Sword” prelude.
In 2004, he published the graphic novel “Life as a melody” 《我的旋律》.
我的旋律/Life as a melody!
“Life as a melody” is a tale about a band in the Netherworld that came to the land of the living to look for a lead guitarist to fill their ranks.
ROCK 漫画!
His style reminds of Tan Eng Huat’s art.
陆明
These are but the tip of the iceberg.
These are works that I came across by chance. I am sure that there’s many more talented comics artists that I am not aware of. Should I get to go back to China again, I will probably try to seek out more of the local comics. I am sure the mainland has many crouching tigers and hidden dragons waiting to make their international debut.
Also do check out this entry on ComiPress on the state of manga magazines and anthologies in China.
