In 1925, a man named Feng Zikai published a series of political cartoons that would fundamentally change how a nation saw itself, yet the word he used to describe them was not originally meant for comics. The term manhua, now synonymous with Chinese-language comics, was an 18th-century phrase from literati painting that had been adopted by Japan as manga before Feng Zikai reintroduced it to China with his 1925 series Zikai Manhua in the Wenxue Zhoubao. Before this pivotal moment, Chinese comic art was known by a dozen different names ranging from satirical pictures to reporting pictures, but Feng Zikai's publication took precedence over all other descriptions and cemented the association between the characters and all Chinese comic materials. This linguistic shift marked the transition from loose collections of materials and traditional stone reliefs from the 11th century BC to a modern, self-aware art form that could carry political weight and social commentary.
Shanghai's Golden Age
The year 1928 saw the launch of Shanghai Sketch, the first major manhua magazine, which ignited a decade of unprecedented creative explosion in the city. Between 1934 and 1937, approximately 17 magazines were published in Shanghai, creating a vibrant ecosystem where political satire and entertainment thrived side by side. This era was defined by the work of Zhang Leping, whose character Sanmao first appeared in 1935 and became one of the most popular and enduring comics of the period. The medium was not merely for amusement; it was a weapon of resistance during the Second Sino-Japanese War that began in 1937. Cartoonists like Ye Qianyu fled Shanghai to wage cartoon guerilla warfare in inland cities like Hankou, mounting roving exhibitions to mock Japanese invaders and boost morale. The industry was so robust that by the time the Japanese occupied Hong Kong in 1941, all manhua activities had stopped, proving how deeply the art form was woven into the fabric of national survival.The Hong Kong Boom
Following the political upheaval of the 1940s, the center of gravity for Chinese comics shifted to Hong Kong, where the rise of Chinese immigration and a baby boom generation created a ready market for new stories. The year 1956 marked a turning point with the publication of Cartoons World, the most influential magazine for adults, which fueled the best-selling Uncle Choi and revitalized the local industry against the tide of pirated Japanese manga sold at bargain prices of 10 cents. The arrival of television in the 1970s brought a new wave of Kung Fu comics, driven by the global popularity of Bruce Lee, but the explicit violence in these stories forced the Government of Hong Kong to intervene with the Indecent Publication Law in 1975. Despite these restrictions, the market continued to bloom in the 1990s with works like McMug and three-part stories such as Teddy Boy and Portland Street, establishing Hong Kong as a distinct market separate from mainland China since the 1950s.