Sanmao () is a

manhua () are Chinese-language comics produced in China and Taiwan. Whilst Chinese comics and narrated illustrations have existed in China in some shape or form throughout its imperial history, the term first appeared in 1904 in a comic titled ''Cu ...

character created by

Zhang Leping Zhang Leping (, November 10, 1910 – September 27, 1992) was a Chinese comic artist born in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province. He played a key role in the development of modern manhua in China, and is mostly remembered for his work in Sanmao. Early l ...

in 1935. He is one of the world's longest running cartoon characters and remains a landmark as one of the most famous and beloved fictional characters in China today. The name Sanmao means "three hairs" in

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

or "three mao" (a reference to his poverty). While the character has undergone a number of transitions over time, he has always been drawn with the trademark three strands of hair, which implies malnutrition as a result of poverty.

History

Most Chinese comic books prior to Sanmao featured adults and the Sanmao stories were also unusual in that they lacked dialogue and could therefore be classified as

pantomime comics Silent comics (or pantomime comics) are comics which are delivered in mime. They make use of little or no dialogue, speech balloons or captions written underneath the images. Instead, the stories or gags are told entirely through pictures. Definit ...

. When Zhang Leping created the manhua comic series, his main goal was to dramatize the confusion brought about to society by the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

. He wanted to express his concern for the young victims of the war, particularly the orphans living on the streets. Most of the changes in the characters would come after World War II during the liberation in 1949. Sanmao's image has evolved throughout time and in some modern continuation of the comics, he is depicted as a healthy, normal student. The character has also been portrayed as living through some of the most important periods in Chinese history and during futuristic space explorations.

Story

The comic takes place mainly during the 1930s and early 1940s and is set in Old Shanghai in its "golden era". Sanmao lived mostly in misery and stark poverty against a backdrop of war,

colonization Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...

, and

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...

Adaptations

The character made his first appearance in

comic a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

s and was later adapted into different formats.

Influence

* The renowned Taiwanese writer Chen Mao Ping (1943–91) chose "San Mao" as her pen name out of her deep sympathy for the lonely, homeless boy. * The Hong Kong movie star

Sammo Hung Kam-Bo use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinate ...

was given the name Sammo because of his supposed resemblance to Sanmao. 漫畫
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References

{{reflist

External links

- ''

China Daily ''China Daily'' () is an English-language daily newspaper owned by the Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party. Overview ''China Daily'' has the widest print circulation of any English-language newspaper in China. T ...