Cheng Shifa (; 1921 – June 17, 2007) was a Chinese

calligrapher Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an exp ...

, painter, and

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

. Cheng was born in a small Chinese village outside the city of

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

in 1921, in modern Fengjing township. He originally studied

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

before deciding to focus on art. He graduated from Shanghai Art College in 1941. Cheng staged his first art show in 1942. Cheng was originally known as an

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

. He initially gained attention for illustrating short stories for

Lu Xun Lu Xun ( zh, c=魯迅, p=Lǔ Xùn, ; 25 September 188119 October 1936), pen name of Zhou Shuren, born Zhou Zhangshou, was a Chinese writer. A leading figure of modern Chinese literature, he wrote in both vernacular and literary Chinese as a no ...

, who is considered to be one of the 20th century's best known Chinese

satirist This is an incomplete list of writers, cartoonists and others known for involvement in satire – humorous social criticism. They are grouped by era and listed by year of birth. Included is a list of modern satires. Early satirical authors *Aes ...

s. However, Cheng ultimately became best known for his traditional brush paintings of

minority Minority may refer to: Politics * Minority government, formed when a political party does not have a majority of overall seats in parliament * Minority leader, in American politics, the floor leader of the second largest caucus in a legislative b ...

ethnic groups An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, rel ...

from

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

, a southwestern border province known for its ethnic diversity. Cheng's work stressed the unity and connection between different ethnic groups, winning Cheng awards from the government. Cheng Shifa was exposed to Chinese painting and calligraphy at an early age, but he was more impressed by folk art than by Chinese painting, graduating from the Chinese Painting Department of the Shanghai Fine Arts College in 1941, and holding a solo exhibition at the Shanghai Daxin Company in 1942. After 1949, he was engaged in art popularization work. In 1952, he joined the Shanghai People's Fine Arts Publishing House (East China People's Fine Arts Publishing House) as a creative writer, and in 1956, he took part in the preparatory work for the Shanghai Painting Academy and served as a painter. Since then, his artistic vision has been expanding, "taking the ancient and modern Chinese and foreign methods and transforming them", and he is unique in figures, flowers and birds. He also has attainments in comic strips, yearbooks, illustrations and illustrations. He is also an expert in calligraphy, which is inspired by the wooden slips of the Qin and Han dynasties. His paintings were influenced by Chen Laolian in his early years, and in his later years, the artist mostly painted birds and flowers.

Works and Awards

Works by Cheng Shifa Lenin in 1918, The Story of Lenin, The Gallows Sword, Painted Skin, Old Sun Returns to the Society, and Kong Yi Ji. The illustrations of The History of Confucianism were awarded the Silver Prize at the Leipzig International Bookbinding Exhibition in 1959. Kong Yi Ji" won the Second Prize of the First National Comic Strip Painting Award. Paintings

Based on the poem of the same name by Du Fu, a great poet of the Tang Dynasty, but taking the meaning of the line "The weather is new on the third day of March, and there are many beautiful people by the water in Chang'an", "The Walk of the Lillies" focuses on the portrayal of several young women's love for beauty and the soothing state of mind of a clear sky when they are traveling in the spring, cherishing the spring, and falling in love with the spring. Among the traditional Chinese characters, Zhong Kui is one that Cheng Shifa never tires of painting. He once said, "Zhong Kui is me." However, his Zhong Kui is different from those of other painters: kind, humorous, witty, idle, and devoid of anger and authority. Welcome Spring" was painted on New Year's Day, 1983, at the invitation of Wen Wei Po. Mr. skilful techniques to paint a big fat pig, pig back sitting on a young girl lifting the flower smile to welcome the arrival of the new year. The young girl has a beautiful face, her expression is both focused and delicate, her face is full of happiness and peace. Mr. Chen has skillfully arranged the pig in the picture, and the spring flowers in the girl's hand vividly depicts the theme of the painting. Cheng died at a hospital in Shanghai on June 17, 2007, of an undisclosed illness.

Anecdote

Source: Born into a family of physicians in Songjiang, near Shanghai, Cheng Shifa began studying traditional painting at Shanghai Art College in 1938. After the liberation he became a successful illustrator of children's books and taught at the Shanghai Chinese Painting Academy, where he developed an eclectic style that combined traditional brushwork with Western drawing techniques using a pen. Cheng is best known for his figural subjects, but this album, entitled In Search of the Delightful, shows off his broad command of subjects and techniques. A number of the leaves openly celebrate the 1976 downfall of Jiang Qing, Mao Zedong's notorious wife and leader of the Gang of Four, which strictly controlled culture. The Monkey-King Beats the White-Boned Demon depicts the beloved hero of the epic Journey to the West and intrepid defender of the faithful attacking the White-Boned Demon, to whom Jiang Qing was often compared.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheng, Shifa 1921 births 2007 deaths 20th-century Chinese painters Painters from Shanghai 20th-century Chinese calligraphers