{{Short description|Chinese painter, manhua artist}} {{good article}} {{family name hatnote|Ye|lang=Chinese}} {{Infobox artist |name = Ye Qianyu<br />叶浅予 |image = Wang Renmei and Ye Qianyu.jpg |imagesize = |caption = Ye Qianyu and wife Wang Renmei |birth_name = Ye Lunqi (葉綸綺) |birth_date = 31 March 1907 |birth_place = Tonglu, Zhejiang, China |death_date = {{death date and age|1995|5|5|1907|3|31|df=y}} |death_place = Beijing |spouse = Luo Caiyun (1930s)<br />Dai Ailian (1940–51)<br />Wang Renmei (1955–87) |field = Manhua and Chinese painting |movement = |works = ''Shanghai Manhua''<br />''Mr. Wang''<br />''Liberation of Beiping'' |awards = |module = {{Infobox Chinese |child=yes |s=叶浅予 |t=葉淺予 |p=Yè Qiǎnyú |w=Yeh Ch'ien-yü }} }} '''Ye Qianyu''' (or '''Yeh Ch'ien-yü'''; 31 March 1907 – 5 May 1995) was a Chinese painter and pioneering manhua artist. In 1928, he cofounded ''Shanghai Manhua'', one of the earliest and most influential manhua magazines, and created ''Mr. Wang'', one of China's most famous comic strips.
Ye was also a master of traditional Chinese painting and served as the head of the Department of Chinese Painting of the China Central Academy of Fine Arts. During the Cultural Revolution he was persecuted and imprisoned for seven years.
Ye was married three times. His first two marriages, to Luo Caiyun and dancer Dai Ailian, ended in divorce. His third marriage, to movie star Wang Renmei, lasted more than 30 years until Wang's death.
==Early life== Ye Qianyu was born '''Ye Lunqi''' ({{lang|zh|葉綸綺}}) in Tonglu county, Zhejiang province in 1907. Although he loved to paint since childhood, he had neither the money nor the opportunity to seek professional training, forcing him to teach himself how to paint.<ref name="song">{{cite book |last=Song |first=Yuwu |title=Biographical Dictionary of the People's Republic of China |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DGbyzKLVh30C&pg=PT712 |year=2013 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=9781476602981 |page=712}}</ref>
==Career in Shanghai== At age 18 Ye moved to Shanghai,<ref name="cri">{{cite web |url=http://gb.cri.cn/9223/2007/06/19/1266@1639806.htm |script-title=zh:有十个叶浅予，中国就文艺复兴了 |author=Zou, Yong |publisher=China Radio International |language=zh |date=2007-06-19 |access-date=2013-11-03 |archive-date=2007-10-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071009205059/http://gb.cri.cn/9223/2007/06/19/1266@1639806.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> where he found work at a small, short-lived journal ''Sanri Huabao'' (''Three Day Pictorial''). The journal shut down when Chiang Kai-shek's Northern Expedition army reached Shanghai in April 1927.<ref name="laing">{{cite web |url=http://mclc.osu.edu/rc/pubs/laing.htm |title=Shanghai Manhua, the Neo-Sensationist School of Literature, and Scenes of Urban Life |author=Laing, Ellen Johnston |publisher=Ohio State University |date=October 2010 |access-date=2013-11-03}}</ref>
Out of work, Ye Qianyu, then 20 years old, together with fellow cartoonists Huang Wennong and Lu Shaofei released a publication dedicated to manhua, called ''Shanghai Manhua'' (or ''Shanghai Sketch''). The first effort looked like a propaganda poster and was a failure. Undeterred, the original three, joined by eight more artists including Zhang Guangyu, Ding Song, and Wang Dunqing, formed the Shanghai Sketch Society (also translated as Shanghai Cartoon Association) in the autumn of 1927.<ref name="laing"/> It was China's first association dedicated to manhua, and its debut was a major event in the history of Chinese comics.<ref name="hung">{{cite book |last=Hung |first=Chang-tai |title=War and Popular Culture: Resistance in Modern China, 1937-1945 |url=http://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft829008m5&chunk.id=d0e950&toc.id=d0e1770&brand=ucpress |year=1994 |location=Berkeley |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=9780520082366}}</ref>{{rp|30}}
Under the leadership of Zhang Guangyu, who recruited the wealthy poet Shao Xunmei as a sponsor,<ref name="laing"/> the association successfully relaunched the ''Shanghai Manhua'' on 21 April 1928.<ref name="ifeng">{{cite web |url=http://news.ifeng.com/history/gundong/detail_2010_12/25/3695868_0.shtml |script-title=zh:《上海漫画》 |trans-title=Shanghai Manhua |publisher=Phoenix TV |language=zh |date=2010-12-25 |access-date=2013-11-04}}</ref> Ye drew several covers for the magazine<ref name="laing"/> and the back page of the publication carried his comic strip, ''Mr. Wang''. Inspired by the American strip ''Bringing Up Father'' and portraying the daily life of the middle and lower classes of Shanghai,<ref name="lent">{{cite book |editor=Lent, John A. |title=Illustrating Asia: Comics, Humor Magazines, and Picture Books |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SSM4r36KjuQC&pg=PA114 |year=2001 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |isbn= 9780824824716 |page=114}}</ref> ''Mr. Wang'' became one of China's most famous cartoons, eventually being made into 11 films in the 1930s and 40s.<ref name="fitzgerald">{{cite book |last=FitzGerald |first=Carolyn |title=Fragmenting Modernisms: Chinese Wartime Literature, Art, and Film, 1937-49 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IUMWLj5VVncC&pg=PA79 |year=2013 |publisher=BRILL |isbn= 9789004250994 |chapter=Chapter 2}}</ref>{{rp|86}}
In June 1930 ''Shanghai Manhua'' was merged into ''Modern Miscelleny'' (or ''Modern Pictorial'', 时代画报),<ref name="ifeng"/> of which Ye became an editor while continuing his ''Mr. Wang'' series.<ref name="lent"/>
In September 1936, Ye Qianyu, Lu Shaofei, and Zhang Guangyu organized the First National Cartoon Exhibition in Shanghai. It displayed over 600 cartoons from all over the country. After the overwhelming success of the exhibition, the artists formed the National Association of Chinese Cartoonists in the spring of 1937. The blossoming movement, however, was brought to a halt by the Japanese invasion a few months later.<ref name="hung"/>{{rp|34}}
==Second Sino-Japanese War==
When Japan invaded China and occupied Shanghai in 1937, Ye Qianyu, together with a group of fellow Shanghai cartoonists, formed the "National Salvation Cartoon Propaganda Corps", which included well-known artists Zhang Leping, Lu Zhixiang, Te Wei, and Hu Kao.<ref name="fitzgerald"/>{{rp|79}} Ye's lover, Liang Baibo, was the only female member.<ref name="LentYing2017">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e1goDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA30|title=Comics Art in China|last1=Lent|first1=John A.|last2=Ying|first2=Xu|publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi|year=2017|isbn=978-1-4968-1177-6|pages=30–32}}</ref> Funded by the Kuomintang government, the corps left Shanghai for the interior to spread anti-Japanese propaganda.<ref name="fitzgerald"/>{{rp|79}} They first went to Wuhan, but were forced to leave when that city fell at the end of 1938. They then travelled to Changsha, Guilin, and eventually to the wartime capital Chongqing. They published 15 issues of ''Resistance Cartoons'' before the government discontinued funding.<ref name="fitzgerald"/>{{rp|91}}
Ye went to Hong Kong prior to its fall to the Japanese in December 1941, and traveled through Guizhou, Guangxi, and Vietnam. In 1943 he temporarily worked for the US General Joseph Stilwell as a war correspondent in India. Throughout his travels he drew many sketches of wartime scenes, including a series entitled ''Escape from Hong Kong''.<ref name="fitzgerald"/>{{rp|92}}
==After World War II== After the surrender of Japan in 1945, Ye Qianyu went to the United States, where he held a series of exhibitions to show and sell his artworks.<ref name="song"/>
In 1947, Ye became a professor at the Beiping (Beijing) Art Academy. After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, he remained at the academy, which was transformed into the China Central Academy of Fine Arts.<ref name="song"/> He was also elected vice-chairman of the China Artists Association.<ref name=caa>{{cite web |url=http://www.caanet.org.cn/AboutCAA/jianjie.aspx |title=中国美协简介 |access-date=2016-02-26 |language=zh |publisher=China Artists Association |archive-date=2016-04-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160411090918/http://caanet.org.cn/AboutCAA/jianjie.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1954, he was appointed head of the Chinese Painting Department of the academy. He painted prolifically in the 1950s, including such representative works as ''Indian Dancing'', ''Autumn of the Summer River'', and ''The Liberation of Beiping''.<ref name="song"/>
When the Cultural Revolution began in 1966, Ye Qianyu was accused of being a Kuomintang (KMT) agent for having drawn propaganda paintings and cartoons for the KMT government during the Japanese invasion. The Red Guards labeled him as a KMT "Major General" because he was better paid than a real general. He was imprisoned for seven years.<ref name="meyer">{{cite book |title=Wang Renmei: The Wildcat of Shanghai |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oDGEEez9o34C&pg=PA89 |first1=Richard J. |last1=Meyer |publisher=Hong Kong University Press |year=2013 |isbn=9789888139965 |page=89}}</ref> After his release in 1975, he was allowed to return to work at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, as a janitor.<ref name="meyer"/> He nearly died of a heart attack the following year, and underwent a major operation in 1978. His wife Wang Renmei supported the family during this period.<ref name="meyer"/>
Ye Qianyu was politically rehabilitated in 1979. In 1981 he was appointed Vice President of the Research Institute of Chinese painting, and re-elected vice-chairman of the China Artists Association and member of the National Committee of the CPPCC. He died in 1995 in Beijing, aged 88.<ref name="song"/>
==Personal life== thumb|Ye Qianyu with his first wife Luo Caiyun [[File:Ye Qianyu, Dai Ailian, and Ye Mingming.jpg|thumb|Ye Qianyu with his second wife Dai Ailian and daughter Ye Mingming]]
Ye Qianyu was married three times. At age 23, he married Luo Caiyun ({{lang|zh|罗彩云}}), who was from a prominent family in his hometown Tonglu. The marriage was arranged by their parents. She gave birth to a son Ye Shen ({{lang|zh|叶申}}) and a daughter Ye Mingming ({{lang|zh|叶明明}}).<ref name="ye">{{cite news |script-title=zh:父亲叶浅予和我的三个妈妈 |trans-title=My father Ye Qianyu and my three mothers |author=Ye, Mingming |url=http://whb.news365.com.cn/jy/201304/t20130420_1077966.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20131105122651/http://whb.news365.com.cn/jy/201304/t20130420_1077966.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 5, 2013 |newspaper=Wen Hui Bao |language=zh |date=2013-04-20 |access-date=2013-11-04 }}</ref><ref name="zhao">{{cite book |script-title=zh:文化人的人情脉络 |author1=Zhao, Zhen (赵朕) |author2=Wang, Yixin (王一心) |chapter-url=http://data.book.hexun.com.tw/chapter-4336-2-42.shtml |chapter=57. 覆水难收的婚姻悲剧：叶浅予与罗彩云和梁白波 |trans-chapter=A tragic marriage: Ye Qianyu, Luo Caiyun, and Liang Baibo |publisher=Tuanjie Publishing House |location=Beijing |language=zh |isbn=9787802145078 |date=2009-02-01 |access-date=2014-01-07 |archive-date=2014-01-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107193945/http://data.book.hexun.com.tw/chapter-4336-2-42.shtml |url-status=dead }}</ref>
In 1935, while he was an editor with the ''Modern Sketch'' magazine, Ye fell in love with Liang Baibo, one of the first female Chinese cartoonists and creator of the comic strip ''Miss Bee''. Luo Caiyun rejected Ye's request for divorce, but they agreed to become legally separated.<ref name="LentYing2017" /><ref name="zhao"/>
At the start of the Sino-Japanese War, Liang Baibo joined Ye's Salvation Cartoon Propaganda Corps and went to Wuhan with him. However, Liang met and fell in love with an air force pilot in Wuhan, eventually following him to Taiwan.<ref name="LentYing2017" /><ref name="zhao"/> She suffered from mental illness in her later years and committed suicide circa 1970.<ref name="LentYing2017" /><ref name="ye"/>
In 1940 Ye Qianyu met the dancer Dai Ailian in Hong Kong. An overseas Chinese born in Trinidad, Dai had come to Hong Kong to support the war effort. Although Dai could not speak Chinese and Ye spoke little English, they fell in love and got married within a few weeks. Soong Ching-ling, the widow of President Sun Yat-sen, presided over their wedding.<ref name="ye"/> Because of a botched surgery in Hong Kong, Dai was unable to have children. According to Ye Qianyu's daughter Mingming, who lived with her father and was initially hostile to her stepmother, Dai treated her as if she had been her own child.<ref name="ye"/>
In 1950 Ye spent more than half a year in Xinjiang. When he returned to Beijing, Dai Ailian unexpectedly asked for divorce, because she had fallen in love with her dance partner. Ye was devastated; the divorce was finalized in 1951. Dai Ailian lived until 2006, and is now known as the "Mother of Chinese ballet".<ref name="ye"/>
Ye's last wife was Wang Renmei, a famous actress who had been previously married to the "Film Emperor" Jin Yan. Introduced by mutual friends, they got married in 1955. The marriage was stormy from the beginning, but it lasted more than 30 years, through the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution, until Wang's death in 1987.<ref name="ye"/>
Luo Caiyun, Ye Qianyu's first wife, lived with their son Ye Shen in Wuxi, Jiangsu.<ref name="zhao"/> When Ye Qianyu was accused of being a KMT agent and thrown into prison during the Cultural Revolution, Luo was persecuted for being his ex-wife.<ref name="ye"/> She committed suicide in 1970.<ref name="zhao"/>
==Selected works== {{Gallery ||''Woman and the Serpent'', cover for ''Shanghai Manhua'', 12 May 1928 ||''Summer Fashions'' from ''Shanghai Manhua'', 26 May 1928 ||Cover of ''Modern Sketch'' issue 2, 1934 ||''Supply Exceeds Demand and Demand Exceeds Supply'', Nov. 1935 }}
==See also== {{commons category|Ye Qianyu}} *Feng Zikai
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ye, Qianyu}} Category:1907 births Category:1995 deaths Category:Artists from Hangzhou Category:Victims of the Cultural Revolution Category:Chinese comics artists Category:Academic staff of the Central Academy of Fine Arts Category:Chinese magazine editors Category:Inmates of Qincheng Prison