{"id":368,"date":"2023-11-27T19:54:53","date_gmt":"2023-11-27T19:54:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/lotus\/?p=368"},"modified":"2025-11-16T01:30:28","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T01:30:28","slug":"gaylord-prize-recipients-summer-research-in-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/lotus\/2023\/11\/27\/gaylord-prize-recipients-summer-research-in-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Gaylord Prize Recipient\u2019s Summer Research in China"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Hong<\/span>li Zeng <\/span>\u201824<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

In the past summer I traveled to Chengdu, China, my home, to conduct field research with funding from the Asian Studies Program\u2019s <\/span>Gaylord Prize for Independent Study Research<\/span>. The project examines representations of the Korean War in <\/span>lian huan hua <\/span><\/i>(<\/span>\u8fde\u73af\u753b<\/span>), a particular form of Chinese comic books widely produced and circulated in socialist China. In close collaboration with Professor John Williams of the History Department and Asian Studies Program, I collected and translated these materials, which will also be used for teaching purposes at Colorado College. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Despite being one of the opening episodes of the global Cold War, The Korean War (1950-1954) remains a \u201cforgotten war\u201d in the United States, where its historical significance is often overshadowed by the more heated narrative of the American entanglement in Cuba and Vietnam. On the other hand, it was and still is remembered in China as the cornerstone of its nationhood, for it brought about the very critical geopolitical security of the newly born republic. Among the various literary and artistic forms circulating in the early decades of the nation, <\/span>lian huan hua<\/span><\/i> played a crucial role in shaping the depiction of the Korean War to Chinese readers. In my research, I attempted to explore the ways in which the Korean War was textually narrated, visually portrayed, and collectively remembered through <\/span>lian huan hua<\/span><\/i>, with a brief investigation into the origin and afterlife of <\/span>lian huan hua<\/span><\/i> in 20th century China. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

 My research involved compiling a list of <\/span>lian huan hua<\/span><\/i> on the Korean War and gathering secondary literature on relevant topics.I also conducted interviews with people who were or are actively involved with reading, collecting, and selling these comic books. Given their popularity for their capacity to evoke nostalgia among collectors in today\u2019s China, I was able to connect with and talk to some collectors and business owners of <\/span>lian huan hua<\/span><\/i>. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Another highlight of the research was my trip to Shanghai located in eastern China. In this hotspot of China\u2019s cultural, intellectual, and political activities for much of the 20th century, I talked to scholars specializing in the history of popular culture in Shanghai<\/span>,<\/span> and visited local archives and libraries, where I acquired many precious materials for my research. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

One of the <\/span>lian huan hua<\/span><\/i> works I translated over the summer is <\/span>A Profound Friendship <\/span><\/i>(\u6df1\u539a\u7684\u53cb\u8c0a)<\/span>, depicting the shared revolutionary cause of a Chinese and a Korean boy in Manchuria during Japanese occupation in the 1930s. Their profound transnational friendship developed under Japanese colonialism then brought them together again on the Korean battlefield in the early 1950s<\/span>,<\/span> but this time, positioning them against \u201cAmerican imperialism.\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Cover Illustration for <\/span>A Profound Friendship <\/span><\/i>(\u6df1\u539a\u7684\u53cb\u8c0a) published in<\/span> 1965 in Shanghai. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

The picture above depicts the scene where, after years of seperation, two close friends finally reunited during combat. The caption reads: <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span>I held the hand of a Korean People\u2019s Army soldier dearly: \u201cThank you for your backup!\u201d That soldier said in firm determination: \u201cChinese and Korean people are the comrade-in-arms going through life and death together. American imperialism is the common enemy of ours. Let us fight together and strike the American devils more fiercely!\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

 
\nThe caption on the concluding page reads: <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThank you Uncle Cui!\u201d I held the booklet in my tight hands. Facing the rising red sun in the east, I said to Changhao and Uncle Cui with determination: \u201cI will take good care of this booklet and let Chinese-Korean people\u2019s profound friendship radiate the glorious brilliance forever!\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Overall, my independent summer research funded by Asian Studies\u2019 Gaylord Prize was a rewarding experience for my academic practice and intellectual growth. For those who are interested <\/span>in looking more closely into materials like the ones above, may want to consider registering for the Block 7 class in the upcoming Spring semester: <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHY304 Advanced Topics in History: Print and Popular Culture in 20<\/span>th<\/span> Century East Asia\u201d taught by Professor John Williams of the History Department and Asian Studies Program.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

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

By Hongli Zeng \u201824  In the past summer I traveled to Chengdu, China, my home, to conduct field research with funding from the Asian Studies Program\u2019s Gaylord Prize for Independent Study Research. The project examines representations of the Korean War in lian huan hua (\u8fde\u73af\u753b), a particular form of Chinese comic books widely produced and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1825,"featured_media":369,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2023-2024"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/lotus\/files\/2023\/11\/Lotus5.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/lotus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/lotus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/lotus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/lotus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1825"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/lotus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=368"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/lotus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":372,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/lotus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368\/revisions\/372"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/lotus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/lotus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/lotus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/lotus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}