Huang Yao 黄尧 (English 英文)

Huang Yao C a r t o o n i s t , Sc h o l a r , P a i n t e r 1 9 1 7 - 1 9 8 7

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Preface Introduction Cartoon Period Scholar Period Painter Period Gallery Major Timeline

On Cover: The young Huang Yao (image taken from his Shanghai Curfew Pass, 1937)

Preface “I want to thank everyone who has been very helpful to my family and I on this amazing adventure of discovering my grandfather”

My family has undertaken an amazing journey of discovery about the life of my grandfather, Huang Yao. Growing up, I observed him paint and thought of him always as a painter. I often helped him move his artworks to dry, and washed his brushes. I still miss the smell of Chinese ink. I remember seeing him read before napping, making a small sketch in a notebook and then later painting the image.

He was always at peace when painting.

After his death in 1987, we were surprised to discover a vast collection of his artworks dating back to 1947. The diversity of the art was astonishing.

Until 1999, little was known beyond China about his work as a cartoonist.

Eight books of his cartoons from 1934 to 1937 resurfaced and were republished.

In addition, there were other large gaps,

most notably from the war years in China until his arrival in Malaysia in 1956.

By 2000, with the assistance of the National Heritage Board of Singapore, the photographing and cataloging of his paintings were completed – and a clearer picture emerged of the different periods of his artistic life. A considerable number of pieces were acquired by the Singapore Art Museum which hosted a retrospective exhibition in 2001.

We have since found prev iously unknown magazines, cartoons, paintings and woodblock prints. We began to translate articles and collated a list of books published during the Second World War. This search had begun in the public libraries of Chinese cities in which my grandfather had lived.

To date, more than half of his books 2

published from 1935 to 1947 have been discovered. Also found were cartoons related to Hong Kong that he produced for newspapers and exhibitions between 1947 and 1951.

Other discoveries also astounded us. We found out that Huang Yao had held three solo art exhibitions in three months in Guiyang in 1942, and that he donated a set of one hundred Guiyang cartoons to the city to build a cultural center. In Kunming, collectors of his paintings paid 100 grams of gold for each of his “one square foot size” paintings. Huge crowds gathered at each of his exhibitions, especially when he personally demonstrated his unique upside down calligraphic writing.

This intriguing journey of discovery has revealed three main periods of Huang

Huang Yao – Cartoonist, Scholar, Painter

Huang Yao drawing Niubizi. c.1950s

Yao’s life, as a cartoonist, a scholar and a painter. These three chapters of his career are detailed in this book.

Huang Yao’s Cartoon Period extended from the creation of his famous Niubizi Chinese cartoon character in Shanghai in 1934 until 1956, when he drew his last set of traveling cartoons – the Malay Niubizi.

The second part of his life, the Scholar Period, occurred between 1956 and 1973, during which he spent the bulk of his time in three main areas: teaching and working on education policies; researching and publishing the book The History of Chinese in Malaysia and Singapore, which took ten years to complete; and researching and sketching ancient Chinese characters.

The third chapter, from 1973 to 1987, saw Huang Yao find immense pleasure

and satisfaction as a painter. He developed his acclaimed Wenzihua, literally the painting of ancient Chinese characters, plus a series of spontaneous, abstract paintings – known as Ziyouhua.

For many years, we have been researching and collecting information to put together this f irst overview of Huang Yao’s life as a cartoonist, scholar and painter. In 2001 the Huang Yao Foundation was established to house our collection of his works.

The Huang Yao Foundation hopes to achieve the following goals:

[3] To generate funds for scholarships and talent development, in cooperation with key institutions, through the licensing, merchandising and sale of his art.

On behalf of my family, I wish to thank all the friends, old and new, we have met on this incredible journey, all of whom have been very encouraging and helpful.

We hope you enjoy this story of a gifted, gentle and immensely creative man who described himself as by profession a journalist, by accident a cartoonist, but foremost a painter.

[1] To ensure Huang Yao’s rightful place in the Chinese art world; [2] To make available his artistic contributions to a new generation of artists; 3

Carolyn Wong, Granddaughter of Huang Yao Singapore, March 2011

Introduction Huang Yao’s career in newspaper, cartoons, paintings and writing is an “early example of an interface between the traditional literati tradition and modern media, and we found this exciting.”

— Kwok Kian Chow, Director of the Singapore Art Museum

Huang Yao – Cartoonist, Scholar, Painter

At The First National Exhibition of Cartoon Art in Shanghai, cartoonists (from left) Ding Cong, Huang Yao, Hua Junwu, and Huang Miaozi, 1936

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hanghai in 1917 was the Pearl of the Orient, the Paris of the East. The city was going through unprecedented changes. China was divided and ruled by regional warlords and Shanghai was a lawless place occupied by foreign powers. During the early part of the 20 th century, the first joint venture banks between France, America, Japan, Italy and China opened, and the growth of international trade brought new wealth and opportunity.

Shanghai was also becoming a coveted destination for writers, poets and artists from across the world, while famous brand stores, clubs, cinemas, dance halls and brothels sprung up to cater to the new international and wealthy classes.

It was in this year, in this city, that the artist Huang Yao was born.

Huang Yao’s roots can be traced back to the Han Dynasty, when his ancestor Huang X iang’s thoughtful childhood deeds were recorded in the renowned collection of 24 Examples of Filial Piety. “In a thousand ages there can be but one Huang Xiang” opines a famous poem.

Huang Yao’s great, great grandfather, Huang Antao (1777-1848), was an imperial palace secretary in the Qing Dynasty, and later became the Taishou or governor of Chaozhou1. His passion for the arts saw him collect a large number of paintings and calligraphy. Huang Antao also published several poems and books, including Juhushi Shiji.

Huang Yao’s father, Huang Hanzhong, left his birth village of Jiashan in Zhejiang Province to make a living in Shanghai.

He worked as a cotton merchant and was introduced to his wife, who was originally from Ningbo, through a marriage broker.

Huang Yao was raised in an environment where the appreciation of art and culture was paramount. Huang Hanzhong was a member of Shanghai’s literati, an erudite gentleman who taught his son the traditional Chinese arts of calligraphy and painting, plus classical literature, philology (the study of historical linguistics), history and philosophy.

Day after day as a young boy, Huang Hanzhong taught Huang Yao to practice his brushstrokes, dipping a brush in rainwater to write on a brick from the city wall that his father had given him.

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“I had to learn the correct position for my arm and brush,” Huang Yao reminisced later. “Constant practice on that brick gave my arm inner strength and the discipline to write evenly and smooth.”

The young Huang Yao was often present when Huang Hanzhong and his artist friends gathered to critique and admire art. If it was inspiration the young Huang Yao was seeking, he need have looked no further than the walls of the family home, where the works of artists such as Mi Yuanzhang, Liang Kai, Chen Hungshou, Shitao and Bada Shanren were all proudly displayed. Huang Yao repeatedly reproduced and studied these works from the family collection and, with guidance from his father, mastered fine art painting and acquired a passion for Chinese art in all its forms.

When he was old enough, Huang Yao took a job as an apprentice in a Shanghai wood shop. Then, in 1933, at the age of 16, he landed a job as a reporter on one of Shanghai’s biggest newspapers, The Shanghai Post (Xinwen Bao). But it was only when he was asked to try creating cartoons for the newspaper a year later that Huang Yao really found his niche.

Introduction

(Left) Huang Yao with Tun Abdul Razak bin Hussien Al-Haj, 1956; (below) In his later years, painting in his home in Malaysia, 1983

Soon after, Huang Yao’s most beloved creation – a comical-looking, fearless Chinese gentleman, who was a voice of the common man, called Niubizi – was born. The cartoon was an instant success, and Huang Yao’s career as an artist began in earnest.

By the age of 18, Huang Yao had become Art Editor of the newspaper, and his Niubizi cartoons had gained a cult following.

The chapter of Huang Yao’s life between 1934 and 1956 is heralded as his Cartoon Period. He became an integral member of the formative Shanghai cartoon movement, helping set up the Shanghai Cartoon Club in 1935 and serving on the organizing committee for the First National Cartoon Exhibition in Shanghai in 1936.

It was during this time that events around him began to take over both his life and his subject matter. In 1937, after years of gradual encroachment into Chinese territory, Japan launched a full-scale invasion of China. Over the next eight years, the artist would produce many volumes of cartoon books, woodblock prints, traveling cartoons and even traditional ink paintings.

Huang Yao initially encouraged people to join the war effort against the Japanese, but, when in January 1941, Chinese Communist and Nationalist f ighters started attacking each other, his cartoons encouraging people to take up arms ended. He focused instead on

traditional ink paintings and traveling cartoons that depicted the spirit of the Chinese people.

Disheartened by the war, Huang Yao seized the opportunity to travel across Asia – to Vietnam, Hong Kong, T ha i land, Singapore, and f ina l ly to Malaysia. He was asked by the Malaysian education minister to help create educational policies, establish adult education classes and establish libraries throughout Malaysia.

During his travels he was fascinated and impressed by the achievements of the Chinese Diaspora, and later produced one of the most important books on Chinese living overseas in Asia: The History of Chinese in Malaysia and Singapore.

Huang Yao was not one to rest. He was constantly challenging himself and expanding his repertoire, and began to explore ways of breaking free from traditional Chinese painting techniques. He recorded his thinking in The Practical Guide to Painting, a series of lessons for beginner students. Many years later, he translated this thinking into a set of abstract paintings.

Huang Yao’s continued interest in the research of ancient Chinese characters and their etymology dominated his life, leading him into his Painter Period, from 1973 to 1987. During this time he created many of his most influential and impressive works, from Wenzihua (Chinese Character Paintings) and Ziyouhua (Abstract Paintings) to an array 6

of South East Asian scenes, folk culture art, calligraphy, paintings of children, birds, animals and landscapes.

Kwok Kian Chow, director of the Singapore Art Museum, said of Huang Yao’s career in newspaper, art, cartoons and paintings, that it “is a really early example of an interface between the traditional literati tradition and modern media, and we found this exciting”.

The unusual times, places and people that Huang Yao came into contact with, and his personal reactions to them, were influential in his artistic creativity, diversity and innovation. He once said that he believed “art is our common source of happiness”. His paintings show simple joys and wonders in life ref lecting a person at peace and at ease with himself.

Huang Yao was survived by his family when he died in 1987.

Huang Yao – Cartoonist, Scholar, Painter

Key periods: Where he lived and important dates

1917 Born in Shanghai 1933 Working for The Shanghai Post, Shanghai 1934 Start of Cartoon Period 1934 Journalist at The Shanghai Post; created cartoon character Niubizi 1935 Art Editor of The Shanghai Post 1937 Ningbo, Nanjing, Hankou 1938 Chongqing 1942 Guiyang, Guilin, Liuzhou Guiyang city acquires Guiyang Cartoon collection Married Ms. Zheng Baolin in December 1944 Guiyang, Kunming, son Huang Yan was born in Guiyang 1945 Chongqing, Luzhou 1945-46 Kunming, Haiphong, Vietnam 1947 Kunming, Guangzhou, Hong Kong 1951 Start of Scholar Period 1951 Bangkok, Thailand 1956 Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 1959 Senior Teacher at Han Jiang High School, Penang, Malaysia 1960s Traveled Malaysia extensively for Scholar Book The History of Chinese in Malaysia and Singapore Researched ancient Chinese characters 1962 Headmaster, Xin Min High School, Alor Setar, Malaysia 1967 The History of Chinese in Malaysia and Singapore was published 1973 Start of Painter Period 1973 Penang, retired 1978 Kuala Lumpur to be with son and family 1973-87 His retirement marked another huge turning point for his life, enabling him to focus on his first love, painting.

Creation of Wenzihua, the paintings of Chinese characters Contemporary abstract paintings, Ziyouhua Chuyunshu calligraphy with or without picture as background Traditional and innovative paintings of landscape Paintings of human figures and children: Scrolls of 100 Children at Play, Goddess of Mercy, God of Longevity, Folk Culture Figures, Important Figures in Tao, Zen and Buddhism Animals and Plants 1987 Huang Yao passes away 7

1934-1956 Cartoon Period Niubizi, a round faced, bespectacled gentleman, was created to refute the allegation of China as the “Sick man of Asia”. He was full of Chinese humor and wisdom. The title of the cartoon was written upside down with Chinese ink and brush to resemble a child’s handwriting, and to maintain a sense of innocence.

Huang Yao – Cartoonist, Scholar, Painter

Niubizi cartoons from the 1930s Note: The cartoons should be read right to left, top to bottom.

(Top) “May You Be Blessed with Many Sons”; (bottom) “No Way Out”

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he Chinese word for cartoon is translated as manhua – a character that originated in the 11th century Song Dynasty, when it was referred to as a type of water bird.

However its modern incarnation meaning ‘cartoon’ originated in Japan.

It was in Japan in 1814 that the artist Geshi Beizhai published a book of his works called Beizhai’s Cartoons (Beizhai Manhua), creating a new meaning for his characters and coining the phrase ‘car-

toon’. The book was released in China where the phrase soon became more widely known.

In 1904, the Shanghai revolutionary newspaper Warning Bell Daily ( Jingzhong Ribao) started to produce a regular cartoon section three times a month. It illustrated some of the stories of the day and was titled Contemporary News Cartoons (Shishe Manhua). However, it was not until 1925, when the famous artist Feng Zikai first wrote the Chinese characters manhua beside one of his drawings, that the term 9

became commonly used in China to mean cartoon as an art form2.

By the 1930s, a small number of established cartoonists in China were taking the country by storm. Zhejiangborn Ye Qianyu became famous for his character Mr. Wang, and was the f irst cartoonist in China to use speech bubbles. Zhang Leping created the famous Three Hairs (Sanmao) character. Positioned f irmly at the centre of this group was Huang Yao, and his Niubizi character.

Cartoon Period

First Publication of Niubizi, 1935

Though they were widely enjoyed, the cartoons of the 1930s were not just for entertainment, wrote art critic Jack Chen3. These were socio-political commentaries in a humorous vein. They often exposed corruption or satirized contemporary life and society, advocating democracy and criticizing old feudal ways. In fact, they quickly became important social commentaries, and the cartoonists are rightly viewed today as key figures in helping historians document the period. Cartoon art was the contemporary art of that era.

At the same time, Shanghai was experiencing an influx of foreign products

and culture, especially from America.

M ickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Popeye were dominating the cultural milieu and Huang Yao in particular was determined to create something purely Chinese to prevent the domination of foreign influence.

While US cartoons of the same period often depicted heroes with supernatural powers – social activists shaking off their human weaknesses during Depressionera America – Huang Yao’s cartoons portrayed the everyman. In his appearance, his attitude and his sense of humor, Niubizi had thoroughly Chinese characteristics. At his core, Niubizi was humor10

ous and courageous: an image of the common man calling for self-respect and independence for his nation and people.

Niubizi’s adventures were also typically Chinese, appealing directly to the cartoon’s local audience. His If I Were… series saw Niubizi transformed into the Monkey King, a Ming Emperor and a host of other historical and mythical Chinese figures.

The cartoon’s titles were also distinctly Chinese – and unique. Each cartoon strip featured a title written upside down with a Chinese ink brush. The idea was to make it look as though it was written by a child to maintain a sense

Huang Yao – Cartoonist, Scholar, Painter

of innocence about the cartoon. Huang Yao called this technique Chuyunshu (Emerging Cloud Writing). When perfected, the characters appeared to rise effortlessly from the bottom of the page just “like clouds naturally emerging from a valley”, a phrase from a pre-Tang Dynasty poem by Tao Yuanming.

In an article in 1982, Huang Yao reca l led a t i me when he was asked to create Chuyunshu for a friend: “Mr. He took out a long piece of

Chinese rice paper about six feet in length when I was doing my Chuyunshu. He wanted the spontaneous reaction of my brush, so I wrote the word shou horizontally. It came out like a comet, with a long tail. I was quite pleased; my brush seemed to have a dance of its own, and what it produced was chang shou (or long life). When I write [calligraphy], I feel this indescribable pleasure, similar to the sensation of familiarity derived from years of repetition when you know what you are doing – kind of like exercising.”

This iconoclastic way of writing served Huang Yao well. He drew a large crowd of spectators whenever he demonstrated it at an exhibition, making art not just a luxury of the elite but democratizing the enjoyment of art for a wider public audience. With this constant admiration as encouragement, Huang Yao practiced new innovations,

(Top left) Image from the book cover of If I Were..., 1937 and (bottom right) cartoons from the same series; (Center right) The character Shou (Long Life), with a tail like a comet, 1982; (Centre left) Niubizi imitates Russian dancer of the 1930s 11

and was able to adapt many different Chinese scripts into his work.

The creation of Niubizi To the casual observer, Niubizi may look like a simple caricature of a middleaged Chinese man, but intense thought went into this creation. After being assigned to create a cartoon strip by The Shanghai Post, Huang Yao decided that whatever character he created “must embody genuine happiness and all that is innocent in people”. In addition, it must “represent the Chinese sense of humor” and “be able to change the current negative and disdainful image of the Chinese portrayed by the Western media”.

Such a character, Huang Yao knew, would not be easy to create, and he was meticulous in both his drawing and his

Cartoon Period

Huang Yao and a clay model of Niubizi in preparation for animation with the Wan Brothers, c. 1930s.

ideological methods. Several prototype characters were drawn and discarded and Huang Yao was said to suffer regularly from headaches, tear papers to shreds and even go without food and water in pursuit of a new cartoon character.

“When I walk the streets and roads I strain my short-sighted eyes in the hope of finding an object of inspiration,” he admitted. “Even when attending dinner parties I imagine the guests sitting motionless like statues of Buddha so I can sketch them.

However it turns out the results are always too average or disappointing.”

Ironically, Huang Yao’s eureka moment came during one of his low points. As he sat slumped in his chair, deep in thought, he held up a small mirror and, in boredom and despair,

began to pull funny faces at himself. By observing his own ref lection he realized that he had been so busy looking at other people’s faces he had neglected to consider his own. He set about drawing a self-portrait. He held the sketch at a distance and realized it was the face he had been looking for.

In 1956, Wang Shizhao attempted to sum up Huang Yao’s appearance in his article The Creator of Niubizi, His Paintings and Personality (Niubizi de Huajiqiren). He wrote that “He [Huang Yao] has a round and darkish face, like a niangao (New Year’s cake). Wearing a turtle rimmed pair of glasses, popular for that time, he is very energetic, not very tall but not short either and can never grow a beard.”

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A lt hough Niubi zi’s appea ra nce strongly resembled Huang Yao’s, the artist gave his character other features that made a political or visual point. He chose a plump figure for his character, demonstrating health and wealth instead of the scrawny, sickly political Chinese caricature favored by the foreign media.

Niubizi also had a straight back and held his head high – a spirited man with a proud national character.

Huang Yao drew Niubizi with a balding head and just four strands of hair.

According to Chinese tradition, only those who use their brain end up with a bald head. The four remaining hairs were left purely for artistic reasons, helping to portray Niubizi’s emotions. When Niubizi is enjoying himself, the four hairs flow in the breeze; when he’s angry, they stand up straight in indignation. When nervous, his hairs appear to tremble, and when he is upset, they droop as if also engulfed in sadness.

So brilliantly simple were Huang Yao’s drawings of Niubizi that even minor alterations to the position of the three dots depicting his eyes and mouth could create a whole new facial expression. Huang Yao clearly delighted in this, as he was known to present a large, Niubizi face to his party guests and ask them to add in the three dots to create various expressions.

The Wan Brothers – better known as the pioneers of cartoon animation in China – declared it to be the most ingenious and flexible cartoon creation of the era. Plans were put in place for the Wan Brothers and Huang Yao to create a cartoon animation of Niubizi, but the project was suspended due to the imminent Japanese invasion.

Simple cartoon devices such as these may be taken for granted today, but Niubizi broke new creative ground at the time, especially as Niubizi was draw with fine brush lines. Malaysian Art House gallery owner Yao Tuo, a calligrapher and long-time friend of Huang Yao, wrote: “Anyone who had seen Huang Yao’s ink paintings of human figures, are amazed by his brush lines. They are even, fine, fluent and free flowing.”4 These brush strokes were also fast, sure and precise. Huang Yao had told

Huang Yao – Cartoonist, Scholar, Painter

Niubizi: Step by step Huang Yao wanted Niubizi to be so simple that even a child could draw it – something the artist later encouraged them to do en masse (see War Period). Here’s how it’s done:

Draw one big round circle for the face

Two strokes for his eyebrows

Three dots to make his eyes and mouth

visual identity (and his name – as the direct translation for Niubizi is ox nose); but also added its humor.

An ability to gently poke fun at Huang Yao’s cartoon was also essential if the artist was to create a character beloved of his readers. Creating other distinct facial features certainly helped.

Niubizi has big soft, round ears and – like Huang Yao himself – is shortsighted, sporting large, round-rimmed spectacles. His desire to see the world is often juxtaposed with the fact that Niubizi sees it through a glassy haze.

Why the Name Niubizi?

Yao Tuo, “My father taught me from a very young age to concentrate on drawing ‘fine iron lines’ (with Chinese ink and brush). I keep practicing it and this skill serves me well.”

Of all of these attributes, nothing defined Niubizi better than his famously large nose. The purpose of such a prominent protuberance, Huang Yao stated, was to help him create a larger-than-life character; one that would ‘ jump’ off the page and remain in the reader’s memory.

The nose gave the character his distinct

The connotations associated with the name Niubizi date back to the 14th century Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. In a particular episode, the chancellor of the Shu Kingdom, Zhuge Kongming, pulled off a brave but simple move to defeat his sworn enemy, the commander Sima Yi. To conceal the fact that he had no defensive force to protect his city (his army was deployed elsewhere), Zhuge Kongming devised a ploy to ward off Sima Yi’s approaching army. He flung open the city’s gates and sat, visibly, with two child attend13

Four lines for hair

Then five small circles, making two ears, a pair of glasses and a large button nose

ants and several friends, drinking tea and playing the zither.

So normal and calm was the scene before Sima Yi and his approaching army, that the commander assumed there must be an ambush. He hesitated and had his army camp outside the city. When he realized that the city was actually defenseless and planned to attack, Kongming’s army returned and Sima Yi’s army was beaten. In the novel, Sima Yi in frustration yells “Niubizi lao dao” (a derogative term) at Zhuge Kongming.

For Huang Yao and his readers in 1930s Shanghai, Niubizi became a character through which the Chinese people could find a unified voice – the voice of the common man.

(Top left) Niubizi’s hair helps to emphasize his emotional state; (above) Huang Yao and Mu Yilong. c. 1930s

Cartoon Period

The Shanghai Years (1934-1937)

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he 1930s were tough for China. The country was dominated by warlords and clashes between the Nationalist Guomindang Army (KMT) and the strengthening Communist Army who were a constant threat. War was approaching as the Japanese sought to invade China.

The Foreign Concession countries, including the United States, Britain and France controlled Shanghai. Japan, hungry for China’s resources, was to launch its devastating, all-out assault in August 1937.

At this time, Huang Yao and other cartoonists pioneered what could retrospectively be called the Chinese Cartoon Movement. In 1935, Huang Yao, Zhang Guangyu, Zhang Zhengyu, Ye Qianyu, Lu Shaofei, Zhang Yinzhao, Huang Miaozi, Ding Cong, Liang Baibo, Wang Dunqing, Zhang Leping, and others, established the Cartoon Club.

One year later, the Club organized China’s First National Exhibition of Cartoon Art in Shanghai. The collective selected the best 700 cartoons from more than 2,000 entries for the exhibition, which was a great success. Lin Sen (President of the Republic of China from 1931 to 1943) paid a visit and commended the cartoonists (and in particular Lu Shaofei and Huang Yao). The popularity of the event resulted in a scheduled exhibition tour to Nanjing, Suzhou and Hangzhou.

Since his creation in 1934, Niubizi had become a symbol of hope and courage for the people of China: a folk hero exposing

misdeeds and highlighting different qualities of the Chinese people. In April 1937, Huang Yao used his influence to engage China’s young, creative minds. He called on children to submit their own drawings of Niubizi as part of an educational World Exhibition. The idea was to give children from different countries and cultural backgrounds a chance to share their dreams for the future.

Within three months Huang Yao had received more than 2,000 entries. On May 1, Huang Yao created the Ox Head Cartoon (Niutou Manhua) magazine to publish Niubizi and other cartoons drawn by children from all over the country. Many of his famous friends also contributed cartoons and articles to this magazine.

However, the Japanese invasion of Shanghai was fast approaching, and in the late summer of 1937, Huang Yao’s own cartoons began to satirize a darker reality – the politics of all out war. The Chinese people knew that it would not be easy to defend themselves against the Japanese invaders; a force that possessed the capability to batter the country from air, land and sea.

On August 14 1937, one day after the Japanese invaded Shanghai, Huang Yao helped establish the Shanghai Cartoonists National Salvation League. Working with fellow editors Liao Binxiong and Te Wei, the magazine Jiumang Manhua – translated as National Salvation Cartoons. The idea, and the result, was to rouse the nationalist spirits of the Chinese people.

For three months, Shanghai bore the full force of the Japanese invasion as the rest of the country sought to mobilize a resistance. Much of Shanghai was devastated and foreign residents fled the city.

Huang Yao’s World Exhibition for children was postponed.

A call went out once more to the young fans of Niubizi. This time, Huang Yao asked them to create pictures with themes such as Resistance and Thanksgiving to the Soldiers on the Front Line. Within just two weeks, Huang Yao had received more than 40,000 submissions.

On September 26, some of these cartoons were exhibited in the Children’s Salvation Cartoon Exhibition organized by the Shanghai Children’s National Salvation League. On October 4, the Shanghai Children’s National Salvation League started the children’s magazine China’s Children (Zhongguo Ertong).

The magazine’s first issue was dedicated to an exhibition of the children’s works.

Sixty-thousand copies were printed together with poster-sized prints of some of the exhibits. This incredible collection was then taken by the National Scouts in 40 boxes by train protected and given VIP treatment at every stop it made and exhibited across the country.

Unfortunately, the effectiveness of the cartoons – and the children’s rousing interpretations of them – inspired the Japanese to use Niubizi for their own purposes. Niubizi was at the height of his fame and was now not only featuring in newspapers, but in magazines, children’s books and literature throughout the country.

Huang Yao had registered the Niubizi brand in early June 1937. This did not stop the Japanese, who controlled the Beijing Chronicle, from publishing their own propagandist versions of the character in 1938. Huang Yao spoke out publicly, announcing to the world that these were not his cartoons. A press conference was organized at the Central Library in Chongqing in the summer of 1942 with foreign journalists present to clarify the matter.

(Top) Book Cover of Niubizi 2, 1936; (middle) Huang Yao’s self cartoon portrait, 1936; (above) Niubizi from the Shanghai Period that shows him as a patriotic Chinaman 14

Huang Yao – Cartoonist, Scholar, Painter

The War Years (1937-1945)

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uang Yao had to leave Shanghai in secret a f ter receiv i ng a threatening note from the Japanese regarding his involvement with the Shanghai Children’s National Salvation League.

On November 11, 1937, he left Shanghai as the invading Japanese army took control of the city.

His escape was aided by the use of disguise. “I used to have a cropped, flathead haircut but as part of my disguise, I let my hair grow long and slipped into a boat that took me to the Wusong river mouth

and made my way to Ningbo to pay my respects to my mother. I then waited for a rainy day as sunny days brought air raids,” he wrote later.

Huang Yao made his way to Nanjing by land using the Jinghang National Highway, but when he arrived the evacuation of the city had already begun. He followed trudging through the mud, and

(Top) From 72 Aggressions of the Japanese, 1938; (above) cover of The Roar of the Nation 15

by midnight had arrived in Yuanguan. “I then took a ride with the army supply boat up the icy Yangzi River; I curled up in the belly of the ship until we reached Hankou.

My body felt cold to the bone and I had a high fever and was sick,” he wrote.

After the arduous journey, he recuperated for a month in Wuhan, planning to continue with friends by river to Chongqing.

Most of them chose to take up official government positions in Hankou, however, and he ended up with only one travel companion, the writer, Zhang Hensui.5 In Chongqing, Huang Yao focused on the creation of anti-Japanese materials. He continued producing social satire cartoons, as in Shanghai, but also

Cartoon Period

expressed his anger at the cruelty of the Japanese, inciting everyone, rich or poor, Nationalist or Communist, to take up arms to defend China.

These cartoons were published in newspapers and in a 1938 series of booklets, called Houfang de Chongqing. Meanwhile, he decided to start his own publishing company, The People’s Publisher6, specifically for producing reading materials for soldiers and common people.

In March 1938, Huang Yao produced a book called The Roar of the Nation.

In the introduction, he explained that Shanghai had been oppressive to the

people, especially those in cultural circles. In Chongqing, printers were scarce and paper was expensive. The book published well-known resistance songs banned in Shanghai, and Huang Yao drew images to visualize these songs.

The last six pages of this book featured, in pictorial form, the National Anthem of China. Huang Yao was probably the first person to pictorialize the Chinese National Anthem.

He spent nearly six months researching material for a book entitled The 72 Aggressions of the Japanese, which was published in April 1938. The book documented the violent history between the two countries, criticizing Japan’s actions and urging the Chinese to seek justice and revenge.

Huang Yao’s aim was to encourage ordinary people to take up the fight against the invaders. Together with his writer and cartoon friends, they explored ways of communicating with the general public. In September Niubizi on horseback, from his Chongqing cartoons, 1938

Book cover of Young Number Five Son Avenges His Elder Brother by Fighting the Japanese by Zhang Wang, edited by Huang Yao, 1938

1938, a book edited by Huang Yao, called Discussions on New Comics (Xinde Lianhuan Tuhua Zhoutan), was published.

He hoped that it would encourage more people to read cartoons, which were proving an effective medium for communicating morale-boosting messages to the masses.

“These comics’… potential and possibilities are large,” wrote Huang Yao in the book’s introduction. “In the past, scholars would shake their heads, but the common people are very drawn to them… Now we can… discard the old content and give them a new infusion (of blood). In this way, the strengths of comics can be used

“Arise! Arise! Arise! Our million hearts beating as one”, the fifth verse in the National Anthem of China, Roar of the Nation, 1938 16

Huang Yao – Cartoonist, Scholar, Painter

to push the country’s culture, education more traditional side view). The gods are and art!” accompanied by two children, grasp“Taking it a step further,” he added, “we ing rif les and hand grenades instead can say that in this tense and extraordinary of spears and swords. Attached to the time, the strength of the comics should shoulders of the gods are banners pronot be ignored. On a small scale it can be claiming “Defeat Japan, Revive China”, said that comics are able to achieve a lot while the children hold discs that read: by disseminating information. On a large scale they are able to inf luence politics and the military and would be a useful tool because the comics would be involving everyone in the war effort.”

The result was a series of more t h a n t en ne w Lianhuanhua, or palm-sized comic books, that were used to educate soldiers and peasants to bolster Military Door Gods New Year prints, 1939 their conf idence.

Niubizi and other young people found “Those who have money should donate themselves on the front line, decked out money, those who have strength should in army uniform and fighting alongside give strength.”7 Huang Yao also created woodblock prints the soldiers, while teaching them practiof the Military Deities of Harmony, which cal skills. Almost everything from how to had printed “Kill The Enemy, Revenge”, use a weapon to how to treat prisoners of and Military Zhongkui that directed people war were touched upon. to rid society of the “Five Poisons”.

Huang Yao was one of the few pioneers More than 500,000 copies of his to create literature with pictures that Military Zhongkui wood-block prints were identified with country folk. In remote reproduced, distributed and displayed on villages, the books were used to instill the doors of houses across rural areas of the importance for young men to join the Southwest China. war effort, and for civilians to work hard In mid 1940, Huang Yao edited Asia in and cooperate with the military.

Cartoon to show the Chinese people how As the war progressed and printing other countries viewed the war, and give materials became scarcer, Huang Yao encouragement and hope. The works of was forced to explore other ways to get his foreign cartoonists depicted the injustices message across. His solution was to create done to China and how China was too a series of traditional woodblock prints, large and resilient for Japan to conquer. becoming the first Chinese artist to use He also edited Europe in Cartoon to show folk art to convey political propaganda. the people that Europe was also at war, It was an effective and efficient means of and perhaps to explain why the Western communicating with the rural population. powers were not present in China to help Huang Yao’s Military Door Gods New fight the Japanese. All the foreign text was Year prints were reputedly created in translated into Chinese.

1939, but were only discovered in 2002.

In early 1941, The People’s Publisher They depict two military door gods who released Huang Yao’s A Chinese Soldier face the viewer directly (instead of the 17

for the practical education of soldiers. It was a story about Big Brother Niu fighting with the army in Sichuan province. From entering the army to training, being dispatched to war, killing enemies and receiving medals for bravery, it is a series of drawings of “a good man becoming a soldier, fighting the foreign devils towards the glory of victory.”

In the preface, respected Chinese G e n e r a l Fe n g Yuxiang explains t he e n c o u r a ging effect for the reader: “We have to win this battle, so we not only see Niubizi going to the countryside, but joining the army and fighting the enemies. As long as Niubizi keeps on fighting, it will be certain that Niubizi will be drinking liquor and cheering, celebrating the defeat of Japan on the summit of Fuji Mountain with the oppressed common people of Japan!”

On the same day as A Chinese Soldier, Huang Yao also released A Good Young Man. The content was similar, but was purely in picture form for the benefit of soldiers who could not read. The main character became Hao Nan’er, a Good Young Man. He began as a useless beggar, but one who “knows that to be a soldier is glorious” and that “the resistance war must go on until the last bullet”.

When Huang Yao introduced the book to his readers, he made his case for the character: “I would like to ask my beloved comrades behind the frontline: when you recognize the main character, do you too have undesirable ‘kun’ habits or ways of thinking? Like saying ‘yes’ but meaning ‘no’; procrastinating; taking shortcuts; stubbornness; being easily influenced or doing things that you find unforgivable?”, he challenged, adding: “I think your knowledge is much better than that of the main character. And… since you were born to families many times better, I wish

Cartoon Period

Cover and cartoons from Chinese People in Wartime, 1943

you every success because you can achieve a lot more than what Hao Nan’er has in this book.”

Prolific and passionate, Huang Yao released several other books that year, including A Good Commissioner, A Good Commander and The Bald Guerilla.

In January 1941, however, the New Fourth Army Incident (also known as the Wannan Incident) marked a turning point.

This time it was not the Japanese fighting the Chinese, but the Chinese Nationalist and Communist troops fighting each other.

The incident heralded the end of any real cooperation between the two national forces, and Huang Yao could not bear seeing Chinese people killing each other.

His work ceased extolling the virtues of fighting, and instead encouraged his countrymen to adopt a fighting spirit.

Concerned about the mental well being of people amid the traumas of war, Huang

Yao also published instructional books on how to draw Niubizi. It was his belief that drawing, especially drawing cartoons, allowed people to express themselves, offering an outlet for emotion, grief and anger.

Among these books were Ten Talks on Niubizi (Niubizi Shi Jiang) for art classes in schools, and Three Talks on Niubizi (Niubizi San Jiang), which was reprinted many times for the general public. Chapter titles included Why Create Nuibizi?, How Was He Created?, and How to Draw Niubizi.

The famous female soldier Xie Bingying later noted the subtleties of Niubizi’s character during this period, observing that he was not just a strong cartoon, but “humanitarian minded… a character that believed in compassion, had a sense of justice and was keen to promote universal brotherhood.”

The Sino-Japanese war raged on, and by 1943 both Britain and the United States 18

had joined in the fight against Japan. This was referenced on the cover of Huang Yao’s 1943 book Chinese People In Wartime, which featured the f lags of the United States and Britain.

In the introduction, Huang Yao makes clear his feelings about China’s stoicism in the face of adversity. “Our struggle, carried on in the face of all difficulties, has not only strengthened our determination to fight, but has…demonstrated afresh the unique character of the Chinese people,” he wrote.

L. C. Smith, Head of the Information Office at the British Embassy at the time, commented: “The cartoons of Mr. Huang Yao are particularly suited to the present mood. His fresh and humorous… portrayal of the Chinese Little Man in his trials and tribulations, and with undaunted spirit in the face of adversity and privation, give a lead to those who find much worthy of portrayal in the area of everyday life in wartime China.”

Huang Yao’s publisher, Yu Songhua8 of the Guilin Science Press, explained the reason for releasing the book in bilingual form. “Since the beginning of war, [Huang Yao] had been working hard, but the enemy in Beiping’s English Beijing Chronicle had a special column, forging his cartoon character and even using the name Nuibizi.

So Chinese People in Wartime is in both Chinese and English, to attract the notice of our international friends, to let them know about the enemy’s shameful forgery.”

Yu also gave a short but penetrating analysis of Huang Yao’s character relating to the success of his cartoons. These characteristics included “contemplation before drawing; realistic and meaningful; response through broad knowledge and experience; cultivation of heart in quietness and delight in keen observations of materials for cartooning”.

Guiyang Cartoons, published in 1942. “Lang, Lang, Lang… The Long and Deep Sound of the Horse Bells Continuously Ringing”

Huang Yao – Cartoonist, Scholar, Painter

(From left) Marvellous Whirlpools in the Long River; A Special Rickshaw for Long Journeys; Sichuan Horse; Sedan-chairs are Common in Chongqing

Travel works

O

ne of the most notable aspects of Huang Yao’s life was the extent to which he traveled. Whether it was wanderlust, a scholarly desire to document the human condition, or the result of circumstance is hard to tell. Most likely it was a combination of all three. He traveled extensively across Asia – including Vietnam, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, where he settled and spent his later years.

In the years following his departure from Shanghai, Huang Yao had traveled widely in China, first spending time in Chongqing, then Chengdu, Guiyang, Guilin and Kunming. Despite limited access to resources and materials, he had managed to publish more than 25 books, sketch pictorials for newspapers and the China Travel Magazine. He created cartoons and paintings for exhibitions in every city he lived in during this period.

Many focused on the ongoing war, but also on local scenes that showcased the lifestyles of the people and minorities he encountered.

In a cartoon of Huang Yao drawn by his friend and guide, Fang Cheng, he is shown sketching a local woman as she serves a ladle of soup from a street-side stall in Leshan, Sichuan province, in 1942.

During a show in Guilin organized by the China Travel Organization in 1943, Huang Yao exhibited more than 100 sketches of Guilin including those of pilgrimages on the beautiful Yao Mountain.

As Denise Wee noted in East magazine: “While the literati focused on bamboo, orchids and the four gentlemen, Huang Yao painted children at play, peasants, and caricatures of Chinese mythological characters.” As a result,

“his art truly reached out to the masses, bridging the gap between the layperson and the literati.”

It was during this period that Huang Yao produced a series of travel cartoon works. Guiyang in Cartoon (1942) and Chongqing in Cartoon (1943), were both published as books; Guilin in Cartoon (1943) was published in the China Travel Magazine and Kunming in Cartoon (1944) was exhibited and sold, although there is no record of it being published. In

addition, Huang Yao also created many pages of cartoons about the Miao minority people while staying in Guilin in 1943.

“The city of Guiyang is very poetic, and so the way to read this book is to read aloud the poem (of 100 lines) in here,” he wrote in the introduction to Guiyang in Cartoon. “I have used the poem to express the accompanying cartoons, and every line of the poem is accompanied by a picture, with a total of 100 pictures. Every picture has Niubizi doing something.”

Guiyang in Cartoon, 1942. Niubizi in Miao minority dress 19

Cartoon Period

One particularly delightful cartoon from the book shows Niubizi grappling with a traditional Miao minority skirt. A year later we see him wearing it proudly alongside another villager, and joining in with a traditional dance beside two Miao women in full festive regalia.

The Guiyang city government was keen to promote literature and art and requested the Guiyang in Cartoon series be kept long term at the public education center. The idea was for it to be exhibited once a year with free admission for Guiyang residents.

“Originally they wanted to pay me, but I did not want to be paid so I left the paintings at Chen Hengan’s home and went to Guilin,” Huang Yao once said. “I did not know that the Guizhou authorities were serious about wanting me to live in Guiyang and were prepared to give me a piece of land to build a house as a ‘thank you’ gift for the paintings. I instead asked them to build an art museum. Little did I know that my wish was to become reality.”

Huang Yao held three exhibitions in Guiyang in 1942, the proceeds of which were donated to help war refugees. In Guilin, he held several solo shows including a solo exhibition series in different locations in 1943, where he performed Chuyunshu every day and donors of 100 Yuan were given a painting to raise funds for the prevention of diseases and for new childcare centers.

Towards the end of 1942, Huang Yao finally married the girl he had been in love with for four years. He first noticed the spirited law graduate Zheng Baolin in 1938 at a talk at Fudan University, which had been temporarily moved from Shanghai to Chongqing. Huang Yao was invited to give a talk on the campus, and Zheng Baoling’s “particularly outstanding sketch” had caught his eye.

In the years that followed, Huang Yao visited her often while she studied law at Wuhan University in Leshan. These visits accounted for Huang Yao’s trips to the Emei mountains. Zhang Baoling finally graduated in 1942 and the two were able to leave together for Chongqing then Guilin.

In 1944, as the Japanese army advanced, the artist and his by now pregnant wife were forced to flee to Guiyang.

The young couple stayed at Guiyang’s 20

Huang Yao – Cartoonist, Scholar, Painter

The Contradiction Collection, 1947, 28.8 cm by 33.0 cm 21

Cartoon Period

(Above) Hong Kong Contradiction, published in newspapers, 1948-1951; (below) Huang Yao demonstrating his Chuyunshu calligraphy in Kuala Lumpur, 1956; (opposite) Playing Tops, The Malay Niubizi Collection, 38.3 cm by 50.4 cm, 1956

Cultural Center, which Huang Yao’s earlier donation of 100 cartoon works had helped to fund, and in July Huang Yao held another exhibition. In September, his son Huang Yan was born, but the war was growing fiercer.

“When the bomb sirens went off, we had to hide in the farms of Guiyang,” wrote Huang Yao in one of his later articles.

“We hurriedly left northward to Luzhou to escape the fighting but I am tired and

sick of the war lifestyle. It was then that I thought of leaving the country.”9 In August 1945, the Americans dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the Japanese surrendered.

The war between China and Japan formally ended at 09:00 on September 9th, with the signing of the Act of Surrender in Nanjing by the Commander-in-Chief of the Chinese Army and the Commander of the Japanese Forces.

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Huang Yao wanted to return to Shanghai but changed his plans because there were widespread reports of rampant corruption. Instead he joined friends in Kunming to help start a banking business in Vietnam. Not long after, in 1946, Huang Yao and his family left by cargo plane for the Vietnamese city of Hanoi.

War was to plague their lives once more, as f ighting broke out between the French and the Vietnamese. In the weeks and months that followed, Huang Yao and his family survived both direct machine gun fire and the bombing of their house.

Huang Yao wrote in his diary that he hid in underground bunkers as the French bombing raids took place. In one of those raids, the family home was razed to the ground.

“It is not so much that we lost money and valuables,” Huang Yao ref lected, “but it is a pity that I lost years and years worth of books, paintings and things my friends had given me.”

Huang Yao – Cartoonist, Scholar, Painter

Again, the family found themselves on the run from fighting, narrowly escaping numerous times on foot and even hiding for three days in a grain warehouse.

Huang Yao’s talents proved useful. He exchanged his Chuyunshu calligraphy of Tang poems that the Vietnamese considered precious for a safe passage out.

They boarded the last flight from Hanoi to Kunming in late 1946.

Back in China, Huang Yao painted a number of Vietnam Scenes from sketches, and completed a work titled An Account of Contradiction (Maodunji). These paintings documented life in pre-Communist China that was riddled by inequality, corruption and instability.

An Account of Contradiction was to be the last artwork Huang Yao produced in his home country and was exhibited – along with Vietnam Scenes and Kunming in Cartoon – in Kunming. Collectors of his paintings paid one hundred grams of gold for each of his one square foot-sized works.

Huang Yao left China once more – this time for British-controlled Hong

“Huang Yao during the Resistance War, had traveled through many places in the interior of China. He had now put into pictures many special points in our life during the war. They can be considered as unique historical documents of this extra ordinary time.” Yu Songhua’s Forward in Chinese People in Wartime and Chongqing in Cartoon where he introduced painter Huang Yao’s character and artworks on 14th May 1943.

Kong – stopping in Guangzhou for one final exhibition. For the first time in his life, he found himself a true immigrant, and this was reflected in his work. From the satirical Hong Kong Society cartoons to Niubizi in Hong Kong, his drawings reflected life in a consumer-driven foreign culture. Perhaps inspired by having a three-year-old child, he also drew Words of a Child, a set of 50 pieces about the son of an affluent Hong Kong family and his conversations with those around him.

In 1951 Huang Yao left Hong Kong for Thailand, where he was to reside for the next five years. Plans to live in Brazil were thwarted by the family’s unsuccessful visa application, but he found himself 23

drawn to something decidedly foreign: Christianity. The religion’s concept of universal love appealed to him after many years of war, and he was convinced by the teachings of Christianity to become a preacher.

In 1956, Huang Yao was invited to Malaya (now called Malaysia) by the education minister, Tun Abdul Razak (who later became Prime Minister), to help shape the country’s adult education policies. Huang Yao remembered the invitation clearly: “[Tun Razak] told me that art was a common language and therefore welcomed me to stay [t]here. I too have always believed that art is our common source of happiness.”

Cartoon Period

Huang Yao once more used his most famous character as a channel for his own thoughts and experiences, creating Malay Niubizi. In this series Niubizi wears a sarong, works with the local people, picks coconuts, collects harvests and reins bullocks to pull carts. He even holds up an umbrella in a local wedding.

Throughout, Niubizi sets an example of “the harmony between difference races” his creator was so keen to promote. “My biggest wish at the moment is for people with misunderstandings and prejudices against each other to let go of their biased mindsets,” Huang Yao said at the time. “Cooperation generates power.”

In Singapore that same year, Huang Yao exhibited the Malay Niubizi alongside two other cartoon series: Mr Fluke and Education of a Son. He sold several pieces from the Malay Niubizi collection, with the proceeds going to help Singaporean Chinese orphans. In August 1956, the same exhibition was held in Kuala Lumpur, this time organized by

(Above) Niubizi education cartoons, 1960s; (top) education cartoons, 1960s; (right) images from Eve and Adam collection, 44.3 cm by 56.8 cm, 1974

the Chinese Teachers’ Association. Some 70,000 people attended the show in just three days, thanks in part to Huang Yao’s live demonstrations of Chuyunshu calligraphy.

Works relating to his educational role also proliferated in Malaysia, with the artist producing everything from picture-punctuated homework books to cartoons, including Niubizi and Junior Niu, that highlighted the importance of the father-son bond. Familial relationships, the importance of hard work and kindness were all clearly valued in these later cartoons.

In 1974, Huang Yao created his last cartoon series. This final set was called Eve and Adam and differed in style from his previous works. The painterly drawings depicted a naked Adam and Eve as early humans. The pair is dependent on each other, inventing tools, hunting, painting abstract art and, most notably, discovering early Chinese character writing together.

Scholars argue that the Eve and Adam set offers a glimpse of another important stage in Huang Yao’s artistic journey: a preoccupation with pictographs, hieroglyphs and ancient Chinese characters that would last the rest of his lifetime.

In 1980, Huang Yao visited Taiwan, where he painted Niubizi’s visit to Wulai as a present to his friend, Liu Shaotang, the Chief Ed itor of Biog raphical Literature (Zhuanji Wenxue). This was to be his last Niubizi cartoon.

Chaozhou is a city in Eastern Guangdong Province in Southeast China; 2 “Old Shanghai Cartoons Introductions”, edited by Shanghai Library, published by Shanghai Science and technology documentary publishers, 2010; 3Jack Chen, April 1938. “China’s Militant Cartoonists”, Asia; 4Yao Tuo, Forward to Moyuan Suibi, 2000; 5Huang Yao, July 1981; 6Known as Minjian Chubanshe in Chinese; 7As described in “Art and Aesthetics in Chinese Popular Prints, Selections from the Muban Foundation” by Prof. Ellen Johnston Laing; 8Yu Songhua (1893-1947) Journalist, born in Jiangsu; he was dispatched by “Shishi Xinbao” (Shanghai) to Europe in early 1920s; he interviewed Lenin and introduced Russian revolutionary thoughts to China. In the 1930s and 1940s, he was the chief editor of a number of influential magazines and newspapers; 9Manhua Guiyang by Huang Yao 1

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Huang Yao – Cartoonist, Scholar, Painter

25

1956-1973 Scholar Period “No matter where I am I will never forget my roots, I will never forget that I am Chinese and I want to propagate the Chinese way of thinking and to let the world know of the Chinese virtues.”

Philological Investigation of the Character for Deer, 1972

F

Huang Yao – Cartoonist, Scholar, Painter

or Huang Yao, the move to Malaysia had marked a transition. Invited by the minister of education, Tun Abdul Razak, to build bridges and teach skills through art, he found he was able to combine two of his greatest passions: children and academia. It proved to be the catalyst for a period of prolonged scholarly study that saw Huang Yao create some of his most impressive works.

It was not a period of wholesale abandonment of cartoons, however. Huang Yao continued to create cartoons for educational purposes, and produced a number of books for school use including A Practical Guide to Cartoons and A Practical Guide to Painting. His educational Niubizi continued to appear in magazines and newspapers and he received requests to write articles on cartoons and cartoonists’ art.

Like many of his books, Huang Yao’s educational artworks were translated into Malay and English. His book Ten Talks on Niubizi (Niubizi Shi Jiang), a detailed instruction book on how to draw Niubizi, was republished in Taiwan. This book had been widely used in art classes in schools around China. In Malaysia it was translated into Malay as Eight Talks on Niubizi, leaving out the last two chapters.

The History of Chinese in Malaysia and Singapore Though his day job as an educational facilitator kept him busy, Huang Yao found the time to take on his biggest academic project to date: a historical study of the Chinese community overseas. As he traveled around Malaysia to help establish libraries and evening classes for adults, he became fascinated by the Chinese people’s diligence and determination to preserve their culture and help the less fortunate.

He began studying historical documents and source materials from China, and interpreted the classical language they were written in. He visited museums, cemeteries and landmarks and interviewed Chinese leaders and countless ordinary people. The culmination of ten years of work was The History

Cover of History of Chinese in Malaya and Singapore, reprinted in 2003

of Chinese in Malaysia and Singapore, published in 1967.

The book includes accounts of the support and encouragement offered by overseas Chinese to Dr. Sun Yat Sen in his attempts to overthrow the Qing Dynasty.

Among the 72 martyrs of the Canton uprising in March 1911, for example, four were Chinese from Penang in Malaysia.

Huang Yao’s book also delved into the life of the man behind China’s first (grape) wine company, Cheong Fatt Tze (Zhang Bishi). “One of China’s last Mandarins and first Capitalists,” he was a businessmen of such great renown that the Dutch and British regional authorities ordered that flags be flown at half mast throughout their colonies when he passed away in 1916. Of his vast empire, Cheong 27

Fatt Tze chose Penang to build the most elaborate of his homes and to raise his sons. It is reputed to be only one of two such buildings of this size outside China and certainly the most exquisite. The vineyards he established still produce wine in China today.

So important is Huang Yao’s study of the Chinese in the Malay Peninusla to historians that it was reprinted in 2003 and remains a key source material in libraries across Asia. It is currently being translated into English for present generation of Chinese in Malaysia and Singapore who are not proficient in Chinese to learn more about their roots.

After his retirement, Huang Yao wanted to extend his research on the overseas Chinese and write A History of

Scholar Period

(Clockwise from top left) Collection of Single Chinese Characters, 74 pieces, 1960s; The Dictionary, 586 pieces, 1960s; The Calligraphic Sketches of Chinese Characters, 1611 pieces, 1960s to early 70s; The Collection of Phrases, 32 pieces, 1960s 28

Huang Yao – Cartoonist, Scholar, Painter

(Clockwise from top left) Collection of Characters for Poems, 24 pieces, 1970s; The Diary, 81 pieces, 1972-73; The Drawings, 51 pieces, 1970s to early 1980s; The Sketches for Paintings, 51 pieces, early 1970s 29

Scholar Period

Nanyang Chinese Merchants. He had written and published a number of articles on successful Nanyang merchants such as Zhang Bishi, Dai Xinran and the monk Benzhong, as well as about the rubber, banking and rattan industries and the importance of “trust” in Chinese business.

This project was halted when Huang Yao suffered a stroke in 1981.

Wenzihua Research Huang Yao’s deep-seated love of Chinese culture, art and, in particular, its ancient characters saw him spend plentiful time researching the origins of Chinese characters and pictographs during this period.

The Communist government’s decision to simplify full form Chinese characters in the 1950s distressed him. Though he acknowledged that Chinese characters were complicated and difficult to write, he cautioned that their innate beauty would be compromised, and that many could lose their connection to their ancient, pictographic roots. His love of philology had always been present, but now he was driven to create a whole new body of work around Chinese characters.

Huang Yao pored over ancient texts, cave etchings and the Oracle Bone inscriptions in an effort to understand the true source of each character. He created thousands of pages of samples, research and analysis, monitoring the life of a character from its creation and transformation to its present day pronunciation – even creating a dictionary.

These studies found expression in the Wenzihua paintings, which he said made use “of the most beautiful structure of ancient Chinese characters, incorporating primitive art, design and symbols to write poems, phrases and paint in an innovative style.”

Reminiscence in Taiwan’s “Biographical Literature” In 1980, Huang Yao traveled with his wife to Taiwan and met many literary friends – most of whom he had not seen since the war. A member of the group was with Huang Yao during one of his three trips to the Emei mountains, and wanted

Pencil Sketch of Man in Poetic Setting, over 2,000 sketches

to know whether the Niubizi Guiyang cartoons donated to Guiyang were still in the city, Zheng Baolin did not escape questioning from Huang Yao’s curious peers – and was asked how she had met the artist, and how the pair survived the war with a young son.

The discourse these questions generated prompted the Chief Editor of Biographical Literature, Liu Shaotang, to urge Huang Yao to write about his experiences. A series of 11 articles was published between 1981 and 1982 entitled Past Events And Old Friends (Wangshi Yu Guren), about his travels through China, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia.

Among the articles of that period was a piece about Niubizi – its creation, appearance, characteristics, name, the child-like 30

titles and the easy method of drawing them. He described the forty thousand antiwar cartoons the children sent him about the invasion of China by Japan.

Huang Yao and his wife planned to visit China the following year to meet up with old friends, but he suffered a stroke in April 1981 and was not able to travel again.

Moyuan Suibi Between 1982 and 1983, Huang Yao wrote a series of 62 articles, published weekly under the column Moyuan Suibi in the Chinese-language Malaysian newspaper, Nanyang Shangbao.

The process started with friends encouraging him to write about his paintings for posterity. “When I got home, I

Huang Yao – Cartoonist, Scholar, Painter

rummaged through the photos, picking up whatever photo interested me. I care not whether the photo is of an old or new painting, putting down on paper whatever thoughts arise. It does not matter whether

the write up is short or long, nor whether the writing is finely crafted or not – I just went with the flow.”

Each of the articles featured an accompanying image of a Huang Yao

2

1

painting, which he annotated with details about Chinese painting and calligraphy techniques, information about how he created his works, and notes on important Chinese artists.

3

4

5 Process of Creation of All Things Take on a New Start (Wan Xiang Geng Xin): 1. Collection of Phrases, 1960s; 2. The Diary, 1972-73; 3-4. Sketches for Paintings, early 1970s; 5-6. All Things Take on a New Start (Wan Xiang Geng Xin), mid 1970s to early 1980s

6 31

1973-1987 Painter Period “An artist must learn the skills and aspirations of the old masters, study what is available in the world, and then create something new yet enduring to be enjoyed by all in peace and prosperity.”

Inherit the Past, Open up the Future (Ji WangɡKai Lai), 123.6 cm by 43.1 cm, 1981

Huang Yao – Cartoonist, Scholar, Painter

H

uang Yao considered himself a painter by vocation and a cartoonist by accident.

He learned the art of painting from his father’s tutelage, and diligently studied the old Chinese masters.

Later, he was asked to create a cartoon strip by a newspaper because he could paint and painting was his life-long passion.

Huang Yao painted landscapes and human figures even during his formative years in the 1930s. His first known solo exhibition of Chinese ink painting, or Guohua, was in Guiyang in 1942. His ink paintings were usually included among his numerous solo cartoon exhibitions in the war years. In 1947, he held exhibitions in

Mirror (Jing), A Dream of Emei Shan, 240.8 cm by 90.0 cm, 1982

Benevolence (Shan), The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting, 240.8 cm by 90.0 cm, 1982

Kunming and Guangzhou, where he sold his paintings in exchange for gold.

Again in 1956, his ink paintings of landscape and scenes of Thailand were included in his exhibitions of Malay Niubizi and educational cartoons in both Singapore and Malaysia. There are no records of public exhibitions during his stay in Thailand and during his Scholar Period, when he was writing The History of Chinese in Malaysia and Singapore and doing research on Wenzihua. After this hiatus, he again exhibited and sold his paintings from the mid 1970s until he passed away in 1987.

When he first left China he painted what he saw on his journeys through Vietnam, Hong Kong, Thailand and

Malaysia. At first he created very traditional ink paintings of landscapes, before experimenting with painted landscapes and human figures in foreign environments. His essential quest was to constantly adapt different external conditions to Chinese ink painting techniques.

In the 1960s he often questioned how anyone could create anything new if they did not know the old. Driven by this enduring conviction, he studied the old masters again and researched the ancient Chinese characters for both calligraphy and painting.

From the sketches he left behind, the process of how he created Wenzihua (literally the painting of ancient Chinese characters) can be traced. After that, he created

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Painter Period

Tang Poem: A Night Mooring By Maple Bridge (Feng Qiao Ye Bo) by Zhang Ji, 90 cm by 214 cm, 1980s Moon sets, crows cry and frost fills all the sky; By maples and boat lights, I sleepless lie.

Outside Suzhou Hanshan Temple is in sight; Its ringing bells reach my boat at midnight.

a collection of abstract paintings, called Ziyouhua (spontaneous paintings).

Even though they were created more than 30 years ago, these collections represent a lively refreshing innovation of traditional Chinese art forms. His Ziyouhua were abstract works unlike anything produced by other Chinese artists in that era.

These paintings may have represented objects he saw, imagined or just painted spontaneously without any object in mind.

During Haung Yao’s Painter Period, he continued to paint images that reflected common preoccupations, with themes such as landscapes and human figures.

He was particularly fond of painting children, the God of Longevity, the Eight Immortals, Laughing Buddha and the Goddess of Mercy.

“When I paint human figures, I usually do it for the enjoyment in painting, not so much following the rigors of realism, and I like emphasizing my joy and openness,”

he once said. “I hope the viewers of my art can also get this same pleasure.”

In 1970 and then again in 1971, Huang Yao’s son gave him two grandchildren. Shortly afterward he was inspired to paint a series of Baizitu or 100 Children Paintings.

Simultaneously, he sought to innovate and evolve his own style, utlizing Yibihua (simplified single stroke paintings that he considered to be the most precious of paintings); and Tu’anhua (Chinese graphic painting). Most of all he wanted to imbue his works with the energy and optimism that he found in folk art paintings.

He had previously utilized folk art styles during World War II, with his wood block prints encouraging rural Chinese to rise up against the brutality of the Japanese invasion. Later in life, as a mature artist, he revisited the genre, adding modern interpretations and touches of humor and pathos.

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In April 1981, Huang Yao suffered a stroke at the age of 64. The right side of his body was paralysed, but he retrained himself to paint. Within a year he had developed an entirely new style in both his calligraphy and painting.

Six years later, in Januar y 1987, Huang Yao passed away at his home in Kuala Lumpur. Representat ives of local universities, schools, alumni groups, art institutions, associations of calligraphy, painting and art, and Chinese research centers formed a committee to give him a proper send off. Several noted critics, artists and journalists wrote of his significant contributions to Chinese education, art and culture.

Writing in the New Straits Times, art critic Ooi Kok Chuen observed that Huang Yao “was an extraordinary brush artist. When he died… he left behind a legacy of distinctive works,

Huang Yao – Cartoonist, Scholar, Painter

that local exponents of Chinese art, would be hard put to emulate.”

Some writers acclaimed his intensive study into philology, while others, like Le Beaux Art Gallery’s Chi Siew Choo, remembered his friendly disposition: “Huang Yao was never reluctant to help others, whether it was in drawing crowds with his Chuyunshu demonstration in exhibitions or giving another artist tips on the finer points of Chinese art,” she reminisced. “He was a very kind person.”

Huang Yao’s works, created over more than half a century, have since been collected by a number of prominent international museums including the Singapore Art Museum, the Palace Museum in Taipei and the British Museum in London – where his modern Chinese calligraphy rejoined the works of his friends Zhang Zhengyu and Huang Miaozi.

A retrospective of his paintings (particularly the Wenzihua) was shown at the Singapore Art Museum in 2001 – the first time these works had been exhibited to the public. East magazine described the collection as “one of the

most important discoveries in East Asian art in recent years”.

“What few people realise,” said Patricia Ong, curator of the 2001 Singapore Art Museum exhibition, “is that what Huang Yao was doing was very new, especially in the region, during that period of time.”

Kwok Kian Chow, Director of the Singapore Art Museum, assessed Huang Yao’s importance to the democratization of Chinese art: “He is telling you, ‘you don’t need to be part of that inner circle of Chinese cultural elites’. I think it’s wonderful what Huang Yao was doing. It’s like playing a game: let them tell you about the rules, let them tell you about how to play, and after that, it is your creativity.”

Since 1934 when he began painting, Huang Yao’s art always displayed a timeless quality, and a unique ability to speak both on behalf of and to ordinary people.

He connected directly with people, both through his works and through his countless public painting demonstrations and appearances. Moreover, his diversity of subject matters, ever-evolving artistic techniques and styles, and his consuming

passion to create classless art appealed to people of all ages, cultures and nationalities.

Part of this appeal has been attributed to Huang Yao’s own persona – in which there was clearly a child who never grew up, who never lost his own innocence.

Living through a transitional era for China and Asia, his works brought humor and hope to millions. Later, in times of peace and prosperity, his artworks convey

Proverb: the Horse Has Arrived Signaling Success (Ma Dao Cheng Gong), 48.2 cm by 34.5 cm, 1977

an easily accessible truth about happiness and contentment. His artistic allure is not restricted to the nations in which he lived, traveled and worked – it is truly international. This global appeal is set to diversify in the coming years, as a program of major exhibitions in China and around the world will showcase Huang Yao as one of the few artists who continued evolving Chinese contemporary ink painting through the second half of the 20th century.

Creating such a rich artistic legacy was never Huang Yao’s intention. He was simply a man impassioned by the possibilities and connective power of art in any location that he found himself. “It is like enjoying delicious food and drink. Every bite and sip gives endless pleasures, apart from the fact that they are nutritious,” he once said. “That is why through the ages, the sage knows food is to nourish the body, art is to nourish the soul.”

(Above) Modesty Receives Benefit (Qian Shou Yi ), 43.2 cm by 41.5 cm, 1979 35

Gallery

Huang Yao – Cartoonist, Scholar, Painter

Foreign Travels Having experienced life in many parts of China and traveled around South East Asia, Huang Yao, through his keen observations and quick sketches, had become a master at capturing people’s ways of life on paper. As early as the 1940s since his travels in Vietnam, he was using deceptively simple brush strokes to capture men and women going about their daily chores; at work or at play; in a state of contemplation or activity.

Vietnamese Girl Playing Drum, 28.5 cm by 30 cm, 1947

The Vietnamese Girl “In Vietnam, I painted what I saw. I first did a quick sketch on a pad and then worked on the details of design and colors at home. There were some exaggerations

so as to make the painting artistically beautiful. I painted a Vietnamese girl beating the drum after she had some wine. Her blouse was of thin, pink silk and her long pants were of pure white silk. She had long black hair. Sitting on the mat, she beat the 37

red drum with her right hand while holding it with her left hand. Accompanied by the drum, she sang in Vietnamese and the melody was very sentimental,” Huang Yao, Moyuan Suibi, 1982

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The Old Bangkok City Wall, 27.8 cm x 39.6 cm, 1950s

The Old Bangkok City Wall “While I was in Bangkok in the early 1950s, there was a remaining stretch of an old city wall in that city (I wonder whether it is still there?). I had used the Chinese brush and ink painting technique to paint it as it was then. Unexpectedly I found a photograph of it in an old album. It made me think of the Chinese monogram painting, i.e. to paint using Chinese ink only with no color added,” Huang Yao, Moyuan Suibi, 1982 38

Huang Yao – Cartoonist, Scholar, Painter

Nanyang Scenes “If you examine all the things in nature from the point of view of the shape of calligraphic strokes, thick or thin, straight or curved, you will find that everything in nature can be expressed by dots and lines as in calligraphy. The outlines of some forms may differ in sizes, or they may be straight rather than curved. The light and

darkness as reflected by the sunlight can be expressed by shading with a brush. The landscape in Nanyang consists mainly of coconut, palms, cane... We can use calligraphy strokes to write the attap hut, bamboo fences, coconut trunk ladder...

Basically write the landscape as the heart dictates and all the things in the painting will be formed as the brush moves,” Huang Yao, Moyuan Suibi, 1982

Collecting Latex (Di Jiao Zhi Shi Tian Ci), 48.2 cm x 34.7 cm, 1979, collection of the Palace Museum, Taipei 39

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Landscape “For Chinese landscape painting, it is not necessary to paint the landscape you see. You paint only the landscape you envision in your mind but the painting must capture the spirit of nature. In reviewing a landscape painting, it is most important to see the vitality of the brushwork and the varying intensity and texture of the ink in the landscape. Apart from having the painting ‘resemble’, or look ‘real’, or ‘full’, it should provide room for the viewer to indulge in wonderment and imagination. It must give a sense of uncertainty as to where the scene begins and where it will lead. This allows for ‘endless appreciations,’” Huang Yao, Moyuan Suibi, 1982

Chan Pavillion (Chan Ting Tu), 79.2 cm by 133.2 cm, 1982

The Dots of the Mi-Family: Chan Ting Tu “The dots in an ink painting are usually called the eyes of the painting. They should not be used casually or too enthusiastically, as there are rules for their usage. In the Chinese art history, the most famous rule is the ‘Principle of dots’ by the Mi (Mi Yuan) 40

Family. The Mi family members could handle the brush as if the tip was made of steel and they applied the ink fast, as if it could fly. They treasured ink as gold while ‘shooting’ dots on paper. The traces of brush and ink are in harmony. The Spirit of the Mi Family because they had an incredibly solid foundation in calligraphy,” Huang Yao, Moyuan Suibi, 1982

Huang Yao – Cartoonist, Scholar, Painter

Song Poetry: The Red Cliff (Qian Chibi Fu by Su Shi), 93.8 cm by 168 cm, 1981

Song Poetry: Qian Chibi Fu by Su Shi “Sometimes I paint human figures and at other times, landscapes, depending on my mood. I let my mind follow its natural inclinations without restraint or obstruction. In painting Chinese landscapes, you can use the same brush strokes in calligraphy to ‘write’ the painting, using dots, lines and shades. If the final product resembles reality, it is a realistic painting. If the painting shows harmony of brush and ink but without ‘form’, then it can be called abstract.

Practice will make perfect. If you have an unforgettable poem or saying in your mind, you can use that for the content of your paintings. Then you will also have the title to your painting,” Huang Yao, Moyuan Suibi, 1982 41

Gallery

Returning Boat in the Rain “For this piece of work, I started ‘exercising’ my brush strokes by drawing different types of lines. The ‘straight lines’, drawn freely with no restraint became the drizzle, reeds, and the raincoat. As for the banks of the beach, after drawing the horizontal line, dots were added from which shading was formed. They look like creases yet are not really creases. I was delighted by this ink play. If you apply these long and short lines freely, you will be sure to form many different types of painting styles. Try to do this as an exercise everyday. After some time, you will find that you have a kind of vigor and boldness in your brush strokes,” Huang Yao, Moyuan Suibi, 1982

Returning Boat in the Rain (Feng Yu Gui Zhou), 139.7 cm by 73 cm, 1980 42

Huang Yao – Cartoonist, Scholar, Painter

Seeking The Profound In the 1980s Huang Yao bemoaned that his paintings of human figures were no longer as precise as they once were. However, typically optimistic, he made peace with his aging body and the first stroke he suffered in April 1981, arguing it gave his paintings a new lease of life: “I had been drawing a lot of human figures, but my right hand had limited movement… I felt that the progress was slow and my brush did not seem stable.

At this time I decided to change to painting landscapes, with a bit of wobbliness that could not be avoided. I never thought that the process would naturally produce a type of ancient flavor – and from something that I had been so familiar with. It was a breath of fresh air, and totally unplanned. It was marvelous – as if the gods had a hand in helping me out.”

Seeking the Profound (Xun Xuan), 47.4 cm by 64.6 cm, 1986

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Human Figures “When I paint human figures, I usually do it for the enjoyment in painting, not so much following the rigors of realism and I like emphasizing my joy and openness. I hope the viewers of my art can also get this same pleasure.” Huang Yao advised that to draw lively human figures, you must have bi sui xin dong or your brush must follow the movement of your heart which creates the mental images.

“Every line and dot will then be natural and not restrained, like they are dancing on paper, similar to how the abstract artist Kandinsky (1886-1944) painted the dance of lines. When you are immersed in ‘mo yun’ or rhythm of ink in the process of painting, you will have entered into a sublime state; you are then in the realm of the immortals.”

Bai Miao “Bai Miao is a technique of using a Chinese brush to draw a fine outline of an object.

As these lines are drawn with the supple Chinese brush using calligraphy strokes, the lines have a soft feel as well as a rhythmic vigor that is not attainable by the use of pencil, charcoal or other hard instru-

ments. The oldest and the best Bai Miao is the Floating Gossamer Threads (Yousu miao) by artist Gu Kaizhi. He was famous for drawing the outlines of human figures. The vigor and boldness of his work came from a solid foundation in calligraphy. Holding his brush upright, with the tip of his brush, writing in the style of seal script, the stroke must be completed from beginning to the end in 44

one breath. Neither a little ripple nor a little laxity is acceptable. Full concentration is needed with absolutely no disturbance,” Huang Yao, Moyuan Suibi, 1982

Favourite Concubine of the Tang Emperor Xuanzhong (Tai Zhen Xianzi), 37.5 cm by 55.8 cm, early 1950s

Huang Yao – Cartoonist, Scholar, Painter

Humans in a Poetic Setting Huang Yao enjoyed reading poems, especially before going to sleep. They were often the inspirations for his paintings of people in poetic settings. Be they men, women or children, almost all of them were in Tang dynasty traditional

clothing. Perhaps this was also because many of his favorite poems were from this period. They are mostly of a single young or old men, with or without a background but always reflecting the mood of the poem. Huang Yao was a firm believer that paintings should be beneficial to the viewers. To this end, some of his paintings are often expres45

sions of wonder – he could even make old man dance in joy.

Dreams of the Old Man of Han Shan, 69 cm by 55.5 cm, 1980

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Humans in a Zen Setting “We have read books on Zen and listened to many Zen stories. As we all know, peace of mind has immense benefits, so it is useful to learn about Zen and the teachings should

be widely propagated, with no discrimination towards intelligence, age, wealth, power, east and west, or color of anyone’s skin. Everyone is equal in Zen. This philosophy could be one of the answers to true equality in the world, achieved by realizing 46

the wisdom latent in all of us. As long as we can smile at the flowers (like in the Zen story where Buddha gave a lesson in which he just smiled at the flower in his hand), it will be fine. Whether one is alone or falling asleep, one will find Zen there.”

Huang Yao – Cartoonist, Scholar, Painter

Bird – A Replication of Ba Da Shan Ren’s Style “Ba Da Shan Ren paintings of birds are considered as the best impressionistic Chinese paintings. He painted a bird with no flowers nor greenery, perching not on a branch but on a rock. Can you say the bird is lonely? It does not give the impression of loneliness. Is it singing? It does not seem to be so. Then, what does the bird want to do?

You cannot say it is waiting to fly either.

This painting actually expresses a kind of spirit, a firm tolerance. Was this the spirit of the artist? No, it should be a basic spirit of mankind,” Huang Yao, Moyuan Suibi, 1982 “The paintings that are between likeness and unlikeness but could convey the spirit of what the artist wishes to express are the best Chinese paintings. This level is very difficult to achieve. It is because in the learning process, the student progresses from paintings with likeness to unlikeness and finally between likeness and unlikeness. It is then, that you can move your brush spontaneously without hindrances or obstacles. This movement is like an expression of the spiritual attainment in the teaching of Buddha and also of Tao. It is not easy to produce the apparently simple paintings of Ba Da Shan Ren. This remarkable artist was able to, with just a few strokes, capture the essence of what he wanted his subject to express. The strength of his painting is that every stroke is sharp, clear and effective. The wonders of his paintings are in its simplicity,” Huang Yao, Moyuan Suibi, 1982

(Opposite) Human Figure in Zen Setting, 47 cm by 36.4 cm; (left) Rather Rest on a Rock Than a Branch (Rin Si Shi San, Bu Si Zi Tou), 27.9 cm by 20.3 cm, 1975 47

Gallery

(Above) 100 Children at Play (Baizi Tu)– Winter, 30 cm by 360 cm, 1970s; (right) Enlarged section of 100 Children at Play – Winter

Children at Play Huang Yao always had a special affinity with children, and was himself in possession of a child-like character.

As one friend put it towards the end of his life: “Master Huang is an elderly man with a child’s heart: his innocence and benevolence are revealed in his art”. The Niubizi cartoons not only proved Huang Yao’s ability to cater to children, but to emulate them. “When I was working at The Shanghai Post I got to know many children,” Huang Yao wrote in Xiao Duzhe Yuwo (Little Readers and Me). “Among them were young artists, young writers, young

(Above) Children Playing Summersaults (Fan Sen), 45.7 cm by 37.0 cm, 1980; (left) sketch of Baizi Tu

Peking opera actors… they were all geniuses. I can’t quite believe that I am now so old, but I still cannot shake this childlike innocence and outlook. I think 48

I was inf luenced and touched by that period of my life… when one forgets one’s age one feels as though he or she can still do many things for society.”

Huang Yao – Cartoonist, Scholar, Painter

A Return To Innocence “When I am tired after painting for some time, I will choose to leisurely paint children playing their games. I feel like I have become like a child in the painting and return to memories of my childhood.

My brush follows my imagination as I play like a child on paper. The children in these paintings are active, moving their arms and legs. I too, will drop my brush, stretching and relaxing my arms, moving both of them and the legs too. I forget myself and may look like a ‘lunatic’.

49

Maybe, this can be why some artists, writers and thinkers are regarded as peculiar.

Nobody knows that at times like this, I am as happy as an immortal,”

Huang Yao, Moyuan Suibi, 1982

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Yibihua “Yibihua, or ‘one stroke painting’… is a painting where its main part is completed with one stroke only. I remember two years ago in 1980, before my serious illness, that I painted many Yibihua. In my memory, they are Li of iron staff, one of the eight immortals in Taoism; Jidian, the crazy Taoist immortal; Tao Yuan Ming, a famous poet; Da Mo (Buddhidharma), the Buddhist missionary who came to China in A.D. 526. The most important reason I selected these characters for Yibihua, is that they all are people with distinctive appearances. For the picture of Zidian, the mad monk, you can see that the head and body are completed in one stroke. Then, some ink is applied for the eye, eyebrow, beard, pupil of the eye and the fan. Proper use of dark and light ink is important for executing this type of painting. Green and red are added to the yellow robe for special effect.

Huang Yao, Moyuan Suibi, 1982

The Mad Monk (Jidian), 46.2 cm by 37 cm, 1980

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Huang Yao – Cartoonist, Scholar, Painter

Tu’anhua “Tu’anhua is the painting of things in nature, which are simplified or beautified and rearranged by the artist to form a painting. The original subjects in nature can still be seen in the final painting but because the design, style and color in the painting are often so beautiful, these paintings are often used as decorations on objects, be it on a small vase or even on a big tall building. Its completeness, harmony and attractiveness often arouse a happy and appreciative feeling. This is the true value of art. This form of presenting beauty is called Tu’anhua,” Huang Yao, Shiyong Huaguo, 1957-1958

Harmony of Dragon and Tiger (Long Hu He), 68.8 cm by 65 cm, 1980

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Folk Art In the 1980s, Huang Yao created several folk art pieces. This was something he had dabbled in during the war with his wood block prints encouraging the rural Chinese to fight. Now he was returning to the medium as a more mature artist, adding modern twists and touches of humor. In folk art, Huang Yao saw eternal themes of unity, health and wealth, and optimism of the people and culture. “The topic for Folk painting need not be something out of the ordinary. However to appear common but the essence is uncommon, that is the best of the best folk paintings. It is not easy to achieve. One has to read a lot of good books to get it right,” he said.

Laughing Buddha “Why are Folk paintings always with auspicious sayings? Because it is an expression of optimism, hope – for a better future, looking forward and not back at the past. The content of these Chinese paintings are always about wishing for good luck, wealth, fame and happiness to everyone. The monk with a cloth bag in the painting (with the title May All Be Happy) is called Budai Hesang.

A popular name for a cloth bag in Chinese is baofu, which means burden. So this monk can be humorously referred to as monk carrying a burden. I usually paint two children to help him carry his bag. The children symbolize the next generation, and they help carry such a big burden. If we can get rid of this bag, we will be free from worries and troubles,” Huang Yao, Moyuan Suibi, 1982

May All be Happy (Jieda Huanxi), 86.3 cm by 144.2 cm, 1981 52

Huang Yao – Cartoonist, Scholar, Painter

The Eight Immortals Paintings of The Eight Immortals were so popular that Huang Yao produced them for a whole range of people, from French ambassadors to Indonesian art collectors.

The Eight Immortals is a group of legendary beings from Chinese mythology.

According to Huang Yao, their popularity was partly due to demand, and partly due to his own enjoyment: “I really like using the Eight Immortals as a subject for my paintings. I’m not sure why buyers like this topic. Maybe it is because there are eight people in the painting and the painting seems livelier? Or maybe it’s because the stories of the Eight Immortals are quite interesting – or maybe it’s just because these are happy paintings”.

Eight Immortals (Baxian), 120 cm by 60 cm, 1980

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Wenzihua Huang Yao’s research of Chinese philology led to him using these ancient characters from popular Chinese phrases, poems and idioms. His academic work began to merge into artistic creations. His studies found expressions in the paintings he termed Wenzihua, literally meaning the paintings of ancient Chinese characters. In his own words, these paintings made use “of the most beautiful structure of ancient Chinese characters, incorporating primitive art, design and symbols to write poems, phrases – or even just one word – and paint in an ‘innovative style’”.

Night Thoughts (Jing Ye Si) by Li Bai, 95 cm by 44cm, 1970s. (Painting to be read right to left) Before my bed a frost of light, Is it frost upon the ground, Eyes raised, I see the moon so bright. Head bent, I am drowned in homesickness 54

Huang Yao – Cartoonist, Scholar, Painter

some of them together to form a phrase, (the texts together with the characters), making a complete picture of them. It is connected to the ancient world, but there is something fresh about it. Some people saw these works and thought that they were new contemporary artworks, but in fact these are formed by the most ancient characters. Others mistook them for western abstract art, but they are Chinese characters. And therefore I have realized that in art, the barrier between new and old, West and East does not exist, they are all connected – and in this lies the greatness as well as the divinity of art.”

Huang Yao told the New Sunday Times in 1985 that he held his breath whilst writing the Wenzihua works. “This is another ancient technique (Master Chinese artists are able to do this when they write calligraphy or paint pictures – it is called ‘complete in one breath’) that requires absolute concentration and years of practice,” he told journalist Johnni Wong. “When I am doing this, I feel a surge of strength well up and transform itself into the characters that you see. I have to finish the individual characters no matter how intricate before I run out of breath”.

Wenzihua or Three Goats Herald Good Fortune (a pun on a phrase that has come to mean an auspicious start to the New Year) (San Yang Kai Tai), 69.2 cm by 36.8 cm, 1981

Huang Yao would paint images of characters that had been combined in new ways, compounded or turned on their head. The results were startling: “Sometimes I can spend my whole day lying or sitting down, reading or writing Tuhua Wenzi and not tire, just because of the incomparable beauty of its form,”

Huang Yao wrote in his journal. “As an artist [what I really want to do is] read oracle bone scripts, [that recorded the] history of everyday life in ancient society and speculate about [our ancestors’] lifestyles according to these inscriptions.”

He continues: “I have collected a large number of pictographs, putting 55

The Sudden Sound of Thunder across the Plain (Pingdi Yishen Lei), 134.6 cm by 69.3 cm, 1981, collection of the British Museum

Gallery

Ziyouhua Among several documents discovered after Huang Yao’s death was a draft set of teaching lessons called A Practical Guide to Painting. Huang Yao’s instructions encouraged flexibility when choosing painting tools and colors, and, above all, when painting. Students were encouraged to paint spontaneously, freely and without restraint. He termed paintings created in this manner Ziyouhua (ziyou means freedom), and he left behind a body of abstract works unlike anything produced by other Chinese artists in that era. These abstract paintings may have represented objects he saw, imagined or just painted spontaneously without any object in mind.

Human Figures, 71 cm by 51.8 cm, 1970s

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Huang Yao – Cartoonist, Scholar, Painter

Bull, 49.5 cm x 73.8 cm, 1970s

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Major Timeline 1917-37 Shanghai 1917 Born in Shanghai 1933 Reporter in Shanghai Post, Shanghai 1934 Journalist in Shanghai Post; created cartoon character ‘Niubizi’ 1935 Art Editor of Shanghai Post Published, Niubizi, Qunzhong Publisher 1936 Published, Tian Tian by Zhou Tianlai, Children’s book illustrated by Huang Yao, title written by Feng Zikai, and designed by Zhang Yingchao Established Niubizi Publisher Published, Niubizi 1, Niubizi Publisher Published, Niubizi 2, Niubizi Publisher Published, Granting Happiness, Niubizi Publisher Member of Organizing Committee and participated in The First National Exhibition of Cartoon Art, Shanghai, China.

The exhibition travelled to Nanjing, Suzhou and Hangzhou, China Regular attendant at gatherings of painters Wang Yiting, Zhang Yuguang, Hu Zaobin, Qian Huaifo and others in vegetarian restaurants Gongdelin and Danglin. Participated in charity exhibitions sales in aid of Huanghe floods victims.

1937 Core member, The Shanghai Cartoonists National Salvation Society Core member, The Shanghai Children’s National Salvation Society Published, Scout Salute to Anti-War Martyrs, in magazine

Published, Little Citizen, composed by Zhu Chongzhi, lyrics by Huang Yao Published, Story of a Chinaman, in magazine Jilian Published, Niubizi 4, Niubizi Publisher Published, If I Were…1, Niubizi Publisher Published, The Ox-Head monthly magazine, Niutou Manhua Publisher edited by Huang Yao Registered Niubizi with number given by the National government as 8716 Published, Niubizi 5, Niubizi Publisher Published, If I Were…2, Niubizi Publisher Ningbo, Nanjing, Hankou 1938-42 Chongqing 1938 Worked at No.3 Bureau, Political Department of Military Commission of the National Government under the leadership of Guo Moruo 1938-41 Solo exhibitions of cartoons in Chongqing and Chengdu, China 1938 Established Minjian Publisher 1938 Published, Little Citizen Magazine, Xiao GuoMin Publisher, co-editor Huang Yao Published, Power of Unity, in Contemporary Creative Magazine (Shishi Meibian) Published, Kill This Wild Man! Put Out this Wild Fire!, in magazine Published, The Backlines Should Work Harder, in magazine.

Published, Roar of the Nation, Teshe Publisher 58

Published, 72 HistoricalCartoons: Japanese Aggressions in China,

by Minjian Publisher Published, In the Backlines of Chongqing 2, by Teshe Publisher Published, Discussions on New Lianhuan Tuhua, Minjian Publisher edited by Huang Yao 1938-39 Edited more than 10 New Lianhuanhua, Minjian Publisher Save the Country and Lover by Jin Guangshao Young no. 5 Son Avenges His Elder Brother by Fighting the Japanese

by Zhang Wang Grandma Shi by Ai Zhongxin Chase Away the Japanese to Protect Our Home

by Zhang Wang Iron Blood Hero by Zhang Wenyuan Flying General by Ai Zhongxin The Bald Headed Guerilla 1, 2, 3 by Huang Yao Red Scarf no. 3 Miss Wan by Wang Dahua ‘Ducky’ Lee Killing the Enemies by Wang Letian New Empty City Strategy

by Zhang Wang Raise our Flag by Zhang Wenyuan Beiping’s Woman Hero, author unknown 1939-41 Published Ten Talks of Niubizi Published Asia in Cartoons, edited by Huang Yao Published Europe in Cartoons, edited

by Huang Yao

Huang Yao – Cartoonist, Scholar, Painter

Published A Chinese Soldier Published Three Talks of Niubizi cartoons Published Torch to the Northwest, Huang He Magazine Published but unretrieved, Good Commissioner, Minjian Publisher Published but unretrieved, Good General, Minjian Publisher 1942 Guiyang 1942 Solo exhibition, Chinese ink paintings 100 Gods of Longevity, Chinese People in Wartime and Manhua Guiyang, Guiyang, China Published, 100 Deities of Longevity, Chinese ink paintings, woodblock printed, unretrieved, Wentong Publisher 1942 Published Manhua Guiyang by Wentong Publisher and Guiyang City acquired the 100 pieces of Guiyang cartoon 1942-44 Guilin 1942 Married Ms. Zheng Baolin 1943 Solo exhibition, Chinese ink painting of Plum Blossoms, the reknown poet Liu Yazi wrote poems on 20 of the paintings Exhibition Yao Shan travel sketches and cartoons by China Travel Organization Included as one of the 48 cultural celebrities in Baishou Tu the painting of the 58th birthday celebration of poet Liu Yazi by well known painter Yin Shoushi Participated in charity exhibition and sale of calligraphy and paintings for relief of Lingdong famine in Guangxi with the cultural celebrities in Guilin Solo charity exhibitions, Cartoons and Chinese ink paintings in different locations in Guilin at the same time Published, Visit to Miao Ethnic Region, in traveling magazine Published, Guilin in Cartoon, in newspaper Published, Sketch of Visit to Hunan, in magazine or newspaper Published, Chongqing in Cartoon, Kexue Shudian Publisher

1944 Guiyang, Kunming, Guilin Published, Chinese People in Wartime, Kexue Shudian publisher, in Chinese and English Son Huang Yan was born in Guiyang Solo exhibition, Cartoons of Guilin, Guiyang, Kunming and Chinese ink paintings in Guiyang and Kunming, China 1945 Chongqing, Liuzhou, Kunming Published, Children, in Qing Miao magazine (magazine for students) 1945-46 Vietnam Manager of Chinese Overseas Banking Corporation in Haiphong, Vietnam 1947 Kunming Solo exhibition, Kunming in Cartoon, “Contradiction” Collection and “Scenes of Vietnam” Collection in Kunming, China 1947 Guangzhou Solo exhibition, Zhongshan library, Guangzhou, China 1947-51 Hong Kong The exact dates for the following activities are unknown: Cartoons, Words of a Child Collection Published, Hong Kong Contradiction Cartoons, in newspaper Published, Country Bumpkin Niubizi, in newspaper Solo exhibition of cartoons including Words of a Child in Hong Kong Paintings of traditional fine line human figures and landscapes 1951-56 Thailand The exact dates for the following activities are unknown: Calligraphy and paintings of Thailand scenes in monochrome, traditional ink paintings of landscape, human figure and children.

Cartoons, Education of a Son Collection Cartoons, Mr. Fluke Collection Manager Aihua Printing Company, Bangkok Chief Editor, United Publicity Service, Bangkok 59

Chairman of the Board of Thailand Baptist Seminary Pastor of Grace Baptist Church, Bangkok 1956 Singapore Cartoon, The Malay Niubizi Collection Solo exhibition, Exhibition of Cartoons, Calligraphy and Paintings, British Council, Singapore 1956-58 Kuala Lumpur Invited by Education Minister of Malaysia to establish education policies Established libraries across Malaysia 1956 Solo exhibition, Exhibition of Cartoons, Calligraphy and Paintings, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Published, Mr. Fluke Published, Education of a Son, in Chinese, English and Malay 1957-58 Traveled throughout Malaysia establishing libraries and adult education classes 1957-60s Published, Niubizi Education cartoons, in students’ weekly magazine 1957 Solo exhibition, Newbits Educational Cartoon Exhibition in Kuala Lumpur Joint exhibition, Ten Friends Calligraphy and Painting Exhibition, Hong Kong 1959-61 Penang 1959-61 Senior Teacher in Han Jiang High School 1960 Published, Eight Talks on Niubizi in Malay Published, The Strong Man of the Fine Arts, article in Guanghua Daily newspaper 1961 Published, New Remarks on Cartoon, article in Guanghua Daily newspaper 1962-73 Alor Setar 1962-73 High School Headmaster at Xin Min High School 1960s Published, Niubizi Education Cartoons (10 booklets) Published, Art Educational books for primary school Published, Picture compositions for all levels of primary school Published, Practical Guide to Cartooning, instructional book for correspondence course

MAJOR Timeline

Published, Niubizi and Xiao Niu, cartoon in newspaper Unpublished, Practical Guide to Painting 1967 Published, The History of Chinese in Malayasia and Singapore (Huarenzhi), by Ming Jian Publishers (Hong Kong) 1960s Wenzihua Sketches, collection of single ancient Chinese characters Wenzihua Sketches, “The Dictionary” – an analysis of 586 single Chinese characters, its ancient forms and meanings Late Wenzihua Sketches, use of 1960s ancient Chinese characters in idioms and Buddhist sayings 1970 Wenzihua Sketches of poems Early Wenzihua Sketches, 1970s 1611 pieces of single or multiple characters 1972-73 Wenzihua Sketches, “The Diary” – additional collection of single characters, focusing on the different shapes of the picture words 1973-74 Wenzihua Sketches for paintings – 51 sketches of auspicious Chinese idioms and sayings 1973-78 Penang 1973-78 Retirement marked another huge turning point for Huang Yao’s life, enabling his to focus on his first love, painting Eve and Adam Collection Creation of Wenzihua, the paintings of Chinese characters Ziyouhua, Contemporary abstract paintings Chuyunshu calligraphy of the Heart sutra Traditional paintings of landscape, human figures in zen, children, Goddess of Mercy, God of longevity, animals and plants, and scrolls of 100 children at play 1975 Solo exhibition, Sanjiang Association, Singapore Wenzihua Sketches, The Drawings – 51 graphic designs of picture words 1978-87 Kuala Lumpur 1978-87 Moved to Kuala Lumpur to be with his son and family. He was prolific in his creativity and output of paintings. They include:

Chuyunshu calligraphy with or without painting in the background; Continued the creation of Wenzihua; Paintings of important Chinese women in history and important Chinese people with surname Huang; Paintings of human figures in poetic settings, children, folk culture figures and important figures in Tao, Zen and Buddhism; Ink paintings of landscape, animals and plants.

Late Sketches of men in poetic 1970s settings, children and folk culture figures 1979 Published, Listen to Mr. Niubizi’s Views on Cartoons, article in Xinmin Daily newspaper Late Unpublished, History of 1970s Chinese Nanyang Merchants 1980 Joint exhibition, Three Friends Calligraphy and Painting Exhibition, Taipei Museum, Taiwan Joint exhibition, Painting and Calligraphy Exhibition, Hong Kong Art Center, Hong Kong National TV interview – six episodes on Culture of the East, recorded by Yang Bangyi 1980s Published, New Talks on Cartoons, article for newspaper Early Unpublished, Basic 1980s Chinese Painting Unpublished, Basic Chinese Calligraphy Unpublished, Basic Cartooning Unpublished, Appreciation of Chinese Paintings Unpublished, Cane 1981-82 Published, series of 11 articles under Old Times and Old Friends in Zhuanji Wenxue, Taiwan Begin Narrating with Chen Juanjuan and Likeng About Li Minwei The Fascinating Li Jia Ban Opera In Memory of Yan Duhe and His Son Mao Mao

Huang Yao is More Than Just Myself My Father The Owner of “A Hundred Fans Study” – Huang Manshi Penang’s Luo Qingquan Cartoons of Guiyang 1981 Solo exhibition, Huang Yao Art Exhibition at Moravian College, Pennsylvania, USA Solo exhibition, Folk Culture Paintings at Art House Gallery, Kuala Lumpur Joint exhibition, Calligraphy and Painting by Malaysian Chinese, organized by Nanyang Shangbao, Malaysia 1982-83 Published Moyuan Suibi, 62 articles from weekly art column in Nanyang Shangbao newspaper 1982 Republished, Ten Talks on Niubizi, Liming Wenhua Shiye Co. Ltd., Taiwan Solo exhibition, Huang Yao Art Exhibition at Bethlehem Lions Club, USA Published, Guiyang’s “Salt King” Liu Xiyi 1983 Published, Yunnan’s Gao Yinhuai Brothers Joint exhibition, International Calligraphy and Painting Exhibition, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Joint exhibition, International Calligraphy and Painting Exhibition, National Museum, Singapore 1984 Joint exhibition, International Calligraphy and Painting Exhibition, Japan 1985 Solo exhibition, Huang Yao Calligraphy and Painting Exhibition by Malaysian Writers’ Association for Scholarship Funds, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Joint exhibition, Exhibition of Paintings for the Pei Foong School, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Joint exhibition, Exhibition of Paintings for Lim Lian Yu Fund, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Er Mei Shan’s Wondrous Monk Hong Lai

1986 Solo exhibition, Painting on Pottery in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Zhang Henshui and I

by Boat to Sichuan

1987 Huang Yao passed away in January

60

Special thanks to: CHINESE HERITAGE CENTRE

British Museum, London

Chinese Heritage Centre, Singapore

Nanyang Siang Pao, Kuala Lumpur

Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, Kuala Lumpur

We would also like to personally thank the following organization for their contribution to our journey: Action Foundation, Kuala Lumpur Cartoon Art Committee, Shanghai China Artists Association, Beijing Chongqing Library, Chongqing Guilin Archives, Guilin Guiyang Archives, Guiyang Jiashan County Government, Zhejiang Ministry of Information, Communication and the Arts, Singapore National Art Gallery, Singapore National Art Museum of China, Beijing National Heritage Board, Singapore National Library Board, Singapore Palace Museum, Taipei Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai Shanghai Library, Shanghai Soka Gakkai, Kuala Lumpur

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