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Sanmao, China's favorite son turns 70
(Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2005-07-28 11:10
Mr Zhang Leping,
the father of Sanmao, passed away in 1992. Zhang created the old
Shanghai poor boy image in order to help many real life Sanmaos then.
[baidu] | The 1930s, or the early period of
Sanmao's life, is considered to be a period of great advancement in the
development of China's modern cartoon industry.
In Shanghai alone back then, there were more than 20 cartoon magazines and
cartoon comics could be found in most of the newspapers.
In 1936, the first nationwide exhibition on cartoon works was organized and
an association bringing together all the best-known cartoonists was formed,
marking 1936 "The Year of Cartoon."
"However, almost all the cartoon images created by Chinese artists at that
time were of adults instead of children, " Zhang recalls. "The emergence of
Sanmao filled a blank space - young readers had finally found their own
equivalent of Mickey Mouse or Popeye."
Sanmao's "father" Zhang Leping also broke a rule by not adding words to his
comic strips at a time when cartoon works had dialogue.
"Sanmao was created for all the people, including the poor and the
illiterate," explains the junior Zhang. "Every time when my father finished a
cartoon, he always showed it to us first to see whether we could understand - if
we couldn't, he would restart."
In two years from 1935 to 1937, Zhang Leping had created more than 200 works
about Sanmao who was just like any naughty boys in the neighborhood.
However, China's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-45)
broke out and forced the cartoonist to stop working on Sanmao for almost 10
years.
He resumed his work in 1946 and decided to draw images reflecting his
thoughts and experiences of the war years.
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