In later generations, when it comes to cartoonists during the Republic of China, many people know Feng Zikai because he is famous enough.

But in China in the twenties, there were still many talents engaged in comic creation, but their reputation was not obvious, or their works were not passed down to future generations.

Chinese manga is slightly different from Japanese manga in that it is mainly satire, while Japanese manga is more narrative-oriented.

This has a lot to do with the attitude of the painting circles of the two countries towards comics.

In the Chinese painting world, ink painting was admired, and later Western oil painting was introduced to China, and many people admired oil painting, while comics were regarded as a small way, which was not taken seriously, and could only be used in illustrations in books and caricatures in newspapers.

Lin Zixuan wanted to find a cartoonist, and the first thing that came to mind was Feng Zikai.

He inquired about Du Yu, but before Du Yu made a movie, he made a living by painting the paintings of ladies on the moon cards, and he had a small reputation in the circle of Shanghai painters.

But Du Yu knows Feng Zikai, but now Feng Zikai is not in Shanghai, he should go back to his hometown Zhejiang.

On November 9, 1898, Feng Zikai was born in Chongde County, Zhejiang Province.

In 1914, Feng Zikai was admitted to Zhejiang Provincial First Normal School, where Feng Zikai met two teachers who had a major impact on his life, Li Shutong and Xia Yazhuan.

Li Shutong was a very famous person, he was versatile, and later became a monk and was called Master Hongyi.

After graduating from Feng Zikai School in 1919, he organized and initiated the "Chinese Aesthetic Education Association" and founded the magazine "Aesthetic Education".

Subsequently, he and his friends founded the first art normal school in the history of Chinese education, including painting, music, and handicrafts, - Shanghai Junior College Normal School.

In 1921, he went to Japan for a short period of time to study painting, music, and foreign languages.

In 1922, he returned to China and taught painting and music at Chunhui Middle School in Shangyu, Zhejiang.

Since Feng Zikai is not in Shanghai, it is impossible for Lin Zixuan to go to Zhejiang to bring him back, and there are still many cartoonists in Shanghai.

Speaking of which, cartoonists in this era are relatively down-and-out, and they are basically part-time.

Because it is difficult to support oneself by drawing satirical cartoons in newspapers, and this kind of caricature is easy to offend the Beiyang government, and the living space is extremely narrow.

But the cartoonist introduced by Du Yu is called Ding Shu.

Born in 1889, Ding Tzu spent his childhood as an apprentice at the Changtai Pawnshop in Laobeimen, Shanghai, and studied at an art college in his spare time.

In 1912, he was the first to publish cartoons in the "Declaration", exposing the ugly behavior of powerful people who only cared about their own enjoyment and disregarded the interests of the people and the country.

Later, he taught sketching at the Shanghai Art School, and then was employed by the advertising department of Shanghai British American Tobacco, engaged in the drawing of cigarette posters, and published cartoons in magazines and newspapers in his spare time.

Many cartoonists of this era painted posters at British American Tobacco in Shanghai, such as the very famous cartoonist Zhang Guangyu.

It can be said that the company's advertising department has become the cradle of Chinese cartoonists.

Lin Zixuan met with Ding and talked about his idea of drawing a narrative-based long comic.

Actually, his idea is similar to that of Chinese comics, but comics are not the same as Japanese comics.

A comic book is generally an illustration with a paragraph of text as a page, the content of the picture shows the text content, the text content supplements the content of the picture to a certain extent, and the proportion of the picture and the text is half and half.

Japanese manga is mainly based on pictures, and one page is divided into multiple frames, and the picture and text are very closely combined.

Ding Zhen was unimpressed by Lin Zixuan's idea, and it was extremely difficult for him to make a living by drawing comics in China.

He had a stable job, teaching at an art school and drawing comics in newspapers in his spare time, which was both a hobby and a pastime, and he couldn't imagine it if he was allowed to rely solely on drawing comics for a living.

Although Lin Zixuan painted a beautiful prospect, he didn't believe it, he felt that Lin Zixuan was whimsical.

It's just that Lin Zixuan is quite prestigious, and he is a child of a rich family, as well as publishing houses and newspapers, everyone is in a circle, and it is not good for him to refuse directly, so he thought of a way to refuse.

"Mr. Lin, comics do not require high drawing skills, and students from the Academy of Fine Arts can do it, and they should be interested in this idea." Ding said euphemistically.

What he means is that it is easier for you to deceive those students, they are enthusiastic, and it is easy to be seduced by you, I am already middle-aged, I have a family to support, or I am crazy if I don't accompany you.

Lin Zixuan heard the subtext, and he also understood Ding Zhen's thoughts, but he didn't give up.

Maybe the students of the Academy of Fine Arts are really better coaxed.

With this in mind, he came to the Shanghai Art College, which is also Dan Duyu's alma mater.

Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts was founded on November 23, 1912 as "Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts".

At the beginning of its establishment, the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts had only one department, specializing in Western painting, which was later changed to Western painting. Later, four departments were added, namely Chinese painting, Western painting, pattern painting, and labor.

From 1914, the Academy of Fine Arts began to offer human sketching classes to break down secular prejudices, and in 1917 an exhibition of human sketching achievements was held, creating a precedent for the model system of art education.

It was the exhibition that caused an uproar because the students were drawing naked mannequins.

In this era, this bold approach has caused an uproar in society, and many people are scolding schools for being immoral.

Members of the Shanghai Zhabei legislature submitted a petition to the authorities to ban the character sketching classes of the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts, but the public concession authorities did not pursue the case.

In July 1920, the principal, Liu Haisu, even hired a Russian woman as a full-time model, and subsequently some Chinese women as models.

Liu Haisu is extremely controversial, some say he is a master, others say he is a liar.

Xu Beihong, who had spent time at the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts, denounced the school as a "pure pheasant school" in 1932, while Liu Haisu could only brag.

Lu Xun also wrote an article to ridicule this person, thinking that this person was too boastful of his achievements.

In 1921, the Academy of Fine Arts was renamed Shanghai Art College.

In 1922, it was relocated to No. 440 Caishi Road, French Concession, Shanghai, and was rebuilt on the basis of Yongxitang Zheshao Hall.

Lin Zixuan's arrival attracted the attention of the school.

This kind of famous novelist deserves a warm welcome, whether he is coming to give a lecture or visiting, especially when Lin Zixuan says that he wants to ask a few students for help.

The school thought that Lin Zixuan had taken a fancy to the outstanding students of their school, so they enthusiastically introduced them.

This made Lin Zixuan very embarrassed, he actually wanted to find a few students with the worst grades, such students have a foundation in painting, but no talent for painting, and they can just be tricked into drawing comics.

If it is really brought those excellent painting seedlings to draw comics, resulting in the loss of several painting masters in China in the future, then Lin Zixuan's sin will be great.

He doesn't want to mislead people!

"I'm looking for students who are a little bit worse here to illustrate books." Lin Zixuan said tactfully.