Xia Da (; born 4 April 1981) is a

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 ...

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 ...

artist. She is best known for creating the comics ''Zi Bu Yu'' and '' Chang Ge Xing.'' Five million copies of her works have been sold as of 2018. Her art has been noted for its classical style, and has been met with positive reception in both China and Japan.

Early life

Xia Da was born on 4 April 1981, in

Huaihua Huaihua () is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Hunan province, China. It covers and is bordered by Xiangxi to the northwest, Zhangjiajie and Changde to the north, Yiyang, Loudi and Shaoyang to the east, Guilin and Liuzhou of Guangxi ...

Hunan Province Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi t ...

. Her interests had included painting and comic-reading since she was a child, and she was eventually inspired to make her own comics in high school. She published her first work, titled ''Cheng Zhang'', in the ''Beijing Cartoon'' magazine, receiving an encouraging, handwritten reply by her editorial teacher. After graduating from university, she moved to

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

and briefly worked in advertising before quitting to focus on her own comics. During this time, she became engrossed in drawing, seldom leaving her apartment as she lived on a modest income.

Career

Her first comic book, ''April Story'', was published in 2003 shortly before her college graduation. ''Zi Bu Yu'', her second work, was serialized in 2008. The series won the 5th Golden Dragon Award that year, and was subsequently published in Japan by

Ultra Jump is a Japanese monthly seinen manga magazine published by Shueisha under the Jump line of magazines. Originally, the magazine was a special issue of ''Weekly Young Jump'' which was first issued in 1995. On October 19, 1999, the special issue beca ...

in 2009. Prior to its publication in Japan, the work was reviewed and recommended by Matsui Sakamoto, editor-in-chief of the manga

Saint Seiya , also known as ''Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac'' or simply ''Knights of the Zodiac'' (translated from the French title ''Les Chevaliers du Zodiaque''), is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masami Kurumada. It ...

. After the release of ''Zi Bu Yu'', Xia Da published several other comics. ''Chang Ge Xing'', a

historical drama A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romance film, romances, adventure f ...

set in the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

, received the Golden Monkey Award for Chinese Comics during its serialization, and a televised series based on the comic began shooting in 2019. In December 2016, Xia Da issued an article on

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holding Summer Island Studio responsible for an unequal contract agreement set to last for 10 years. A publication hiatus for ''Chang Ge Xing'' was announced in the same article, with Xia Da citing issues with her health as the main cause. On 26 December, Xia Da and more than 30 comic creators announced their contract withdrawal from Summer Island. In September 2017, Xia Da announced the formation of her own studio in

Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whi ...

, along with the serialization of a new comic, ''Shiyi Liu''.

Awards

Xia Da has won many awards including: *Golden Dragon Award for Best Girls' comic *Newcomer Award at the first Sino-Japanese Youth Exchange Cartoon Festival

Bibliography

* ''Winter Fairy Tale'' (2002) * - Total pages: 174 * - Total pages: 85 * ''Peony Pavilion'' (2008) * ''Zi Bu Yu'' #1–2 (2008) * ''Tonglei'' (2009) * ''Morning Star of Midland'' (2009) * - Total pages: 120 * ''Chuxia'' (paintings) (2011) * ''Chang Ge Xing'' #1–6 (2012–2014) * ''Shiyi Liu'' (2018)

References

* - Total pages: 366 {{DEFAULTSORT:Xia, Da 1981 births Living people Chinese comics artists People from Huaihua Artists from Hunan 21st-century Chinese artists Chinese female comics artists Changsha University of Science and Technology alumni