Zhang Leping

"Sanmao's Adventure" - 三毛流浪記 , Ta Kung Pao 1948

Zhang Leping ( Chinese  張樂平  /  张乐平 , Pinyin Zhāng Lèpíng ; born November 10, 1910 in Jiaxing , Zhejiang ; † September 27, 1992 ) was a Chinese cartoonist .

In 1935, Zhang created the character Sanmao ( 三毛 , Sānmáo  - "three-haired"), an orphan in Shanghai in the 1930s and early 1940s. With this cartoon series he wanted to show how much children suffered from the Second Sino-Japanese War . The figure became very popular and is still very well known in China today. Several films and television series were made with Sanmao . Zhang's other Manhuas (such as Mr. Wang and Miss Bee ) couldn't match Sanmao's popularity. Zhang created over 200 caricatures with Sanmao between 1935 and 1937However, the war then forced him not to be able to draw further works with the figure until 1946. A total of 261 Sanmao caricatures were created under his pen.

Also in the mid-1930s, like Ye Qianyu and Feng Zikai , he began creating anti-Japanese caricatures.

In the 1950s he worked for the Shanghai People's Fine Arts Publishing House , the Shanghai Youth and Children's Publishing House, and the Shanghai-based daily Jiefang Ribao ( 解放 日報  /  解放 日报 , Jiěfàng Rìbào ).

Trivia

The Hong Kong actor Hung Kam-Po , mostly known in the West as Sammo Hung , whose original nickname "Sammo" ( 三毛 , Sānmáo , Jyutping Saam ¹ mou ⁴ , Cantonese  Sammo  - "three-haired") is identical to the name of the character "Sanmao “By Zhang Leping.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Sanmao, China's favorite son turns 70 . In: Shanghai Daily . (English)
2. ^ ^{A b} International Institute of Social History: " Zhang Leping ". (English)

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, Leping is the first name.