How did Hergé research China for The Blue
Lotus?
In previous Tintin comics Herge had fallen into the trap of
stereotyping other cultures. For example in Land of the Soviets, the Chinese
are portrayed as ‘evil’ torturers with slit eyes and long black ponytails. To date the foreign lands that Tintin had
travelled were clichés of the 1920s and 1930s. Bolsheviks were evil,
Americans were seen as gangsters or capitalists and Red
Indians were gullible and naïve.
The Blue Lotus represents a turning point in his work. For
the first time an adventure has a carefully devised structure. It is more
firmly rooted in reality, and carefully planned. All this planning, research
and structure came from Chang Chong-chen.
Herge was introduced to Chang Chong-chen in 1934. Chang
Chong-chen was a Chinese art student from Brussels. A priest (Father Gosset) who was a chaplain
to the Chinese students wrote to Herge asking him to avoid clichés and have a
closer look at the Chinese and do his research properly. Herge always keen to
learn and a bit of a perfectionist took on his advice and met Chang Chong-chen.
Herge believed that up until his encounter with Chang, China
was filled of slit-eyed people who were cruel, rude and had long ponytails. The
pictures and stories of the time influenced Herge and his perception on China
was incorrect.
Herge wanted to change the perception people had on China
and felt that these prejudices needed to change. On page 43 Tintin pulls a boy
out of the river, the boy is in shock and cannot believe that Tintin is helping
him. They talk about how one another’s culture is judged “you see, different
peoples don’t know enough about each other”.
After meeting and talking to Chang, Herge began his
‘documentalist’ period. Herge began to look for real pictures of China, he
started sketching how the Chinese dress and the architecture. He wanted people
to see what China was really like. It is evident in the Blue Lotus that Herge,
has portrayed China accurately, not only in terms of its setting and attention
to detail on people and buildings but also political events.
It is very interesting to read about how much effort Herge put into his comic and how Chang could change his opinion about the Chinese culture in such a positive aspect, some really interesting points!
ReplyDeleteYes I believe if it wasn't for Chang maybe his perception on China may have never changed? I admire Herge for giving China a voice. People needed to see that China was not just about slit-eyed cruel people. I believe people would have been a bit shocked when they saw TIntin help the boy out of the river?
ReplyDeleteYeah, I agree with Emily. It's really interesting how much of a perfectionist Herge was. His encounter with Chang Chong-chen would have been a life-changing moment. Moreover, the priest that suggested he should actually meet the Chinese students had open a door for Herge.
ReplyDeleteAgree, its almost as if Herge lived the characters in his booked. Some were his friends, some were his enemies, some he was endeared to to, some he loathed. I think he almost wanted to protect and defend his good friend Chang through the character in the book.
ReplyDelete