Zhang Chongren

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Statue of Zhang Chongren at the Memorial Museum in Qibao

Zhang Chongren ( Chinese  張 充 仁  /  张 充 仁 , Pinyin Zhāng Chōngrén , W.-G. Chang Ch'ung-jen ; born September 27, 1907 in Xuhui , Shanghai , Chinese Empire ; † October 8, 1998 in Nogent-sur-Marne , France ), better known as Tschang Tschong-jen , was a Chinese and later French artist and sculptor . He was a friend of the Belgian comic artist Hergé , whom he met while studying in Brussels . Hergé drew Zhang in Tintin .

Life

Childhood and youth

Zhang Chongren was born on September 27, 1907 in Xujiahui (today: Xuhui), a suburb of Shanghai. He lost his parents at the age of seven and grew up in the French Jesuit orphanage Tou-Se-we (today: Toushanwan). There he learned French and went to the art school of the orphanage. In 1931 he left China and studied at the Académie royale des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles in Brussels.

Influence on Hergé

After Hergé had completed the album The Pharaoh's Cigars , he began with the story The Blue Lotus . This story brings Tintin to China. That is why the clergyman at the University of Leuven , Abbé Gosset, who was responsible for looking after the Chinese guest students, wrote to Hergé and asked him to refrain from clichéd and racist portrayals of the Chinese.

In the spring of 1934, Gosset introduced him to Zhang Chongren. The two young artists quickly became close friends. Zhang helped Hergé in The Blue Lotus and introduced him to Chinese history, culture and drawing techniques. Through this experience, Hergé worked even more precisely in the following volumes. As a thank you for this help, Hergé created the character Tschang Tschong-jen (French: Tchang Tchong-jen). Tschang had his next appearance in Tim in Tibet .

Return to China

Zhang Chongren Memorial Museum in Qibao near Shanghai

After studying, Zhang traveled around Europe in 1935 before returning to China. In 1936 he arrived in Shanghai and designed his own exhibition where you can see his drawings and sculptures. He founded the Chongren Studio to teach others. After Japan invaded China, Zhang and Hergé lost contact with each other. It was more than four decades before the two friends met again. In the late 1950s, Hergé Tim was drawing in Tibet , in which the character Tschang appeared for the second time. Zhang was a street sweeper during the Cultural Revolution and became director of the Shanghai Art School in the 1970s. In 1979, Zhang was a well-known artist and had many exhibitions.

Reunion with Hergé and the last few years

Hergé managed to get back in touch with Zhang, and so they met again on March 18, 1981. Zhang received French citizenship in 1989 and has since lived in the Paris suburb of Nogent-sur-Marne , where he died on October 8, 1998.

Shortly afterwards, a memorial museum was dedicated to Zhang in Qibao, Shanghai. Several of his works have also been exhibited at the Chinese Fine Art Museum in Beijing .

literature

Web links
Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Chinese. Zhang is the family name here, Chongren is the first name.
personal data
SURNAME Zhang, Chongren
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Tschang Tschong-jen; Tchang Tchong-jen; Chang Chong-chen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Chinese artist and sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH September 27, 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH Xujiahui , Shanghai , China
DATE OF DEATH October 8, 1998
Place of death Nogent-sur-Marne , France