Book Review: Chinese Animation. Volume 1: Religion, Philosophy and Aesthetics

 

 reviewed by John A. Lent, editor and publisher, International Journal of Comic Art

 

Thomas Paul Thesen. Chinese Animation. Volume 1:  Religion, Philosophy and Aesthetics. Ahrensburg:  Thesensches Offizin, tredition GmbH, 2025. 822 pp. ISBN:  978-3-00-080811-1. https://www.chinese-animation.com/

      Thomas Paul Thesen’s Chinese Animation. Volume 1:  Religion, Philosophy and Aesthetics is worthy of the accolade, plentifulness--with 822 pages; 41 pages of references to works in Chinese and English; an index of about 820 characters tied to religion, film, animation, philosophy, and other areas; 1,301 information footnotes, and access to 143 landscape paintings, Chinese ink-wash, and other types of animation films, available through a digital version of figures. An added technical bonus is that the book is designed as reader-friendly with a larger type font, double-spacing, sturdy paper, and names of works in both English and Mandarin, and Chinese individuals’ names in the Latin alphabet, Chinese characters, and Pin’yin spelling.

Thesen is very up front when discussing how he went about putting the book together, stating that his not knowing Mandarin “can be rather sensitive as the texts permit various interpretations, which, of course, will steer away from the original meaning of the often ancient texts”; that his efforts to keep the philosophical and religious concepts” understandable, “rendered many of them superficial and often lacking depth,” and that his knowingly making broad statements “not necessarily accurate in all their details” was again meant to be understood by the layman, avoiding the complexities of some concepts in their original wording.

What the reader must be aware of, besides Thesen’s scholarly integrity, is that he has succeeded in transforming much theoretical, philosophical, and technical wording into highly-readable text, and has utilized the services of six Chinese translators to ensure accurate language, all of whom he lists on the imprint page--Ho Dan’yuan, Wang Lexie, Lee Hui En, Chan Yen Ly, Chan Ying Xuan, and Wu Zhi Yun.

In this masterfully-crafted volume, Thesen meticulously explains China’s major teachings (Confucianism, Daoism, Chinese Buddhism, and folk religion), as well as “The Six Principles of Painting” (spirit-harmony-life-motion, bone manner by use of the brush, conformity with objects in portraying forms, follow characteristics in applying color, plan-design the place-position, and transmit-propagate models by sketching), laid down by Qi and Liang dynasties painter Xie He (active, ca. 500-535), and the additional aesthetic principles (naturalness and regularity, openness and suggestiveness, emptiness and substance, blandness, perspective and depth, and realism). In each instance, the author enlightens the reader with information about the evolution of these teachings and principles, as well as paintings and animated films related to them.

All of this background leads up to the main thrust of Chinese Animation…, the unique traditional Chinese ink-wash painting, and its spinoff to animation. Thesen spends considerable wordage on landscape painting as the cradle of ink-wash art, beginning with Six Dynasties (220-589) artist and musician Zong Bing’s initial description of landscape painting, through the Tang (618-907), Song (960-1279), Ming (1368-1644), and Qing (1644-1911/12) dynasties, going into detail about various painters’ lives and their works and some animated films that appeared later.

China’s major contribution to world animation, ink-wash, constitutes the fourth, and last part of the book, analyzing the country’s ten examples--“Where Is Mama?” (1960), “Little Swallow” (1960), “The Cowherd’s Flute” (1963), “The Deer’s Bell” (1982), “Feelings of Mountains and Waters” (1988), “The Foolish Scholar Shopping For Shoes” (1979), “Squirrel Barber” (1983), “Jia Er Sells Apricots” (1984), “36 Chinese Characters” (1984), and “Lanhua’hua” (1989). Normally, “Where Is Mama?” “The Cowherd’s Flute,” “The Deer’s Bell,” and “Feelings of Mountains and Waters” are designated as the only ink-wash productions; Thesen’s inclusion of six shorter works adds to future research possibilities.

To satisfy this reviewer’s futile attempt to find a shortcoming of Thesen’s work, perhaps, if he had interviewed ink-wash animators during his decades of research, their views would have added more authority to his findings. However, to overload him with this task, would be like having a railway maintenance worker of old, who had just put in a full day tamping ties and laying rails, then proceed to the coal mine to start his ten-hour shift. A bit exaggerated, but you get the point. Thesen does include quoted material of animators, such as Duan Xiaoxuan and Te Wei, gathered by other scholars.

Chinese Animation. Volume 1:  Religion, Philosophy and Aesthetics is a one-of-a-kind trough of facts, theories and concepts, history, and viewpoints on Chinese landscape painting, ink-wash and other animation forms, and the teachings and principles endemic to China and its art, all tied together, free of academese, presented in a flowing style, abounding in fascinating side stories, rigorously researched, and scrupulously analyzed. It is a “must” for university libraries and researchers and students serious about animation as a field of study, and a “highly-recommended” for those fascinated by Chinese culture.