Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Tsai Chih Chung
Hello comic lovers, any ?
"To be useless is to be useful, to be useful could be useless" in Zhuangzi says, the comics created by Tsai Chih Chung, the man who left school at the age of 15, and for the past 15 years his annual remuneration exceeds NT$10 million, ever increasing.
So, who is CCTsai ?
CCTsai was born in 1948 into a Catholic family in Chunghua County, Taiwan. He was one of seven children, and having five siblings died before him, his parents only wish was to see him growing up healthy. CCTsai spent his early years, from 1 to 3 years old, in a church nursery where he listened to stories from Creation to Judgement Day according to the Old and New testaments.
As a child at 3.5 years he woke up before 3.5 am to keep his mother company cooking food for the pigs and feeding the ducks. Progressively he woke up earlier and earlier and then always at 1 am. He says that his best time is 2 to 3 am and his worst time is 3 pm, and he predicts that he will die at 3 pm with his left ear to the ground.
At 3.5 years he knew he could think, and at 4.5 years he was very clear that he wanted to draw. He did not know about comics, but his early ambition was to paint signboards. At 5 years he became interested in movie posters. At 9 years when comics was popular in Taiwan, he aspired to be a comic artist, and at 15 years he quit school and worked as one in Taipei. He does not agree that one should spend too much time in school, or 4 years to learn Calculus.
He produced cartoons in 1970, and his Older Master Cute won a Golden Horse for best cartoon in 1981. He pioneered the comic of Chinese classics. In 2005, he participated in animated Chinese Classics such as Sun Tzu's Art of War, Water Margin, and other Chinese philosophers like Confucius and Zhuangzi.
For a man who left school at the age of 15 years how was he able to understand the Chinese classics which even scholars studying Chinese find it difficult and to induct people of all ages, especially adults, into the world of ancient wisdom and philosophies through his writings and drawings.
He reads. Once he locked himself in for 42 days reading all sorts of things and pondering. Another time he shut himself up for 7 years to concentrate on learning Physics and Mathematics so that he could portray motion in his drawing. He says that content is more important than technique, and that comics are drawn not with the hands but with the mind. That is why readers see in his work most appear simple yet are profound in thoughts.
40 million copies of his comics have been printed, translated into 23 languages and published in 38 countries. Some of his works were made into college textbooks in Japan and South Korea. He is planning to publish a series on Calculus and Geometry.
Tsai Chih Chung knew what he wanted to do at 4.5 years old; he is the Master of Chinese comics. He is a recipient of several laurels.
Have a nice day
Ronald
Here are some of the many titles that Tsai has written.
* Tao Speaks: Lao-Tzu's Whispers of Wisdom.
* Wisdom of the Zen Masters: The Quest for Enlightenment.
* The Dao of Zhuangzi: The Harmony of Nature.
* Confucious Speak: Words to Live By.
* Zhuangzi Speaks. The Music of Nature.
* Zen Speaks: Shouts of Nothingness.
* Sunzi Speaks: The Art of War.
* The Illustrated Heart Sutra
* The Illustrated Dharma Sutra
* Roots of Wisdom
* Sayings of Confucius
* Sayings of Mencius
* Sayings of Lie Zi
* Sayings of Han Fei Zi
* And many others
"To be useless is to be useful, to be useful could be useless" in Zhuangzi says, the comics created by Tsai Chih Chung, the man who left school at the age of 15, and for the past 15 years his annual remuneration exceeds NT$10 million, ever increasing.
So, who is CCTsai ?
CCTsai was born in 1948 into a Catholic family in Chunghua County, Taiwan. He was one of seven children, and having five siblings died before him, his parents only wish was to see him growing up healthy. CCTsai spent his early years, from 1 to 3 years old, in a church nursery where he listened to stories from Creation to Judgement Day according to the Old and New testaments.
As a child at 3.5 years he woke up before 3.5 am to keep his mother company cooking food for the pigs and feeding the ducks. Progressively he woke up earlier and earlier and then always at 1 am. He says that his best time is 2 to 3 am and his worst time is 3 pm, and he predicts that he will die at 3 pm with his left ear to the ground.
At 3.5 years he knew he could think, and at 4.5 years he was very clear that he wanted to draw. He did not know about comics, but his early ambition was to paint signboards. At 5 years he became interested in movie posters. At 9 years when comics was popular in Taiwan, he aspired to be a comic artist, and at 15 years he quit school and worked as one in Taipei. He does not agree that one should spend too much time in school, or 4 years to learn Calculus.
He produced cartoons in 1970, and his Older Master Cute won a Golden Horse for best cartoon in 1981. He pioneered the comic of Chinese classics. In 2005, he participated in animated Chinese Classics such as Sun Tzu's Art of War, Water Margin, and other Chinese philosophers like Confucius and Zhuangzi.
For a man who left school at the age of 15 years how was he able to understand the Chinese classics which even scholars studying Chinese find it difficult and to induct people of all ages, especially adults, into the world of ancient wisdom and philosophies through his writings and drawings.
He reads. Once he locked himself in for 42 days reading all sorts of things and pondering. Another time he shut himself up for 7 years to concentrate on learning Physics and Mathematics so that he could portray motion in his drawing. He says that content is more important than technique, and that comics are drawn not with the hands but with the mind. That is why readers see in his work most appear simple yet are profound in thoughts.
40 million copies of his comics have been printed, translated into 23 languages and published in 38 countries. Some of his works were made into college textbooks in Japan and South Korea. He is planning to publish a series on Calculus and Geometry.
Tsai Chih Chung knew what he wanted to do at 4.5 years old; he is the Master of Chinese comics. He is a recipient of several laurels.
Have a nice day
Ronald
Here are some of the many titles that Tsai has written.
* Tao Speaks: Lao-Tzu's Whispers of Wisdom.
* Wisdom of the Zen Masters: The Quest for Enlightenment.
* The Dao of Zhuangzi: The Harmony of Nature.
* Confucious Speak: Words to Live By.
* Zhuangzi Speaks. The Music of Nature.
* Zen Speaks: Shouts of Nothingness.
* Sunzi Speaks: The Art of War.
* The Illustrated Heart Sutra
* The Illustrated Dharma Sutra
* Roots of Wisdom
* Sayings of Confucius
* Sayings of Mencius
* Sayings of Lie Zi
* Sayings of Han Fei Zi
* And many others
# posted by chunmu @ 6:32 PM 
