Download PDF By Isabel Galwey In the first two decades of the twentieth century, animation in Mainland China (and, indeed, the world over) has seen a remarkable efflorescence, as advances in digital technology and diversification of viewing platforms have allowed for an unsettled, shifting multiplicity of animated expression. Through examining the work of several contemporary … Continue reading The Urban Fringes of Contemporary Chinese Animation →

Download PDF By Yan Chen Since 2004, the Chinese government has been gradually implementing various policies to support the development of a domestic dongman industry. The year 2016 marked the 90th anniversary of Chinese animation, and numerous commemorative celebrations and exhibitions were launched, using phrases like “the 90th anniversary of dongman.” The use of the … Continue reading An Etymological Study of the Terms Dongman, Donghua, and Manhua →

Download PDF By Hua Li Why does a school of tadpoles keep mistaking other water creatures for their mama? Why does a cuckoo arrive late to remind farmers it is time to sow their seed grain? What makes the arrogant Monkey King admit his incompetence? These questions are beyond the moral lessons provided in animated … Continue reading Animating Science and Technology: From Little Tadpoles to the Space Monkey (1950s–1980s) →

Download PDF By John A. Crespi Defining manhua­—usually translated as “caricature” or “cartoon”—is like trying to put spilled ink back into the bottle. [1] The word should be warning enough. Where the second character for the second syllable, hua, refers to pictorial art in general, the first character, man, connotes several situations: a state of overflow … Continue reading The Pictorial Turn and China’s Manhua Modernity, 1925-1960 →