A Father's Gift

ByDeng Zhangyu September 4, 2020

A Chinese picture book for children highlights elements of traditional culture.

When Yang Fan's son was 18 months old, he had the idea of creating a picture book, featuring patterns and colors from traditional Chinese culture, as a birthday gift for his baby boy. The book is now ready after two years.

"Better later than never. I hope it helps to develop kids' appreciation of our art and culture," says the 35-year-old illustrator.

He recently published the picture book, Legend of the Phoenix, which won the Key Colors Award 2019, a biannual contest for illustrators of children's books organized by Clavis Publishing. The English version will be published for an overseas audience at the end of the year.

The 24-page book tells the story of a child's travels in his dreams. The little protagonist is brought into an old world-about the time of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)-by riding on a stone lion.

He witnesses birds paying homage to the phoenix, whose colorful feathers are given by hundreds of birds because the king of the birds shares its food with others to help them get though a hard time when food is in shortage.

All images in the book are from traditional culture, Yang says. For instance, the stone lion is inspired by a relic at the Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City, in Beijing. Trees and clouds are from murals of the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Gansu province, which houses the finest Buddhist art in China. Images of birds come from various brocade styles.

"I hope my son has access to good picture books featuring Chinese culture," says Yang, adding that bestselling children's picture books in the country are often introduced from the West.

To create the phoenix in his book, Yang went through more than 100 images of the mythical creature, with its origin in ancient Egypt, illustrated in both the West and the East, and tried to find the best features to produce the final result.

The appearance of the book's little boy, named Tuanzi, is based on his son. When Tuanzi goes into his dream, his appearance changes into a chubby boy wearing a red bellyband and a lock around his neck (which symbolizes longevity, according to traditional Chinese culture).

The image is commonly seen in woodblock paintings used for Spring Festival decorations.

Colors are another highlight of the picture book. Yang says colors favored by children are different from those favored by adults.

Children get excited by bright and vibrant tones while adults are comfortable with gray and subtle palettes, such as those found in the works of Italian painter Giorgio Morandi.

The main colors used in the book-red, green and yellow-are from porcelain pieces, murals and brocade work used in imperial times in China.

When Yang first showed the book to his 3-year-old son, the little boy was so excited that he kept yelling while staring at an image of fire, Yang says. "At that moment, I had the confidence that other kids would also like it."

Philippe Werck, publisher of Clavis Publishing, says it's the vibrant colors and vivid images of the book that touch him.

His publishing house will launch the book's English and Dutch versions later this year.

It is the first picture book by Yang, who has been influenced by Chinese culture through education.

Yang graduated from the art school of Tsinghua University, majoring in brocade art. He then studied design at Shandong University for his master's degree. He will go to Zhejiang University this month to study porcelain art for his PhD program.

He worked on the book while studying in Shandong Province. At that time, he also remotely worked as a design director for a textile company in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province.

Yang created the book along with his team of four schoolmates, who work in such fields as urban planning, industrial design and environmental art. They mostly worked at night-usually from 8 pm to early morning.

"It's like producing a film, and I'm the director," says Yang.

Talking about his future plans, Yang says Legend of the Phoenix is a beginning on his "road to picture books for children".

The book's folklore shows the virtues of sharing with others and being kindhearted, which the author says are found in Chinese culture. And there're more for him to explore. Of course, all will be integrated with elements from Chinese art.

"I hope my books can provide an alternative to parents who want their kids to learn more about Chinese culture," says Yang.

 

(Source: China Daily)

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