Yu Feng (; July 25, 1916 – ) was a Chinese painter, cartoonist, and fashion designer. She and Liang Baibo were China's first female cartoonists. Her husband was the artist .

Life and career

Yu Feng was born on July 25, 1916, in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, the daughter of magistrate Yu Hua (). Her uncle was the famed writer

Yu Dafu Yu Wen, better known by his courtesy name Yu Dafu (December 7, 1896 – September 17, 1945) was a modern Chinese short story writer and poet. He was one of the new literary group initiators, and this new literary group was named the Creation Soc ...

. She graduated from the

Central Academy of Fine Arts The Central Academy of Fine Arts or CAFA is an art academy under the direct charge of the Ministry of Education of China. The Manila Bulletin calls the school "China’s most prestigious and renowned art academy." It is considered one of the most ...

in Beijing. She later studied under painter

Pan Yuliang Pan Yuliang (, 14 June 1895 – 22 July 1977), born as Chen Xiuqing, also known as Zhang Yuliang (張玉良), is remembered as the first woman in China to paint in the Western style. She studied in Shanghai and Paris, and taught at the Beaux-Arts ...

. Her cartooning career began in 1929 or 1930 with her first cartoon, an

Aubrey Beardsley Aubrey Vincent Beardsley ( ; 21 August 187216 March 1898) was an English illustrator and author. His black ink drawings were influenced by Woodblock printing in Japan, Japanese woodcuts, and depicted the grotesque, the decadent, and the erotic. ...

-influenced work, in ''

Shanghai Manhua ''Shanghai Manhua'' ( zh, t=上海漫畫, s=上海漫画, first=t, p=Shànghǎi Mànhuà), originally titled ''Shanghai Sketch'', was a weekly pictorial magazine published in Shanghai from 21 April 1928 until 7 June 1930. Considered the first suc ...

'' ("Shanghai Sketch"). In

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 ...

she married fellow ''Shanghai Manhua'' artist Huang Miaozi. Their families had different political orientations and she was taller than him, but they remained married for over sixty years until her death in 2007. Throughout the 1930s, she continued to draw cartoons for magazines like the English-language '' Zhongguo Zhisheng'' ("Voice of China") and '' Jiuwang Ribao'' ("National Salvation Daily"). One example of her wartime work is the 1938 cartoon "Let the Gunfire of National Salvation Smash This Pair of Shackles", which depicts both nationalistic and gender liberation with its woman breaking the chains of shackles. In 1955, Yu Feng was deputy editor of the magazine ''Xin Guancha'' ("New Observer") when it held a fourm on the future of Chinese fashion. Yu Feng was placed in charge of a national campaign for "dress reform", focusing on matters such as economic frugality, traditional folk dress, and national identity. Beginning in the early 1940s, Yu Feng and Huang Miaozi were part of a group of artists, writers, and other cultural figures in Shanghai and

Chongqing ChongqingPostal Romanization, Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the State Council of the People's Republi ...

later known as "The Layabouts Lodge" (Erliu Tang 二流堂). During the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

of 1966 to 1976, the members of the Layabouts Lodge were denounced and many were imprisoned. Yu Feng and Huang Miaozi were imprisoned separately for seven years. Yu Feng made paintings out of readily available materials like toilet paper, soap, and candy wrappers. Both artists were politically rehabilitated after the Cultural Revolution and continued to exhibit art in China and throughout the world. After the

Tiananmen Square Massacre The Tiananmen Square protests, known within China as the June Fourth Incident, were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, lasting from 15 April to 4 June 1989. After weeks of unsuccessful attempts between t ...

in 1989, Yu Feng and Huang Miaozi moved to

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

and became Australian citizens, but the couple later returned to China. Yu Feng died in 2007. In 2011, the ''Selected Essays of Yu Feng'' was published, which contained articles reflecting on her work in cartooning, art, and fashion.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yu, Feng 1916 births 2007 deaths Created via preloaddraft Artists from Beijing Chinese women fashion designers Chinese fashion designers Chinese editorial cartoonists 20th-century Chinese painters Victims of the Cultural Revolution Chinese women painters Chinese women cartoonists Central Academy of Fine Arts alumni