Manhua: The developments the Chinese art of cartooning went through during a period overshadowed by war.

During the ‘20s and ‘30s a new art form rapidly gained popularity in Shanghai, A group of Chinese artists aimed to establish cartooning as a recognized art form in China in a period quickly overshadowed by war. Manhua defies simple definition, styles and content of works carrying the name ‘manhua’ can differ substantially. The city Shanghai played an important role in the story of the development of the Chinese art of cartooning. By the 1920’s Shanghai, then the largest metropolis of China, was experiencing a publishing boom.Especially in the beginning a lot of effort was put in by artists to get recognition for their work, by adopting the term ‘manhua’ to group together similar works, they hoped to turn cartoons into an established art form. The start of the second Sino-Japanese war in 1937 marked a turning point for the art of cartooning. Up to this point mostly an urban art form, often lacking in political message, now cartoonists employed their craft to try and influence the...Show moreDuring the ‘20s and ‘30s a new art form rapidly gained popularity in Shanghai, A group of Chinese artists aimed to establish cartooning as a recognized art form in China in a period quickly overshadowed by war. Manhua defies simple definition, styles and content of works carrying the name ‘manhua’ can differ substantially. The city Shanghai played an important role in the story of the development of the Chinese art of cartooning. By the 1920’s Shanghai, then the largest metropolis of China, was experiencing a publishing boom.Especially in the beginning a lot of effort was put in by artists to get recognition for their work, by adopting the term ‘manhua’ to group together similar works, they hoped to turn cartoons into an established art form. The start of the second Sino-Japanese war in 1937 marked a turning point for the art of cartooning. Up to this point mostly an urban art form, often lacking in political message, now cartoonists employed their craft to try and influence the Chinese masses. During the war a lot of the diversity in form that could be found before was lost, the clear goal of manhua would now decide on the shape of the images.Show less

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Manhua: The developments the Chinese art of cartooning went through during a period overshadowed by war.