Abstract:
Feng Zikai was a well-known Chinese painter and cartoonist, he was the founder and the unique master of the so-called Chinese lyrical cartoon. He is better known as a cartoonist but he his more than a simple artist, he was an essayist and a translator too. Thanks to his style of writing and his unique technique of drawing his works became part of the most important Chinese periodical which let him to gain a good reputation in the art world.
In writing this thesis i managed to translate fifteen of Feng Zika’s informal essays taken from the collection Yuanyuan Tang suibi 缘缘堂随笔 (Essays from the Fated Hall) published in 1937. This collection of essays represents Feng Zika’s personal life experiences and his reflections and thoughts about the world and the meaning of life using a simple language free from formal restrictions in a colloquial style. Indeed, his writings are made to be read by a public of readers belonging to the masses. The translation is accompanied by a commentary which analyze the strategies adopted for the translation and the text’s characteristics.
The first part of the thesis analyzes the artist Feng Zikai from the literary point of you, instead the second part from the artistic point of you illustrating the development of his unique conception of art and his technique which undoubtedly was influenced by Japanese traditional style. Last but not lest, the third part is about the relationship between Feng Zikai and his conversion to Buddhism and one of the most important person who played an important role in his life and in his art, Li Shutong also known as Master Hongyi.
