Chapter 34 Talking about Comic Books

The proponents of "comic pictures" mostly mean "enlightenment" according to the current discussion. The ancients "left pictures and right history", now there is only one sentence left, and the truth can no longer be seen. Some novels in the Song and Yuan Dynasties are said on the top of the picture on each page, but they still exist today, which is the so-called "outline"; since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there have been The first volume only draws the characters in the book, which is called "embroidered portrait".Those who draw every story are called "full pictures".The purpose is probably to lure non-readers to buy and increase readers' interest and understanding.

However, there is another kind of "Zhideng Difficult Characters" or "Daily Miscellaneous Characters" among the people. It is one character and one image, and the two are compared. Although the picture can be seen, the idea is to help literacy. With a little modification, it is the current "Learning by Picture".The ones with more characters are "An Explanation of the Sacred Edict" [2], "Twenty-Four Filial Piety Pictures" [3], etc., all of which are enlightened by pictures, and because Chinese characters are too difficult, they have to use pictures to relieve the poor writing.

"Collection of pictures" takes the form of "showing pictures" and collects the results of "Zhi Deng Di Nan Zi". If you want to enlighten, it is actually a sharp weapon. But to be enlightened, one must be able to understand.The standard of understanding, of course, should not be condescending to the imbecile or idiot, but should focus on the general public. For example, Chinese painting has always been without shadows. Nine out of ten farmers I met disapproved of Western painting and photography. They said: People Are there two sides of the face with different colors?When Westerners look at paintings, the viewer stands at a certain point, but the Chinese viewer never stands at a fixed point, so what he said is also true.Then, I think it’s okay to make a “complex picture” without shadows; it’s also okay to write names next to the characters, and it’s even okay to express a ray of light shining from the head of a person in a dream.After the viewer understands the content, he will delete the marks that help to understand.This cannot be called distortion, because the viewer has grasped the content, then he has artistic truth. If it must be true to the real thing, the figure is only two or three inches, which is not real, and it is not the same size as the earth. without paper, the earth cannot paint.

Mr. Ai Siqi [4] said: "If it can touch the real and immediate problems of the public, I am afraid that the newer it is, the more popular it will be." This is also true.But what needs to be discussed is how to touch it, the method of touching it, "understanding" is the most important thing, and pictures that can be understood can still be art. May 9th. CC [1] This article was originally published in "China Daily Trends" on May 11, 1934, signed by Yanke. 〔2〕The Explanation of the Image of the Sacred Edict was edited by Liang Yannian in the Qing Dynasty, with a total of 20 volumes.In the ninth year of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (1670), he promulgated 16 "shangyu" such as "Dun Xiaodi, Du clan, He Xiangdang, emphasis on agriculture and mulberry..." and "thought it is the foundation of turning the people into customs". "Shengyu Xiangjie" is a book with pictures and explanations based on these "Shangyu".The editor said in the preface: "The deeds of the ancients are copied under the upper edict, and the original text is attached to it... and the rough explanation is made to make it easy to understand."

[3] "The Picture of Twenty-Four Filial Pieties" Guo Jujing of the Yuan Dynasty compiled the stories of twenty-four filial sons passed down in ancient times, and compiled them into "Twenty-Four Filial Pieties". [4] Ai Siqi (1910-1966), a native of Tengchong, Yunnan, a philosopher.He said in "The Comic Books Are Still Promising" published in "Trend" on May 6, 1934: "I think that if there are new content and new themes that are alive, we must boldly apply new techniques to achieve them. As perfect as possible, the public will never fail to be attracted. If it can touch the real immediate problems of the public, the newer it is, the more popular it will be. The value of art lies in raising the awareness of the public, not To cater to their vulgar delusion."