Blast from the past

A artwork from the lianhuanhua edition of Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Photo provided to China Daily

For many Chinese born before the 1980s, traditional picture books, or lianhuanhua, are part of childhood memories.

In an attempt to revive public interest in the lost format, the first edition of Romance of the Three Kingdoms in the lianhuanhua style was recently reprinted.

Written by 15th-century author Luo Guanzhong, the novel is considered among China's greatest classics. Its lianhuanhua version has sold tens of millions copies since first being published in 1957.

Lianhuanhua, which literally means "linked pictures", originated in 1920s Shanghai. The palm-size book has a painting on each page, with a few lines of text below telling stories that range from the country's traditional fables to modern literature. Each lianhuanhua book is usually less than 100 pages.

"Back then, there were lianhuanhua rent stalls in every corner of Beijing," says Wang Jialong, the 74-year-old collector of such books, of his childhood in 1950s.

"After school, we all went to the stalls to read them."