Other famous names in Chinese.
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We did another flash card style comic the other day and chose Justin Beiber, not because we listen to his music, but because he’s so popular. But I wanted to point out a couple things in the last frame that I think are useful for those who are learning Chinese.
1. The Chinese teacher is making a comment on what she thinks of Justin Beiber. She says 白马王子 báimǎ wángzǐ and for the English translation we wrote “Prince Charming.” This is not an exact translation. The Chinese is literally “white horse Prince” which I thought was a fun translation. For guys you can ask Chinese girls if they’ve found their 白马王子 or “white horse prince” and for Chinese girls you can dash a guy’s hopes by saying that you are definitely NOT my 白马王子 “white horse Prince!”
2. The second phrase was what the westerner who is studying Chinese said in response to the Prince Charming comment. He says 乳臭未干 rǔ chòu wèi gàn and it’s translated in English as “wet behind the ears.” The phrase finder website explains that “wet behind the ears” means naive and immature and it gives you the idea that the person is still wet from being born. The phrase started as “dry behind the ears” meaning mature but the first known use of “wet behind the ears” was used in 1911. Anyway, the English translation is actually not as vivid as the Chinese. Literally translated the phrase 乳臭未干 in English is “breast smell not dry” or a better English translation is “to smell of mother’s milk.” WHOA! I don’t know about you but that’s kind of insulting. So my apologies to the Beiber clan but it was pretty funny!
See the comic here.
Interview with Liu Jing and his comic book history of China ow.ly/7nNTX the readers get a solid grip on China’s history in 3…
— Magnus and MingXing (@MandMX) November 9, 2011
He was very agreeable with us bothering his hard work for our 23 questions! The coolest thing is his book that I found on Amazon. Understanding China through Comics. How perfect! You can even get the book from Apple. Here are the questions we asked in bold and his answers.
No, my full time job is running a design agency in Beijing, and I’ve been doing that for 14 years.
2. Do you consider yourself a cartoonist?
No, I’m more of a mixer, who tried to express a complex issue (such as Chinese history) with my business background, cross-cultural experience, and drawing skills.
3. What kind of materials do you use? Pen? Paper? Table? Do you have a studio?
I use Wacom tablet, and I did most drawings after work, at library or at home.
4. Why Understanding China through comics? Why not fine art? Why not language?
Comics are entertaining, personal, and emotional, making a very complicated topic easy to understand.
5. What is it like publishing in China? What are the steps to getting published?
The book is published in North America, Europe and Australia through Amazon and Apple. Both platforms have detailed instructions on their website for book publishing.
6. How did you get your book onto Amazon? Why did you decide to release it on Amazon?
Amazon has clear terms and steps for publishing. It’s a time-consuming but manageable process. For comic books, it’s a bit more difficult, since it involves lots of drawings and specific layout. Amazon and Apple are my only choice to reach a global audience instantly.
7. The title of your book begs the question: Why do people need to “understand China?”
If we feel something or some place has nothing to do with us, a lot less people would take the time to understand it, especially for something as complex as the history of a foreign country.
However, China today has something to do with a lot more people: It is the world’s second largest economy. At its current growth rate, China will replace the US as the world’s leading economic power in about a decade, China is taking jobs away and creating jobs for the world at the same time, China is the biggest holder of US debt, Today’s news is talking about if China will save the euro… Many people are wondering what’s going to happen next. Hopefully my book can empower readers to make informed judgments on China events now and in the future, by showing what China has been through all along.
8. Have you had a lot of response to your book in China? Is there a Chinese version? or just English?
Currently the book is published outside China, only in English. The overseas response has been very encouraging so far.
9. Speaking of English, I’ve seen some of your interviews, you are quite good at English! Where did you learn?
Thanks! I learned English like everyone else in China, from school. I also use English at work, since all our clients are international organizations.
10. I know that the black market in China is big, are you afraid that your book will appear on the streets from booksellers and you not getting any of that money?
Yes, that was part of the reason I didn’t publish the book in China.
11. How are you able to protect your art, drawings andintellectual/creative property in this book? Does China have good copyright laws? If you saw somebody copying your book could you take legal action?
China has good copyright laws, but the enforcement is hard.
12. Are you into webcomics at all? Comics on the web only? Are they popular in China?
Sorry I don’t know much about webcomics.
13. What are your hobbies other than work and drawing?
I love to ski, and I’ve been to Whistler, Lake Tahoe, and some of the ski resorts north of Beijing.
14. What is your favorite Chinese food?
Living in Beijing, I like Shanghai food, fresher and less greasy than northern food.
15. What are you reading right now? books? magazines?
As part of my book research, I’m reading several history books, such as “Records of the Grand Historian” by Sima Qian, the father of Chinese historiography; “History of China” by pre-liberation historian Wang Tongling and “The General History of China” by his contemporary Lü Simian; “The Analects” complied by Confucius’ students; and many ancient Chinese paintings in the historical record. I really like the books written by the military historian Antony Beevor: “D-Day: The Battle for Normandy
16. Can you tell us today’s top 5 Chinese cartoonists?
Feng Zikai (1898-1975), a well-known Chinese painter, writer, and cartoonist, Zhang Leping (1910-1992) The creator of Sanmao, an orphan who suffered the hardships of Japanese invasion during WWII, The creation team of the 60-volume “Romance of Three Kingdoms” comic series from Shanghai People’s Fine Arts Publishing House, and Taiwanese artists such as Cai Zhizhong, a cartoonist best known for his comic books on Chinese philosophy; Jimmy Liao, a famous picture book writer; and Zhu Deyong.
17. Can you tell us top 5 Chinese cartoonists from recent Chinese history?
If we take a broader concept of cartoon, which is a series of drawings to tell a story or deliver information, the following ancient Chinese graphic artists are noteworthy: Song Yingxing (1587-1666), a Chinese scientist and writer, best known for his encyclopedia “The Exploitation of the Works of Nature”, which covered over 130 technical issues, with 123 detailed illustrations, Zhang Zeduan (1085-1145), his famous work “Along the river during Qingming Festival”, 528cm-wide, captured people’s daily life at the imperial capital. It was made into an animation as one of the major exhibits in the China Pavilion during the World Expo 2010. Gu Hongzhong (937-975), known for his narrative paintings to document the night life of a senior official.
18. Do you ever read Western cartoonists?
I’ve read most Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson
When I worked at an independent English newspaper in Beijing around 1996, my boss, Brian McClain, is a great cartoonist and he drew many comics for the newspaper, and we hung out a lot, which is very fortunate to me.
20. Are you on Sina Weibo? or some other microblogging site? Kaixinwang?
I’m on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn.
21. Give us one or two sentences that describe your book that would interest people and make them go and buy it!?
How do Chinese think? This insightful comic book is your visual guide to understanding China.
22. Tell us your favorite quotation?
23. Who are your heroes or people that you look up to?
Steven Spielberg
Other interviews we’ve done.
Another cartoonist we’ve done an interview with.
We wanted to introduce this fun video because MX really loved it when she was growing up in Shanghai. I think it’s great too because we can show our little 4 year old. It also has a Chinese painting style which is cool. We hope you enjoy!
小蝌蚪找妈妈
Xiǎo kēdǒu zhǎo māmā
“Little Tadpole Looking for Mom.”
YouTube:
Youku:
