Chinese Picture Story Book Exhibit

February 1, 2008-February 28, 2008
Location: Asia Collection

Lian Huan Hua literally means "linked serial pictures." They are pocket sized picture-story books first published by a Shanghai publisher in the 1920s. Lian huan hua is also commonly known as Xiao ren shu, children's book for their simplicity and heraldic subjects. They combined pictures with text. Unlike the western comic books, the text is usually placed either at the bottom or on the right side of the picture, rather than issuing from the characters' mouth in balloons.

The origin of lian huan hua in China is hard to trace. However, there are two recognized forerunners of this popular medium, the traditional drawings in Chinese classical literature or popular romantic novels and Chinese New Year's pictures nian hua. Many story books of the Song A.D. 960-1279 and the Yuan A.D. 1279-1368 dynasties often had illustrations at the top of each page, including The Water Margin Shui hu zhuan and Romance of the Three Kingdoms San guo zhi. During the Ming A.D. 1368-1644 and the Qing 1644-1911 dynasties, popular romantic novels, such as The Dream of the Red Chamber Hong lou meng and The Romance of the Western Chamber Xi xiang ji, often included portraits of the main characters at the beginning of the novels and sometimes at the start of each chapter. Traditional Chinese New Year's pictures are often colorful prints of stories of legendary heroes and episodes of operas. Tales such as Twenty-Four Legends of Filial Piety Er shi si xiao is one of the favorite subjects of New Year's pictures.

In the early 1920s, lian huan hua first appeared mainly as adaptations of Jingju Peking Opera and Chinese literary classics. The pictures were created mostly in line drawings, sketches, and oil-wash painting. After the People's Republic of China PRC was founded in 1949, lain huan hua became an extremely popular art form and was used to popularize new government policies and regulations. From 1951 to 1956, more than 10,000 titles, and approximately 26 billion copies were published in China.

The popularity of lian huan hua diminished in 1966 at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution 1966 to 1976; however, the publication was revived by Premier Zhou Enlai in the early 1970s with heroic stories of the time that were used as a propaganda tool. From the late 1970s to mid-1980s, lian huan hua became an important source of education and entertainment for children and adults alike. With a wide range of other reading materials appearing in China during the 1990s, lian huan hua lost its glamour. Since 2000, lian huan hua started appearing in shops and are hot collectible items in China today.

The Hamilton Library's China collection has collected more than 150 titles of lian huan hua that were published mostly during the Cultural Revolution, particularly between 1971-1976, when the publication of lian huan hua was rare and difficult at that time. For the exhibit, the China Specialist Librarian has selected some representative titles and placed them in the display cases on the 4th floor of the Asia Collection.

Visit Hamilton Library's Digital Collection to view more than 150 colorful bookcovers.

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