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The Corruption Behind Government Funded Animation In Twentieth-Century China

Mark Mullan
B00656106
DES130 Design Discourse One

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The arts receive a tiny amount of government funding but deliver big returns for our
economy and for our society. For an investment of just 13p, just look at what we get back
events, performances, exhibitions, concerts, workshops all of which contribute to
improving our society, drive economic growth and jobs creation, and raise Northern Irelands
global profile as a place people want to live in and visit. (Roisin McDonough, 2014) Roisin
McDonough, head of the Arts Council NI makes a valid plea against the proposed cuts to the
arts budget for Northern Ireland in the coming year 2015. In the last three years the arts in
Northern Ireland have faced six consecutive cuts to their funding, and in a time where the arts
were beginning to flourish, it confused me as to why such cuts would be made.

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While experiencing this issue first hand as an arts student in Northern Ireland, it is
then understandable why ones interests were peaked upon hearing the animation industry in
twentieth-century China received funding for their work, and were not dependant on
commercial endeavours in order to pursue their artistic ambitions. It felt strange that a
country so densely populated and who, to this day, rely heavily on the tertiary industry of
farming, would provide funding for a creative industry. This was investment beyond
confidence, as it came at a time where cinema was still only at a point of growth
internationally. Why, then, did the Chinese animation industry receive this bountiful gift
while even today arts sectors struggle in a world run by the media?

Roisin McDonough, Head of Arts Council NI

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To understand the relationship of the Chinese animation industry you must look at its
origins. It is commonly accepted that the animation industry as we know it did not begin until
the arrival of the Wan brothers in 1926 (ChinaCulture.org, n.d.). As pioneers in the Chinese
animation industry, it is possible to track and understand the turbulent history of this troubled
industry through the experience of this school of animators. One student studying the
industry expressed his opinion If we look under the surface we can see that not only are
Chinas animated films just as interesting as those from Japan, but the production of the films
reveal a microcosm of Chinas history. (A Brief History of Chinese Animation, 2011)

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The Wans had a fascination with making pictures from early childhood, and they
persisted with this interest while still working their day jobs for the Chinese Commercial
Publishing House. Their only instruments were a camera and an old box they had refitted as a
projector with ordinary lightbulbs and a few pencils, for a dark room they simply moved the
stove out of the kitchen in their seven square foot home. At times the brothers even sacrificed
food and clothing in order to pay for materials to pursue their interests in the field (Zhu, Y.
and Rosen, S, 2010, p.112). The Wan brothers humble beginnings gives an insight into how
commercial animation in China struggled while investment was placed in the propaganda
work. It wasnt until the commercial success of the American import of Snow White that
commercialism in Chinese Animation became viable.

The Wan Brothers

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The Wan brothers work in animation through the period of the Japanese invasion
reveals immediately how the industry was used as a propaganda tool. In the lead up to the
impending war French scholar Marie-Claire Quiquemelle wrote that the brothers produced
six educative and patriotic films for Lianhua before moving to Mingxing studios in 1933.
After the war broke out the Brothers work moved the viewer to share anti-Japanese views,
Zhang Huilin identified types of animation produced by the Wans during this period as those
with patriotic, anti-Japanese, anti-imperialist, and anti-feudalist propaganda and educational
fables. (Zhu, Y. and Rosen, S, 2010, p.113). We begin to see here how the animation
industry was exploited as a tool to influence the thoughts of Chinese society.

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The Wan Brothers produced the first animation short Uproar in the Studio running ten
to twelve minutes long in black and white, as well as Chinas first feature length animation
Princess Iron Fan released in 1941. "Eager to legitimize animation as a serious art form,
the Wans sought to merge American entertainment values with Soviet educational
imperatives (Cummings, D, 2012). The introduction of feature-length animations in China
followed the immensely successful import of Walt Disneys Snow White and the
overwhelming reaction from the contemporary Chinese society, assurance that animation had
a place in the Chinese marketplace. Of the Wan Brothers, it is said they believed that
Chinese animation should be instructive, logical and thought-provoking besides being

Princess Iron Fan (Still)

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entertaining to its audience. They wanted to emphasize the development of an animation style
that was uniquely Chinese. (Wikipedia, n.d.)
The growth and steady development of animation in China seemed to parallel the
political and social movements of the time. They followed, and at times influenced, the
changes in Chinese society and culture. On October 1, 1946 the first known motion picture
studio established by a communist party was set up in the Nenjiang province. In 1947
productions such as Emperors Dream used puppets in an exaggerated way to expose
corruption of the Kuomintang Chinese nationalist party (Wikipedia, n.d.). These works
display how the communist party successfully exploited this new and successful art form in
the twentieth century, highlighting the importance of the arts in moving a nation to change.
On October 1, 1949, Mao Zedong would lead China in embarking on a new communist era.

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In February 1950 this communist studio combined with other divisions such as the
Wan brothers to become the predecessor of Shanghai Animation Film Studio. The central
government began sponsoring the studio in April 1957, and Chinas first official animation
factory was born. ChinaCulture.org expressed that, It can be said that in the short run, the
financing of the Shanghai Animation Film Studio was strictly an extension of Maos AntiRightist Movement following up on speeches like Let hundreds of flowers blossom and
hundreds of schools of thought contend Mao has publicly admitted that promoting new art

Emporors Dream (Still)

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forms and institutions was vital to the new China. Though with time, his political campaign
would prove to be a major backlash to the industry. Putting an end to the golden
era. (ChinaCulture.org, n.d.)
In return for the money to create these works, the animation industry handed over
control to these political forces. The work, while successful and often beautiful, was
corrupted by the forces involved behind its production, which clearly had a lasting effect of
the reputation of the industry within China. In the Handbook of Chinese Popular Culture it
is stated that From 1949 to 1951, the Northeast Film Studio, the Shanghai Film Studio and
the Beijing Film Studio produced 35 features, 280 documentaries, and 6 animations. With
few exceptions, they all glorified the party and the government. (Wu, D. and Murphy, P,
1994, p.207) This statistic gives an impression to what extent the communist government had
an influence over the animation industry.

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As previously stated, the state of the animation industry in China paralleled the
countries own social and political movements, iconically the Cultural Revolution, a socialpolitical movement that took place in the Peoples Republic of China from 1966 until 1976.
Set into motion by Mao Zedong, then Chairman of the Communist Party of China, its stated
goal was to preserve true Communist ideology (Wikipedia, n.d.).
The animation industry was only funded and promoted by Mao Zedong as long as it
served as a useful propaganda tool in his Hundred Flowers Campaign.
A parade during theHundred Flowers Campaign

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The Communist government permitted public criticism and discussion of opinions on

controversial national policy issues in April of 1957. It is said the nation condemned
corruption and criticised the Communist party monopoly on power (Hays, J, 2008). Mao
himself apparently joined the criticism put up against the communist party, and in a
rambling speech on the The Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People, Mao
admitted that 15 percent or more of the Chinese population were hungry and he was not
surprised that some people were disgusted by Marxist inefficiencies. (Hays, J, 2008).
By mid-1957 the government began to have doubts about the campaign and the
freedom of expression it was invoking in society, however. They moved on to launching the
Anti-Rightest campaign, lasting three years.

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Mao Zedong sent a message to the animation industry. His regime would allow their
complete freedom of expression, however, if those views contradicted the political
communist party you would face severe persecution. Artefacts, antiques and literature were
destroyed in the red guard destruction crusades, wiping Chinese history of anything of
conflicting value to the Communist agenda (Wikipedia, n.d.).
Some artists who were labelled rightists for their creative works were humiliated,
forced into labour on farms in the country, sent to correctional facilities for re-education or
in some cases imprisoned (Hays, J, 2008).

Cultural Revolution propaganda poster

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Some famous artists in the film and literature industry would even commit suicide
rather than face such humiliation. Animators in particular were prohibited from drawing any
further work, forced instead into labour work. The period of the cultural revolution was
incredibly damaging to the industry, as it was practically non-existent for a full decade, and it
was labelled catastrophic for the reputation of Chinese animation. What is left of Chinese
animation from that time were the works of animators with incredibly strong communist
principles who favoured Maos campaign and furthered his ideology with works of
propaganda. One example being the animation Little Trumpeter in 1973, a story of a young
boy named Xiaoyong who became a heroic red guard soldier (Hays, J, 2008).
It appears the cost of government funded art was losing your creative freedom
entirely, as by the control of the communist party over the industry meant those in it lost any
sense of autonomy. In some cases it was taken even further, to the point where the animators
were humiliated for their personal beliefs and artistic endeavours.

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To grasp the gravity of this situation it is important to look at the experiences of
individuals who suffered through these periods. Searching for Lin Zhaos Soul is a recently
documentary where the filmmaker aims to expose the fate of a creative spirit found in a
young Chinese woman caught up in the Anti-Rightist Movement (Jie, H, 2011). Her suffering
is no better captured than in her resorting to cutting on her own body in order to use her blood
as ink to continue writing artistically while at the mercy of the Anti-Rightest Movement.
Little Trumpeter (Still)

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Lin Zhaos story is an absolutely haunting account, giving humanity to what Chinese
citizens actually faced at this time. The Anti-Rightist campaign saw between three and six
hundred thousand intellectuals and artists labeled as rightists (Hays, J, 2008), stripped of
employment and many were sent to labor camps with their candid Hundred Flowers
comments and works used as evidence against them. Those who had been given artistic
freedom by the government now suffered for the works they had created.

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This can be seen more clearly in terms of the animation industry in the experiences of
Te Wei, a successful artist of the early twentieth century and director of the Shanghai
Animation Film Studio responsible for such acclaimed works as Little Tadpoles Look for
Their Mother. Earlier in his career, Te Wei and the painter Jin Xi had been personally asked
by the Ministry of Culture to go to the Northeast and establish an animation group at the
Changchun Film Studio. His work in animation is better credited as discovering the distinct
Chinese stylisation, taking influence from sources such as the Peking Opera. He felt that if
Chinese animation was successful nationally it would succeed internationally, that is to say,
he felt if Chinese animation was unique in representing its own culture, that would achieve
success in the global market.
He led a group of anti-Japanese cartoonists during the Japanese invasion of 1937 and
of the groups activities stated, "We had exhibitions in and out of doors, printed our cartoon
works as posters put on walls, and published journals against the Japanese. We did everything
Lin Zhao

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ourselves, and though economic conditions were very difficult, we found ways to
survive." (Lent, J, 2015)
Despite all of this strong and politically aligned work within the animation industry,
Te Wei tragically became a victim of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, when the Shanghai
Animation Film Studio was shut down and many of its artists sent to re-education farms or
factories. It was at a pig farm that Te Wei met A Da, another notable animator of twentieth
century China (Cummings, D, 2012).

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When the Cultural Revolution began, Te Wei was isolated and monitored closely in a
small for an entire year. He said of the experience, In my tiny room, I had a table with a
pane of glass on it. I drew many paintings on it. When I heard sounds -- the guards coming -I erased the paintings with a wet cloth. I drew everything by imagination; I drew like I'd been
there and saw it. This capability was from having drawn cartoons and animation. Later when
my job was feeding pigs, I saw a lovely baby pig that I thought I would animate when I got
out, but I didn't. One fat pig we named Wu Fa Xian, after one of the Gang of Four. A Da and I
amused ourselves with humor at times. (Lent, J, 2015)
While in confinement, he was once deprived of sleep for three days due to
interrogation and on occasions was tortured. While in the country, he was forced to endure
labour such as digging rivers, carrying manure and rubbish and raising the livestock, where
his previous job had been as Director of an Animation Studio.
Little Tadpoles Look for their Mother (Still)

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It is important to note, however, that Te Wei expressed his view that he felt there was
very little control of the animation industry previous to the Cultural Revolution. He indicated,
Seldom was there government control of the animation industry. Some believe there was so
little government control so that the industry could develop smoothly. (Lent, J, 2015)

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It is clear to see, therefore, that Chinese animation was not always a government
funded art form. In its infancy, the industry struggled through humble beginnings much like
any other industry, with artists such as the Wan brothers working out of makeshift studios in
their kitchens and sacrificing amenities in order to fund their work. This raw passion and
drive for exploration of the field saw the steady growth of the industry within China where it
was on par with the rest of the world. However, the increasing turbulent social issues of the
state led to the industry being used as a propaganda tool in political wars. It can be seen
evidently how the funding of the industry for this purpose alone is what led to its damage,
resulting in the end of Chinas first Golden Age of Animation. The lasting effects can still be
seen today with Chinas significantly reduced reputation as a national source of animation,
such as that of Japan. Government funding came at a price of artistic integrity for the Chinese
Animation Industry.

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Te Wei

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