The 3D adventure film "The Adventures of Tintin", created by two hollywood super directors Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson, reunites us with our childhood friends "Tintin" and "Snow White", and we look back at Tintin's 75 years of stories.
The Chinese executioner in Tintin in the SOVIET Union
The Chinese villain in Tintin in america
Racial Prejudice (1929-1931)
In 1929, when the first episode of The Adventures of Tintin, Tintin in the Soviet Union, was presented to readers at the time, Chinese appeared—two Chinese executioners in pigtails confronted Tintin. Two years later, in the third episode, Tintin in the Americas, Chinese's image gets worse—in which Bai Xue worries that he will become a plate of two Chinese villains. In fact, these two sinister and terrifying fellows did more viciously than Snow had imagined: they planned to sink the tied Tintin into Lake Michigan (one of the Great Lakes of North America) along with heavy objects.
This is the image of the Chinese at that time in the eyes of Hergé, the author of The Adventures of Tintin. We don't need to excuse Hergé, and it is not surprising that a European painter living in the 1920s had a relatively large bias in his perception of the world based on a single limited channel of information reception at that time. In fact, not only Chinese, but almost all foreigners became the object of ridicule in his works: the brazenness of the Bolshevists; the backwardness and superstition of the Africans; the unrestrained plundering of the American capitalists, and even the Indians whom Hergé loved were portrayed as extremely naïve and very easily deceived. Thankfully, things soon took a turn for the better, and Hergé gradually changed his prejudices against Chinese.
A Chinese scene with a pure flavor ("Blue Lotus")
A new understanding of the world and your profession
In Hergé's view, Zhang Chongren's traditional Chinese cultural attainments have only begun to help him. More importantly, the student at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels helped Hergé get a serious understanding of the country his protagonist was traveling to. He opened up a whole new world for Hergé, and Hergé took his profession more seriously.
Hergé made no secret of Zhang Chongren's role in this regard: "I discovered a civilization that I didn't understand at all, and at the same time I realized a responsibility. From this point on, I began to look up the information and began to pay attention to the countries and local residents that Tintin was going to, which was worthy of my readers. It was all because I met Zhang Chongren, and I started drafting the real script from "Blue Lotus". Blue Lotus marks the beginning of my 'documentary' era! For me, to bring Tintin into a real Chinese environment is simply blood-boiling. ”
Blue Lotus cover
"Blue Lotus": "The Adventures of Tintin" the first artistic peak in the history of creation
In 1934, Blue Lotus was published, and it was unanimously recognized by the industry as Hergé's first masterpiece. "Blue Lotus" is well conceived, the rhythm is clear and moderate, and the story is more firmly rooted in reality. Hergé attributed this to his acquaintance with Zhang Chongren, which inspired his creative potential. Prior to this, according to himself, he did not have much sense of accomplishment, "Hergé is nothing". From then on, Hergé's Adventures of Tintin was no longer a temporary one, hurriedly piecing together the plot, letting Tintin just out of the tiger's den and into the wolf's lair, until the story could not continue until it was exhausted.
The publication of "Blue Lotus" marked a turning point in Hergé's creative career. Beginning with Blue Lotus, there was a series of amazing works, and of course, comic sales began to skyrocket. In 1989, on the occasion of Tintin's 60th anniversary, the Fondation Hergé held an exhibition, the most exciting part of which was the exhibition of all the original black and white versions of Blue Lotus in one hall, which was enough to prove the artistic value of Blue Lotus.
Chinese edition of the Adventures of Tintin comic
Comics turned villain books throughout the childhood memories of the 80s
Since 1982, there have been mainland book publishing institutions signed "China Children's Publishing House" and "China Literary Association Publishing Company" to translate Hergé's set of biographical classics into "The Adventures of Tintin", which has been introduced in the form of comic strips of villain books that are popular among the Chinese people. By 1987, a total of 44 copies (22 stories, each divided into volumes) had been published. The familiar names of "Tintin", "Snow White", "Dupont and Dupont" and "Carculus" are also derived from this.
Due to the publication time span of this set of books for up to 6 years, and limited to the rigidity of the distribution system and the poor circulation channels of books in that year, fans who buy and follow this set of long comic strips are all "painful and happy" and become an unforgettable experience for a generation. (Attached: China Literary Association Publishing Company also published a book "Tintin in Shark Lake", but it was not compiled by Hergé and was not included)