I was born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province in 1915. My manga can be divided into "Shanghai stage", "Yan'an stage", "Northeast stage", and from 1949 to the present day in Beijing, it can also be considered as the "Beijing stage". In the 1930s, during my "Shanghai stage", which was the initial stage of my comic creation.

I started liking comics when I was in middle school. In the first year of junior high school, it was around 1928. I drew a group of students getting vaccinated against the epidemic. The students were very mischievous. Although the injection was a bit painful, they deliberately pretended to be in pain, so I drew the funny faces of the students during the injection. I didn't expect this painting to be noticed by the editor of our school magazine, so it was published in the magazine. This is my first manga published in a magazine. In 1930, my first comic work "Jiangnan" was published in Zhejiang Daily, which was a great encouragement for me. Since then, I have been working hard to draw comics.

In 1933, I went to Shanghai Datong University Affiliated Middle School to attend high school. After arriving in Shanghai, I started submitting to more publications. At that time, there were our senior colleagues in the comic industry in Shanghai: Feng Zikai, Lu Shaofei, Zhang Guangyu, Ye Qianyu, and other teachers. Their paintings were countless times better than mine. I always felt like I couldn't catch up with them at that time, so I came up with a solution. I drew a lot of people in my comics because there weren't many people in their comics. They draw better than me, but I can't compare to them, so I have to use this method to compare with them and distinguish them from others.

In the 30th generation of China, many comic book authors have a "foreign teacher". At that time, there was an English newspaper in Shanghai called "Zi Lin Xi Bao", also known as "NORTH CHINA DAILY NEWS". This newspaper often published international current affairs comics by a white Russian cartoonist, Sapajou. His paintings have fluent lines, accurate and exaggerated shapes, which have aroused my great interest. I will treat him as my teacher and learn his painting techniques.

The above is my basic situation during my time in Shanghai, from 1933 to 1938. During this period, there were many cartoonists in Shanghai, and the help of my senior colleagues was very great.

On August 13th, Japan invaded Shanghai and it became an isolated island. We, as people, were equivalent to becoming slaves of the conquered country. The feeling of being a slave to a lost country was not pleasant, so in 1938, with the help of others, I set off from Shanghai, passed through Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Changsha, Hankou, Chongqing, Chengdu, and Xi'an to Yan'an. I stayed in Yan'an for 7 years (1938-1945), during which I also made mistakes in drawing comics. For example, in 1942, Cai Ruohong, Zhang He, and I held a satirical art exhibition in Yan'an, satirizing the people in Yan'an's own team (I won't talk about them, I'll only talk about myself). Let me give you an example: the manga I drew, "Leadership route," satirizes how women approach marriage issues. Because at that time, female comrades loved to marry the chief, so I drew two female comrades chatting on the road, and one of them said, "Oh! She, a department head is getting married?" What's the meaning of such a painting? This is one-sided,shouldn't the leader not get married?

At that time, there were still many people watching this comic exhibition in Yan'an, and later Chairman Mao also came to see it. He told me a sentence and said, "Comics need to develop." At that time, I didn't quite understand this sentence. What does development mean without development? I can't ask Chairman Mao again how to develop the law. I think there were three mistakes in our comic exhibition at that time: first, the comics we drew were not meant to be kind to others; At that time, the whole country was in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and ethnic conflicts were very prominent. However, what we drew was "a department chief married?" Secondly, I continued to imitate the expression methods of foreign comics. At that time, Yan'an was a society dominated by farmers. Farmers had not read comics, so they couldn't understand the comics I drew using foreign techniques. At that time, we ran a wall poster, and the people were interested in reading New Year paintings, but when they saw my comics, they twisted their heads and left. The third issue is one sidedness. In May 1942, the Yan'an Literature and Art Symposium was held. In August of the same year, at Chairman Mao's residence in Zaoyuan, Yan'an, the chairman invited us to have dinner together. During the conversation, Chairman Mao also gave some feedback on a cartoon of mine that was published in the Liberation Daily a few days ago. This painting is very simple, depicting a bare tree on the banks of the Yanhe River. The title is "Tree Planted in 1939". I want to show that only planting trees and not Cherish trees, the trees were eaten by donkeys and horses, and this is a fact. I painted the tree planted in 1939, and it turned out like this in 1942. Chairman Mao started with this cartoon, saying that planting trees is not good and can be criticized, but satire should not be abused. For many years, I have drawn comics based on Chairman Mao's two distinctions: "individual and general, local and global". Of course, it does not mean that my later comics have lost their one-sided nature, but the number of one-sided comics has relatively decreased. Chairman Mao's speeches are very important for us comic book authors.

Chairman Mao talked about Chinese culture in "New Democracy", which is national, scientific, democratic, and popular. Popularization and nationalization have become a goal that I have been pursuing since then. So how can we nationalize? Where exactly should we start? This question only came to my mind after attending the Yan'an Literature and Art Symposium when I thought of Chairman Mao's lecture on "going deep into the workers, peasants, and soldiers, and learning their language.". I think: first, we need to start with language, because the language of farmers is different from that of us intellectuals. Later on, I discovered that Kong Jue, the author of the novel "The New Heroes of the Children," used a lot of popular language in the book. For example, "unloading the mill and killing the donkey", "crossing the river and demolishing the bridge", and so on. This language carries a profound philosophical connotation. If you use these languages as titles and a way of expression for comics, it is much better than if you draw comics in the style of foreigners. I think my manga should be appreciated by the public, otherwise it would be boring. Chairman Mao mentioned in his article "Opposing the Party's Eight Sections" that "the Chinese style and demeanor that are popular among the Chinese people are worth pondering.". I started collecting common people's languages from that time on. It can be said that the Yan'an stage was the brewing stage for the changes in my comics and the development of comics towards nationalization and popularization.

In 1945, I moved from Yan'an to Northeast China and worked for the Northeast Daily until the victory of the Liberation War in 1949, which was my "Northeast stage". At that time, my main focus was on drawing comics with the theme of American imperialism assisting Chiang Kai shek in fighting civil war. This stage was a practical stage for me, and it was also a stage where I had just begun to transition towards nationalization and popularization in comic creation. This transformation is painful, and the reason is to discard what has been formed for a long time and paint things that have not been painted before, so there will be many troubles. My representative work in Northeast China is "Grinding the Knife Before Killing". I drew a picture of "Chairman Chiang" wearing American military uniform with black square headache ointment on his temples. This black ointment was a type of headache medicine used in the old society, and many male and female hooligans in old Shanghai often wore this ointment. Although Chiang Kai shek was the President of the Republic of China at that time, this small patch of medicine demonstrated Chiang Kai shek's rogue nature. In addition, in 1947, the situation of the enemy being strong and the enemy being weak changed. He often suffered defeats on the battlefield, so it can be imagined that he would often have headaches. In this case, this ointment can exist reasonably. The image of Chiang Kai shek was created by myself, and I made a joke about this "party and state leader". Therefore, at that time, the Kuomintang had a blacklist of assassination attempts on leaders of our party and government organs in a secret service organization in Harbin, which included Peng Zhen and Lin Feng. Although I was not the leader, I also had my name. My charge is "insulting the leader".

In December 1949, I was transferred to Beijing to work in the literary and artistic department of the People's Daily.

After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, I felt that although the social system had changed, people's thinking had not yet completely changed. Some remnants of feudal and backward ideas still existed in people's minds, and whenever there was a chance, they would become stale and even cause trouble. Therefore, praising new things and satirizing old things are both effective means of protecting the interests of the country and the people. So, I believe that our internal negative thoughts and behaviors should also be satirized. I have been drawing so-called "internal satire paintings" for the "Dongfeng" supplement of Guangming Daily for several years since 1959. Why did I name it "internal satire painting"? Because Chairman Mao emphasized the need to distinguish between two different types of contradictions: one is the contradiction between the enemy and ourselves, and the other is the contradiction within the people. So I refer to comics targeting internal issues among the people as "internal satire paintings". I drew comics with this theme for about four to five years (from 1959 to 1964), and I stopped drawing them from the beginning of the Cultural Revolution.

The painting "Overfatigue Disorder" was painted during that period. At that time, I was a formulaic form of satirical art expression. For example, during the Great Leap Forward, painters painted images of characters and immortals from folk legends such as the Queen Mother, Sun Wukong, and Dragon Prince. Farmers can paint like this, but our professional painters always follow suit to paint these things. If they can't draw anything else, they can either bring in a Queen Mother or a deity. There are sculptures of this kind in the back door of the Forbidden City, as well as in department stores. Later, foreigners reported that the Central Propaganda Department asked us to dismantle them. I also have a strong aversion to painters painting many of these things, so I painted this painting "Overfatigue". The nurse in my painting said, "Comrade painter, the Queen Mother and the Dragon Prince are both exhausted, and Sun Wukong has no hair left on him. Please draw something else! They can't go on a business trip for you." This is a criticism of the formulaic art, but maybe my title is not good, and "excessive fatigue" is taboo. Therefore, during the Cultural Revolution, someone put it in my file.

The painting "Misleading Youth" depicts those who talk big, empty, and some off topic things, so the little girls who listen to him become old ladies.

"Small and Big Families" is a phenomenon of painting at that time. Large families are gone, and there are many small families. At that time, family planning was not advocated. I feel that some people, although very young, have a lot of sons and daughters. Having more children naturally affects one's work, and I think having a larger population is not good. This is a phenomenon I have seen myself.

"Never Walk, Never Wrestle" is a painting of people who are afraid of making mistakes, afraid of criticism, and would rather do less or not do anything. This painting has a special commemorative significance because in August 1962, the 10th Plenary Session of the 8th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was held in Beijing. It was distributed as an attachment to the conference document to the attending representatives. Chairman Mao also wrote eight words on the document with this painting: "If there are any errors, just make the changes.".

The above are several works from my "internal satire paintings" at that time.

In 1966, the Cultural Revolution began, and I was the first to bear the brunt. I was criticized for a long time and even associated with Zhou Yang and Deng Tuo. Later, I went to Tuanpowa "Wuqi Gan School" in Tianjin to plant vegetables for two years and feed pigs for four years. After the end of the Cultural Revolution, social and political life underwent significant changes, so I started drawing comics again! How many comics have I drawn so far because I didn't keep a record of them? I can't explain clearly either.

In addition to drawing single comics, I also drew five series of comics. They are "Laughing Forest Advertisement", "Dongguo Fables", "Difficulties and Complications", "Life's Fun", and "Comic Pig Eight Precepts". Their thematic and continuous nature deepens readers' understanding and attention, while also forcing me to think and consider. Drawing a series of comics is also a good remedy for treating laziness. Additionally, I believe that it is best to publish a series in one newspaper, as it may not be as effective as concentrating if it is scattered.

After retiring from the second tier in 1987, I stopped participating in some meetings, events, and administrative affairs. Being far from life forces me to actively observe it and search for comic themes from within. My comic series "Life's Fun" was created after I retired:

The painting "Ten wheel Big Families" has two meanings: one is to depict the content of family planning, and the other is to depict the economic living conditions of our people. Look at the old man and the old lady riding tricycles, the young couple riding bicycles, and a little baby riding tricycles. All together, they have ten wheels; "People are not as good as geese" means that geese are still flying in line, while people ride bicycles casually on the road, some of which ride to the sidewalk. These are all things I see myself from life;

"Family Report" depicts a child's father smoking in the restroom. When the child discovers it, he reports it to his mother and even takes her to "patrol";

A fan in hand is better than an air conditioner. Neither my husband nor I used to like air conditioning, but my son likes air conditioning. I think the banana fan is very good, so I drew an old man resting with a banana fan. I wrote in a rhyme: "In the scorching summer, shaking the fan can both convey emotions and secretly laugh. Don't borrow it on hot days, don't borrow it on cold days, it can drive away mosquitoes and flies, tickle your back, cover your face, take a nap, and popularize it to the public. a fan in your hand is better than air conditioning.". How did the customer turn into a bun? The restaurant wrote, "For those who eat stir fried dishes, please go upstairs, and for those who eat steamed buns, please walk inside.". So customers turned into buns;

Here are a few comics from the series "Difficulties and Complications":

Difficult and Miscellaneous Diseases Thirteen. It's a satire of overeating and drinking. The doctor said, "Comrades! This is the Obstetrics and Gynecology department. Not treating illnesses caused by excessive eating and drinking" Those people have all eaten too much;

Difficult and Complicated Diseases 19. I have an old friend who likes to give small reports, and I have also suffered a lot from him. Chinese people used to like to push this kind of thing onto women, calling them "long tongued women", which means that women like to gossip, which is unfair. There is now a type of "long tongued man", so this is also a difficult and complicated disease. How to treat it? I thought for a long time, but suddenly one time I saw a promotional material for family planning that included "ligation surgery", so I decided to tie his tongue and tie it in a knot. I think adding more dialogue would be more interesting, so I wrote the nurse's question: "How is the situation after the surgery?" He said, "I still want to stir up trouble in my heart, but I can't speak clearly." I think this painting is still well done;

Next, let's talk about my comic book series "Zhu Bajie". I really enjoy drawing animals. Recently, someone edited my animal paintings together to prepare a book. I have drawn many Chinese zodiac animals, but the one I drew the most is Zhu Bajie. During the Cultural Revolution, I worked at the "57 Cadre School" in Tuanpowa, Tianjin. I raised pigs there for four years and had some understanding and emotions about them, so I later drew many comics about pigs. In Journey to the West, Zhu Bajie is famous, and the protagonist of this series of comics is Zhu Bajie, who is particularly rich in emotions and desires. The weaknesses in human nature are almost all present, encompassing everything from wine, sex, wealth, to food, drink, and entertainment. It was originally a celestial being in the sky, but got drunk at the Peach Festival of the Queen Mother, grabbed Chang'e and asked for "accompany", and made some mistakes in life before being expelled from the world. However, it was ultimately a conflict among the people. Although it was annoying, it also assisted Tang Monk in obtaining scriptures, and there was some credit for it. Therefore, I want to write an article on it. In addition, there are many characters in the Zhu Bajie style in society, and I find it wonderful to use their image and behavior to symbolize the sentient beings. Therefore, I created this series:

Zhu Bajie Detects Fake Sauna. Nowadays, people like to take saunas, and Zhu Bajie has also come. When he looks at it, he says, "This is not a sauna, it's clearly killing me." To peel its skin, look at the knife on the table;

Zhu Bajie's Nostalgia. Now that the Celebrity Dictionary is out, you can be listed as soon as you pay. Zhu Bajie said, "When Mr. Wu wrote 'Journey to the West', he didn't ask for any money. Now, if he wants to publish the 'Famous Pig Dictionary', he asks for money from me, and foreign people also want US dollars." Zhu Bajie was very dissatisfied;

Zhu Bajie Encounters Fake Descendants on the Road. Some people in the art world like to refer to their ancestors as some famous figures. There was a painter who called him a descendant of the great literary scholar of the Song Dynasty, but in fact, the descendants of this great literary scholar are no longer counted towards him. He is no longer a descendant of this great master. There are many people nowadays who refer to a celebrity as a descendant, but no one has ever claimed that he is a descendant of Qin Hui. They should all be referred to as descendants of famous artists or high-ranking officials, so I will satirize these people. I drew this pig Bajie and found that a pig was also impersonating a descendant of Zhu Bajie. Zhu Bajie said, "You bastard, although I have been son-in-law in Gaolaozhuang for a few days, I have never had a son or daughter. How could you be my descendant?" The pig said, "Painter can impersonate , can't I impersonate your descendant?"

Zhu Bajie's Civilization Class. Some people nowadays like to go shirtless on the street or in public places, and I think this is uncivilized. Zhu Bajie was also shirtless, and someone said to him, "Brother Bajie, you can't go out on the street shirtless. Look, only those who are quick to shave have their spines bare!" This painting also criticizes uncivilized behavior;

Finally, I would like to talk about a problem in comic creation. Everyone knows that comics need to be distorted and exaggerated. The more exaggerated and ugly a person is, the better it seems. However, this is not the case. In the past, some people made people very ugly, so some female comrades didn't like to have them draw comics for her. We have a manga artist who drew a manga of a female movie star, but she quit and made the manga artist very embarrassed. Of course, it doesn't matter if the enemy is painted a bit ugly, but for ourselves, I don't think it's good to paint ugly. Once I saw a cartoon of Lang Ping. Lang Ping is not unattractive either, her teeth are slightly longer, but this manga author has made her teeth longer, making them very unattractive. I draw comics not to exaggerate a person's ugliness, but to exaggerate their interesting things. Drawing comics is not all about making people look ugly. Comics should not be too distorted or vilified. If they are too vilified, it will be difficult for the person being drawn to accept them.

I am not good at drawing portraits myself because I have not received strict sketching training from the art academy. If you ask me to draw portraits, I won't be able to draw them properly, but I also draw them. When I draw myself, I don't look like it. When someone asks me to draw a manga of myself, I draw a manga of myself with my hands covering my face. Because I have covered my face, there is no need to draw my face. Then I wrote another poem, which is not actually called poetry, but can only be called "oil painting poetry": "It is difficult to draw a dog when drawing a beast, and it is difficult to draw a hand when drawing a person. The face is even harder than the hand, covering a hundred ugliness with one hand."

"It is difficult to paint a dog than a beast" is a folk saying. Why do you say that? It's because you draw tigers, and they haven't seen tigers before, so it's not easy to evaluate. Dogs are often seen by people, so if you don't draw them properly, they can talk about you. This is my understanding. I think drawing like this is more interesting than just drawing a cartoon. For example, I once drew a comic about Qian Zhongshu, who is a scholar with high character and artistic qualities. But now there is suddenly a "Qian Zhongshu fever", everywhere is talking about how Qian Zhongshu works. Actually, Mr. Qian doesn't like this, nor does he like to appear in public. I think he has the typical character of a Chinese intellectual, so I drew several pots of boiling water and poured them down, and he felt helpless in the bathtub. I wrote, "Sir, cold resistant but not heat resistant." This can showcase Mr. Qian Zhongshu's character. This is not just a matter of whether the characters are drawn like or not, whether they are good-looking or unsightly, but should also incorporate the personality traits of the characters. For example, there is another writer named Huang Shang who also studies Beijing Opera and is very knowledgeable. He asked me to draw a portrait of him on the cover of his book because he has a relatively red face. So I drew a picture of Guan Gong reading at night for him and later showed it to Ba Jin, who also thought it was good.

Furthermore, I believe that drawing satirical comics should be right towards things and not towards people. Criticism is aimed at a certain erroneous thought and behavior, not at a particular person, such as drawing bureaucracy. Before the Cultural Revolution, when I went abroad, someone asked me, "Do you dare to criticize your leadership? Do you dare to criticize bureaucracy?" I said, "We criticize bureaucracy by criticizing its ideological style and the consequences it causes. We don't necessarily have to draw a certain department head. Perhaps the losses caused by the dereliction of duty of a department head or warehouse manager are even greater than those of a department head. So why do you talk about this level and the size of this official?" Therefore, I believe that "treating things rather than people" should be a principle of satirical comics. Manga satirizes a certain idea or style, rather than specifically satirizing a particular person, which means it can depict a wrong idea without vilifying the specific person. I think similar issues in comic creation can also be reconsidered.