Understanding China Through Cartoons

2013 Independent Publishers Book Awards (IPPY) Bronze Medal for Graphic Novel (Drama/Documentary), and ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year Awards (BOTYA) 2012 Finalist in Graphic Novels (Adult Nonfiction). "The labyrinth of Chinese history, with its dynasties and gigantic land mass, can put off the adventurer to this exotic land. We need help to explore and explain how this country came to be. "Liu Jing" has already provided guides to the earlier history of this country with his illustrated comic books. He continues to lead us on this expedition to discover what historical treasures lie beneath the dust of Chinese history. In this volume we discover the vibrant life of the middle period of the China story -- the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties. This formative period was racked by wars, but at the same time, and as we watch in these pages, it produced innovation, commerce, and cultural accomplishments that defined the Chinese nation. Dive into the history of this period. You will not be disappointed." -- David M Jacobson, historian, quarter-century resident of China, foreign expert for the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Northeast Normal University, and co-founder of SinoFile Information Services, Ltd. "Understanding China through Comics" includes 4 volumes: Volume 1: The Yellow Emperor through the Han Dynasty (ca. 2697 BC - 220 AD) Volume 2: The Three Kingdoms through the Tang Dynasty (220 - 907) Volume 3: The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms through the Yuan Dynasty under Mongol rule (907 - 1368) Volume 4: The Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368 - 1911)

2013 Independent Publishers Book Awards (IPPY) Bronze Medal for Graphic Novel (Drama/Documentary), and ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year Awards (BOTYA) 2012 Finalist in Graphic Novels (Adult Nonfiction). "History is inexorable. Needless to say Chinese history is the same. "Liu Jing" has continued to make this relentless process into an accessible, brilliantly illustrated work that provides us with a view to the turmoil of the latter part of Chinese history - the Ming and Qing dynasties of China. As the fourth volume of his illustrated histories of China, we come to understand how modern China came to be. It is a history of the tug-of-wars of many players and is not to be missed." -- David M Jacobson, historian, quarter-century resident of China, foreign expert for the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Northeast Normal University, and co-founder of SinoFile Information Services, Ltd. "Understanding China through Comics" includes 4 volumes: Volume 1: The Yellow Emperor through the Han Dynasty (ca. 2697 BC - 220 AD) Volume 2: The Three Kingdoms through the Tang Dynasty (220 - 907) Volume 3: The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms through the Yuan Dynasty under Mongol rule (907 - 1368) Volume 4: The Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368 - 1912)

In just three decades China has risen from being a Third World country to taking its place as the world's second largest economy. It has lifted over 600 million people out of poverty while half of the world - over three billion people - still live under the poverty line. The astronomical growth and the potential of China to become the next superpower has attracted wide attention. These dramatic changes haven't necessarily come by choice. Internal and external pressures, both deeply rooted in history, have compelled China to metamorphose from being a static agricultural society into a diverse modern nation. As a Beijing resident who has lived through the entire opening-up era that set the stage for today's China, I've experienced the scale and thoroughness of economic and social change. From an historical perspective, such change is irreversible. The great sacrifices and efforts of the Chinese people, both through time and in current events, have not been in vain, despite all the negative implications associated with a country growing at, as some would say, an unsustainable speed. "Understanding China through Comics" includes 4 volumes: Volume 1: The Yellow Emperor through the Han Dynasty (ca. 2697 BC - 220 AD) Volume 2: The Three Kingdoms through the Tang Dynasty (220 - 907) Volume 3: The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms through the Yuan Dynasty under Mongol rule (907 - 1368) Volume 4: The Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368 - 1911)

"Does what it sets out to do and serves as a Chinese history text teenagers might actually read." —Asian Review of Books on Division to Unification in Imperial China The fourth volume in the Understanding China Through Comics series covers the stunningly productive Ming dynasty and its fall to the Manchus under the Qing, the last Chinese dynasty. The book also addresses Wang Yangming's School of Mind and the painful process of modernization and conflict with the West and Japan, including the Opium Wars and the Boxer Rebellion. Includes timeline. Jing Liu is a Beijing- and Davis, CA–based designer and entrepreneur who uses his artistry to tell the story of China.

Who founded China? Are Chinese people religious? What is Chinese culture and how has it changed over time? The accessible and fun Understanding China Through Comics series answers those questions and more. For all ages, Foundations of Chinese Civilization covers China's early history in comic form, introducing philosophies like Confucianism and Daoism, the story of the Silk Road, famous emperors like Han Wudi, and the process of China's unification. Includes a handy timeline. This is volume one of the Understanding China Through Comics series. Jing Liu is a Beijing native now living in Davis, California. A successful designer and entrepreneur who helped brands tell their stories, Jing currently uses his artistry to tell the story of China.

This collection examines corruption and abuses of power in China from the end of the imperial period to the present. The interdisciplinary group of contributors examines how the Chinese Communist Party has adapted to economic and social changes while continuing to control the law, state, and mass media.

In the most comprehensive and authoritative source on this subject, Comics Art in China covers almost all comics art forms in mainland China, providing the history from the nineteenth century to the present as well as perspectives on both the industry and the art form. This volume encompasses political, social, and gag cartoons, lianhuanhua (picture books), comic books, humorous drawings, cartoon and humor periodicals, and donghua (animation) while exploring topics ranging from the earliest Western-influenced cartoons and the popular, often salacious, 1930s humor magazines to cartoons as wartime propaganda and comics art in the reform. Coupling a comprehensive review of secondary materials (histories, anthologies, biographies, memoirs, and more) in English and Chinese with the artists" actual works, the result spans more than two centuries of Chinese animation. Structured chronologically, the study begins with precursors in early China and proceeds through the Republican, wartime, Communist, and market economy periods. Based primarily on interviews senior scholar John A. Lent and Xu Ying conducted with over one hundred cartoonists, animators, and other comics art figures, Comics Art in China sheds light on tumult and triumphs. Meticulously, Lent and Xu describe the evolution of Chinese comics within a global context, probing the often-tense relationship between expression and government, as well as proving that art can be a powerful force for revolution. Indeed, the authors explore Chinese comics art as it continues to grow and adapt in the twenty-first century. Enhanced with over one hundred black-and-white and color illustrations, this book stands out as not only the first such survey in English, but perhaps the most complete one in any language.