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Write a summary about within the past few years Chinese manhua within China has been losing relevance within the country of its origin wherein more Chinese citizens apparently prefer manga to manhua.
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Within the past few years Chinese manhua within China has been losing relevance within the country of its origin wherein more Chinese citizens apparently prefer manga to manhua. This shift towards manga and manhua has yet to be fully understood and, as such, will be explored within paper.
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essay about within the past few years Chinese manhua within China has been losing relevance within the country of its origin wherein more Chinese citizens apparently prefer manga to manhua. Exapnd on the summary above. End with the sentence '##Article'.
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#Chinese Manhua History Development Cause and Effect Essay
##Abstract
Within the past few years Chinese manhua within China has been losing relevance within the country of its origin wherein more Chinese citizens apparently prefer manga to manhua. This shift towards manga and manhua has yet to be fully understood and, as such, will be explored within paper.
By delving into the historical aspects of this paper through works such as Wong (1999), it is expected that a revelation will shown regarding the various external influences that have helped to shape and mould manhua into the form it has at the present.
On the other end of the exploratory specturm, this paper will explore the various changes that have occurred to the culture and thus the consumer tastes within China regarding the forms of entertaining they enjoy and the general changes in the artwork created.
It is expected that through an exploration of both the historical and cultural aspects of China at the present, an answer will reveal itself which points to the exact reason as to why Chinese readership of manhuas has been dropping at a considerable rate within the past decade.
It is expected that this study will show the historical and cultural aspects of such a problem and delve into the means by which the topic will be approached and subsequently explained by the researcher.
Research Trail and Histography
Reason behind Choosing this Topic
The main reason why I chose this particular topic is due to my affinity for manga and my country’s traditional culture. I find it to be such a shame that the richness of my society’s culture and historical heritage has not been used properly in order to help develop the local Chinese comic book industry.
Within the past two decades there has been a significant decline in Chinese comic book popularity and it is due to this that I want to examine the origins of this decline and determine what can possibly be done in order to avert it. It is based on this that this study will examine the declining trend in the readership of Chinese comics within Chinese society when compared to their Japanese manga counterparts.
When briefly examining the various literary sources for this topic, it was seen that the considerable level of censorship applied to Chinese literature, subsequent cultural changes within Chinese society and the different stylistic elements when comparing Chinese and Japanese comics can be considered as being the primary reasons behind the subsequent decline of Chinese comic books.
##What is Manhua?
When examining the origins of manhua it is inevitable that a reference to Feng Zikai (1898 – 1975) would arise since he was the one who first introduced the term “manhua” to the literary scene in China.
Harbsmeier (1984) helps to reveal the origins of the term “mahua” by indicating that the term is actually a loan word and originates from the word “manga” which, as many might already known, refers to comics created in a style unique to the Japanese which was then subsequent adopted by the Chinese in many of the modern day iterations of manhua.
However, it should be noted that the general artistry seen in manhuas from the early 1920s to 1930s actually originated from the late Qing era and was then subsequently modified through a correlation of foreign influences into the form more commonly known by the Chinese people of that time period.
One of the best and most authoritative sources when it comes to a history of Chinese manhua comes from Wendy Siuyi Wong from the book “Manhua: The Evolution of Hong Kong Cartoons and Comics”. In it she delves into the history of manhua, how it was subsequently evolved over time and the various thematic changes that have occurred over the years.
The term “mahua” as described by Wong, is commonly utilized within China as a way of identifying cartoons and comics. In fact, the term has actually been utilized as a means of reference towards Western (i.e. Marvel, D.C. and Asterix) and Japanese comics (i.e. manga) despite the fact that there are clear thematic and artistic dissimilarities between the two mediums.
In fact Sabin (1993) indicates that manhua has come to refer to either a narrative sequence of images all the way to comic book strips that contain thousands of images within a single publication such as a magazine or even a booklet. Basically, what this means is that based on the accounts of Wong and Sabin, the term manhua encompasses a far greater categorical level as compared to its utilization with the U.S. as well as in Japan.
Early Origins of Manhua
Based on the work of Wong, it can be seen that manhua actually started to develop in China during the early 1920s and was limited to a form of graphical art whose main purpose was to portray a form of satire or a type of caricature referring to a particular social concept of situation.
Yet, it should be noted that researchers such as Hung (1988) in his article “War and Popular Culture: Resistance in Modern China” indicated that manhua during its inception was not a purely Chinese art form, in fact, its thematic elements related to satire and caricatures was in fact a purely foreign influence which resulted in the creation of the early forms of manhua within Chinese society.
As described by Hung (1988), the early forms of Chinese manhua had three essential factors that manhua artists at the time followed, this consisted of having an “economy of line that possessed powerful ideas”, “the artwork must possesses and exaggerated and at times ludicrous representation of the events or person that was being portrayed” and lastly, manhua should “lay in the type of thought or idea that it was to embody and not necessary lay in a specific form of artistic adroitness (i.e. the importance of manhua was in the idea represented and not in the beauty of the artwork utilized).
However, it should be noted that from the early 1920s to the present, what has come to define manhua has now covered a far larger range of definitions due to an assortment of Eastern (i.e. Japan) and Western (the U.S.) influences in the ideas and styles utilized in Chinese manhua today wherein it has come to encompass a variety of different kinds of formats and methods of creation.
Going back to the 1920s, Wong states that other terms were utilized to apply to the concept of manhua similar to the what can be seen in the case of Japanese manga.
For example, Japanese manga at the present has different variant descriptions to apply to various types of manga such as “shounen” (referring to adventurous type manga), seinen (referring to manga with mature themes), ecchi (reffering to manga of a slightly perverted nature) and yaoi (referring to manga involving male to male relationships). For the Chinese during the 1920s this took on a distinct different type of attribution as seen in the following examples:
 1. Fengci hua – referring to manhua that utilized satirical drawings
 2. Baodao hua – which refers to manhua styles of a “recording picture”
 3. Yuri hau – referring to allegorical pictures
 4. Zhengzhi hua – which refers to pictures that are political in nature (i.e. what can be seen in a large percentage of editorial sections in newspapers).
Early Development of Manhua
As explained by Hung (1988), it can be seen that the early creative format utilized by Chinese manhua artists was heavily influenced by the various comic genres seen from Japan and the U.S. at the time, however, it should be noted that its subsequent development was influenced by the social and political environment within China during the turn of the century.
Hung (1988) explains this by utilizing the age old saying “art imitates life” wherein he states that the social, cultural and political environments create a definite influence on the forms of artwork created at particular time periods since the inspiration behind particular pieces are based off of the artist’s own personal experience in life and are somewhat exaggerated when placed on a canvas.
Going back to the early development of manhua, it can be seen that in 1927 China established the first Cartoon Association aptly named “Manhua Hui” whose express purpose was to help the originally loosely grouped artists at the time into a more organized association in order to create a better means of “solicitation” for the manhuas produced at the time.
In examining the evolution of Chinese manhua, Hung (1994) explains that the evolution of Chinese cartoons at the time were heavily connected to politics and war at the time. From the perspective of Wong and Yeung, manhua during the 1920s acted as an effective medium for the promotion of new types of social ideas and movements.
Evidence of this assertion can be seen in the Anti-Warlord movement that occurred in 1926 as well as the May 4 Movement that occurred in 1919, both of which were inherently influenced by the ideas proliferated by Chinese manhua at the time and, as such, shows how manhua was an important source of information for the people of China during the early to mid 1900s.
Going back to the history of manhua, it can be seen that the 1930s can be roughly considered as the “Golden Age of Manhua” as stated by Hung (1994).
In this particular time period it can be seen that there were up to 17 cartoon magazines that were publishing manhua at the time in Shanghai alone from the period of 1934 to June 1937, all the way up to the Sino-Japanese war resulting in a transformation of the content of manhuas from relatively entertaining to mostly political.
As described by Hung (1994) It was only after the war in 1945 that the thematic elements of manhua publications shifted from political to more entertaining and humorous storylines. This particular shift is important to take note of, since as stated earlier, it is the general environment that helps to influence the thematic elements of the stories written.
Important Changes in Manhua Development
Hung (1994) and Wong (1999) note that during the political turmoil that defined the late 1960s in China, manhuas were often utilized as a means of attacking opposing political ideologies with a variety of pro-communist newspapers often expressing views that depicted the opposide in a less than ideal way.
Wong (1999) states that during the 1950s with the change in government in China there occurred a subsequent divergence in the way in which manhua publications became available. Wong (1999) explains this as follows:
“with the divergence in between Hong Kong and mainland China came the creation of a different style of manga that was largely divergent than what could be seen in the case of China.
For example, after the cultural revolution in China, manhuas that had a decidedly non-Marxist “feel” or espoused ideologies that were non-communist in nature were subsequently considered evil and production was subsequently ceased for such manhua”.
From the perspective of Wong (1999) this is a particularly important period in Chinese manhua since it shows how the mainland manhua in China lost its prominence due to government restrictions while at the same time manhua produced in Hong Kong gained became the primary location for the production of manhua since it was not under the control of the Chinese government and was heavily influenced by several foreign literary sources thereby resulting in the creation of manhuas that were distinctly divergent from what was seen in the case of mainland China at the time.
Explaining the Decline in Popularity of Chinese Manhua
Wong (1999) explains the decline in the popularity of Chinese manhua by explaining that as the popularity of manhua based in Hong Kong grew, this meant that the thematic elements of the manga continued to diverge significantly from what readers in mainland China would expect from comic books of that particular nature.
For Wong (1999), this meant that while certain types of manhua were popular in Hong Kong, they were not as popular within mainland China especially when taking into consideration the subsequent ban in certain types of publications that the Chinese government has deemed as “subversive” towards the interests of the communist party.
It was due to this that local publications on the Chinese mainland wee thus unable to publish what they want thereby resulting in a situation where the type of manhua produced is not only lacking in any of the relevant social issues of the present (i.e. dissatisfaction with the way in which the country is run).
Historical Context
It is important to note that books such as those by Wong (2000) have explored the origins and development of manga over the years, however, many have failed to even touch the issue of declining manga interest among locals in China.
It is almost always the case that they explain how events happened and what has resulted in the present state of Chinese manhua but they fail to sufficiently explain how changes in the modern tastes of consumers coupled with the restrictive elements found in present day Chinese literature as a direct result of government interference have in effect caused people to lose interest in it.
It is based on this that when attempting to examine the history of Chinese manhua, the best and most authoritative source on the issue is Wendy Siuyi Wong and her book “Manhua: The Evolution of Hong Kong Cartoons and Comics”.
In fact, after conducting a thorough examination of all available literature on the subject, it can be stated that “Manhua: The Evolution of Hong Kong Cartoons and Comics” is the best accumulated source of literature on the topic and would be immensely helpful in any examination on the issue.
Initial Survey of Reference Sources
When conducting an initial survey of the reference sources, it was determined that most, if not all, attributed the rise and fall of Chinese manhua to changes within the internal political climate within China.
An ongoing theme within the literature depicted manhua as an influential force to be reckoned with within the context of China’s culture, more so than the comics and mangas found in Japan. In fact, manhua within China based on the accounts of Hung (1994), Wong (1999) and Sabin (1993), was often utilized as a political instrument to enact social change.
From a certain perspective, the people of China at the time looked towards manhua as a means of seeking hidden truths and the development of a better grasp of current social issues since it acted as an easier method of understanding said issues due to the simplistic rather than complicated nature of their portrayal.
The literature examined revealed that it was only when severe restrictions were implemented in the types of themes utilized within manhua that consumer interest waned, since the depiction of social issues and “hidden truths” was in effect severely curtailed by the government thereby leading to a situation where the very aspect that made people interesting in manhua in effect disappeared resulting in a significant loss in interest which continues to last till this day.
Important Sources
Upon further examination, it was determined that the following sources also constituted some of the best references in evaluating the history and evolution of Chinese manhua and should prove to be indispensible in the examination of the topic.
Harbsmeier, Christoph. The Cartoonist Feng Zikai: Social Realism with a Buddhist Face. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget, 1984.
Hung, Chang-tai. War and Popular Culture: Resistance in Modern China. 1937-1945. Berkeley: U of Califomia P, 1994.
Sabin, Roger. Adult Comics: An Introduction. New York, London: Routledge, 1993.
Wong, Wendy Siuyi, and Yeung, Wai-pong. An Illustrated History of Hong Kong Comics (in Chinese). Hong Kong: Luck-Win Book Store, 1999.
Wendy Siuyi, W 2002, ‘Manhua: The Evolution of Hong Kong Cartoons and Comics’, Journal Of Popular Culture , 35, 4, p. 25, Literary Reference Center, EBSCO host.
By examining these articles, it was seen that one of the reasons behind the decline of China manhua popularity has been the lack of evolution in the stylistic elements utilized in present day Chinese comics and the fact that government literary censorship has in effect “killed off” the creative imagination of local comic artists.
Historiographical Context
Source      Importance                    
Wong (2002),   -primary historical source – high importance   
Hung (1984)    -secondary historical source – moderate importance
Gladstone (2012) Primary culture source – high importance     
Sabin (1993)   -primary historical source – high importance   
Understanding of Current Scholarly Literature
Sources such as Wong (2002), Hung (1984) and Sabin (1993) have all delved into the concept of changes that have occurred to Chinese manhua over the years as primarily originating from historic shifts and external events which have changed the face of manhua over the years and, as such, these sources imply that consumer disinterest in manhua may simply be due to external activities such as shift towards manhua being made in Hong Kong under new influences or the actions of the government in repressing literature 1 2 3.
However, sources such as Li (2009), Gladstone (2012) and Pendry (2008) have clearly shown that cultural shifts in China have been one of the primary reasons behind changing consumer tastes and, as such, this may be the primary reason why consumer interests has been declining so far 4 5 6.
When examining the various literary sources that have been examined so far, some of the main debates on the issue come in the form of whether it was the current modern cultural shift in China that has lead to the decline in manhua popularity or it is merely due to the fact that the repressive nature of the Chinese government has resulted in the decline due to the way in which it suppresses creativity in order to prevent social dissent over government policies.
Significant Trends in Literature
Some of the more significant trends in the literature on this topic as seen in the case of Wong (2002), Hung (1984) and Sabin (1993) have focused more on the historical events that have influenced the changing impact of manga rather than social influences.
This, I believe, is a considerable gap in the research that should be addressed since changes in societies such a modernism and changing consumer preferences can and will result in the decline in popularity for something that is viewed as obsolete.
Other identified trends within the literature showed that there was an insufficient level of comparative examination between the rise in popularity of Japanese manga in China and the subsequent decline of Chinese manhua.
While the various books and articles examined emphasized that Japanese manga was an influential factor behind the development of Chinese manhua, the work of Wong (2002), despite being one of the best sources of examining the changes in Chinese manhua to date, did not pursue a sufficient level of research explaining what specific aspects of Japanese manhua appealed to the general Chinese population.
By understanding what aspects of Japanese manga are appealing to local readers in China, a greater understanding of manhua’s decline can be created. Lastly, further examination of the literature revealed that there was a lack of sufficient depth from the articles when it came to understanding how modernism changes a culture and in turn cultural tastes as seen in the case of the decline in manga.
It is based on this that the researcher will further explore the concept of changes in society over a given time period and how this impacts their views regarding particular forms of literature. It is expected that through an exploration of such an aspect of the literature that a better understanding can be developed regarding the current issues surrounding the decline in Chinese manhua popularity in China.
How undertaking a historiography survey has allowed you to narrow the research topic
By conducting a histographical survey, this has enabled me to narrow down the literature necessary for research in articles, books, and online sources that specifically deal with the development of Chinese manhua since the early 1920s and the cultural changes that have occurred within China over the past few years.
Through this line of inquiry, I was able to develop research questions that delve into the changes in consumer tastes, the impact of cultural shifts, and the influences of Japanese manga, all of which help to explain the subsequent decline of Chinese manhua.
It is expected that through an of sources such as Wong (2002), Hung (1984) and Sabin (1993) which delve into the development of Chinese manhua and Li (2009), Gladstone (2012) and Pendry (2008) which examine changes in China’s cultural landscape, a better understanding can be developed regarding decline of Chinese manhua at the present.
Future of the Project
##Introduction
This section elaborates on the use of attribution theory and grounded theory as the primary methods of examination to be utilized by the researcher in order to gather the necessary data for this study. These theories were chosen due to their ability to examine the opinions of the research subjects in order to properly interpret the data and create viable solutions and recommendations.
Understanding of Primary Sources
When examining the issue of primary sources, I can say that finding the necessary academic articles for this type of work will not be a problem.
All that would be needed is to examine changes in Chinese, compare with relative literature examining Chinese comic books from various online academic databases and compare it with research subject responses on a survey. This will result in me being able to acquire the needed data in an efficient and effective way.
Attribution Theory
Attribution theory centers around the derived assumption of a particular individual/group of people regarding a particular process, product or service based on their experience with it. It is often used as means of investigating consumer opinions regarding a particular product and to determine the level of satisfaction derived from its use.
By utilizing this particular theory as the framework for this study, the researcher will be able to correlate the opinions of Chinese manga enthusiasts regarding their overall perception of Chinese manga and what causes them to find it less interesting than Japanese manga. This particular theoretical framework helps to address the research objective of examining the reasons behind the decline of Chinese manga within China.
Utilizing attribution theory, the research will design the research questions in such a way that they delve into the opinions of the manga enthusiasts and, as a result, would lead to a succinct explanation of consumer based reasons on the decline of Chinese manhuas.
The needed information will be extracted through a carefully designed set of questions whose aim is to determine how a particular research subject’s experience with Chinese manhua affects the way they view the current state of the comic book industry within the country and whether significant improvements need to be implemented or not.
In essence, attribution theory helps to answer the question “what is going on and what must be done?”
Grounded Theory
A grounded theory qualitative design is appropriate for this study because the attitude of Chinese manga readers about how they view Chinese made mangas is still relatively unknown.
The advantage of utilizing ground theory over other theoretical concepts is that it does not start with an immediate assumption regarding a particular case. Instead, it focuses on the development of an assumption while the research is ongoing through the use of the following framework for examination:
 1. What is going on?
 2. What is the main problem within the company for those involved?
 3. What is currently being done to resolve this issue?
 4. Are there possible alternatives to the current solution?
This particular technique is especially useful in instances where researchers are presented with new or relatively unknown factors (as is the case in this study) and, as such, is useful in helping to conceptualize the data in such a way that logical conclusions can be developed from the research data.
It is based on this application that the theory will be utilized in this case study in order to discover the main concerns of the researcher regarding the current decline of Chinese manga. What you have to understand is that in qualitative research the concepts or themes are derived from the data.
According to various research, grounded theory provides systematic, yet flexible guidelines to collect and analyze data. That data then forms the foundation of the theory while the analysis of the data provides the concepts resulting in an effective examination and presentation of the results of the study.
##Limitations
One of the main limitations from the sources was that after an extensive search through a variety of online and offline methods of research, there was little, if any, source that specifically focused on the development of Chinese manhua after the year 2002.
This is a considerable limitation given that the decline in the popularity of Chinese manhua continues to this very day and, as such, it would be necessary to find some of the latest research on the topic.
Other limitations of the sources include and insufficient amount of research that delved into the cultural influences of Japanese manga which lead to the decline of Chinese manhua as well as the changing tastes of the local Chinese population which may have lead to the decline in the popularity of manhua.
It is expected a comparative examination may need to be conducted in order to delve into the topic a bit more in order to create a succinct and accurate explanation of why Chinese manhua has decline in the modern day era.
Book Sources
Harbsmeier, Christoph. The Cartoonist Feng Zikai: Social Realism with a Buddhist Face. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget, 1984.
The book “The Cartoonist Feng Zikai: Social Realism with a Buddhist Face” is an account of one of the pioneers of Chinese manhua during its Golden era during the early to mid 1920s. It details the views of Feng Zikai over what qualities are supposed to be present in manhua and what creates the “appeal” that most people are after when they read it.
This particular source is an excellent means of examining what were the original aspects of manhua that lead it to becoming popular in the first and by creating a comparison with present day manhua iterations, it can be utilized as a means of explaining manhua’s declining popularity.
Hung, Chang-tai. War and Popular Culture: Resistance in Modern China. 1937-1945. Berkeley: U of Califomia P, 1994.
The work of Hung (1994) is one of the best sources for understanding the impact of popular culture on the early development of manhua. Through this book, a researcher is able to realize that changes in popular culture have a considerable impact on the way in which the stories and illustrations in manhua play out.
As such, it acts as an excellent starting point in explaining the gradual transition from manhua’s golden era to the present day level of decline. This can be done by creating a comparative analysis between China’s popular culture in the past and what is currently present at this moment in time.
Sabin, Roger. Adult Comics: An Introduction. New York, London: Routledge, 1993.
While rather old, the book “Adult Comics: An Introduction”, is one of the best sources of information regarding the evolution of manhua over the years. The book itself does not primarily concern itself with manhua, it does contain sufficient references to the topic that it can help readers to better understand how manhua developed from a western perspective.
It should be noted though that Sabin heavily alludes to manhua developing as a direct result of Western influences which may or may not be totally accurate given the considerable degree of influenced Japanese manga has had on the development of this particular type of literature
Wong, Wendy Siuyi, and Yeung, Wai-pong. An Illustrated History of Hong Kong Comics (in Chinese). Hong Kong: Luck-Win Book Store, 1999.
The book “An Illustrated History of Hong Kong Comics” acts as a fundamental text for any investigation into the history of Chinese manhua from its early inception to its modern day iterations. It delves into the historical origins of manhua and explains how it has changed over time through a combination of external events as well as changes in the region where manhua developed (i.e. from mainland China to Hong Kong).
It primarily presents the viewpoint that the development of manhua significantly diverged as a direct result of the communist regime within China. It should be noted that despite the text being an exhaustive reference, it is lacking in present day ideas and notions regarding manhua creation and development due to the date of its publication.
Wong, Wendy Siuyi, 2002, ‘Manhua: The Evolution of Hong Kong Cartoons and Comics’, Journal Of Popular Culture , 35, 4, p. 25, Literary Reference Center, EBSCO host.
The article “The Evolution of Hong Kong Cartoons and Comics” can be considered a condensed and updated version of the book of Wong that was elaborated on earlier. While this article is lacking in illustrative examples as well as in-depth examinations of the development of manhua, it does enable a research to quickly “skim” through the development of manhua over the years.
The importance of this particular article lies in the fact that it contains a slightly more updated version of Wong’s view on the development of manhua and, as such, is an excellent starting point for examining changes in consumer tastes regarding manhua.
##Article