ink-wash animation
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Ink wash animation (水墨动画, ''shuimo donghua'') is an
animation Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...
style that is unique to
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. This style combines both Chinese traditional aesthetics of Shui-mo and modern animation techniques. It first appeared in 1961 with the first Chinese ink-wash animation ''Tadpoles Searching for Mother''. After the 1990s, film studios gradually gave up ink-wash animation production due to the high demand in cost and techniques.


Development

In the late 1950s, inspired by China's legendary painter
Qi Baishi Qi Baishi (1 January 1864 – 16 September 1957) was a Chinese painter, noted for the whimsical, often playful style of his works. Born to a peasant family from Xiangtan, Hunan, Qi taught himself to paint, sparked by the Manual of the Musta ...
's water-ink painting, Chinese animation industry pioneers began to explore ways to turn Chinese traditional paintings into cartoon form. "Once famous Chinese ink painting animation faces extinction."
Retrieved Jun 1, 2014.
The first ink-wash animation film, '' Tadpoles Searching for Mother'', received the Best Animated Film Prize at the First
Hundred Flowers Awards The Hundred Flowers Awards () are, together with the Golden Rooster Awards, the most prestigious film awards honouring the best in Chinese cinema, as well as Hong Kong cinema and the Cinema of Taiwan, they are classified as the Chinese equivale ...
, as well as several international prizes."Water-ink animation: a fading Chinese dream."
Retrieved Jun 1, 2014.
Since then, more ink-wash films were produced. But by the 1990s, animation studios without government funding were urged to produce cheap television series instead of costly ink-wash production. Techniques that had once been identified as state secrets were used to shoot commercial advertising. ''
Feeling from Mountain and Water ''Feeling from Mountain and Water'' (Chinese: 山水情; Pinyin: shān shuǐ qíng) is a Chinese animated short film produced by Shanghai Animation Film Studio under the master animator Te Wei. It is also referred to as ''Love of Mountain and Ri ...
'', produced in 1988, is said to be the last masterpiece of Chinese ink-wash animation film.


Major works


''Tadpoles Searching for Mother'' (1961)

The film is based on a children's story written by Fang Huizhen and Sheng Lude. A group of newly born tadpoles decide to seek their mother who they've never met before. On the way, they mistake golden fish, a crab, a tortoise and a fish for their mother, and they gather new clues about their mother's appearance through each encounter. This 14-minute film has been internationally recognized in many film festivals, including the
Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, sh ...
in 1961, the 4th
Annecy International Animation Film Festival The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (french: Festival international du film d'animation d'Annecy, officially abbreviated in English as the Annecy Festival, or simply Annecy) was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of J ...
in 1962, and the 3rd
Zagreb World Festival of Animated Films World Festival of Animated Film Zagreb ( hr, Svjetski festival animiranog filma), also known as Animafest Zagreb, is a film festival entirely dedicated to animated film held annually in Zagreb, Croatia. Initiated by the International Animated Fil ...
in 1978."水墨动画——中国心灵."
Retrieved June 12, 2014.
On the surface, the film appears to be simple. However, each frame required complex techniques and much work in order to present the artistic style of ink-wash painting. The techniques were even regarded as a "state secret".
Retrieved Jun 12, 014.


''The Cowboy's Flute'' (1963)

Produced in 1963, this film uses Chinese ink paintings to depict the charming relationship between a young cow herding boy with extraordinary flute playing skills and his faithful water buffalo. The boy falls asleep in a tree, and he dreams that he has lost his buffalo. It turns out that the buffalo is drawn to the beautiful scenery of a waterfall and refuses to return to the herding boy. The boy then plays the flute, and the melody helps bring the buffalo back to him. There is no dialogue in the film. Story is told through animation and the accompanying music, therefore the film is entirely accessible to a non-Chinese speaking audience. The flute melody was played by China's most famous bamboo flute soloist Lu Chunling. The film was awarded the Golden Prize at the Odense International Fairy Tale Film Festival in Denmark. Some deemed ink-wash animation the "fifth Chinese invention".


''Feeling from Mountain and Water'' (1988)

Named after a phrase for landscape painting, ''Feeling from Mountain and Water'' became the last water-ink animation. The film tells the simple tale of an impoverished elderly
zither Zithers (; , from the Greek word ''cithara'') are a class of stringed instruments. Historically, the name has been applied to any instrument of the psaltery family, or to an instrument consisting of many strings stretched across a thin, flat bo ...
musician and a young boy. The zither musician falls ill on his way back home. The boy kindly takes him to his house and takes care of the musician. To thank the boy, the musician begins to teach the boy the zither and becomes his mentor and friend. The film eschews dialogue, yet the animation and music make the film rich in emotion and philosophical ideas. The 18-minute film is regarded by many as the masterpiece of Chinese ink-wash animation. The musical accompaniment of the film is mainly featured by zither, however, "some of the most moving moments of the film unfold purely through the image to the sound of rushing winds or total silence".


Decline


Cultural Revolution

During the ten-year turmoil of
Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...
, many animation producers were attacked, and the development of animation industry was suspended. ''The Cowboy's Flute'' became the target of criticism because of its representation of pastoral life instead of class struggles.


Market economy reform

When ink-wash animation was first produced in 1960s, China was under the
planned economy A planned economy is a type of economic system where investment, production and the allocation of capital goods takes place according to economy-wide economic plans and production plans. A planned economy may use centralized, decentralized, part ...
. Film studios were owned and supported by the state. Fundings were granted to animation production at the standard of 8000RMB per minute."中国水墨动画路在何方?"
Retrieved Jun 12, 2014.
Consequently, artists and technicians in the production teams were able to fully engage in artistic creation and innovation without financial or commercial burdens. However, starting in the late 1980s, China began its transition into
market economy A market economy is an economic system in which the decisions regarding investment, production and distribution to the consumers are guided by the price signals created by the forces of supply and demand, where all suppliers and consumers ...
. State-owned studios lost their government funding, and were urged to produce cheap television series in order to support themselves. Ink-wash animation production was regarded as "costly" and "unnecessary".


References

{{reflist 1961 introductions Animation techniques Chinese animation