{"id":192,"date":"2025-05-07T22:03:37","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T14:03:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/?p=192"},"modified":"2025-09-09T19:48:57","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T11:48:57","slug":"interview_2025_03","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/2025\/05\/07\/interview_2025_03\/","title":{"rendered":"Inter\u00adview on \u201cOrig\u00adi\u00adnal Pic\u00adture Books: Select\u00aded Read\u00adings and High\u00adlights\u201d (Part 3)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Intro\u00adduc\u00adtion: This is an inter\u00adview pod\u00adcast con\u00adduct\u00aded on \u201cPic\u00adture Book Lol\u00adlipop\u201d, host\u00aded by Xiaox\u00adi\u00adang and guest Ajia. Start\u00ading from the ref\u00ader\u00adence book \u201cOrig\u00adi\u00adnal Pic\u00adture Books: Select\u00aded Read\u00adings and High\u00adlights\u201d pub\u00adlished at the end of 2024, an in-depth con\u00adver\u00adsa\u00adtion was held around the selec\u00adtion cri\u00adte\u00adria, his\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal con\u00adtext, cur\u00adrent themes and future devel\u00adop\u00adment of orig\u00adi\u00adnal pic\u00adture books. The record\u00ading time is on the evening of Jan\u00adu\u00adary 3, 2025, and the broad\u00adcast time is Jan\u00adu\u00adary 17, 2025.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fol\u00adlow\u00ading text is com\u00adpiled as an excerpt. To lis\u00adten to the full pod\u00adcast, please click the fol\u00adlow\u00ading audio link:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Himalaya:<\/strong>38 <\/strong>Dia\u00adlogue with Teacher Ajia: Has the Spring of Orig\u00adi\u00adnal Pic\u00adture Books Arrived?<\/strong>Pic\u00adture Book Lol\u00adlipop<\/strong>Free online read\u00ading, lis\u00adten\u00ading and down\u00adload\u00ading\u2014 <\/strong>Himalayas<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Micro\u00adcosm:<\/strong>http:\/\/t.cn\/A6uDFbvy<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Click to open \u00bb> Part I<\/a> | Part 2<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part 3<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every\u00adone thinks that this book (The Return of Radish) is a long-stand\u00ading folk tale, but in fact it is an orig\u00adi\u00adnal work by a Chi\u00adnese writer in 1955, and it is adapt\u00aded from a sto\u00adry in the Bat\u00adtle of Shang\u00adgan\u00adling dur\u00ading The Kore\u00adan War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Xiaox\u00adi\u00adang:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, I also learned about this after read\u00ading your book. It\u2019s real\u00adly amaz\u00ading!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also remem\u00adber that at the Shang\u00adhai Chil\u00addren\u2019s Book Fair last year, I inter\u00adviewed Mr. Ye Jun\u00adliang from the French Hongfei Pub\u00adlish\u00ading House. He men\u00adtioned that they also pub\u00adlished this book \u201cThe Return of Radish\u201d in France, and the illus\u00adtra\u00adtor was the French girl Clemence Pol\u00adlet who drew the French ver\u00adsion of \u201cMulan\u201d. Her illus\u00adtra\u00adtions are very con\u00adsis\u00adtent with the con\u00adtem\u00adpo\u00adrary aes\u00adthet\u00adic style. So I think this sto\u00adry is real\u00adly mag\u00adi\u00adcal. \u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

French ver\u00adsion of \u201cThe Return of Radish\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Then I think we can talk about some fur\u00adther top\u00adics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

For exam\u00adple, in the first part of your book, after intro\u00adduc\u00ading the def\u00adi\u00adn\u00adi\u00adtion and devel\u00adop\u00adment of orig\u00adi\u00adnal pic\u00adture books, you spent a lot of space talk\u00ading about the char\u00adac\u00adter\u00adis\u00adtics of orig\u00adi\u00adnal pic\u00adture books. I think this area is par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly worth explor\u00ading in depth. You put for\u00adward some key\u00adwords, such as \u201cunique col\u00adors\u201d, \u201cChi\u00adnese sto\u00adry ele\u00adments\u201d, \u201clocal cus\u00adtoms\u201d, \u201ctra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal cul\u00adture\u201d, \u201cphilo\u00adsoph\u00adi\u00adcal thoughts\u201d, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would like to ask you to talk about this part. You men\u00adtioned at the begin\u00adning that Chi\u00adnese orig\u00adi\u00adnal pic\u00adture books have a spe\u00adcial \u201ccol\u00ador\u201d. In fact, we did\u00adn\u2019t seem to pay much atten\u00adtion to this before. \u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOrig\u00adi\u00adnal Pic\u00adture Books: Select\u00aded Read\u00adings and High\u00adlights\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You also specif\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly men\u00adtioned in your book that the use of col\u00adors in orig\u00adi\u00adnal Chi\u00adnese pic\u00adture books actu\u00adal\u00adly has two cul\u00adtur\u00adal sources: one is literati ink paint\u00ading, which is rel\u00ada\u00adtive\u00adly fresh and ele\u00adgant, with a literati tem\u00adpera\u00adment; the oth\u00ader is the live\u00adly, folk col\u00ador expres\u00adsion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Could you please elab\u00ado\u00adrate on this top\u00adic? It is about the use of col\u00adors in orig\u00adi\u00adnal Chi\u00adnese pic\u00adture books and the cul\u00adtur\u00adal ori\u00adgins reflect\u00aded by these col\u00adors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ajia:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a good ques\u00adtion. But I would like to say a few more words about the top\u00adic that I did not ful\u00adly dis\u00adcuss before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why did my book end in 2000? The part before that, includ\u00ading the col\u00ador you men\u00adtioned, may be imme\u00addi\u00adate\u00adly clear if you know pic\u00adture books before 2000. I did not expand on this part because the infor\u00adma\u00adtion is not suf\u00adfi\u00adcient. But the \u201c100 Years, 100 Books\u201d series men\u00adtioned above, in fact, many are reprints of old books col\u00adlect\u00aded by Teacher Wang Zhi\u00adgeng.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How\u00adev\u00ader, for exam\u00adple, there are some dif\u00adfer\u00adences between \u201cThe Return of Radish\u201d and the first ver\u00adsion pub\u00adlished in 1955. For exam\u00adple, from the per\u00adspec\u00adtive of pic\u00adture nar\u00adra\u00adtive, the read\u00ading direc\u00adtion was not com\u00adplete\u00adly from left to right. The direc\u00adtion of trav\u00adel at that time was more ran\u00addom, some\u00adtimes from left to right, some\u00adtimes from right to left, for the con\u00adve\u00adnience of arrange\u00adment and also con\u00adsid\u00ader\u00ading print\u00ading costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You know, we now gen\u00ader\u00adal\u00adly believe that going from left to right is for\u00adward, and going from right to left is back\u00adward, which is our com\u00admon nar\u00adra\u00adtive gram\u00admar. But in the 1950s, these were not very impor\u00adtant, so the new ver\u00adsion you see now is actu\u00adal\u00adly a re-arrange\u00adment, not exact\u00adly the orig\u00adi\u00adnal one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was con\u00adtro\u00adver\u00adsy at the time, and some edi\u00adtors believed that since it was a repli\u00adca, it should be kept in its orig\u00adi\u00adnal state to have archival val\u00adue. How\u00adev\u00ader, most edi\u00adtors still felt that some adjust\u00adments should be made to respect the read\u00ading habits and inter\u00adests of con\u00adtem\u00adpo\u00adrary and future chil\u00addren.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the text and lay\u00adout of the ver\u00adsion you are see\u00ading now have actu\u00adal\u00adly been mod\u00adi\u00adfied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I think this is very impor\u00adtant:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why are we still will\u00ading to pre\u00adserve and repro\u00adduce Chi\u00adna\u2019s ear\u00adly orig\u00adi\u00adnal pic\u00adture books?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because they are real\u00adly beau\u00adti\u00adful, the illus\u00adtra\u00adtions are real\u00adly beau\u00adti\u00adful. \u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Radish is Back\u201d Inside Page<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u200bThe cre\u00adators of that era often had a very deep foun\u00adda\u00adtion in Chi\u00adnese stud\u00adies and tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal art, and many of them were mul\u00adti-tal\u00adent\u00aded. For exam\u00adple, Mr. Yan Gefan, the illus\u00adtra\u00adtor of \u201cThe Car\u00adrot is Back\u201d, is actu\u00adal\u00adly a musi\u00adcian. His fam\u00adi\u00adly is first-rate in ani\u00adma\u00adtion, music, and art. It is hard to imag\u00adine now that an illus\u00adtra\u00adtor of a pic\u00adture book can be a play\u00adwright, ani\u00adma\u00adtion direc\u00adtor, musi\u00adcian, and artist at the same time, but it was not uncom\u00admon in that era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the one hand, they can draw fairy tales and learn West\u00adern tech\u00adniques, and on the oth\u00ader hand, they have a very strong foun\u00adda\u00adtion in tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal Chi\u00adnese art. Whether they are draw\u00ading tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal sto\u00adries or chil\u00addren\u2019s sto\u00adries, the style of their works is some\u00adtimes very ele\u00adgant, with a strong literati col\u00ador; some\u00adtimes they are par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly fes\u00adtive, inte\u00adgrat\u00ading a lot of folk art ele\u00adments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, if you study the devel\u00adop\u00adment of Chi\u00adnese con\u00adtem\u00adpo\u00adrary art, you will find that artists like Lin Feng\u00admi\u00adan, Zao Wou-Ki and Wu Guanzhong have all drawn a lot of nour\u00adish\u00adment from Chi\u00adnese folk art. They have com\u00adbined con\u00adtem\u00adpo\u00adrary art and tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal folk art very well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pic\u00adture book illus\u00adtra\u00adtors who were at the fore\u00adfront of the times often pos\u00adsessed two qual\u00adi\u00adties at the same time:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They can cre\u00adate paint\u00adings with a very lit\u00ader\u00adary tem\u00adpera\u00adment, and can also absorb very rich folk cre\u00adative resources. But they are not the kind of \u201ccopy\u00ading\u201d you see in folk paint\u00adings. \u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cov\u00ader of \u201cDing Ding Ding\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Let me give you an exam\u00adple. Take for exam\u00adple the book \u201cDeng\u00addeng\u00addeng\u201d by Wang Zumin, which recent\u00adly won the Bologna Illus\u00adtra\u00adtion Award. You see, it has a folk fla\u00advor, right? But it is also a work with mod\u00adern artis\u00adtic inter\u00adest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Xiaox\u00adi\u00adang:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, so it won the award in Bologna. The West\u00adern judges also men\u00adtioned the \u201cstyle of West\u00adern con\u00adtem\u00adpo\u00adrary art\u201d in their com\u00adments, which we thought was quite strange at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ajia:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, but in fact you will find that it is actu\u00adal\u00adly an exten\u00adsion of the school of Lin Feng\u00admi\u00adan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For exam\u00adple, Zhu Chengliang\u2019s paint\u00ading \u201cDon\u2019t Let the Sun Fall\u201d looks very folk, but in fact it also incor\u00adpo\u00adrates the expres\u00adsion of con\u00adtem\u00adpo\u00adrary art. Zhu Chengliang was the edi\u00adtor of \u201cFolk Art\u201d at the time and was deeply influ\u00adenced by the edi\u00adtor-in-chief, Ke Ming, who was a stu\u00addent of Lin Feng\u00admi\u00adan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is also Teacher Cai Gao \u2014 on the one hand, she is good at paint\u00ading very literati things, the most typ\u00adi\u00adcal exam\u00adple is the blank space in \u201cThe Sto\u00adry of Peach Blos\u00adsom Spring\u201d, which itself has a free\u00adhand style. But if you look close\u00adly, you will find that her col\u00adors and shapes are actu\u00adal\u00adly also very char\u00adac\u00adter\u00adis\u00adtic of folk paint\u00adings. \u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inside Page of Mulan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u200b\u200bEspe\u00adcial\u00adly her \u201cMulan\u201d, that kind of beau\u00adty, that kind of taste, and the deep earthy smell, as well as the sym\u00adbol\u00adic expres\u00adsion, I think it is very good. I per\u00adson\u00adal\u00adly like her \u201cMeng Jiangnu Cry\u00ading at the Great Wall\u201d, the col\u00adors are very sym\u00adbol\u00adic, it can\u2019t be said to be pure\u00adly folk, but you can real\u00adly feel the folk mean\u00ading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would like to empha\u00adsize that the artis\u00adtic char\u00adac\u00adter\u00adis\u00adtics of Chi\u00adnese orig\u00adi\u00adnal pic\u00adture books can be felt very intu\u00aditive\u00adly in terms of col\u00ador. You can tell at a glance that some works are Chi\u00adnese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For exam\u00adple, when Zhu Chengliang\u2019s Don\u2019t Let the Sun Fall was just pub\u00adlished, it hap\u00adpened to be the Shang\u00adhai Book Fair, and I showed it to Mr. Mar\u00adcus from the Unit\u00aded States. As soon as he opened it, he said that the book looked \u201cvery Chi\u00adnese\u201d, very Chi\u00adnese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what\u2019s inter\u00adest\u00ading is that although he couldn\u2019t read Chi\u00adnese char\u00adac\u00adters, he could imme\u00addi\u00adate\u00adly under\u00adstand what sto\u00adry the pic\u00adtures were telling. This shows that the visu\u00adal nar\u00adra\u00adtive of this book is actu\u00adal\u00adly very \u201cWest\u00adern\u201d. To some extent, it has absorbed a lot of the fun of nar\u00adra\u00adtive in West\u00adern pic\u00adture books. \u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inside page of Don\u2019t Let the Sun Fall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For exam\u00adple, the sun ris\u00ades from a cer\u00adtain posi\u00adtion in the pic\u00adture, moves to anoth\u00ader posi\u00adtion at noon, and final\u00adly sets. The change of the height of the sun in the pic\u00adture shows the advance\u00adment of time \u2014 this is actu\u00adal\u00adly a com\u00admon nar\u00adra\u00adtive method of time and space in West\u00adern pic\u00adture books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For exam\u00adple, there is a scene where we are stand\u00ading in a cave and look\u00ading out, stand\u00ading behind the ani\u00admals in the sto\u00adry, and look\u00ading at the scenery they are look\u00ading out. This kind of \u201cper\u00adson involved per\u00adspec\u00adtive\u201d actu\u00adal\u00adly appeared in \u201cThe Tale of Peter Rab\u00adbit\u201d. This is not the way of expres\u00adsion in our tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal Chi\u00adnese visu\u00adal art, but the gram\u00admar of West\u00adern pic\u00adture book nar\u00adra\u00adtive. \u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inside page of Don\u2019t Let the Sun Fall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Illus\u00adtra\u00adtions from The Tale of Peter Rab\u00adbit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But its col\u00adors are com\u00adplete\u00adly tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal Chi\u00adnese col\u00adors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think these cre\u00adators are real\u00adly amaz\u00ading. They have found a very good bal\u00adance between \u201ctra\u00addi\u00adtion\u201d and \u201cmoder\u00adni\u00adty\u201d, \u201cEast\u201d and \u201cWest\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Xiaox\u00adi\u00adang:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you think that the use of col\u00adors, which is influ\u00adenced by Chi\u00adnese tra\u00addi\u00adtion \u2014 whether it is literati paint\u00ading or folk art \u2014 will con\u00adtin\u00adue as a trend among the new gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion of orig\u00adi\u00adnal pic\u00adture book cre\u00adators, or is there some changes tak\u00ading place?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ajia:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think there may be a gap at some stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For exam\u00adple, I once gave a lec\u00adture in Wen\u00adzhou, shar\u00ading Cai Gao\u2019s \u201cMeng Jiangnu Weep\u00ading at the Great Wall\u201d, and Tian Yu was also present at the time. When I talked about the col\u00adors of this book, he was very shocked. He did\u00adn\u2019t expect that there was such a strong expres\u00adsive inten\u00adtion behind those col\u00adors. \u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Page from Meng Jiangnu Weep\u00ading at the Great Wall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For exam\u00adple, the col\u00ador of \u201cwater\u201d in the book is emer\u00adald green. In the eyes of Mr. Cai Gao, it is the col\u00ador of \u201cjade\u201d, which sym\u00adbol\u00adizes the integri\u00adty and integri\u00adty of \u201crather be bro\u00adken into pieces than live in husks\u201d. The col\u00adors of the objects in the paint\u00ading actu\u00adal\u00adly con\u00advey the char\u00adac\u00adter of the peo\u00adple. This is the spir\u00adi\u00adtu\u00adal essence of \u201cusing objects to express ideas\u201d in our tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal literati paint\u00adings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tian Yu and his gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion of cre\u00adators may not have been par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly aware of these things at the begin\u00adning. They may not have con\u00adsid\u00adered the sym\u00adbol\u00adic col\u00adors as the main cre\u00adative ele\u00adments. They are more con\u00adcerned with the shape itself, and pre\u00adfer styles with a bit of car\u00adtoon fun and action per\u00adfor\u00admance. They also have their own way of expres\u00adsion. This is because they grew up in anoth\u00ader visu\u00adal cul\u00adture envi\u00adron\u00adment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But when they tru\u00adly appre\u00adci\u00adate the beau\u00adty of these tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal expres\u00adsions, you will find that they are also try\u00ading some kind of fusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For exam\u00adple, Tian Yu lat\u00ader col\u00adlab\u00ado\u00adrat\u00aded with his father on Once Upon a Time There Was a Moun\u00adtain. You can see that the book is actu\u00adal\u00adly an attempt at fusion. The back\u00adgrounds in the book were paint\u00aded by his father, an ink painter who par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly likes to paint tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal land\u00adscapes; the char\u00adac\u00adters were main\u00adly paint\u00aded by Tian Yu. You can see that in Tian Yu\u2019s recent cre\u00adations, he has also begun to con\u00adscious\u00adly explore the pro\u00adfound con\u00adnec\u00adtion between col\u00ador and mean\u00ading. \u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cov\u00ader of Once Upon a Time There Was a Moun\u00adtain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u200bThe act of \u201ccross\u00ading the fault\u201d actu\u00adal\u00adly requires peo\u00adple to \u201cbuild a bridge\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I myself am also in the process of con\u00adtin\u00adu\u00adous learn\u00ading, slow\u00adly under\u00adstand\u00ading and expe\u00adri\u00adenc\u00ading. After under\u00adstand\u00ading, some\u00adtimes you can\u2019t help but exclaim: \u201cWow, it turns out that you can express it this way, it\u2019s amaz\u00ading.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some\u00adtimes you just feel it but can\u2019t say it. But as you con\u00adtin\u00adue to com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adcate and learn, you will be able to say it and express it. Oth\u00aders may also feel it and even begin to con\u00adscious\u00adly look for such ways to express it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You have to under\u00adstand that visu\u00adal lan\u00adguage is con\u00adstant\u00adly evolv\u00ading. We won\u2019t always use only one way of expres\u00adsion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More\u00adover, some con\u00adtem\u00adpo\u00adrary art expres\u00adsions are actu\u00adal\u00adly found in very ancient sources. For exam\u00adple, a lot of con\u00adtem\u00adpo\u00adrary art is actu\u00adal\u00adly inspired by cave paint\u00adings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u00adfore, we must con\u00adtin\u00adue to redis\u00adcov\u00ader and reopen those tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal ways of expres\u00adsion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Xiaox\u00adi\u00adang:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anoth\u00ader top\u00adic sud\u00adden\u00adly occurred to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of the books we just talked about, espe\u00adcial\u00adly those by the old\u00ader gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion of pic\u00adture book cre\u00adators, are adapt\u00aded from folk tales or ancient clas\u00adsics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a read\u00ader born in the 1980s, I actu\u00adal\u00adly have some nat\u00adur\u00adal expec\u00adta\u00adtions for the fun of these adapt\u00aded works. I hope that they can bring a sense of \u201csub\u00adver\u00adsion\u201d or make me feel refreshed. If the draw\u00adings are just good and the text is just a sim\u00adple retelling of the orig\u00adi\u00adnal sto\u00adry, then I may not be par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly inter\u00adest\u00aded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I would like to ask you:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you think it\u2019s pos\u00adsi\u00adble for our domes\u00adtic orig\u00adi\u00adnal pic\u00adture books to be adapt\u00aded into some\u00adthing com\u00adplete\u00adly dif\u00adfer\u00adent in aes\u00adthet\u00adics and expres\u00adsion, like \u201cMulan\u201d pub\u00adlished by France\u2019s Hongfei Pub\u00adlish\u00ading House?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In oth\u00ader words, will there be adapters like Mike Bar\u00adnett and Jon Klassen in the Unit\u00aded States? They have adapt\u00aded many fairy tales, but each one has a strong per\u00adson\u00adal style and con\u00adtem\u00adpo\u00adrary inter\u00adest. For exam\u00adple, the style of their adap\u00adta\u00adtion of \u201cThe Three Bil\u00adly Goats Gruff\u201d is com\u00adplete\u00adly dif\u00adfer\u00adent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you think about this issue?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ajia:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you said, the French ver\u00adsion of \u201cMulan\u201d is the inter\u00adpre\u00adta\u00adtion of French cre\u00adators; the live-action movie ver\u00adsion of \u201cMulan\u201d and the ani\u00admat\u00aded ver\u00adsion of \u201cMulan\u201d that we see are the Amer\u00adi\u00adcan inter\u00adpre\u00adta\u00adtions, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, an old sto\u00adry may be rein\u00adter\u00adpret\u00aded by dif\u00adfer\u00adent peo\u00adple to cre\u00adate a com\u00adplete\u00adly new ver\u00adsion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For exam\u00adple, the orig\u00adi\u00adnal sto\u00adry of \u201cThe Laugh\u00ading Old Woman Who Lost Her Rice Ball\u201d, which won the Calde\u00adcott Gold Medal, was col\u00adlect\u00aded and com\u00adpiled by Hearn Yaku\u00admo, a Greek-Japan\u00adese who lat\u00ader became a nat\u00adu\u00adral\u00adized Japan\u00adese. The pic\u00adture book ver\u00adsion of the sto\u00adry was adapt\u00aded by an Amer\u00adi\u00adcan librar\u00adi\u00adan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such spread and adap\u00adta\u00adtion is actu\u00adal\u00adly a very nat\u00adur\u00adal thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are also dif\u00adfer\u00adent ver\u00adsions of Hua Mulan in Chi\u00adna, such as I Am Hua Mulan, a col\u00adlab\u00ado\u00adra\u00adtion between Qin Wen\u00adjun and Yu Rong, which is a com\u00adplete\u00adly dif\u00adfer\u00adent sto\u00adry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are all good, so I don\u2019t think there is any need to wor\u00adry too much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what I want to empha\u00adsize is that when we retell a folk sto\u00adry, we must have our own ideas. We must think about what we want to say to the chil\u00addren of today and the chil\u00addren of the future. This is very impor\u00adtant, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For exam\u00adple, the song \u201cOnce Upon a Time There Was a Moun\u00adtain\u201d by Tian Yu that I men\u00adtioned ear\u00adli\u00ader is actu\u00adal\u00adly dif\u00adfer\u00adent from the nurs\u00adery rhyme we sang when we were young, \u201cThere is a tem\u00adple in the moun\u00adtain, there is an old monk in the tem\u00adple\u2026\u201d It tells more of a sto\u00adry about fam\u00adi\u00adly affec\u00adtion. \u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mis\u00adchief King-A-Pooh<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For exam\u00adple, didn\u2019t I recent\u00adly pub\u00adlish the sto\u00adry of \u201cThe Mis\u00adchief King-A-Pooh\u201d? I actu\u00adal\u00adly bor\u00adrowed a lot of tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal sto\u00adries, not only from Chi\u00adna but also from abroad. What I want to do is to use these tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal sto\u00adries to say some\u00adthing new that belongs to our era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the core points I want to express is: there is noth\u00ading new under the sun. Even if you tell a sto\u00adry that \u201cseems\u201d has nev\u00ader been told before, you can even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly find its pro\u00adto\u00adtype \u2014 it\u2019s just told in a dif\u00adfer\u00adent way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Human emo\u00adtions and com\u00adplex inter\u00adper\u00adson\u00adal rela\u00adtion\u00adships have long been thor\u00adough\u00adly explained by our ances\u00adtors. But today, we use an old shell to tell a new sto\u00adry. The key lies in what your new sto\u00adry is about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For exam\u00adple, the book \u201cThe Mon\u00adkey Catch\u00ading the Moon\u201d intro\u00adduced in my book won the first prize of the Xinyi Pic\u00adture Book Award that year. \u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inside page of \u201cOrig\u00adi\u00adnal Pic\u00adture Books: Select\u00aded Read\u00adings and High\u00adlights\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you read it, you will find that although it looks like a tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal sto\u00adry, the sto\u00adry is actu\u00adal\u00adly com\u00adplete\u00adly dif\u00adfer\u00adent. It is said that the orig\u00adi\u00adnal ver\u00adsion of \u201cThe Mon\u00adkey Catch\u00ading the Moon\u201d may be a Bud\u00addhist sto\u00adry from India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the pic\u00adture book ver\u00adsion was rewrit\u00adten by a \u201cfemale macho\u201d born in the 1990s. It looks like a tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal sto\u00adry, but it is actu\u00adal\u00adly a rewrite of her own child\u00adhood mem\u00ado\u00adries. This is a great cre\u00adation! She put her child\u00adhood mem\u00ado\u00adries, her hopes for child\u00adhood, and her under\u00adstand\u00ading of growth into it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think this is the kind of sto\u00adry we par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly need \u2014 using tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal sto\u00adries to express mean\u00adings that today\u2019s chil\u00addren can under\u00adstand and feel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For exam\u00adple, I also rec\u00adom\u00admend \u201cThe Mouse Mar\u00adries a Bride\u201d in my book. There are many ver\u00adsions of this sto\u00adry, but I par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly like the one orig\u00adi\u00adnal\u00adly pub\u00adlished in Tai\u00adwan. \u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alang jump\u00ading up to grab the hydrangea in \u201cThe Mouse Mar\u00adries a Bride\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my opin\u00adion, it is actu\u00adal\u00adly telling today\u2019s chil\u00addren: Be brave and proac\u00adtive in rela\u00adtion\u00adships between the sex\u00ades, don\u2019t always wait for oth\u00aders to arrange things for you, and don\u2019t think that hap\u00adpi\u00adness will fall from the sky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hap\u00adpi\u00adness is some\u00adthing you have to fight for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you think there is such an expres\u00adsion in the tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal ver\u00adsion of \u201cThe Mouse Mar\u00adries the Bride\u201d? Not at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This \u201ccon\u00adtem\u00adpo\u00adrane\u00adity\u201d is added by the cre\u00adator, but you will not feel it is out of place when read\u00ading it \u2014 it reads nat\u00adu\u00adral\u00adly and is par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly pleas\u00ading to the eye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I think retelling the clas\u00adsics is inevitable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the sto\u00adries we tell are, in a sense, retellings of clas\u00adsics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s just that many of us haven\u2019t read so many sto\u00adries, so we always feel that this sto\u00adry is new and that sto\u00adry is new to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in my opin\u00adion, all sto\u00adries are actu\u00adal\u00adly old sto\u00adries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(The above is the third part, to be con\u00adtin\u00adued)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u7b80\u4ecb\uff1a\u8fd9\u662f\u5728\u201c\u7ed8\u672c\u68d2\u68d2\u5802\u201d\u8fdb\u884c\u7684\u4e00\u6b21\u8bbf\u8c08\u64ad\u5ba2\uff0c\u4e3b\u6301\u4eba\u662f\u5c0f\u5df7\uff0c\u5609\u5bbe\u662f\u963f\u7532\uff0c\u4ee52024\u5e74\u5e95\u51fa\u7248\u7684\u5de5\u5177\u4e66\u300a\u539f\u521b\u56fe\u753b\u4e66 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":193,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,19,12],"tags":[8,5,7,6,20],"class_list":["post-192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-review","category-myworks","category-ajia-review","tag-8","tag-5","tag-7","tag-6","tag-20"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/\u539f\u521b\u56fe\u753b\u4e66\u9605\u8bfb\u4e0e\u7cbe\u54c1\u7b80\u4ecb06-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":225,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192\/revisions\/225"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}