He Jianshi

He Jianshi
何劍士
Born	He Bing (何昺) 1877 Nanhai, Guangdong, China
Died	1915
Chinese name
Chinese	何劍士
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Hé Jiànshì Wade–Giles Ho2 Chien4-shih4

He Jianshi (simplified Chinese: 何剑士; traditional Chinese: 何劍士; pinyin: Hé Jiànshì, 1877 – 1915) was a Chinese cartoonist, painter, and songwriter. The son of He Kunshan [zh], a wealthy businessman, He learned the arts in his youth, as well as swordfighting from a monk in Sichuan. In 1905, He began producing cartoons for the Journal of Current Pictorial, using among numerous others the pen name Jianshi ("Swordsman"), and continued producing manhua for The True Record when that magazine was established in 1911. A member of the Tongmenghui, an anti-Qing movement, he promoted the use of Chinese opera to spread revolutionary ideas. Analysis of He's work has emphasized his flamboyant style, drawing from the literati tradition while blending realism and exaggeration.

He Jianshi was born He Bing (何昺)^[1] in Nanhai, Guangdong, in 1877.^[2] The son of He Kunshan [zh],^[3] a wealthy businessman,^[a] He gained a familiarity with the arts – including music, painting, and poetry – from a young age.^[2] Other pursuits included equestrianism and hunting.^[3] He developed a fondness for alcohol and a reputation as a womanizer.^[4]

In his youth, He wandered China. While in Sichuan, he trained under a monk, thereby becoming a proficient sword fighter.^[1] He thus took Jianshi ("Swordsman") as his most commonly used art name,^[5] though was also known by the courtesy name Zhonghua (仲华) and numerous pen names.^[b][1] His family lost its fortune in the early 20th-century, and He lived in isolation.^[3]

He returned to Guangdong, where he joined the Tongmenghui,^[1] a group opposed to the Qing dynasty, and began producing manhua (cartoons) decrying them.^[c] When the Journal of Current Pictorial was established under Pan Dawei in September 1905, He joined as a cartoonist, producing numerous manhua for the magazine^[2] – eight to ten per issue.^[1] For the magazine's inaugural issue, he prepared a short poem espousing its purpose:

At the time, the treatment of Chinese workers in the United States was the subject of heated discourse. When American delegates – including Secretary of War William Howard Taft – visited Guangzhou in 1905, the Journal of Current Pictorial published several anti-American articles.^[6] He painted several pieces of street art expressing similar sentiments. One, depicting a turtle carrying a beautiful woman, urged locals to refuse to carry sedan chairs for the visiting Americans.^[1] Ultimately, the Journal of Current Pictorial was banned by the Qing dynasty in 1907, and He and its staff left for Hong Kong to continue publication.^[7] After continued pressure from the Qing government, in 1908 the British government of Hong Kong also banned the publication.^[8]

During the Xinhai Revolution in 1911, He penned several songs, including "Farewell" (送别), "Flower Burial" (葬花), and "Yanzi Tower" (燕子楼). He believed that the Chinese opera could be used to cultivate support for the revolutionaries,^[2] and in 1906 he had – together with Pan Dawei, Lai Yitao, and Liang Juexian – established the Youshijie Drama Society in Guangzhou for that purpose.^[9] He was manager of the group.^[9] In 1912, with the establishment of The True Record, He was one of the inaugural staff.^[7] Before it closed in 1913, the magazine published dozens of comics; attribution is difficult, as He and fellow cartoonists Zheng Nuquan and Ma Xingchi used more than a dozen pen names between them.^[10]

Often working through the night, He became sickly and was later diagnosed with tuberculosis.^[1] He died in mid-1915, shortly after painting a picture of swarming insects.^[2] The comics writer Zheng Jiazhen writes that, shortly before he died, He fell into a stupor. Upon awakening, he found that his hair had greyed, and realized that he would soon die.^[5]

According to Guo Shan of Nanfeng News, He had a flamboyant style. He's early works drew from the realism that marked cartoons in the Dianshizhai Pictorial,^[2] an illustrated magazine published as a supplement to the Shen Bao.^[10] Over time, however, these works became increasingly exaggerated and imaginative.^[2] The manhua scholar Huang Dade described his work as an awakening, showing that while it is necessary to grasp the essence of realism, an exaggerated or even sloppy presentation can be effective.^[11] Zheng writes that he greatly influenced the development of Hong Kong manhua.^[5]

In painting, He drew from the literati tradition. Hu Shan of the Hong Kong Asia Pacific Artists Association notes a combination of traditional styles and brushwork with Western concepts of sketching and shading. Hu writes that He's skills cannot be described as profound, which he attributes to the breadth of the artist's interests.^[12]

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  Grinding Sesame Oil
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  Seizing the Opportunity
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  Character Album
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  The Bandit's Song (1913)