Episode Five: "The Empire, Long Divided, Must Unite": The Story of the Three Kingdoms

In this episode I describe the early history of the Chinese comic book industry--specifically the lianhuanhua industry--from its beginning in 1899 to its first end during the Cultural Revolution.

I discuss the history of pictorial communication in pre-modern China; the influence of lithography on Chinese publishing; the Romance of the Three Kingdoms; the "Four Famous Female Roles," i.e. the four major lianhuanhua writer/artists of the 1930s; The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple; Lu Xun; and Mao's opinion on lianhuanhua.