Zhang Leping ----Story of San Mao

The world-renowned Chinese cartoon "San Mao," drawn by Zhang Leping 70 years ago, tells a story to modern Chinese children of his own bitter childhood during World War II.

Zhang's San Mao series was first published in installments starting on November 20, 1935 in the Shanghai paperXiao Chen Bao.

When the Anti-Japanese War (World War II) broke out in 1937, Zhang served as a member of the wartime committee of the National Cartoonists' Association. InNanjing(East China),Wuhan(Central China),Changsha(Central China), andGuilin(Southwest China), he produced numerous posters and cartoons, among which "Chinese Children," "San Mao's Sword," and "The Final Struggle" were significant.

After the war ended, Zhang returned to Shanghai in 1946 and published, "San Mao Joins the Army" in the newspaper Shen Bao.

In 1947, he produced "The Story of San Mao (Three Hairs)," about a homeless orphan tramp. From June 1947 to the end of 1948, he published his representative work, "Urchin San Mao," in 234 installments in Shanghai's Da Gong Bao. This was later reprinted in four parts and sold throughout the country.

"Urchin San Mao" told the story of thousands of children and was a powerful indictment of old China. The wretched existence of the poor stood in sharp contrast to the profligate lives of the rich, which evoked a strong response when it appeared in Da Gong Bao.

With the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC), Zhang's work entered a new stage and a new San Mao appeared in "San Mao Greets Liberation," "San Mao's Past and Present," "San Mao's Diary," "San Mao Learns from Lei Feng," and "San Mao Loves Science."